Keep Your Feet on the Ground!

I've done it again. Saturday I slipped on the Post Office steps and am totally amazed I didn't break a hip, or anything else for that matter.

I have had a number of falls in the past couple of years. Thinking about it, three of them have been on that same hip so I must have good strong bones. The other two were face plants. One of those left me with road rash on my face for a couple of weeks, and the other one left me with tender knees for at least a year.  I  likely should have visited the doctor for both of those falls, but I didn't. And when you fall on a hip and don't break it, you just feel lucky and don't bother to seek medical help then either. 

But this time it's different.

The steps were cement, and my feet went out from under me, so I fell like I would have on flat land, but with the corner of each step connecting with various parts of my body.  I not only landed on my bottom on one step, but the edge of a step hit me on my backside one step higher. That's the one I would have expected to shatter the hip bone.  Another step got me across the back of both legs, so I have bruises there too. One ankle is also bruised, but I'm sure I didn't hit that unless I bounced and don't remember it.  My left arm connected with another step higher up, and my shoulder was bothering me a lot for a couple of days too.  Basically, if it was on my left side, it hurts.

The thing that's concerning me the most now though, is an internal pain. I mean, I know I took quite a jolt, and likely shook everything up inside. While the bruised areas aren't bothering me at all, this internal discomfort is likely worse than it was a couple of days ago.  It's not so bad that has me running for pain medications, but it's somewhat uncomfortable.  I've never experienced this with any of my previous falls so I decided maybe I should get checked out, just in case I did damage to some internal organ.

The weather man is calling for freezing rain.  Just what I need when I want to walk across town to the Medical Centre. (I don't drive).  It was slippery conditions that caused this fall, and I'm not ready to try my luck again quite so soon.  I decided to call Telehealth Ontario, to ask if they thought I needed to see the doctor, or if I could get away with bed rest.  The first interviewer was very nice but quickly decided I should talk to a registered nurse. The nurse was on another line, but called me back within a few minutes. She asked me a series of questions, and then gave her recommendations. She said I should see my doctor within the next 24 hours, and that if I decided to take something for the pain, Tylenol was the safest thing for someone my age. 

I called the doctor's office to make an appointment, and I think that saying Telehealth Ontario told me to actually got me in sooner. The timing means I'll have to cancel, or postpone an appointment I already had to get my hearing aid fixed tomorrow, but this is likely more important.  Now watch the pain magically disappear before I get there.