View Full Version : Funny (Not) How Things Can Turn On A Dime!
I am back from my wonderful 3.5 week long gypsy road trip in which I logged a total of 5, 221 miles by going (from start to finish) through Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Colorado (again), Kansas (again), Missouri, Illinois (again) and back home to Michigan. The trip went off without a hitch, other than the usual crazy weather extremes - everything from raging thunder and lightening storms (Colorado and New Mexico) to blazing over 100 degree weather (Arizona and Utah). I hiked, read lots of books, did a LOT of sightseeing, socialized, spontaneously went to concert in Aspen (Greg Allman), and spent, for me, a ridiculous amount of money but stayed pretty much within the trip budget.
So what happens when I get home? Yesterday in my zeal to get the car unloaded after living out of it for 3.5 weeks, and get the dirty laundry down to the basement, I was barefoot and missed the bottom step on my wooden staircase (I was carrying two baskets of laundry and my bowl of unfinished salad for lunch). My big left toe bent underneath me as I fell, my left knee smashed into something (the floor?) and my right shoulder blade caught the edge of the railing. My salad bowl went flying, spraying the remnants of my lunch all over and the laundry spilled out of the baskets. I lay there stunned and sniveling for a while, then finally made myself get up and inspect the damage. I knew right away my foot was messed up, so I hopped over to get ice from the freezer. After about 15 minutes I was pretty sure I needed to go to the doctor and dragged myself there and the x-ray confirmed that I broke my foot.
Yup, I broke my foot, or rather, the big toe near the base. I am waiting to get into see the orthopedic doctor to find out what to do next. Meanwhile, I am barely hobbling around on a set of old crutches I had in the basement. The rest of my body feels like I got pinned by a truck. I am very, very sore. Going back to work on Friday is out of the question at this point; I'll probably be off at least this week and next. At least I still have some PTO hours I didn't use up on my trip, and I also have short-term disability insurance through Wholefoods. Right now it is all up in the air and all I can do is rest, elevate and ice it.
I am not one for sitting around, especially in the summer! I have SO MUCH TO DO and SO MUCH I WANT TO DO!!!!! My house is a mess; dirty clothes and camping equipment are lying all over the place and I can't do anything about it. The garden is lush and desperately needs weeding and harvesting, my cat is still over at the cat sitters and I have to figure out how to get here back at my place. Argghhhhhhhh.....
Radicchio
6-30-15, 11:50am
Oh you poor thing! Not just because of the injury, although that certainly sounds terrible, but also because of the helplessness to do what you need and want to do! I have been there, and it is extremely frustrating and discouraging, I know.
Oh no.
Glad you had a good time on your trip but so sorry about your accident. A fall on the steps could of been much worse. Do you have friends you can call up to come help clean up the basement - laundry and dried bits of salad? It is time to call in everyone you can. I needed 3-4 months of help when I broke my right ankle.
Teacher Terry
6-30-15, 12:03pm
So sorry to hear about this. I took a nasty fall at Yellowstone a few weeks ago & pulled all of my front ribs out of place. I was in a lot of pain the rest of the trip. When I got home I went right to my chiropractor who put all my ribs & the rest of my body back in place & immediately my pain level was reduced by 90%. Although, it won't help your foot you might want to try it for the rest of your body.
Yeah, my mom is coming over in a little while with some things I forgot from the grocery store from yesterday (before the accident). Another friend is stopping by tonight. There is a lot of little stuff that needs to be done, basically finishing emptying the car, taking stuff to the basement, getting the tent back in its bag now that it is dry, getting some laundry done. Facebook is a great tool to shout to various friends for help, so I'll manage. It's just so hard to rest and stay put because I don't feel sick or tired at all, just very , very sore! Crutching around is really hard because I hit my right shoulder in a weird way as I was going down and using a crutch on that side is painful. And I live in a two story townhouse with one bathroom (on the second floor). I've been doing the stairs on my butt carefully when I need to go downstairs but not even 24 hours later, this is getting really old! I am not one to sit around, so this is hard to accept....
SiouzQ, I am happy you had a GREAT trip...maybe while sitting and being frustrated you can rest your eyes and re live the entire vacation..day by day so it is impressed on your brain. Getting rid of the pain...hope that happens quickly. You must be so frustrated.
