Week 15 - So This Happened

The week started off great and that's a good thing because it all went to hell on Tuesday night. But first the good stuff.

Lori called on Monday to say she'd be in Wahoo on Tuesday and asked if I wanted to do lunch of my deck. Of course! That was just the push I needed to get some cleaning done so I did some at lunch, after work and again before bed. I went to bed feeling good about my house being picked up and cleaner. The weather was perfect so the knitters sat outside at the library and it was glorious. Lunch with Lori (Chinese food, as usual) was also lovely. It's always good to see her.

My first ever library board meeting was at 7:00 on Tuesday night. I wouldn't be an official member until June but there was a professional development program they wanted me to go to. I was on my way out the door to go, got distracted by the first fly of the season on my door and in looking up at it, I somehow lost my footing and fell down the basement stairs backwards. It happened so fast! I landed on my back at the bottom and had hit my head hard enough that I had double vision. Luckily I was able to get myself up the stairs but immediately called the library to say I wasn't coming and then called Andrea to ask her to take me to the ER. She was at my house in minutes and off we went to Saunders Medical Center.

I was most concerned with my head, which hurt all across the top. The double vision had only lasted a few minutes but I didn't want to be like Miranda Richardson or Bob Saget - dying in my sleep after hitting my head. They did a CAT scan and proclaimed my head fine but the x-rays showed a spot on my T1 vertebrae. After consulting with a spine specialist, they put me in a neck brace and sent me home, telling me to wear the brace 24/7 and encouraging me to take some of the pain pills left from my knee replacement. Good thing I had those because they have no way to give out drugs from the ER after hours. Small town living. They were great though.

I slept badly that night, alternating between the recliner and my bed. The drugs helped but the brace was awful with very little padding and a big plastic and metal nut right at the thin skin under my chin. It chewed a hole in my neck and gave me a big blister, which popped, so my neck was a bloody mess (the pic is the bad brace and you can see the first bandaid). I was also barely able to open my mouth so was living on yogurt. Not fun. I did absolutely nothing until Friday morning when Helen took me to the spine doctor (the same one who consulted when I was in the ER, who is yet another doctor in Nebraska Ortho where my knee, shoulder and hand docs practice). They did more x-rays, gave me an upgraded brace, telling me I had to wear it for 6 more weeks but could take it off to shower, eat and happily, sleep as long as I wasn't an "active sleeper." I took Helen to my favorite breakfast place - Cook's Cafe - and when I got home, I was in the shower before Helen even drove away. I hadn't showered since Monday so it felt wonderful to feel clean.

The doing nothing continued and I took 2 naps (I never nap!) on Saturday, mostly because I wanted to be in bed with the brace off. While that was lovely, I couldn't fall asleep that night and so stayed up all day Sunday but was antsy all day. Not even knitting and streaming was keeping my interest. I finally cast on a pair of complicated socks that I had to pay attention to and that worked. PBS Sunday helped too.

Did I mention that I can't drive for the 6 weeks I'm in the brace? You know how I struggle to ask for help but clearly I was going to have to rely on friends and family for awhile now. Bummer but everyone has offered so I'll have to spread the help around as best I can.

I know I was SO LUCKY. I could have been dead or paralized so am grateful it wasn't worse. I'll survive, clearly, and will have the brace off right before Memorial Day so shouldn't be too behind on my garden. Send healing vibes my way please.