The fall of mid summer
In May of 2005 I was a healthy happy 30 year old. Single with no kids, my life was great, maybe that was the real trigger! I got the flu some time in mid May, don't remember the exact dates, just being sick and deluding myself into thinking it was just "my allergies". 4th of July weekend I went to visit a friend for the weekend. We went to a local race track on Saturday night to watch the races and fireworks. At some point that night I was walking along a row of bleachers and twisted my ankle and fell. (Yeah I looked like a sloppy drunk, but I don't drink.) I thought nothing of it because I'm a klutz. I also got the flu again that weekend.
Then in mid August I fell in the parking lot at work. I wore heels every day to work and, again... I'm a klutz. So I thought nothing of my falling other than me being me. When I fell I went down on my right knee and the palms of my hands. My hands were a little red but I just brushed them off and got in my car to go pick up lunch. When I got back to the office I was standing in the breakroom when a co-worker said "Cheryl!" I turned and said "What?" she says "You're bleeding" I said "No I'm not, where?" she says "Your leg". So I looked down and sure enough there was a trail of blood down my leg and drops on the floor. I had cut my knee when I fell, but I didn't feel it. Looking back, that should have been a clue that there may be something wrong with me, but at the time it was just inconvenient that I had to clean blood off myself and the floor in the breakroom. I cleaned myself up and went on with my day, I had a lot of work to do after all.
The next few days my knee was sore which is normal but it started to get hard for me to get up from a chair. I just assumed it was my bummed knee and used my arms to give myself an extra push up. My finger tips started tingling one morning and I just thought it was because I had slept wrong and they were just asleep. My arms were aching and I just figured it was because I had to use them more to get up from a chair. Then I had trouble opening a bottle of Mountain Dew (my holy water at the time) again, it was just because of the extra strain on my arms and the tingling in my fingers. My co-workers convinced me to go to a chiropractor because we figured that I had pinched a nerve when I fell.
So to the chiropractor I went. x-rays were done and yup, sure enough pinched nerve. Just ice it and come back 3 times a week for the next 6 months and all will be well. I had previously been to this doctor's now retired business partner so I had no reason not to trust him. Well in the two weeks that I went to see him I continued to get weaker and weaker. I fell at least 3 more times and the last 2 I had to have help getting up. Then one fateful morning I had gotten up to go to the bathroom and couldn't get up off the toilet. Now that's bad enough in itself but since I was single and living with my brother I had to yell for him to come help me off the toilet. (que humiliation NOW) He drove me to the ER and called our mom to come stay with me, he had to go to work. I explained to the doctors in the ER how I had been getting weaker and weaker, how I had to lean against the wall and use both hands to brush my hair and teeth. How I couldn't wear a bra because I couldn't hook it, or how I couldn't zip my jeans. (All things I had told the chiropractor and he said I just needed time to heal) The ER doctor put a neck brace on me and told me to go to the chiropractor.
Ok, sorry but the pain is bad again so I have to stop this post here. I will pick up where I left off in my next post.
Then in mid August I fell in the parking lot at work. I wore heels every day to work and, again... I'm a klutz. So I thought nothing of my falling other than me being me. When I fell I went down on my right knee and the palms of my hands. My hands were a little red but I just brushed them off and got in my car to go pick up lunch. When I got back to the office I was standing in the breakroom when a co-worker said "Cheryl!" I turned and said "What?" she says "You're bleeding" I said "No I'm not, where?" she says "Your leg". So I looked down and sure enough there was a trail of blood down my leg and drops on the floor. I had cut my knee when I fell, but I didn't feel it. Looking back, that should have been a clue that there may be something wrong with me, but at the time it was just inconvenient that I had to clean blood off myself and the floor in the breakroom. I cleaned myself up and went on with my day, I had a lot of work to do after all.
The next few days my knee was sore which is normal but it started to get hard for me to get up from a chair. I just assumed it was my bummed knee and used my arms to give myself an extra push up. My finger tips started tingling one morning and I just thought it was because I had slept wrong and they were just asleep. My arms were aching and I just figured it was because I had to use them more to get up from a chair. Then I had trouble opening a bottle of Mountain Dew (my holy water at the time) again, it was just because of the extra strain on my arms and the tingling in my fingers. My co-workers convinced me to go to a chiropractor because we figured that I had pinched a nerve when I fell.
So to the chiropractor I went. x-rays were done and yup, sure enough pinched nerve. Just ice it and come back 3 times a week for the next 6 months and all will be well. I had previously been to this doctor's now retired business partner so I had no reason not to trust him. Well in the two weeks that I went to see him I continued to get weaker and weaker. I fell at least 3 more times and the last 2 I had to have help getting up. Then one fateful morning I had gotten up to go to the bathroom and couldn't get up off the toilet. Now that's bad enough in itself but since I was single and living with my brother I had to yell for him to come help me off the toilet. (que humiliation NOW) He drove me to the ER and called our mom to come stay with me, he had to go to work. I explained to the doctors in the ER how I had been getting weaker and weaker, how I had to lean against the wall and use both hands to brush my hair and teeth. How I couldn't wear a bra because I couldn't hook it, or how I couldn't zip my jeans. (All things I had told the chiropractor and he said I just needed time to heal) The ER doctor put a neck brace on me and told me to go to the chiropractor.
Ok, sorry but the pain is bad again so I have to stop this post here. I will pick up where I left off in my next post.
Comments
Post a Comment