Fell Down the Stairs, Redux
I spent last night in the ER. I was taking Elliott's night time bottle down stairs for a rinse, and to kiss Josh goodnight, as we had quarrelled before I put the baby down, and refused a good night kiss at that time. If I had kissed him while he was in the nursery, I probably would have just rinsed the bottle in the upstair bathroom and gone to bed.
I don't know if I slipped, or just missed a stair altogether, but my right leg went straight out in front of me as I slid down the stairs on my back, and my left leg got caught and pulled up behind me...like a hamstring stretch, but with less stretching and more spraining. I am in a knee immobilizer. I sprained both my left hip and knee, with some deep tissue bruising to my knee. I'm supposed to follow-up with an Ortho in 3-5 days, but w/o insurance, I can't afford an office visit. So I'll be nursing the injuries on my own with RICE; rest, ice, compression, and elevation. I'm sleeping on the couch for a few days, as I'm not brave enough to try the stairs on crutches. I'm not allowed to drive, between pain meds and the fact that I drive a manual transmission vehicle, I really CAN'T drive. Bleh!
This affects two pretty major things in my life: My paycheck and my weight loss. My paycheck is pretty obvious...I had been offered the chance to pick up a shift on Friday, and was supposed to work today. I stayed home today, but offered to Josh that I could still work tomorrow...he put the kibash on that, though. He wants to me rest and stay off my leg as much as possible...and he is both my husband and my boss...I guess I can't really be stubborn and go in anyway...I'm going to try to make it in on Saturday...but I'm supposed to work open-close on Sunday, and since I'm supposed to be staying off the leg, I really can't do any opening or closing duties. The best I can hope for is a stool at the register during business hours...so that is a possible 3-4 days I'll be missing on my next paystub. Dammit!
The obvious affect on my weight loss goals is that I can't exercise for a while, and when I can again, I'll have to take it really easy. I suppose lots of yoga will be in order to help get the strength and flexibility back in my leg without over-working it. It sucks that it had to be the knee that's already had its fair share of incapacitating injuries! Oh, well. I mean, I continued to take my Alli pills, and eat very healthfully today. I figure as long as I can keep up the diet, being injured and unable to exercise won't completely undo the work I've already done. Keep your fingers crossed for me!
Josh has hereby banned me from taking the stairs with my slippers on. Both times I've fallen, I was wearing them...and the first fall was definitely because I was wearing them. Still not sure exactly what happened last night, I was pretty wiped out and upset and just not paying enough attention, I guess. Our stairs are steep and narrow. It scares me that I can hurt myself so badly on them...I'm afraid for my kids' safety. Liam already knows not to play on the stairs, and he's about as graceful as his mother, but he hasn't fallen down them yet...I'm really scared for Elliott, though. She'll be mobile before I know it. And while we'll use baby gates while she's still little, once she gets older, she could still fall and hurt herself.
Anyway...the percocet is kickng in pretty hard core right now, and I can't see straight. Send me get well thoughts!