The past week...

A bit over a week ago I did the thing I feared the most in my own home, I fell through the kitchen floor. No, I am not so big that the floor gave through, there had been two very weak spots in the kitchen/utility room floor for about the past 4 years and my landlord finally got around to getting someone to fix the floor. I was house sitting at the time so I was not around for the beginning of the work, but came home in the middle of the work. The most shocking thing was to find my refrigerator and stackable washing machine/dryer in the living room. That made getting ready for boat day a bit more difficult than one would imagine.

So I was cutting watermelon and generally puttering around the kitchen because I had not been told that I should not. Well I was looking for a knife in the block and suddenly I was halfway through the floor. One leg was all the way through up to the hip and the other one somehow got twisted up and slammed into a joist. The contractor and his assistant pulled me out and away from the hole. I had and have a good deal of scratches and bruises that some have healed and some are still trying to heal. The knee however is another story...

As someone who hurt themselves a good deal in their younger days I have learned how to 'shake' something off. I thought that is what I could do with the knee that got slammed into the joist. It wasn't swollen when I got up and I had to work at Starbucks a few hours later so I really just tried to shake it off. I went to work and as the night went on the knee hurt worse and worse. By the time I got home I was in tears and could barely bend and put wait on it. I texted a friend to see if they were awake, I figured if nothing else he could take my mind off my knee with his unique sense of humor. He was on the phone so I tried to just go to sleep and I could not. He called me a little later and at that point I was in tears again and he took me to the hospital.

At the hospital (which was unusually quiet for a friday night) they took xrays and declared it to be either a bad sprain or a torn ligament. I was placed into a brace that literally goes from hip to ankle which my friend had the pleasure of helping the nurse get on me. I was taken back to the place where I was house sitting and on the way home I was still wanting to go on Boat Day even at 3am with crutches and a brace. My friend however guilted me out of it by telling me how all my friends would be worried about me and not having a good time because of me. So he won and I stayed home. :( I was sad, because I love boat day and had been looking forward to it for weeks.

So the title of this blog is the past week and the past 4 paragraphs have been about one night, but that night has dictated this week and the weeks to come. I have been told that because I can bare wait and bend the knee that it is most likely a bad sprain. I still have limited motion and I cannot stand long without leaning on something. the thing that has been the hardest has been to rely on others. My pride has been my ability to take care of myself. Now granted if you need help I will rearrange my schedule to make sure that I can get for you what needs to be taken care of. But when it comes to me I want to be able to provide for me. I have had to rely on my friends this week to drive me to various doctors, bring me and even make food for me and even sometimes simply keep me company since i am trapped in a house.

There have been days when I have just been defeated, when the pain and the loneliness and the worries of who is going to pay for this overwhelm me. I have been encouraged to speak with a lawyer which I know I should, but for some reason I am afraid about things that I cannot control any way, so why be afraid?

Today I was told I should be in the brace for about 6 more weeks. This brace inhibits all I do, not to mention the fact I own and drive a 5 speed that does not work without the clutch. Work involves chasing after munchkins and making coffee both of which is not done well with a knee that does not bend. I know my friends will be there the next few weeks, I hope I do not wear them out, I hope they know how much I love them and how much they amaze me at their willingness to just scoop me up and do the things that I refuse to admit i need help with.

Another thing to the never do again list

We all have that list the one we secretly tuck away in the back of our heads when we do something that no matter the reasons we did it we will not be repeating the experience. Well to that list this week I add falling through a floor. Now granted I did not make it all the way to the ground, one leg went through the floor and the other one got twisted up and slammed into a joist. I am well bruised and scraped up on the right side of my body and the knee on the left leg is the unforantant recipient of a brace.

Fortuantly I have unbelievable friends who are taking me on in my misery making sure I am well fed and cared for, and driven to and fro. Tomorrow I go to the dr to see if I can hobble around without the crutches, i think there will be points I still will need them, but it would be nice to go without them for some parts of the day. I'll try and post pictures of something soon.