SCREW UP

December 10, 2021

Screw up. Boy did I screw up yesterday. Apparently, I have not mastered the art of listening yet. Yesterday I wrote a blog about being wobbly. I mentioned I would be getting a walker and an alert button to wear, so if I were out walking and fell, I could get help. I thought I was all on board. Well yesterday, at about 11:00 AM, I decided I wanted to go on a walk. It was sunny and had warmed up a bit. I put on my fur lined hooded jacket on top of two sweatshirts, and a long-sleeved tee shirt. I also had on a hat, and gloves. My son said to be careful, and my daughter-in-law said don’t walk until I have my walker and alert button in hand. I said I will be fine, and off I went. I got about a mile from home, and a silent voice said I better call my son and have him come and pick me up. Instead of calling him, I took a different road, that would get me back home sooner than if I had gone my usual route. I was feeling okay. I got almost to the end of that short road, when I fell flat on my face. No walker, no button and I Was face down on the sidewalk with no one else on the road. I took a while to get to a sitting position. A man came up the street, walking his dog. He asked if I were all right. I said, “I hope so”. I asked him to help me stand up. He tied his dog’s leash to a mailbox post and helped me up. He said I was bleeding. He offered take me home after he took his dog home and got his car. He said he only lived a couple of houses away. I appreciatively said thank you, and off he went. He drove me home. I guess I was bleeding from the front of my nose, and near the knuckle of my left hand. My hand looked bad. My daughter-in-law took me to urgent care. I got 6 stitches in my hand. It had been cut all the way through to the muscle. I also had a big goose egg bump on my head over my left eye, and my cheeks were swollen. The doctor said I should go to the emergency room since I had hit my head. When I tried to sit up, the pain in my left chest was excruciating, I could not sit up without major effort. An ambulance was called, because it would have been impossible for me to get to or into the minivan. At the hospital I got an x-ray for my hand, and a cat scan for my head down to past my chest. The results showed nothing was broken, and I could go home. It was now about 3:00 PM and my son and daughter-in-law were with me. They each had a car at the hospital. I rode home with my daughter-in-law in the minivan, and my son followed. By the time I got home the pain was almost unbearable. It is now the middle of the night, and I just took three Tylenol. I really did screw up. I was told not to walk but I decided to walk anyway. I was told to call my son for a ride home and I didn’t do it. I have to start listening to the warnings of my life. I have to hear. I thought I was not in danger of falling. I guess I was wrong. Boy did I screw up. It was an object lesson. Maybe next time I will listen. My spirit inside me was still happy. My body was having a rough time. It was a long day.

Granny-o