I fell on Thursday, July 6, in the movie theater on the way to my seat and fractured my femur.

I’d gone to see the new Indiana Jones movie with my daughter and grandson. I tripped going up the steps carrying a box of popcorn and came down to my left side. I did not hit my head.

And while it hurt, I figured or decided that I had just sprained the muscles around my hip. I sat on the floor for a few minutes and then got up and hobbled over to my seat and watched the movie. It still hurt after the movie, much like a sprained ankle hurts for days or weeks.

I convinced my daughter we didn’t need to call the squad and drove myself home that night after watching the movie. I hobbled to bed. Friday morning, the pain really wasn’t worse, but it wasn’t better either. My daughter convinced me to call the doctor.

I shared my story with the triage nurse at the doctor’s office. She replied that based upon their protocols for someone my age, I should come into the Same Day Clinic. She game me an appointment for later Friday afternoon.

My daughter came to pick me up. We stopped at the drugstore on the way to pick a cane. The cane made walking into the Same Day Clinic much easier, although it wasn’t comfortable.

I almost had the doctor at the Same Day Clinic convinced he could just send me home with some drugs and all would be well. Being the professional that he was, he thought it best if I had an x-ray since I’d come in. We were both wrong.

I had broken my left femur. I had broken a bone — the first bone I’d ever broken in my body.

The doctor sent us to the front of the line at the hospital ER. At the ER I was put in a room right aware. In the ER I had several tests, x-rays and scans while I waited for a room on the orthopedic floor and a space on the surgery schedule.

Later Friday night, I went to a room in the hospital. They put me on the surgery schedule for bright and early Saturday morning. Throughout the night someone comes in every few hours to make sure I’m still breathing — check my vitals, that is. They also take blood all the time.

I remember being rolled up to the operating area for my final prep and to meet with the anesthesiologist and surgeon — briefly. They wheeled me over to the operating theater and that’s pretty much all I remember until I came around in recovery. We were told the surgery took about 45 minutes total.

The next challenge was seeing if I could get out of bed with the walker to take me to the bathroom. And with an OT on one side and a PT on the other side to walk me through the process, I succeeded with that task!

No one leaves on the weekend . . .

Getting out of the hospital was a bit of a challenge. It’s true what they say. It’s damn near impossible to get out on the weekend. Monday morning I could finally secure all the approvals — surgeon, PT, and social work — to support the final discharge order.

My daughter brought me home from the hospital on Monday afternoon. That night, one of my sisters stayed in the house to make sure I could navigate getting in bed and to the bathroom as needed without incident.

Had a successful night. And on Tuesday, a couple of my sisters came over to help organize the room with my computer so I could get to the desk without risk.

Tuesday night, my daughter and family brought dinner over. I spent the night in my home alone. I didn’t sleep too well, and I didn’t have any genuine issues with getting in and out of bed or the bathroom.

Wednesday morning I got out of bed and made some breakfast. Started working on this update and then went back to bed for a nap.

I have to keep remembering I have broken a bone in my body and while it will heal, it will take weeks. Youngsters, with younger bones than mine, have their casts typically for six to eight weeks.

When you break your femur, they really can’t cast it well so you have to make your walker your new best friend who goes everywhere with you. The walker takes the place of a cast to stabilize the fracture. I have a pin and a screw in my femur. I’ll have the walker with me for four to six weeks until the bone heals.

Today I’m telling folks I feel okay. And tomorrow I expect to feel better.