Last month I went to take advantage of Tropic Care, a free limited-time health service offered to Kauai residents. I was probably the only person who went to that health facility and left in worse condition than I entered. We were there for 3 hours and were finally about to leave when I decided to return to the medical room to ask a question about Jordan's physical. I had just had my eyes dilated and was wearing sunglasses. I didn't THINK my vision was impaired and maybe I'm just plain old clumsy, but I accidentally stepped off the edge of the concrete walkway, twisted my foot, and fell flat on my face onto the grass.
A gentleman ran up to help me and I assured him I was ok, although I had skinned my left knee and my right foot hurt. I had sprained that same foot years ago and could feel the pain. Nevertheless, I continued to the medical room, asked my question and turned to leave after getting my answer.
Then I realized--DUH!-- I was leaving a MEDICAL room after a moderate injury?! Not to mention there was now a sizable lump on the top of my foot. What am I, a samurai? Ok, a clumsy samurai? The eager young ladies who treated me did not seem very experienced at bandaging my wound or examining my foot. There was no Ace bandage offered either. Of course this was not an acute care facility, they basically just gave physicals, blood sugar tests, and tetanus shots. They did a good job examining my foot, anyway, and the 800 mg. tablets of ibuprofen really did help my pain. Thank goodness my sister was with me and could get the car and drive us home! I went home and washed and applied some DMSO (again, thanks to my sis!)--wow, good stuff!
The next day I realized that I had also hurt my left shoulder and right thumb. So yes, I was injured on all four limbs.. not quadriplegic, but at least quadritraumatic (just made that up). Oh super. Don't I qualify for a handicapped placard for my car?
It's been over a month and all four limbs are doing better, but there is still some stiffness and aching. Most notable, however, is something that I hope does NOT go away and the main reason I'm bothering to share this incident with my three blog readers: the little voice inside me that reminds me daily "walk CAREFULLY!" We are all growing more fragile by the year and can't afford to waste precious time hobbling around after an injury. The irony is we often get hurt when we're RUSHING.
Just happened to check your blog site the day after hurricane Iselle was to hit Oahu and lo and behold, a recent blog! So true, that so many mistakes (and injuries) in my life I can attribute to rushing. Age does have a way of slowing things down a bit (just can't move as fast or much as I used to) so it is a little easier to slow down from "45 mph" rather than from "60 mph" but in human terms. Back to hurricanes, 22 years sinc e Hurricane Iniki hit Kauai. Must've had flashbacks when 2 storms were approaching, Just had to remember "Don't rush". And sometimes having a little recovering injury is the best reminder to do just that.
ReplyDeleteHi Cuz! Yes, thinking back about the hurricanes we went through made me nervous, but also made me so happy and appreciative when they didn't strike us. My sympathy to those on the Big Island who were affected. I don't regret experiencing the hurricanes because it made me appreciate a lot that we take for granted such as running water, hot showers, and a roof that doesn't leak...but I definitely do NOT want to go through that again!
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