Wednesday, November 16, 2005
If Janet Falls in the Forest...
On my way to the car this morning, my foot got caught on my other pantleg or my shoe or something. What would ordinarily have been a bobble (that's a technical term used all the time by commentators of olympic gymnastics) resulted in a split second of thinking I would recover, and then the disappointing reality of me slowly toppling over like old growth, but landing on concrete instead of rotted leaves, moss and lichens. My hip was cushioned by a purse filled with electronics and pain medications that don't work very well. The can of caffeinated diet beverage (with lime) went rolling down the walkway where I was supposed to be headed. Searing pain in my hip, and oh look...there's blood on my hand. It's glossy and very bright.
I lay there uselessly whimpering for a moment, and an elderly neighbor came out to ask if there was anything she could do. There wasn't much she could help with; she is recovering from surgery and I discovered I could not put weight on my right leg. She took my purse and folder and wayward can into the building, and when her daughter and some other guy (brother? Elderly son-in-law?) showed up, they suggested calling maintenance and filling out a report that I fell.
I didn't want to fill out reports. It took me ten minutes to get back into the door; I just wanted to go back upstairs and keep from passing out.
The maintenance guy who arrived was able to get me up the stairs by having me put my arm around his neck. At the top I started to faint and the others wheeled the office chair by the table out for me to sit in. Then they wheeled me back in and left me with my cell phone in my pocket, locking the door as they went out.
I have managed to get myself into the sofa where I will be spending the remainder of my day.
I lay there uselessly whimpering for a moment, and an elderly neighbor came out to ask if there was anything she could do. There wasn't much she could help with; she is recovering from surgery and I discovered I could not put weight on my right leg. She took my purse and folder and wayward can into the building, and when her daughter and some other guy (brother? Elderly son-in-law?) showed up, they suggested calling maintenance and filling out a report that I fell.
I didn't want to fill out reports. It took me ten minutes to get back into the door; I just wanted to go back upstairs and keep from passing out.
The maintenance guy who arrived was able to get me up the stairs by having me put my arm around his neck. At the top I started to faint and the others wheeled the office chair by the table out for me to sit in. Then they wheeled me back in and left me with my cell phone in my pocket, locking the door as they went out.
I have managed to get myself into the sofa where I will be spending the remainder of my day.
