Mandatory Rest

I have taken a couple of weeks off. Not because I wanted to but because circumstances forced me to. A couple of weeks ago I had an accidental fall in the driveway. My husband was trimming the hedge and had a electric drop cord strung across the carport entrance. He could not see me because he was around the corner. As I was walking over the cord he happened to pull it at the same time so he could get it further down the hedge. Obvious to say, I fell face forward in the driveway. An urgent treatment visit later, I found I had a fractured elbow, severely bruised shin, bruised ribs and a muscle strain in my lower back. Thank goodness my parents came and stayed with us the first week.

I am healing quickly. My elbow is out of the sling because the fracture is stable. I have to be very careful for another month or so about lifting and suddenly jarring it until the fracture heals completely. It will be a while before I will have full strength and function back in it. My lower leg still swells when I am on it a lot but it is getting much better. My back is healing and my ribs no longer hurt when I breathe. I feel fortunate I was not injured more severely. I fell very close to our Aztec and could have hit my head.

I have learned some important things the past two weeks. One is that I can use my left hand (non-dominate) hand very well. Two, that it is OK to need help once in a while. Three, the household and other things in my life can go on without me. Four and most importantly how much I needed this rest and break. Maybe next time I can take a break though and not get hurt.