Thursday, June 11, 2009

Once more, with (incredibly painful) feeling!

My bad eye decided to act up over the weekend. I've had to use drops that muck up my vision, and I've been sitting in my office this week with shades and headphones, looking like Stevie Wonder's less-talented, white cousin.

Problem with the eye is that my depth perception is even more nonexistent right now, and yesterday morning, navigating that dangerous three-inch drop from the sidewalk to the street by my car, I took a major header, full speed, into the cement. Landed on my knees, full force. Caught myself with my hands before my head could hit the pavement. I would like to blame this incident on the ferocious nature of the "Attack Pavement" in my 'hood, but, alas, it can only be blamed on me, my mucked up eye, and my general clumsiness.

I'm really glad none of the neighbors saw me face down in the road. That's just not the image you want burned into everyone's mind.

To paraphrase the narrator from "A Christmas Story", I lay there like a slug. A slug in smart work attire, clutching a bottle of raspberry seltzer water. (That bottle would be put to good use as a temporary ice pack.) A slug wishing that she hadn't just fallen off a THREE-INCH curb.

Seriously, shoot me now.

My entire body started to throb. My damn tailbone hurt! How the heck does your tailbone hurt when you've faceplanted yourself? Referred pain is, especially in this case, a serious pain in the butt!

Now, at this point, a sane person would have just crawled back to the apartment rather than go in to the office.

But when's the last time someone described me as sane?

Right.

When I got downtown, it took me five minutes to get out of my car at the parking garage. I think the valets wanted to kill me as I held up their rush hour parking work, but I just couldn't move. (Sorry, guys!) After gimping to the office, one of my colleagues noticed I was incredibly pale. When I rather ungracefully pulled up a trouser leg and showed her my ginormous, shiny knee, she almost heaved in the hallway. I hope she'd had breakfast already!

I had to get myself psyched to make the hobble down to our Med Unit in the basement of the building. Our office was in the midst of the annual Explorers Symposium, so there really wasn't anyone I could bug to go downstairs on my behalf. I was very appreciative that the Med Unit nurse had a bunch of crushable single-use ice packs for me to apply throughout the day.

I was bummed to miss the Symposium - there were a lot of cool presentations. At least I got a good amount of work done in my cone of silence, with the door closed and ice packs shifting all over the place. But, by about 4 p.m., my entire left leg had turned into an unhappy, throbbing, mottled tree trunk, and I had to take off my watch to accommodate my left hand, which was rapidly turning into a Macy's parade balloon. Yes, it was very pretty.

By the time I got home, I was a ball of misery. Took me twenty minutes to get brave enough to step out of the car onto my left foot. My knee was going in and out, and I had this horror of falling down again in the exact same spot.

Long story short (I know, too late for that) after a trip to the doc and the ER this morning: I sprained both ankles, my left knee, my left wrist and my left shoulder, and tore a ligament in the left knee.

I spent the day today at home. Not working from home. Just at home. Sleeping, icing various body parts, grumbling. I'm up now, since I need more water and the computer chair is currently conveniently located between the sofa and the kitchen.

Warning to coworkers: my sense of humor may be greatly impaired tomorrow. I will try to keep my tooth-grinding crankiness to myself.

Do they make full-body ice packs? Not sure one large enough for my person would even fit in my freezer!

Oy vey.

4 comments:

Chuck said...

Ow ow ow. I was in pain just reading this. Will the ligament repair ok on its own? Hope you feel better soon!

Merujo said...

In theory, Chuck, the ligament will heal on its own. Here's hoping. Of course, the whole leg is screaming again right now, so I'm up at nearly 1 in the blankety-blank morning, wishing for sweet, silent sleep. Feh!

Thanks for the good thoughts!! :)

Cyn said...

Sounds terrible :(

Would it cheer you up to hear one of my (many) "physical comedy" stories? A couple years ago, my little family was at an amusement park...the kids were still young enough to want to go on one of those vintage rides where you "drive" an old-timey car around a track. Despite the non-thrill nature of the ride, there was a long line of parents and little ones waiting to get on.

Anyway, we take our 5 mph race in the mini auto...and it's time to disembark...which is when I trip and fall -- flat onto my hands and knees GETTING OUT OF A KIDDY RIDE. With a HUGE audience.

Only my pride was wounded -- so doesn't compare to your injuries, of course. But at least you have the eye to blame. I got nothing except my own general spaciness.

Hang in there, and hope you at least have some medication to take the edge off the pain.

Robin said...

Like you need another fall and injury / injuries? I do hope you feel better soon, and yeah, people trip up and fall over 3 inch curbs all the time; good thing is that you missed your head cuz that can be deadly. heck, people trip over their own feet sometimes. I hope you're on good pain relievers.