I've Fallen And I Can't Get Up...

Me lying on the floor immobilized for 20 minutes unable to move, speak or barely breath.

Here is how it happened. Carson was swiffering the floor in the kitchen while I was folding clothes in my bedroom. I heard the toilet flush and ran to see WHAT was being flushed. Little did I realize that Carson had also taken it upon himself to swiffer the hall. I hit a puddle of cleaner and next thing I know I am flat on my back. It happened so fast. And this was not one of those slip on a banana peel funny falls. I landed as hard as I could have possibly landed on my back. I heard a crash which was my sunglasses hitting the front door- which was 10 feet away. I laid there stunned and writhing in pain. The wind was knocked out of me and I could hear myself gasping for air. I have only one other time in my life gotten the wind knocked out of me- when I was 8 years old in my grandmother's basement. I was balancing on this table that when turned over was like a giant spool of thread. You could actually push on the sides like a wheelchair while balancing in the middle and scoot forward as it rolled. I remembered that incident today as I was lying there trying not to hyperventilate, thinking to myself that my oxygen would come back soon.

The problem was not just the lack of oxygen- I was paralyzed with pain. I have never had a back injury and I did not realize one could be in such pain without having an actual break. I was crying, wheezing, shaking and every time I even tried to get up I almost vomited. At this point in the day, Tyler was still in school (and needing to be picked up in 25 minutes). Tommy was at work, Ella asleep on our bed, and Carson thought I was playing around and was jumping on me laughing. I kept telling him to get the phone and sadly realized what I always wondered- if in a real emergency, would he be of any real help? I found my answer today and the answer is no. He smiled- jumped and babbled until he saw me start to get more vocal in my crying. At this point he joined me. So Carson is scared and hysterical. I am scared and hysterical trying to do the math and figure out when someone might actually come by my house to check on me when I never pick up Tyler from school. After about 20 minutes I crawl to the bedroom and spend another 10 trying to stand. I call Tommy. He cannot understand a word I am saying- I am gasping for breath and crying at the same time. I text him that I have had an accident and to come home immediately.

By the time I am call back and try to actually explain what happened, he is almost home. He walks in to find me panting on the couch- body straight as a board. It feels like someone has put a straight jacket on me and my muscles running along my spine are shooting spasms up and down my sides. Tommy goes to get Tyler and does not return to work for the rest of the day.

I spend the rest of the day crying, taking Tylenol and hot baths. Just now, at 9:30pm am I able to pick up Ella and sort of bend over. I still cannot twist- lean back- lean forward or get comfortable. I have never been this stove up in my life and short of childbirth have never felt such raw pain.

So that has been my day. I am praying that tomorrow I will feel better. I will never take my back for granted again.