Oopsie!

When a person is as clumsy as I can be, accidents, falls, missteps, and a variety of other perils are just waiting to happen.

One happened this morning.

I’d taken out the trash and was walking back to the house when I noticed a pile of dried whirly-birds that had fallen from one of our maple trees into the downspout area of our guttering.

They looked nasty, so I scooped up two handfulls and carried them back to the trashcan.

With my hands full, I used my foot to lift the lid off the can, but the lid snapped right back down. So I tried again.

Uh-oh.

The can moved, I lost my balance, and there — in front of the entire neighborhood — I toppled backward into the street.

My tailbone took the brunt of my fall; however, both elbows, my palms, and even the back of my head decided to get into the act.

Recalling a much earlier stumble (one that necessitated nine stitches), I brought my hands up and applied pressure to my head. Yep, it was bleeding.

My mom (bless her heart for not panicking!) washed the spot with antiseptic soap, assured me it “didn’t look too bad,” and urged me to call my doctor “just in case.”

My son (who hates all things medical) drove me to the urgent care clinic. They took one look at me and rushed me ahead of the others, who didn’t have head wounds.

After administering a series of weird tests — “follow my finger, raise your eyebrows, smile, frown, stick your tongue out and wag it side to side” — and after talking to me to determine my lucidity and taking my vitals, they pronounced me okay to leave.

No stitches needed.

They offered pain medication, but I said I’d stick with Tylenol (no sense compounding my pain with nausea!).

So I’m trying to lay low for the rest of the day, take it easy, and stay out of more trouble.

I’m fortunate it wasn’t any worse, don’t you think?

18 thoughts on “Oopsie!

  1. Sissy—Im so sorry! Remember Daddy used to say to me—“no one ever called you Grace!”—guess it’s genetic after all. I choked last week (on cracker crumbs)! thank God Bob was there as he started the Heimlich on me— needless to say, I’ve been chewing my food 12 times each!! rest up and pace yourself–love you

    • Thanks, sis! Yep, it wasn’t pretty — now I’ve got scratches on my elbows, a lump the size of a golf ball on the back of my head, and a sore butt! Still, I’ve got to look on the bright side and realize it could have been SO much worse. Wish you were here to have a cuppa with me!

  2. Oh my Debbie!! I hate when that happens. But thank God …….it could have been much worse, my friend fell like that last year and had to have her hip replaced. I know you’ll be hurting for a few days, but that will be extra time to blog ( smile) Careful now lady.LOL

    • Thanks so much — I’ll take all the tea and sympathy I can get! I’m managing with basic Tylenol for now, but as the hours pass, I’m finding more and more sore spots!

  3. Oh my goodness, so glad you’re ok…weird how we are doing simple things and bam we’re on the ground. I fell of my bike last week, wasn’t even riding, was standing with it in the driveway…maybe we’re related?! Hope you’re feeling better soon!

    • Oh, Suzi, I hope you’re okay after your bike threw you — of course, that’s what happened. You couldn’t have fallen when it was stationary! Maybe it’s the driveway part that tripped both of us up — mine happened there, too!

  4. Oh my gosh, Debbie, I’m glad you weren’t hurt anymore than you were. It’s amazing how most accidents occur in or around our own homes.Yes, you have earned a “lay low” day,my friend! Take care~ Kathy

    • Thanks, Kathy. I’m just fortunate my family was around to wipe my boo-boos and haul me to the doctor’s office. It was embarrassing enough, out in the open like that, without having to page for an ambulance and have strangers tending to me!

  5. I’m glad you’re not seriously hurt. You’re going to have to think of a story to explain your injuries, though – you can’t tell people you bumped your head taking out the trash! How ’bout you were fighting off a pack of stray dogs who attacked you and your dog, but with your sheer strength and determination, you were able to run them off, saving your dog from so much as a scratch? No? Well, taking out the trash it is 🙂

    Hope you feel better soon!

    • And that’s why they call us writers, Janna — because we’re so quick to make up stories to cover the dumb things we do! Stray dogs?? It might just work — thanks for the suggestion!

  6. Glad you were not seriously hurt. . .I always take the pain med subscription though for me and my friends. Doctor visits are few and far between–we use a lot of hydrogen peroxide and bondit. No joke my brother-in-law put his kids head back together with bondit… he has no medical training but he is very good with his hands–used his carpentry skill. Healed great.-Thank Goodness. Cole has never been to an emergency room and I am so grateful–I can deal with our blood but not other people’s blood and drama.
    I am glad both your mom and son were available to take care of you…and I hope your mom gave your injury a kiss–love heals everything faster.

    • Glad you’ve been spared the ER, Katybeth — I had to take my son there when he was about 4, after he toppled from the sofa into the coffee table (playing “fireman”!). What a harrowing adventure; better me than him this time! Through it all, it’s been my dog who’s especially attentive and won’t leave my side — funny, they just know!

  7. Bless your heart! Hope you are feeling better. Would have gotten here sooner but was in Oxford 🙂 – it is a precious town with the nicest people! But it was hotter than living hell. No matter. What a great place. Feel better and be safe 🙂

    • So glad you liked Oxford — four years there at University wasn’t nearly enough. No wonder so many alumni refuse to leave the place! And the stories you can hear around the square and the amazing Southern accents all add up to an over-abundance of writers and wannabe-writers! But you’re right about the heat — that’s why Sardis Lake is so popular! Thanks for sympathizing with my clumsiness.

    • Bless you for caring! I’m still working through the pain, but I haven’t posted in a while because I’ve just had so many other things on my plate lately. You’d think the monkeys would settle down after a while, wouldn’t you? I’ll put you on my prayer-list, too, and I’m grateful for your prayers!

  8. Pingback: Down I Go…Again | Musings by an ND Domer's Mom

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