My job at the Welcome Center is practically just down the street from me and I like to walk there and back on my workdays. I even do paced walking with my phone tapping out a beat for me to walk to. Monday, on my way home from work, I tripped.

I landed hard on the side of the road and my right knee hurt like the dickens. There had been a light drizzle and the pavement was wet, so when I got myself in a sitting position, water was soaking through my pants. I tried calling Mark to see if he could come and pick me up because I didn’t feel like I could get up with my knee hurting so bad, but he was on his way home from a job and was too far away. I leaned over to reach my water cup which had fallen out of my backpack when I went down, and just then, a car turned the corner. The driver and his wife stopped to see if I was OK and I told them I had fallen, so they got out and helped me up and then drove me the rest of the way home. I’m grateful for the kindness of strangers!

When Mark got home, I had my pants leg rolled up and he could see I had scraped my knee, but it didn’t look as bad as I felt. I was also getting a headache. He suggested I go lay down for a while, but as I laid on the bed, my back hurt all the way up and down my spine. I’ve had whiplash before and that’s what it felt like, so I told Mark I thought I might need to go to Urgent Care.

A woman in Urgent Care put a neck brace on me and told me I needed to be seen in the ER in case anything was broken, so she wheeled me over to that department. There, I had a CAT scan done and they determined that nothing was broken, but they prescribed Lidocaine patches and Naproxen for my pain and sent me home.

I stayed home from work on Tuesday and Wednesday and still didn’t feel up to going to work yesterday, so I made an appointment for a ninety-minute massage thinking that might help. I fell asleep during the massage, but when I woke up, I had a screaming headache. When I got home, I was in such pain that I cried, so Mark made a hot bath for me with Epsom salts and lavender oil. That helped some, and then we watched a movie which helped take my mind off my head. Still, I woke up during the night and had a hard time getting back to sleep because of my headache.

Today, my boss at the Welcome Center asked if I could come in the afternoon if she covered the morning and that sounded a lot more doable to me than a full shift. Mark stayed home today, so he drove me to work and then picked me up at closing time. What a guy, I tell you!

I’m feeling a little better today. I was actually able to get some things done, but my boss at the Noble House told me to give it a rest again tomorrow. At the Welcome Center, I’m able to sit most of the time, but at the Noble House, there are stairs to climb and sometimes I’m on my feet for a couple of hours at a time, so I didn’t argue.

I haven’t felt much like writing at my computer until today, so that’s why it’s been nearly a week since this happened. I still have pain, but it’s more bearable than it’s been, so that’s progress!