While washing my hair in the shower today, I lost my balance and fell, clutching the shower curtain and wildly grabbing for something to catch hold of. I fell out of the tub, back first, and hit the middle of my back against the toilet, while banging my tailbone hard against the tile floor. Trust me: it wasn't a pretty sight! To make it worse, mr. kenju was not home at the time, so it is very good that I didn't break anything. It is a miracle that I didn't crack a vertebra. I had a hard time getting up out of the floor from that position.
Our next purchase and installation will be a "grab bar" for the wall of the shower. The minute mr. kenju came home, I told him to call our friend the handyman and ask for one to be installed immediately, if not before. I just hope if I lose my balance again, I will have presence of mind and time enough to grab the bar!!
To add insult to injury, our health club hot-tub has been closed for a week. The hot, soothing water there would be just what I need to soothe my sore muscles and bones, and help to speed the bruises away. Of course, they haven't shown up yet - but I am sure they will!
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Our neighborhood women meet once a month for lunch, and today was supposed to be the day. Most of them were going to a local plant nursery before lunch, to see a workshop on planting containers, but I didn't need to see that, so I opted for lunch only. I was told that the reservation would be for 12:15, in a local restaurant known for its meatloaf and garlic mashed potatoes, the Tuesday special. I got there at 12:10, and while there was no reservation in our name, I searched the place for a familiar face. Seeing no one I knew, I sat in the waiting area for 30 minutes before leaving to go to a fast food place nearby.
I called the home of the woman who had planned it and was told by her husband that I had the wrong day, but he couldn't tell me what the actual day was. Talk about frustrated! I fell down in the shower and "broke my crown" and then I got stood up for lunch, except it might have been a senior/elder moment on my part. At this point, I am giving up on today and I'm off to take a nap! See you all later!
Edit: of course that was written earlier. A nap helped my attitude and my back, which has been sending little painful nerve signals out to my legs, feet, arms and hands all day.
38 comments:
Oh my, Judy!!!! You had "one of those days!!!!" As a veteran of back pain & surgery, you have my utmost sympathy! A heating pad and naproxen (aka Aleve) always seems to help me. Hope tomorrow is a better day!
Judy...that sounds like a very very nasty fall...Make sure you actually didn't hurt yourself more than you think, right now...I find it very scary that these kinds of things can happen so very quickly and before you know it...BAM!
I have some things to grab onto in my shower...And I move very very carefully in there...Of course I am quite a bit older than you...But, it is never too early to "proceed with caution"...I hope you feel 100% better tomorrow, my dear.
So sorry about your fall! Those out of control moments are so very much not fun.
Take care and I hope you are feeling better soon.
Here from Michele's today.
Darling Judy I know how shocking it is when you bang your coccyx - what with my stiff neck we are a pair but my post today may cheer you up although the pesky link still doesn't work!
I'm away for a week and don't do anything silly whilst I'm gone!!!!!xoxoxox
Definitely one of those days Judy! I am so sorry about your back and hope that you are better. Nothing a trip to IKEA can't cure! :) Have a good day.
Poor Judy ! I fell hard on my well padded bum once. It took the bruises days to ome out , and longer to disappear. I am impressed you still went put for lunch. I would have stayed home and licked my wounds.
ouch!
I second the heating pad and Aleve.
Hope things are looking up today!
Judy,
Your fall was terrible. You are very lucky you didn't break anything.
My cousin slipped in a motel shower in Savannah and fell through a glass door breaking it and slitting her neck and side.
That was a few years ago.
I ran into her the the other day while shopping and saw that there is only a tiny scar on her neck.
That was quite a scare you gave me there at the beginning. Glad you were able to recover and make it to your feet. I am sure for the short term you will feel some aches and pains - hopefully nothing serious.
I fell a few months ago when I lifted my foot up to a stool to tie my shoe. It just happened in an instant. Scared me to death and made me realize getting older has some pitfalls. (no pun intended)
Ouch! How awful, I am glad to hear that you didn't break anything. But getting stood up on the same day too? That is definitely a bad day. I hope that things take a markedly upward turn for you!
Oooops Judy, you need to take more water with your whiskey!!! hope you mend OK.
Ouch! Glad to hear you're well. A house can be a dangerous place: I learned that the hard way (literally) when I rolled down the stairs once...
Ouch!! I hope you are feeling better. Yes, the grab bars sound like a good idea.
That sounds awful! I am so glad nothing was cracked... that you know of. Yes those grips come in handy... Mom and Dad have one in their bathroom, along with slip resistant grips on the tub floor, a taller handicap toilet and a seat in the tub. Actually, ice is best for the early phases of bruising.......
Well, you were lucky not to break anything. I have been thinking about one of those bars too. I often feel sort of dizzy in the shower when I wash my hair because then I close my eyes against the shampoo. The bathroom can certainly be dangerous.
Take care
My mom put little flower non-slip pasties on the bottom of her shower after she did the same thing. She said the work like a dream.
