A quote from a TV commercial eons ago. And words I said on Tuesday July 7. I wasn’t using them as a joke, but rather saying them to a LifeLine operator so they could tell my wife and send paramedics to my house.
I fell.
I had snagged my cane and did not realize it until it was too late. Picture a person whose right arm and leg are rigid and then falls like a tree onto their right side. They have no way to cushion the fall. That’s what it’s was like for me. It was the worst pain I have ever felt. While I waited for the paramedics to arrive my Dog stayed right by my side yelping at the door with a sound that I’ve never heard him make before. I think he was calling help. The last he saw me on the floor was when I had the stroke. I was gone for 5 months after that.
The paramedics showed up and basically put half my body into traction. They could not lift me because my right of my body cannot be used to lift me at any time and in this case we didn’t know how much damage was done to my right side so there was no way to lift me anyway until the ambulance showed up. We then waited about 90 minutes for a ambulance with me on the floor looking at the ceiling.
After a uneventful ambulance ride to the hospital I only had to wait about 30 minutes to get me a bed in the emergency room. (Usually that takes hours and the ambulance paramedics have to wait with me. To me that is not right. The paramedics should not be tied up with me. They need to find a better solution)
After taking a TON of X-Rays they determined nothing was broken. They then made sure I could walk and then sent me home.
I think the fall might of sent my recovery backwards. Maybe a lot. My right arm doesn’t move at all anymore. Before the fall I had a little bit of movement that took a year and half to accomplish. I hope that this fall didn’t erase that accomplishment. Today is Friday and the accident happened on Tuesday. The pain in my shoulder seems to have increased rather than decreased.
I’ll update this post as my condition changes.
My Stroke Progress Blog 