Ouch. Glad to hear you weren't too seriously hurt. I took a spill myself recently while climbing the stairwell to my apartment. I caught my toe on the top step and hurtled into the wall. Fortunately, I was able to get a hand out, otherwise I'd have gone into the wall full force, face first. As it was I got away with two skinned knees and bent glasses.
It's sobering. When I was younger I would have just shrugged off an incident like that. At 60, though, I realized I could have been badly messed up.
rosarugosa
6-30-15, 8:03pm
Oh SiouzQ, so sorry for the crappy ending to your lovely vacation. Hope you are feeling better soon!
At least my cat is back home to keep me company! It feels so weird to be trapped inside after living in a tent for over three weeks! It feels like a jail cell of "comfort." Barely a week and half ago I was sleeping under the stars in Utah...and plenty comfortable on the ground (well, I have a Thermarest sleeping pad).
so siouzq, have you thought about some type of porta potty for downstairs? Maybe just not drinking water too much? a diaper in a pinch,
i would go nuts, i go to the bathroom so many times i would just not go downstairs.
I have some methods of getting around I developed yesterday - I sit on my butt and scoot up and downstairs (albeit very slowly), dragging the crutches with me. Carrying my coffee mug is problematic so I move it from step to step. I also use a cloth bag to carry any other stuff I need. It's getting so old. Upon awakening on day 2 (today) the rest of my body feels still so sore, wrenched and bruised!
What a wake-up call to SLOW down (this will apply at work, when I am cleared to go back). I am a notorious clutz because I am always rushing around, trying to do too much, trying to carry too much, not paying attention to where my body is in space, running into corners, perpetual bruises on my thigh from running into the edge of things because I fail to take the one last step to get around something....my friend came over last night and he put a lot of stuff away so the house doesn't look like such a disaster zone. My laundry got done and I just have to fold it and put it away, which I can do while sitting on the bed. I should be able to turn my attention back to the jewelry business and finish some inventory stuff on the computer. Maybe later today as my body "warms up" I can get down to the studio and start pricing and inventorying the new stone beads I purchased on my trip. I know it sounds like I am doing too much, too soon, but I promise ya'll I am pacing myself and resting at intervals. I might as well make good use of my time away from Wholefoods. I am technically still on vacation until Friday, but I have a doctor note to be off for the next week after that, and I am still waiting to hear back about an appointment with the orthopedic doctor. I am essentially in medical limbo right now.
Just be glad it was not your knee. I fell and damaged it while on vacation. Then had to fly back home. Then thankfully had a bathroom on the first floor BUT the toilet and shower were not handicapped accessible. Hard to shower and soap when one hand is holding on to the top of the shower wall in terror of falling. Could not get up from the toilet even with one good leg. (we replaced the toilet with a universal height one after this.)
I so understand those falls. Mine also happened when I had an armload of stuff and tripped on a parking lot barrier. It will get better a step at a time. No pun intended.
Those of us who have had falls and hurt ourselves become very much aware of the implications especially as we get older. I fell on my knee two years ago and tore a meniscus. It took a full year to heal as I elected not to fast track it with surgery. I have a sense that some accidents happen just for that purpose - so that we pay more attention. Now, I no longer walk on wet leaves or ice or in the dark. The bathtub and stairs get my full attention too.
Oh, no! I'm glad it wasn't worse, but it still blows all the same. I'm really sorry to hear of your injury and hope you heal up quickly. I'm glad to hear your employer offers short-term disability insurance. Your story reminds me of Chris Rea's song, "God's Great Banana Skin." Speedy recovery!
Yuk. Bad way to end a fun vacation! At least you have some time to relive the memories as you recuperate -- and you do have some time you can take from work. Heal fast!
Keep your spirits up, SQ, and take the time to recover!
So sorry to hear. Hope you're up and about soon!
I am back from my wonderful 3.5 week long gypsy road trip in which I logged a total of 5, 221 miles by going (from start to finish) through Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Colorado (again), Kansas (again), Missouri, Illinois (again) and back home to Michigan. The trip went off without a hitch, other than the usual crazy weather extremes - everything from raging thunder and lightening storms (Colorado and New Mexico) to blazing over 100 degree weather (Arizona and Utah). I hiked, read lots of books, did a LOT of sightseeing, socialized, spontaneously went to concert in Aspen (Greg Allman), and spent, for me, a ridiculous amount of money but stayed pretty much within the trip budget.
