Ellen's Fractured Pelvis

While I've been on a little hiatus since my last post, it's not without good reason. Last Monday, Labor Day Weekend, I went out for a little jaunt on my bicycle. Within two minutes of my house, I hit a pothole and flew off my bike, landing on my right side, on the pavement, with a nasty thud. Long story short, after my first (and hopefully last) ride in an ambulance and 15 hours in the ER, I was admitted to U. Mass Medical Center with multiple fractures in three different places in my pelvis. They sent me home Tuesday afternoon, after the physical therapist and occupational therapist both worked with me to determine that I could walk with a walker.

The physical therapist is coming to our house this afternoon to work with me. I see the orthopedic doc for a follow-up tomorrow morning. I'm hoping that they will both tell me that I'm healing at an amazingly quick pace and that I'll be up and walking in no time.

Everyone keeps asking how my pain is. There are only two times when I'm really in a significant amount of pain and when it happens, the pain is pretty excruciating. If I happen to accidentally move my right leg laterally in either direction, I see stars. And upon waking in the morning, the pain is pretty intense. I imagine the morning pain is due to inactivity, though can't really explain it beyond that.

I've always told my two daughters that things happen for a reason. Our job is to figure out the reason and then learn from our experiences. What have been my lessons with this experience? I can tell you a couple, but I'm sure more will be revealed to me as time goes on.

1. I have a bad habit of multi-tasking. I used to think it was good, productive, admirable in fact, to multi-task. But in the last year or so, I've decided that it is a significant factor in my stressed life. Not to mention that it doesn't allow me to really fully focus and pay 100% attention to what I'm doing. And by not fully focusing on whatever task is at hand, I'm not really doing full justice to whatever it is I'm involved with. It's a no-win situation, because there isn't any way I can really concentrate if something else is on my mind. So for me, while I thought I was riding my bike, I was also thinking about something else. I had decided to ride with my brother-in-law and sister-in-law, while Peter decided to stay home and nurse what he thought was a pinched nerve. I was really in a rush to get to our meeting spot and was very aware of not making them wait. But in retrospect, even if I hadn't rushed to meet them, I would've gotten there on time, as I left the house with plenty of time to spare. And even if I had been a minute or two late, big deal.

2. I wasn't really ready to ride down our hill alone. Had Peter been there, I would've followed his path and being the skilled rider that he is, I wouldn't have gone through the pothole. My big ego got in the way. I should've been more temperate. Just because you want to do something doesn't mean you're ready to do it.

Anyway, I hope to be back very soon with some new food posts. Meanwhile, enjoy perusing my archives. You're sure to find some yummy recipes!