Special Pages

▼

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

The Best Laid Plans

One of those things my Mom always said was, "The best laid plans of mice and men oft go awry". (which the Quotations Page tells me is from poet Robert Burns). 

With a long weekend coming, I was filling it with all sorts of ideas of what to do.  As it turns out, I had a hard time leaving the office yesterday.  Seems the facilities crew decided that prime quitting time was a good time to wet mop the stairs.  I've known for a while that my New Balance trail shoes aren't very good on wet surfaces, I just had it reinforced.  I fell three steps, landing hard on the sharp edges of two steps on my back.  Temporarily winded, I sat on the floor at the midway point for a minute before getting up, carefully walking the other half way down and driving home.

To make the story short, I suppose this is like anyone slipping on ice up in the frozen north.  A trip to the ER later showed nothing broken.  Use ice packs, muscle relaxants and a prescription NSAID. 

My butt is the size of Volkswagen bug and a cool shade of blue-purple, but what really hurts is where the stair hit between my shoulder blades. 
Yeah, it was just like that.  All weekend plans on hold. 


at

9 comments:

  1. JonJuly 3, 2013 at 12:48 PM

    Sorry to hear of your mishap. Hope the pills do the trick and you're up and moving quickly again soon.

    ReplyDelete
  2. indyjonesouthereJuly 3, 2013 at 1:41 PM

    Not a nice way to spend the holiday weekend but then it definitely beats the intensive care unit. Us old codgers need to better understand friction and gravity on a daily basis. Take care.

    ReplyDelete
  3. CederqJuly 3, 2013 at 4:24 PM

    I pray your recovery is speedy and with out a lot of pain and suffering. I hope the lowwit who thought of this is going to be called on the carpet come next Monday morning, pure stupidity! So, does Mrs. Graybeard gets to wait on you hand and foot over the "long weekend?"

    ReplyDelete
  4. drjimJuly 3, 2013 at 10:29 PM

    OUCH!

    I took a fall like that last August on the ship I work on. Had a hematoma the size of Montana all across my right butt check, and down the back of my thigh to my knee.

    Just really good to hear you didn't knock your noggin!

    ReplyDelete
  5. The Great and Powerful OzJuly 3, 2013 at 10:52 PM

    Make sure to eat plenty of chicken soup.

    I'm also taking a muscle relaxant to deal with a spasm in my right trapezius. Makes those damn captcha hard to read.

    ReplyDelete
  6. daniel_dayJuly 4, 2013 at 1:40 AM

    Very sorry to hear that. Best wishes for your fast and complete recovery.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Ben CJuly 4, 2013 at 2:17 AM

    Fyi, sometimes vertabrae fractures can take some time to show themselves. My dad crunched his back in a similar fashion a few years back, ER x-rays showed nothing, additional x-rays a month later showed "holy @#&*" damage.

    Best wishes for a speedy recovery, but please follow up soon if things dont get lots better.

    ReplyDelete
  8. AnonymousJuly 4, 2013 at 11:09 AM

    Like your Mom, I call such days "Bobbie Burns Days".
    Hang in there!

    gfa

    ReplyDelete
  9. SiGraybeardJuly 4, 2013 at 12:37 PM

    Thanks, everyone. I'm expecting today (2nd to 3rd day) to be the most sore, but it's not bad, so far. I did knock my head on one of the stairs, but thankfully, that's the least sore spot I have.

    Dr. Jim, I remember when that happened. It is funny how gravity seems to become so much more threatening as we age.

    ReplyDelete