So what happens when I get home? Yesterday in my zeal to get the car unloaded after living out of it for 3.5 weeks, and get the dirty laundry down to the basement, I was barefoot and missed the bottom step on my wooden staircase (I was carrying two baskets of laundry and my bowl of unfinished salad for lunch). My big left toe bent underneath me as I fell, my left knee smashed into something (the floor?) and my right shoulder blade caught the edge of the railing. My salad bowl went flying, spraying the remnants of my lunch all over and the laundry spilled out of the baskets. I lay there stunned and sniveling for a while, then finally made myself get up and inspect the damage. I knew right away my foot was messed up, so I hopped over to get ice from the freezer. After about 15 minutes I was pretty sure I needed to go to the doctor and dragged myself there and the x-ray confirmed that I broke my foot.
Yup, I broke my foot, or rather, the big toe near the base. I am waiting to get into see the orthopedic doctor to find out what to do next. Meanwhile, I am barely hobbling around on a set of old crutches I had in the basement. The rest of my body feels like I got pinned by a truck. I am very, very sore. Going back to work on Friday is out of the question at this point; I'll probably be off at least this week and next. At least I still have some PTO hours I didn't use up on my trip, and I also have short-term disability insurance through Wholefoods. Right now it is all up in the air and all I can do is rest, elevate and ice it.
I am not one for sitting around, especially in the summer! I have SO MUCH TO DO and SO MUCH I WANT TO DO!!!!! My house is a mess; dirty clothes and camping equipment are lying all over the place and I can't do anything about it. The garden is lush and desperately needs weeding and harvesting, my cat is still over at the cat sitters and I have to figure out how to get here back at my place. Argghhhhhhhh.....
Oh! I'm so sorry! And I can so relate as my own world just got turned over like a fruit basket and the fruit is running every direction and I'm trying to to lose it! I hope things get better for you really soon!
Gardenarian
7-2-15, 3:34am
Oh, that's terrible! I just hate these accidents...I replay them in my head, thinking "if I just had that one minute to do over..."
For what it's worth, I found a walking frame to be much easier to manage then crutches - something to think about if you're going to have to stay off the foot for a while.
I hope the doctors have good news - best of luck with that.
Your trip sounds awesome anyhow!
Hiya Folks, I finally got the verdict about my foot today from an orthopaedic doctor. Looks like l am going to have quite a lot of time off this summer, at least six weeks, if not more. Turns out the fracture went up into the big toe joint as well. I am in one those space age walking "air" cast things now; good news is I don't have to use the crutches anymore! It sure makes it a lot easier to get around, but still pretty slow.
Even though the doctor said I could return to work, Wholefoods will not let me come back to work until I am 100% off of any sort of restriction and would certainly not let me back in the kitchen or deli counter. So I am taking a medical leave of absence and the paperwork for short-term disability is being filed. It doesn't get me my full paycheck but 60% of it. Now I just have to find a new housemate for next month, and practice being much more frugal, once again. I should be okay because of my emergency savings account. The thing that is going to be hard is getting all those doctor bills, just when I was one month away from completely paying off a bunch of old doctor bills. I am out of Wholefoods-provided Wellness account money, so everything now will be out of pocket until I hit the rather high deductible. I'll have to set up a payment plan, once again...
I have to say, in a way I am somewhat delighted with all the free time I am going to have! I want to make good use of it while I am mending. I am already making a list of some things I'd like to get done, such as building a website for the jewelry business, working on jewelry, playing more guitar, getting out to more open mics, etc. I am still cleaning up and organizing from my road trip, things I couldn't get to last week when I was incapacitated.
I have been thinking that your accident was rather providential; some part of your subconscious really didn't want to go back to that job.
Ummm, ya think?!!!!! I've been wondering about that too...My attitude right now is to just go with the flow, there is no point in freaking out about anything at this point. Like I said before, I want to make nice use of this time to just pay attention, be mindful, let things unfold, and make connections. Since I haven't actually been at my job since June 5, when I look back I can really see how destructive to my well-being working at that job can be (not to say that I am not going back, because I will when I can, at least for the time being) but the stress of the work-life imbalance and how isolated from everyone I know due to my inconsistent and sometimes unpredictable schedule was taking its toll).
Well, it's past 9am and perhaps I will get out of my PJ's and get on with my day. I have taken to writing out a daily schedule (loosely) of things I want to do and explore. There is plenty of room for naps and reading later in the day when I get pooped out!
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