This morning No. 1 pointed to my left leg and said, "Ew. That looks worse than it did the other day."
Yeah, thanks kid. Even The Mr. said something this morning: "You look like you got skinned."
Well, I did.
Friday afternoon I was working from home. Even though they said it's a dry heat here in the desert, we're having some wicked humidity lately. So when it's 108 degrees with 900% humidity, I tell the kids I'll pick them up from school instead of making them walk. When the kids walk or ride their bikes home, No. 2 usually looks like she's about to pass out because her face is beat red.
So anyway, I was headed out to pick up the kids from school on Friday afternoon. Naturally, No. 3 had fallen asleep about 30 minutes earlier. I picked her up and she put her sleepy head on my shoulder.Â
A split second before I walked down the steps I had a fleeting thought: What if I fall down? And then just as quickly as I thought that, my right foot slipped on the carpet and I fell. My left leg was barely on the step above and got caught behind me (think: stretching your quads). I slipped and slipped and slipped. I clung to No. 3 -- who was mysteriously quiet as I screamed like a girl -- with my left arm and grabbed the hand rail with my right. But I just kept slipping. I was terrified that I was going to fall forward while holding No. 3 and that her head would land on the hard tile at the bottom of the stairs.
Finally I stopped slipping/falling (and screaming ::blush::). No. 3 woke up enough to ask if I was OK as I brought my left leg around. I was bruised already: one giant one just below my knee and one just above my ankle. I had a long red rug burn the length of my calf and what I can only equate to a road rash from the middle of the top of my foot to several inches above my ankle.
I thought back to that morning when I was talking to some of the moms at preschool about how I'm 35 and had never broken a bone. Hey Universe: I KNOCKED ON WOOD!
So I'm healing. My foot is a little swollen and I still have the nasty road rash. It hurts to completely extend my foot and I still limp a little. With a semi-open wound, I'm ever mindful of keeping my sugars in line and drinking plenty of fluid while I heal. And of not pissing off The Universe.
Must have had a couple angels protecting you.
PLEASE be careful. I fell down the stairs in April. My leg swelled, but I was grateful that I didn't break any bones or break the skin. It was just really swollen. I put ice on it, elevated, and made sure I was able to walk on it. A couple of weeks later, it was still very red and swollen. I went to the doctor and he put me in the hospital on an IV antiobiotic. After a couple of days it was decided that I needed surgery to relieve the pressure from what they believed to be a hematoma. (bleeding beneath the skin) I had the surgery, it was determined there was no infection, just alot of blood, and the surgeon stitched up the incision. A month after the stitches were removed, the incision site opened and started to drain. I was put back in the hospital. They needed to make a larger incision and clean out more 'garbage'. The surgeon said it would be best to leave the wound open so it could heal from the inside, thus avoiding another build up under the incision. The lab report came back indicating that I had a MHRSA infection. This led to a 5 day stay in intensive care.
So PLEASE, make sure you take care of yourself.
- Sharon