You really are lucky Judy. That could have been so much worse. It's a terrible feeling when you feel yourself falling...and nothing to hold on to. I already had one nasty fall down some of our stairs about three years ago... trying to stop my granddaughter from falling. Result...she was fine thank God, but I wasn't so lucky. Some broken bones and elbow surgery on my right arm. Now I walk down the stairs like I'm about 104 years old....just a little cautious. I had my bathtub redone a year ago, and I DEFINITELY got the hold bar put in...you never know. Heal quickly Judy...I'm glad you're okay.
Owie.
Falling in the shower is actually one of my more recent fears. Even if the Spouse Thingy was home, he probably wouldn't hear me if I needed help, and I'd wither there on the shower floor, getting all wrinkly and pruney, until the cats raised such a fuss over their lack of food that he finally noticed I was gone...
I hope you're not too sore...!
Oh kenju, I'm glad you're ok! It's said the tub/shower is one of the most dangerous places in a home.
When I lived in Japan, one of our enlisted folks didn't show up for work. His boss called, didn't get an answer and eventually sent a co-worker to this guy's apartment...turns out he'd fallen in the shower and broken his neck! Horrible!
Thanks for visiting me today!
Judy, nurse rosemary here...go to the docs...now, ER if the office is closed, Urgent Care if ER is to much $$$. I fell through the bathroom window breaking into my house after locking myself out...grabbed the shower rod for some reason and crashed flat on my face and body...and had lots of injuries I though were just bruises...go. Wrong day for lunch? pfft...happens all the time to me.
That fall was a doozie! I'm glad you didn't break any bones. I'm sure bruises will be forthcoming. I bruise pretty easily, so I'd be purple all over my backside after a fall like that!
What a day!
Falling AND a messed up lunch date!! :(
Take it easy.
No more dancing in the shower!!
Holeh Crap!!! I hope you didn't do any serious damage to your back. It's hurting me just thinking about it.
Scientists call this "too bad." I hope you'll take utmost futurely care, Judy, and good luck with the current bruises, tingles and tinkles.
That is a doozy of a fall! How are you feeling today?
OUCH!
I felt that from here!
Take some ibuprofen!
And you totally need some mashed potatoes. I might need some after reading that.
Yowza.
Feel better. soon.
Sure hope you're OK... Maybe if you posted a picture of your lower back we could diagnose for you? Middle-of-the-back to back-of-the-knees should be sufficient. ;-)
Oh, ouch! I'm so sorry about your fall. The bathroom is a dangerous place. I'm glad I don't step into and out of a tub. I'm always grateful for a grab bar when there is one. I don't have any at home yet, but it wouldn't be a bad idea! I hope you heal quickly.
Kenju, I am so sorry you had a bad fall. Take it easy and get all better soon.
For some reason this old, old poem popped into my head while reading about your fall. My Mother taught it to me when I was about 4 years old.
"When I was at a party," said Betty age just four,
"A little girl fell off her chair right down upon the floor"
"All the other little girls laughed but me. I didn't laugh a single bit" said Betty seriously.
"Why didn't you laugh," said Mother, or don't you care to tell?"
"I didn't laugh" said Betty, Cause twas me that fell" :)
So sorry to hear about the fall, Judy. Ropes, handles - whatever it takes. I've been on the road in the trailer for almost two years, but if I could sit down in a bath, that's what I'd do!
Stick non-skid tape on the floor, too. Bath mats just don't do it.
OW!! I hope it heals up fast.
omgoodness I hope you aren't in too much pain. Now me I doubt i would have left the house for lunch after a fall like that.
My goodness! I'm so glad you are okay!! What a fall. What a day!
I'm so glad you did not break anything! Put some salt in your bathtub and stay there for a while, it is so relaxing, that's my mom's advice for when we're tired.
YIKES!! I'm 32 and have 2 grab bars in MY shower. It's just a smart thing to do. (although I admit they were already there when I bought the house) I hope you are ok.......that is so scary. It happens so fast!!! And the lunch thing? I'd be pissed! But you probably know that. haha.
Oh Judy, what a frightening experience. What a tough day, falling and going to lunch and finding out it was the wrong date.
Hope you are feeling better now, lucky you didn't break anything. Those bars sound like a great idea. I should have them put in too.
Even though you didn't break anything you still must be all shades of black and blue!
You can't keep a good woman down, that's you kid - take care.
*whew* That's scary, Judy. Those backward falls, especially in an area with all those hard objects around, are so dangerous. I'm glad you came out with just bruises and sore muscles.
I've seen shower chairs in some people's homes--but I think you're still much too young for that!
I'm so sorry to hear about your fall, I don't read my fav blogs everyday...I surely hope you are feeling alot better now. You fall made me think about a few times I kinda lost my barings while washing my hair as u were doing...I have never fallen but I think the grip rail is a very good idea.
Did you finally go to lunch with your friends?
Best wishes Kenju
NOBODY is too young for shower chairs. We got ours when I was 31. Of course that was after I'd had a traffic accident (head injury) and I was afraid of passing out and hitting something hard - bathrooms are full of hard things - but I got better, and the shower chair stayed. The idea of showering standing up is alien to me now. A stand-up shower is a hurry-hurry shower. A sit-down shower is fa comfortable, careful shower, and besides, in winter you get to sit with your feet in a bucket of hot water. :-)
(I also recommend a sticky mat-type thingy for the bath - if you have a bath - if only for the entertainment value.)
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