I've spent Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday on the recliner icing my knee and I am BORED. I go out in the mornings and evenings to check the tomatoes and water and the rest of the time I'm playing games on my phone or reading a book I'm just not interested in. I've already notified Jan that I probably won't be at SHARE tomorrow either. She says stay home and stay off it.
I don't know if you can tell from this picture how sickly yellow my knee and leg has bruised and the purple is behind my knee. Weird, right? The color starts above my knee and goes about two thirds of the way to my ankle. Still swollen but not as much and there's a lump between my knee cap and the front of the tibia, an area full of ligaments and meniscus. I spent part of the day Wednesday reading about knee and ligament and meniscus injuries and treatment. I didn't hear a pop, indicative of a torn ligament, no weakness in the knee, no wobbliness in the knee, no pain when I walk or bend it though I haven't tried bending it past about 90 degrees. Past that it feels like it's being stretched. So I don't have a clue what the exact injury is, a sprain maybe.
I imagine the conversation at my next annual since they have started asking me if I've fallen lately. What do you mean by 'fall'? Do you mean fall if I tripped over something anyone no matter their age would have fallen after tripping over it? Or getting dizzy and falling or just plain losing my balance while puttering around the house or yard or because a knee or ankle gave way unexpectedly? Because I don't think falling after tripping over a mostly hidden pipe in the grass really counts.
No one could have caught themselves and I had landed on my knee before I even realized I was falling though I was quick enough to save my face.
Wednesday night I woke up at some point and realized I was laying in the fetal position with my knee fully bent and no pain. Well, that's good thinks I. So I decided to go to SHARE after all and as soon as I walked in everyone was all, what are you doing here, you're supposed to be home taking care of your knee to which I replied that after three days of sitting on my ass I was bored stupid. Fortunately it wasn't very busy, about half of what we did last week and one of the other volunteers assigned herself to me to help and I would sit in between food orders. So all is well, still a little swollen and tender to the touch though.
As mentioned we are having a heat wave with highs in the high 90s and the 'feels like' in triple digits. That in itself is bad enough but it has been so far accompanied with a dry south wind. I'll water something and the next day it's droopy. These crinum blooms usually last a couple of days but this wind is drying them out overnight.
Welcome to global warming.
That leg looks like it needs some serious relaxation to recover. Ice on your leg might bring relief from that dreadful heat too. And you are right - tripping doesn't constitute falling in the sense that one thinks of older people falling.
ReplyDeleteMy knee is still swollen from my fall. And yes, it was a fall, I suppose, as I fell up the steps. Flip flops were sort of involved. No problems with mobility in it, just pain when I kneel on it. Which is making me crazy because weeding makes me happy.
ReplyDeleteAre we leading parallel lives, Ellen?
My knee mainly hurts when I've been sitting too long with my leg bent - the back of my knee gets VERY TIGHT & doesn't want to straighten out for a bit. It does hurt to the touch too, but not as much as at first. I actually do a little better if I move more during the day - not YOUR kind of usually moving, but some anyway. What I'm saying is that it was probably good for you to go to SHARE.
ReplyDeleteGlad your knee is improving slowly but surely, Ellen. Don't overdo! :)
ReplyDeleteOuch! I'd be thinking that the feeling stretched when bending past 90 degrees is due to the swelling. Aren't sprains more of a sudden overstretching of ligaments/tendons/muscles instead of impact from a fall like bruises are? Seems like this might be more due to bruising. Don't go getting all ambitious and overdo it - keep icing/heating/massaging/gentle moves & stretching for a while yet. The first injury is bad enough, injuring an injury takes far longer to recover from.
ReplyDeletePatience is an awful thing to have hanging around. But when you look back in a while, and you may not even have the time to do it!, you'll see that the time went really in a flash.
ReplyDeleteAren't bruises strange? The colors that get produced really are something: black and blue hardly covers it. I vaguely remember a doc telling me years and years ago, after I strained a shoulder, to use it right up to the point where I could sense discomfort, and then stop. He said that I'd eventually noticed I was able to do more and more: and so it was. I hope it's the same for you, but I sure do understand that boredom business. I'm glad you went to Share.
ReplyDeleteI'm pleased, too, about Share. It beats boredom.
ReplyDeleteHaving read your blog for years, I certainly accept that you are not the type of person who will rest and let things heal! But if you are feeling no pain or immobility then you go, girl!
ReplyDeleteWell, those lilies are beautiful, even if shorter-lived than usual!
ReplyDeleteI guess your doctor would want to hear about any fall, no matter the cause -- after all, they'll want to look for damage as well as risk of future falling. But I agree with you that tripping over something isn't like getting dizzy or falling without an obvious reason.
I would be the same way, I think -- up and at 'em as soon as I could.
I know what you mean about sitting around all day. The six hours I spent at the hospital with The Patient very nearly drove me crazy! Glad the knee doesn't need intervention!
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