Wednesday, February 10, 2010

At least I know how to fall ...

I was talking to my ice dancing partner the other day about getting back out on the ice (still a month away) and he asked me if I was going to freak out the first time I fall. "Nah! I'm tough!" I thought.

Well, today I got a sneak preview when I took a spectacular fall on the wet sidewalk in the rain. I was just walking along when my heel slid out from under me (unknown to me, the heel of my shoe was dangerously worn out). Up went both my legs and down went I, squarely onto my butt, but with the presence of mind to break my fall with my arms and avoid a direct hit to my hips.

Other than the embarrassment, it wasn't too bad. I got up immediately (as skaters do to avoid getting run over), picked up my purse, took stock of my aches and pains (knowing they will be far worse tomorrow), and kept right on walking, to the amazement of onlookers who didn't even have time to rush over and help. I was limping when I got up, of course, but no worse than I had been before I fell down! I am not sure if the onlookers knew that, or if they figured the fall caused the limp.

Truth be told, it wasn't a big deal for my hips. I now have an ice pack on my right shoulder, which broke the fall. My back twisted and is a little sore. My hips feel absolutely fine, even though my legs did kind of get pulled - I figure I will have more pain tomorrow somewhere in the hip region.

In some ways I am relieved to know that I can take a hard fall and get up and walk away from it without a trip to the emergency room. It did not jar any screws loose or necessitate finding my crutches in the garage.

Tomorrow I will probably be sore all over, but that would happen regardless of prior hip surgeries. In any case, I survived this little bump in the road. The offending shoes are in the trash!

2 comments:

HipSk8 said...

Shelley - I actually thought of you and your skiing fall, but as I recall you fell directly on your hip! Ouch! I didn't hit my hip on the ground so not as bad.

I was actually relieved to fall now, so I know that if it happens skiing or skating in the future it won't be a huge deal.

Carl said...

Hey Terri! Good to see your progress! I know you feel it's somewhat slow, but the time will fly by! Muzette had her ACL surgury 1 year 1 month ago, and it was minor surgury compared to yours, is still weak on her right leg. It hurts her somewhat every day... of course if she'd do her physical theropy she might have gotten better faster but she doesn't... lol
You and I are the type that just have to do everything the doctors and phys say we can do and then some, unless we feel it's a detrement... lol
Oh, I skated the 1st time this year when I was home last, @ 262lbs it was not fun... see my only excuse is not following a proper eating plan... ha ha, 100lbs for me to go!! We should be skating about the same time frame... lol
Glad your ok, the fall would be scary! Whew!