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Elaine · Posted: Thu Jul 05, 2007 9:19 pm Post subject:

NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! You musn't go! This place wouldn't be the same without you.

Deborah · Posted: Mon Oct 15, 2007 3:49 am Post subject:

I never did manage to break away...

I have something to report, although it's not about any big change in my life, just an accident. A couple of weeks ago, I was on my way to a party and when I got the restauran where I was supposed to pick up some food to go, I realized I didn't have my purse. So I went home and then realized that my keys were in my purse. I've never put any keys outside the house, because every possible place seemed too obvious. Both of my neighbors have keys to my place, but they weren't at home (or so I thought -- it turned out my downstairs neighbor was in the back room watching TV, but all the lights were out). I was pretty sure I'd left the window that lets out onto the roof of the garage unlocked, so I decided to climb the fence. It's about 7 ft high and I'm 6 ft, but I did it a few years ago, so I figured I could do it again. However, since that last time, I've gained a lot of weight and lost a lot of upper body strenght, especially since I haven't been to the gym at all for the last year.

I managed to haul myself up so I had one arm and one foot over the fence, and I just couldn't believe I should be having so much trouble, so I kept struggling. Finally I realized it wasn't working and that I should let myself down, rest up a bit, and try again, a different way. I tried to lower myself slowly to the ground, but I'd used up all my strength and ended up falling on my ass on the sidewalk. My back was to the downward slope of the hill, so I immediately fell backward and hit my head. Both hits stunned me, although I didn't lose consciousness. But it hurt so badly that I couldn't even roll over, much less sit up. I managed to flag down a passing car, and the driver called an ambulance on seeing that there was blood on the sidewalk under my head. (Not to worry -- it was only a small laceration.)

I'll tell you, there's nothing like taking a ride in an ambulance, strapped to a back board, when most of the pressure is on the part of your body that hurts the most! Oh, those speed bumps... Anyway, nothing was broken, so they just cleaned up my scalp wound and sent me home, where my roommate had arrived and was able to let me in. The next day, she bought one of those fake stones that's hollow so you can put keys in it. It's sitting in one of the potted plants in front of the house, well hidden, and looking very natural, even if you do happen to lift up the plant to look in the pot. But I suppose housebreakers are probably very familiar with those things. No doubt the best thing to do is have keys in all of my pockets and in every purse and bag I own.

I got very tired of hearing people tell me that I shouldn't be trying to climb a fence at my age. After all, there's not much difference between 53 and 56. So what I really need to do, after I get to where it doesn't hurt so much to move, is to get back to the gym, lose weight and regain my upper body strength.

Walker · Moderator Joined: 24 Aug 2006 Posts: 758

So how's it going, Deborah? Can you move without feeling pain?

Deborah · Posted: Sun Oct 21, 2007 10:12 pm Post subject:

Hi, Walker, thanks for asking. It's been 3 weeks now, and while I can function pretty normally when I'm on over-the-counter pain medication, it's still painful to sit down on/get up from a low seat (even using my arms), and walk up stairs or a hill. Walking is better, but I still can't take long steps.

I discovered something new -- I've lost sensation in an area a couple of inches of diameter in the skin of my left buttock. Nothing I'll miss, but I guess I did fall pretty hard (well, I knew that already!).

I'm getting a bit concerned about the pain still being there after all this time, so I phoned my doctor on Friday, but she didn't get back to me.

Walker · Moderator Joined: 24 Aug 2006 Posts: 758

It's good that you can function pretty normally, but I hope you'll be able to see you doctor as soon as possible.

greg in noord-frankrijk · Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2007 11:51 am Post subject:

KSa · Langcaffeine Addict Joined: 27 Aug 2006 Posts: 601

Deborah,
If you function pretty normally, I mean you can walk, bent or twist, you don't need to be worry about the pain too much. However, if it lasts too long I'd definetely contact the doctor. Especially when you've lost sensation in certain areas. Maybe you need to have your body x-rayed?

Deborah · Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2007 12:10 am Post subject:

Thanks to you all for your advice and good wishes.

I did get an x-ray at the emergency room, which showed that nothing was broken. I can walk (but I can't walk quickly or with large steps, as I usually do) and bend over (but only with quite a bit of pain) and going up more than one flight of stairs or up a steep hill is still quite painful. My bottled water container in the kitchen is empty, but I can't get the replacement bottle up the stairs -- I must remember to ask someone for help.

Since I last posted, I managed to talk to someone in the emergency room who advised me that after an emergency room visit, as a general rule, I should consult my regular doctor, and not assume that nothing more needs to be done just because it wasn't suggested by the ER doctor. So I left a message for my regular doctor again this morning; maybe I'll eventually get a response. He also guessed that my level of pain was normal, since the butt muscles are in so many actions. I also talked to a cab driver who said it took him 6 weeks to get over the pain from a similar fall (but he had landed on his tailbone, which is quite another matter).

Meanwhile, I guess I'll try to overcome my fear of taking pain medication for long periods.

Elaine · Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2007 12:50 am Post subject:

I'm glad you're okay, Deborah. I hope you got to see your doctor by now.

Deborah · Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2007 3:26 am Post subject:

Elaine · Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2007 11:15 pm Post subject:

Deborah · Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2007 11:34 pm Post subject:

Thanks for the warning.

Deborah · Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2007 1:32 am Post subject:

We had another earthquake in the SF Bay Area 2 days ago. And, in keeping with the others that have occurred since I started talking about them here, this one was stronger than the last -- a 5.6 that seems to me to last about 15-20 seconds. I was in my Spanish class (on the 4th floor) when it happened. Unlike the last few small earthquakes, this one was instantly recognizable as an earthquake, so the first comment was not “¿Es un terremoto?” but “¡Es un terremoto!” It felt strong enough that, if it had been any stronger, I’d have dived under the table.

And speaking of diving under the table, a few weeks ago someone in my class told us about having read on the internet that it was not a good idea to get under a table in a strong earthquake—according to the article, the safest place is right next to the table, in a safe “pocket” that’s supposed to be created if the table is flattened by falling debris. Then another person in the class said she’d read that that was an urban myth.

So when this recent earthquake had been going on for about 10 seconds and everyone was silently waiting to decide whether or not to dive for cover, our teacher broke the tension by remarking that we might get to test that theory.

I believe the only significant damage that occurred was in stores, where products fell off the shelves and made a mess. In my apartment, my roommate had a framed picture that was sitting on a shelf, only propped up against the wall. This fell, and the glass broke.

Deborah · Posted: Mon Nov 12, 2007 5:05 am Post subject:

A big change in my life -- I got laid off, along with 18 other people. I'd been hanging on at this job, which I hated, hoping I could bear it long enough to be laid off. At last!! I got a pretty nice severance package, and now I can rest for awhile. I don't know what I'm going to do for a living now, but I'm going to really try to avoid working in offices.

André in Zuid-Afrika · Site Admin Joined: 19 Aug 2006 Posts: 1908

Deborah · Posted: Tue Nov 13, 2007 12:20 am Post subject:

That's right, André! I can get my certificate in teaching ESL, once I finish two written assignments, and I still have my certificate in Swedish massage. I think doing a combination of those two professions could be pretty nice.

Walker · Moderator Joined: 24 Aug 2006 Posts: 758

Deborah · Posted: Wed Nov 21, 2007 9:55 pm Post subject:

Walker · Moderator Joined: 24 Aug 2006 Posts: 758

Deborah · Posted: Wed Nov 21, 2007 11:18 pm Post subject: