Invisible Obstacles Do Cause Harm

So I took a really bad fall on Saturday. It wasn’t yet 5:30 a.m. which was when I was due to begin work. I stepped down from the curb onto the parking tarmac of my apartment complex and found myself flying in the air and landing, split-legged on the very hard, very cold blacktop. I knew I hadn’t hit my head and it seemed none of my bones were broken. My neighbor Daniel was outside walking his dogs at the time. He was kind enough to ask if I was okay but not gracious enough to lend a helping hand to get me up and off the frozen ground. I told him nothing was broken so I must be okay. Still, he should have done the gentlemanly thing and given me a helping hand.

As it turned out, I was unable to get up off of the ground myself because the entire parking lot was nothing but a rink of invisible ice.  Daniel had made the comment to me that his dogs were practically pulling him along like a sled and it was that comment that saved me from becoming a giant ice sculpture awkwardly frozen to the ground for all to see. I looked around me and found a lap desk (on one side it is a pillow and on the other it is a flat surface to use as a desk). I flipped it, pillow-side up, managed to get it under myself and pulled myself along the ground until I reached my car 200 feet away. I used my key fob to unlock the doors and managed to pull myself up and off the ground and into the car. I was supposed to be at work at 5:30 a.m. (which obviously wasn’t going to happen) and because I felt that I had not been badly hurt I made the too-quick decision to go to work.

I was thinking that by moving my body around I would prevent the muscles from seizing up and going stiff. It didn’t turn out that way. By the end of my work shift  I was one giant stiffy. My left arm dangled from the shoulder unable to move. I struggled to stand from a seated position and I struggled to sit from a standing position. My neck was so stiff I could not turn my head (which wasn’t that bad because I could turn my hips) but I also could not tilt my head slightly upward or downward, and that made it very difficult to count money and deal with giving change out. I had made the wrong choice.  I should have gone to the doctor right after my fall.  I managed to make it through my entire shift in slo-mo agony. It was now time to go see the doctor.

I slowly sat myself down onto the driver’s seat, raised my right leg in and hefted my left leg in with my only functioning arm. And once my body was clearly in the car I sat as my breath heaved in-and-out from the strain of getting into my automobile. It took about 5 minutes for the exhaustion to pass and somehow I managed to get my door shut. I said a prayer to my Father that He be my eyes as I backed out into traffic and traveled the short distance to the walk-in clinic. And so, without being able to turn my head, look over my shoulders, or use my left arm/hand for driving I managed to get to the office without further harm to myself or anyone else.

Upon arriving at the clinic I learned it was a three and a half hour wait time, but they gave me two ice bags to help stave off the pain as I waited. I figured I would be stiffening up and getting worse wherever I planted myself and so it would to best to stiffen up there where a doctor would eventually be able to see me then to stiffen up at home where no one would be able to help… I certainly shouldn’t drive in my condition the half hour or more to get to another facility.

Anyways, basically my initial prognosis was correct. Nothing was broken and I would live. However, I have bruised ribs, along with cervical/trapezius strain. Meaning a lot of soft tissue injuries to my neck and shoulder areas. Anyhow, before I had gotten off of work I had alerted my employer that I would not be in for work the next morning and it turned out that not only did I not go to work the next day, I actually slept through the entire day. Because this all happened on Saturday and I just woke up and learned from yet another neighbor that today is Monday.  My left leg is really, really pained…. another injury, but one that had gone unnoticed because of the overwhelming pain of my neck, shoulder and back areas.  This one I am diagnosing myself as yet  another muscle strain.

Saturday was a very long day.  My prescription was sent to my pharmacy and once I managed to get safely to the pharmacy (remember, I cannot turn my head and I am steering with only one hand) it turned out that it was closed.  I went next to what was apparently the only open pharmacy in town where I had to wait an hour and a half to receive my pain medication but that’s another story and one I’m not poised to tell right now.

Anyway, I am supposed to take my medicine again and because it seems to really knock my lights out I figured I’d let ya’ll know that I am alive and basically well and that any lack of activity or response is due to pain-medication-induced coma.

We are only mid-winter so keep your eyes open and watch for ice and other unexpected or invisible obstacles that might threaten you.  Please say a little prayer for a fast and total complete recovery for me.  And if you are prayerful, please also offer the Lord a prayer of thanksgiving for keeping all of us safe from serious harm on a daily basis.

The photograph was taken by Vladyslav Cherkasenko and acquired through Unsplash licensing.
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