Ouch!

Random photo of a purple flower, from Monet’s Garden in Giverny, France. I chose this picture specifically because I am too vain to take a picture of my black eye, which is also purple, though not nearly so pretty.

I take thyroid medication, which has to be taken with water, and works best if taken on an empty stomach, at least 1/2 hour before eating anything. I feel like that means before having a cup of tea or 3, since I take my tea with milk. So I take it when I wake up every morning, at around 4am. I then roll over and go back to sleep. This wouldn’t work if I slept better, like if I didn’t wake up at all overnight, but it works for me.

That is, until this morning. This morning I woke up at 4am, took my pill, and swallowed some water. Something went wrong when trying to swallow the water, and I felt a sharp pain in my throat/esophagus. I got up and went to the bathroom, I thought standing up might help. I was in a lot of pain, and bent over, and I think I was trying to put my hand on the counter, and I missed. Down I went, pretty hard. I hit my head in the back and the front (hit that corner just right), and twisted my ankle. I hit hard enough that there is a little hole in the bathroom door. It was pretty loud, and Ted came running. Helped me up and back to bed. At least my throat didn’t hurt anymore. We determined that I hadn’t broken or sprained anything, so we went back to sleep.

I don’t know if this is related to the off balance feeling I have sometimes had recently. I don’t remember feeling it when I got up. But I guess it can’t be ruled out.

This morning when I woke up, I saw the area above my eye, under my eyebrow, was starting to change color. At this point, it is purple. It’s mostly the part of my eyelid where one would put an accent eye shadow, in the crease. Sigh. My ankle hurts a lot if it gets stiff, if I sit too long or whatever, but I barely feel it if it’s not stiff.

The bummer is that tomorrow I am the plus one at 2 holiday parties. One in the early afternoon, for Maya’s work, and one in the evening, for Ted’s work. This will be my first time meeting anyone at either company (except Maya’s boss, who is a good friend). Sigh. I guess I will use some purple eye shadow in the crease of both eyelids, and hope for the best.

16 Comments

  • Margaret

    Oh, dear, that’s so shocking and scary to fall! I’m glad you’re (mostly) OK. Those kind of events always seem to occur before a special outing. I tripped down a staircase in Maui and ended up hobbling around in pain for the rest of the trip. I pulled my hamstring while visiting my older daughter in Los Angeles and could barely move and had to request special accommodations when I flew back to Seattle. Embarrassing. Hope your injuries improve soon!

    • J

      Thanks Meike! I was definitely unlucky this morning. I’m feeling a LOT better now than I did this morning, though, so that’s good news.

  • San

    Oh my, J, that sounds like an awful fall… and now you have to deal with a black eye (and probably explain over and over how you got it). I do hope you’re not in pain too much… that is the REAL bummer about all this.
    I really wish they’d get to the bottom of your “off” balance feeling.

    • J

      San, ME TOO! And thank you. I think I may be calling my doctor again, but blogging friend Nance has something similar, which makes me think it might just be something I have to deal with.

    • J

      I’m worried that my husband’s coworkers will think he hits me! He hasn’t been there that long. I guess I’ll be trying concealer today, and hope it’s kind of dark in there.

  • Elisabeth

    Oh no – what a horrible experience. I do hope you can get to the bottom of the balance issues soon (or that they clear up on their own ASAP).
    Hopefully the party can still be enjoyable and your ankle doesn’t cause too much pain! Ugh! I’m so sorry this happened to you.

    • J

      Thanks Elisabeth! Today’s update is that so far, my ankle feels much better, and my eye looks much worse. Perfect for a party where I am meeting my husband’s coworkers/boss for the first time, right?

  • Jan

    Oh my! Hope the party goes well! If the ankle swells up, definitely have it looked at. I didn’t think I’d broken anything either but the swelling just refused to go down. Jan

  • nance

    J, for heaven’s sake! I’m so sorry you had this trial. I’ve been watching your weather, and your barometric pressure has been all over the place with the snows and rains in CA. Please be careful. Our weather is dramatically changing as well, so my symptoms are back, too.

    At least you’re getting some heavy snows in the Sierras. That’s good!