We kept on walking, up and onto a paved path for about mile, and then somehow my left foot slipped off the side of the paved path. I fell down, hard, on my right knee. I was too stunned at first to do anything, then I started to tremble and cry. I managed to get to my feet and hobble the mile or so back to my car, sniveling the whole way with my knee swelling rapidly under my jeans. Bending my leg to get in the car hurt like hell, as did using the gas and brake. Now I'm back at home, with the knee elevated and a pack of frozen peas on it, wondering if I need to go to Urgent Care and get it looked at. It's swollen up to the size of a softball and feels tight and hot to the touch. The size of it is starting to alarm me.
Ms. Graceful strikes again! I need to find a way to work on my balance and flexibility when my knee gets well. This is ridiculous.
Oh you poor thing Jennifer. It is terrible to fall over - a real shock, even if you don't hurt yourself. The swelling is a real pain, and I hope it goes down quickly. I am trying to work out what time it is with you, but - if you can - get some sleep with your leg up and get well soon.
ReplyDeleteIt is almost 6:30pm Tom. Urgent Care down the road closes at 8 and I can't decide whether or not to have it looked at. I don't think I'd be able to walk if I had broken anything. And it was a shock, as you say. I couldn't stop trembling and crying for most of the walk back to my car, which embarrassed me almost as much as the fall.
DeleteThank you Tom.
Catch them if they are still open. No harm done.
DeleteMy husband was working late, and I didn't feel comfortable driving myself. So I took lots of ibuprofen and kept it on ice. It's less swollen today but still hurts a lot.
DeleteI can't offer Rx advice, but my old grandma advice is elevate, lots of frozen veggies, and see urgent care tomorrow so they can give you a brace, because you will go back to work.
ReplyDeleteI have to pick up a prescription today anyway, I may check for a knee brace at the drugstore. Even with insurance a trip to urgent care would cost around $200 and I hate to spend the money if nothing is broken.
DeleteOh Jennifer what a mess. Something like that does shock your system.
ReplyDeleteI did something like this only it was an ankle and it swelled up so fast I could breathe or move for awhile. Winston pulled me and I crashed and burned.
I waited a day but I did go to Urgent Care the next day.
Hope you have no damage and your doing all the right things.
Be well !
cheers, parsnip
Thank you Gayle. I don't think anything is broken, thank goodness, but it still really hurts and is swollen. Also, my left arm hurts today, probably from trying to break my fall.
DeleteBy this time you have decided what to do. I hope you went to Urgent Care.
ReplyDeleteSee my reply, above. I may still go but I think I'll be okay. Just really sore.
DeleteYou should blame the terrain; not your balance. In the woods around us, there are low growing brambles that lie about 6 ins above the ground. I get tripped-up all the time. The alternative is to walk like a trotting horse, but I'd feel such a plonker!
ReplyDeleteAlways speaking about you. You cannot help it mr. Cro Miss Jennifer I hope you will recover quickly , a swollen knee is so painful.
DeleteCro, the terrain was pretty rough. The first time I fell I tripped over a root, although the root had been marked with pink paint so if I had been paying attention it could have been avoided. The second fall was entirely my own clumsy fault...walking too close to the pavement and slipping off the side. I really do have terrible balance even under ideal circumstances.
DeleteA friend of mine broke her knee cap like that and was still able to walk so you could have a break but they cant do anything with those breaks anyway.
ReplyDeleteYou do need to have it checked but it doesn't matter much if it's tonight or tomorrow.
Two falls in one day suggest to me you were tired.
This kinda stuff can give a girl a right shake up, its also painful and highly inconvenient. A little crying is understandable
I hope my kneecap isn't broken! It's still pretty swollen. I did more than a little crying...I had calmed down a little by the time I got home but when I walked in the door I started again and just sobbed. It wasn't one of my finest moments, that's for sure. :(
DeleteI feel for you. I spent a lot of 2018 with a bag of frozen peas on my knee after I had been walking. I had a soft tissue injury ( just a slight tweak as I came to the top of the stairs seemed to start it !) that took months and lots of physio and an injection to make it somewhat better now. I also fell on a tarmac road while walking and crashed down on my left hip and left hand.....swollen hand and bruising but no serious damage done. It really shakes you up though doesn't it? I hope have had the knee checked out and that you will feel better soon. X
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh...that sounds terrible! I hope you're fully recovered now!
DeleteOh dear, I know exactly how a fall can shake your entire system, and how wobbly and tearful it makes you feel. I don't fall often, but even when I slip and threaten to fall, it is a shock that feels worse the older I get.
ReplyDeleteI hope you did go to have your knee looked at?
I didn't, and I hope I don't regret it. It really did seem shocking and I felt tearful and shaky all night. Thank you Meike.
DeleteOuch! I find that my clumsy moments, like yours this day, aren’t solitary. I bump my head in the kitchen cabinet. Two minutes later I scrape it on the corner of a shelf and then I walk into the door. Feel better!
ReplyDeleteI have terrible balance and flexibility. I really think that I need to find a way to work on that while I'm still relatively young. I shudder to think what the fall would have been like in another 10 or 20 years. I really am a first rate klutz!
DeleteThat's an awful thing to happen. Shock and pain can make you cry, it's quite normal to feel that way. I hope you haven't injured yourself too badly. You did the right thing with the frozen peas.
ReplyDeleteShock and pain and embarrassment. I had to pass other walkers on my way back to my car, crying and dirty and limping. And my friends witnessed it too. I felt humiliated.
DeleteSo sorry to hear this!
ReplyDeleteOh dear! I hope that some rest will see the knee healing itself. When we were kids we fell down all the time with no repercussions...
ReplyDeleteOK, I have now caught up. I tend to agree you should probably have it looked at, just to be sure something isn't seriously injured. A softball-sized swelling sounds pretty severe!
ReplyDeleteFalling doesn't just hurt. It's frightening. Remember RICE = Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation.
ReplyDeleteLove,
Janie
i hope all is well!
ReplyDelete