Bad Fall

I got out of my car Thursday afternoon to a wet and slippery garage floor.  As I hopped down, my feet slipped right out from under me.  My back hit the running boards, and I instinctively put my left arm out to catch myself.  Big mistake.

In a second, I was in a heap on the cold, wet floor with searing pain going through my back and left wrist.  I just laid there whining, "ow," over and over again until I could move.  A WHILE later, I hobbled into the house.  My back and wrist started feeling better, but my elbow was killing me.  And as the adrenaline started subsiding, my elbow was hurting so, so much.

I looked for ibuprofen and got an ice pack, but the pain was getting really bad.  It was stabbing, shooting pain that shot up AND shot down from my elbow.  The longer I waited for ibuprofen to kick in or ice to make it feel better, the worse I felt.  I couldn't keep the tears away, it hurt so much.

I was afraid it was broken.  I was on the phone with my sister trying to figure out what to do.

Michael offered to take me to Urgent Care, but he was still at work, so I asked my mom, who was available.  We went a few minutes away to the Urgent Care, which had a total of two people in the waiting room.  #smalltownbenefits

I asked right away if they did X-rays there because *small town*, and they said yes.  We got into a room quickly and they called me for an x-ray quickly.  I was keeping my hand on my heart because my elbow was killing me.  The nurse sat me down to do my x-ray and explained that I would need to twist my palm face up, and stretch it all the way out in front of me.  Uh, no way, Jose!  It was shaking from the intense pain, and I was crying.  I asked if she got a clear picture because of the shaking, hoping she said yes because I didn't want to do that again!  I asked for tissues and she told me it was clear.  Phew.  I took my tissues and worked on composing myself.

I went back to the room where my mom was waiting and they came to tell me pretty quickly that it wasn't broken.  Yay!  I am so relieved because that means it'll heal faster.  And that means my bones are still strong.

Sooo, why am I in such pain?  My sister says soft tissue injuries hurt worse than breaks or fractures.  I believe her!

They gave me pain medicine and a sling and sent me home.  Michael met me at the door (which he never does) and asked if it was broken.  I told him no and he was sure to tease me later.  ;-)  He gets on me when I am not wearing my brace or sling.

I am trying to work my way off the pain medicine and off the sling.  Being completely one handed is horrible!  Kara is very helpful, but I'm sure she'd rather not cook and clean!  I'm trying to wear an elbow brace instead.  It hurts.  I'm black and blue all over - more places than I thought I hurt myself - and my elbow has the most bruises.  I'm not sure if you can see in these pictures:




This is my elbow where it hurts the most.


I'll spare you the pictures of the other bruises!

So, here I am, recovering again, feeling like a goober.  Not sure how long it will take to recover.

Some Cons:
Gaining even more weight as I sit around recovering.  Again.
Not sleeping through the night.

Some Pros:
Anti inflammatory meds helped my throat swelling finally go away completely.
Friends and family are kind and helpful.  I am so blessed.

Comments

Vicky said…
Thank the Lord nothing is broken!