Life Happens

This past weekend was not the best weekend of the summer, to say the least.

As I posted earlier, we had a big storm at 3:00 am on Saturday morning. As a result, we lost two trees, lots of big and small branches, plus our electricity. On Sunday, after finishing cleaning up the branches, washing windows, sweeping, etc., I took the dog out for a quick walk before we were going to go over to my parents for a shower (the power was still out, and we have an electric water heater).

I was walking along our street, looking up at the storm damage, when I stepped on a branch just the wrong way. My ankle gave out and I fell on my left arm. As I fell, I heard a popping in my shoulder. I immediately knew that I had dislocated it. As I sat on the ground wondering how I was going to get up, Brix (the cutie pictured above) sat in my lap and licked my face. Luckily, we weren't far from home - I managed to get up and get to the house. We immediately headed for the emergency room, and in a few hours I had my shoulder popped back into place and my arm in a sling. (I'll spare you the details, but let's just say it hurt so much I'm just glad I didn't pass out. They put me out for the actual "popping", thank God.)

In the meantime, the power didn't go back on until almost 9:00 pm last night. There was another big storm that came through last night at about 11:30, but luckily the power didn't go out again.

After three days without power, one of those with a dislocated shoulder, I managed to make it into work today. I'm still uncomfortable, but at least the power (and the water heater) is now working. The shoulder is doing okay - it's achy and I can't move it much - and I'll find out more when I go to the orthopedist next week.

So, I know for sure I won't be doing any real gardening for the next few weeks, and I think I will just lay low with the blogging, too - I figure it's one thing I can take off my plate for the rest of the week. Plus, the typing probably isn't doing me much good. Of course, something amazing will probably happen and I'll be back in a few days, but at least now I've given myself "permission" to take the rest of the week off.

See you soon!

Comments

[kris]

Tracy - I'm so sorry to hear about your shoulder - major bummer! When it rains, it pours... I hope you're feeling better soon.

[Manerva]

Too bad about your shoulder, but happy nothing is broken- that's what I thought you were leading up to!

Atleast you got some rain- we are still drying up here in the southwestern part of the state.

Get well soon:)

[steven]

Ouch! Take care of yourself and it's a good thing Brix was there to administer First Aid.

[RuthieJ]

Oh Tracy, I'm so sorry. What a painful inconvenience, but at least you didn't break anything. I hope you feel better soon and enjoy taking it a little easy for a while.

[Greengirl]

Oh no! I am so sorry! Last year, I tore my hamstring and was hamstrung to the house. It was so frustrating! If you'd like some help weeding, send me an email. I'll even make you a mojito. Get well quickly!

[Deb]

Sorry to hear about your shoulder-hope the pain goes away quickly! And I forgot to check in here over the weekend; you got hit hard by that storm! We barely got a sprinkling of rain here.

[kim]

Oh man... that sucks about your shoulder. I hope that the "something amazing" that might happen this week is a full and record recovery.

(By the way, I hope that you gave that sweetheart Brix a few extra scratches behind the ears with your good arm. What a good dog!)

[Tracy]

Thanks, everyone! I'm getting better, but certainly not as quickly as I'd like. I don't need the sling all the time, but I still really can't use my left arm for much. I'm a bit worried about my fall planting plans - I think they may not happen after all.

Basically, with a dislocation, for at least two weeks after the initial injury, you can very easily dislocate it again. The ligaments and such have been stretched, and it takes awhile for them to tighten back up. Plus, I would assume over-40 ligaments take longer to heal than younger ones!

It's frustrating, because there are things I'd like to do in the garden. Jaime - I may end up taking you up on your offer of weeding and mojitos after all!

[Greengirl]

Whee hee! I love weeding... It distracts me from more important tasks like dishes, scooping cat boxes and getting together a plan for our front yard.

[Tracy]

Well, Jaime, if you really want to weed . . . . Actually, my shoulder is starting to feel a lot better. The physical therapist might not approve, but this weekend I'm going to give some gardening chores a try.