It Happened So Fast, In Slow Motion!
It happened so fast, in slow motion! Have you ever fallen? Everyone has fallen at one time or another, mostly as a child.
Maybe you fell as an adult while wearing roller skates. My brother, Donnie, fell while wearing roller skates and broke his leg. It was my 16th birthday party. He was 20 at the time.
Fast forward about 34 years.
I injured my right knee when I fell. It was raining very hard that day. I had just finished cleaning an apartment for a client. It was a high rise in the downtown area. The parking lot is located behind the building. There is a nice little concrete path leading from the back door to the parking lot. The path separates two little grassy areas. The grassy areas are protected from foot traffic by those short low hanging chains. Remember, it was raining. At the end of the path, was a giant puddle. You can already see where this is going. It was not graceful.
Let me tell you what I was holding in my arms. I had no intentions of making two trips in the rain so I carried all of my supplies plus the umbrella at one time. I had a mop, a broom, a well organized tray fully stocked with cleaning supplies and a mop bucket, all balanced between both arms along with the umbrella. I was trying to dodge that giant puddle. Unfortunately, I did not get my foot up quite high enough to go over that low chain intended to keep me off the grass.
You are about to cringe. It was a gravel parking lot and I landed on one knee! Oh yes, it hurt! That was 2009, it still causes me pain from time to time, probably always will. Plus my umbrella broke.
Fast forward once more to Wednesday of this week. There must be something about me and cleaning which may not jive! I was vacuuming a bedroom in my own home. It all happened so fast as I fell in slow motion. I have no idea how I tripped. My shoe just stuck to the floor when it was supposed to move with my foot. I fell in between the wall and the bed and landed very hard on my right hip with the vacuum cleaner on top of me. I slung the vacuum cleaner off of me and found the off button but I did not get right up.
I knew right away that I had injured myself. If anyone had been in the home, I may have injured my pride but I was alone. Once I took stock and decided nothing was probably broken, I got myself up, dusted myself off and limped away. I left the vacuum cleaner there.
I hobbled to the other end of the house and collapsed onto my bed for a moment. As I lay there, surmising my wounds, I called my husband at work to tell him what had happened. Of course, when you are a grown person and fall, we have to take that serious. I like to joke around about most everything, most of the time with a straight face. Sometimes people consider that to be dark humor. I tried that dark humor with my husband on the way to the ER but he didn’t see any humor in it at the time.
Thankfully, nothing is broken, just badly bruised. Unfortunately, the x-ray showed arthritis in my hip. Oh boy!
I am limping around like I’m dying and moaning like a Halloween ghost. I’m going to be fine as soon as the swelling goes down and the pain subsides.
Shirley – you would not believe it but I definitely understand you
I fell 10 weeks ago, completely destroyed my ankle, had a surgery (in which they put screws and pins) and I’m still in a cast
Just a few days ago the started to let me stand on my foo (after 10 weeks of having my foot up)
And I still have a loooooooong way to go
My goodness Winnie! I am so sorry for what you are going through! It hasn’t slowed you down with sharing delicious recipes with beautiful pictures on your blog! Hope your recovery speeds ups quickly. I know you want this to be over with! Thank you so much for stopping by, looking forward to my visit to your blog this week 🙂
Oh dear 🙁 I’m sorry, Shirley! I sure hope you feel better now! Just to make you feel better, last year I rolled my ankle while we were at Busch Gardens. (My feet and shoes were wet from a ride we just got off of and we were going down stairs. You get the idea.) I STILL have issues with it, and the other day I dropped a 24-pack of Coke on the same foot. I don’t even know. But I’m limping along with you!
Ouch! Kristen, it is even worse to become injured while vacationing. I fell when we were touring an old cemetery in New Orleans a few years ago, we had to leave. That 24 pack of Coke may have hurt even more than twisting the ankle. I cringed when I read it! My hip is feeling much better now 🙂
Sometimes life can just pull the rug right out from beneath you… hope you feel better and heal quickly, Shirley. 🙂 Remember to keep it moving so it doesn’t stiffen up on you. Maybe a gentle walk with a nice audiobook. 😉
~Lorelai
Life With Lorelai
Lorelai, I tried to ‘walk it off’ right away. I took my dog and went outside to walk in the shade for a few minutes. The pain is much better now, a few days later. I want to do the Walking With Audio Books Challenge, sounds fun to me.
Shirley, I know this is a fall and probably not funny. But I had to laugh at a couple points in the story…So glad nothing is broken. But arthritis in the hip- hope you could some tips and tricks to control it!
Zan, it’s fine, I can laugh at myself! I’ve known for years that I have arthritis in my spine, should have just figured it was in other joints as well. I don’t suffer pain all the time, it just flares up occasionally.
Oh man, that bites! 🙁 I’m sorry you’re in pain. I know what you mean though – as an adult, it is no joke! Last year, I fell down the stairs in our new home & hit my head pretty hard. If that wasn’t bad enough, this summer I tripped outside on our new pavers & hurt both of my knees pretty bad. It takes a lot longer to heal as an adult. Feel better!!
Wow, I feel your pain Renee. We have GOT to stay on our feet! I always get mad at my own self for falling down. I fell on my hip working in the yard last summer, that wasn’t too bad of a fall though. Maybe the yard was softer than the floor in the house 🙂
How my goodness! I feel your pain. I am the biggest klutz there is. Glad nothing was broken! Sending you quick healing vibes.
Misty, I would have trouble believing there are many people as clumsy as I am! I’m always dropping or spilling or knocking over something. My sweet husband has come to expect it. 🙂
Bless your heart, Shirley! You are so right. It’s a lot bigger deal to fall as an adult. Thank God nothing is broken! Hope you are feeling better soon.
I fell this past November when I was decorating the huge tree at the church. I was standing in a chair and it skidded out from under me. Nothing was broken, but it was scary. I even cried a little. 🙂
Alli, if I fell from a chair, I KNOW I would cry! That had to frighten you! I’m glad nothing was broken. Grown up’s just don’t bounce back as quickly as the younger generation. I didn’t cry this time, but I cried big time when I fell on that gravel in the rain. I wound up on crutches after that fall.