Ouch.

So, last week I was on vacation and on Friday, I was on a horseback ride and  I managed to fall off the horse during the ride and I really injured myself.  I had had concerns during the ride that the saddle was too loose, but I pushed them aside and thought that they were the professionals and they knew how to saddle a horse.  Technically, so do I, as I had a horseback riding class in college, but it's been awhile since I've actually had to saddle a horse, so I deferred to the stablehand's judgment on the saddle. But I did think it was a bit loose. 

Turns out, it was.  During our final canter towards the stable, my horse veered left suddenly because a flock of birds took flight from the ground close by us and spooked the horse.  The horse went left sharply, my saddle twisted to the right side, and BAM, down on the ground I went. I landed and rolled a few times in the dirt on the trail. 




Thankfully, the horse didn't step on me or anything as it continued on without me, but it was exceptionally painful.  I landed hard on my right side and hip and it felt like my chest had exploded.  I couldn't move for a few minutes and the guide had to call for a car to come drive me back to the stable. I had sand and grit and dirt all over me and road rash on my arms and a bit on my nose and forehead. 

After the initial pain from the landing started to ease up, I figured I'd be okay. I just needed to rest and take some Aleve or whatever and I'd be fine. I was able to get into a decently comfortable position while I was sitting, so I thought it probably was just going to be a bad bruise and I'd be ok in a day or so. 

But, when I laid down to go to bed that night, I couldn't believe how much it hurt. And, disturbingly, I could feel like a gooshy, crunchy, squishy feeling in my ribs when I breathed in and out.  The pain had actually intensified over the rest of the day, which was what had happened when I broke my collarbone in a car accident in 2010.  The collarbone was the last thing that I noticed hurt and that was the only thing that I'd seriously injured. So, I figured I should probably go get checked out. 

I made my way very gingerly over to the closest emergency room and got myself checked out. After a round of X-rays and a CT scan to make sure I hadn't done any damage to my internal organs, the doctor let me know that I had broken one of my ribs. It hadn't become dislocated, thankfully, but I'd fractured it.  And once again, just like when I broke my collarbone, there's no real way to treat it, since it's not a location that can be placed in a cast or otherwise immobilized.  It's just about pain management and rest. 

So, they gave me Diluadid at the hospital via IV, which was good since it is incredible at knocking out any pain (I also had Dilaudid when I was in the hospital for my collarbone) and when I got home, I had a very long flight of stairs to climb.  When I'd gotten home earlier, before going to the ER, I was in tears by the time I got to the top of the stairs because it hurt so much to move in order to climb them.  After the ER and the Dilaudid, I was able to navigate the stairs much easier, so that was nice. 

I am now on Percocet and Flexeril to manage the pain.  I have a rib fracture, a chest wall contusion, and a pulled several muscles on my right side/hip area. Basically, I'm hobbling around like a goblin whenever I need to move.  The medication helps with the pain but it also makes me incredibly sleepy so I spent most of the last few days since Friday sleeping. I'd wake up around 11:00 or so (take medication before bed per instructions to help with sleep) and then I'd fall asleep on the couch a few hours later and sleep for 4-6 hours.  Repeat several times throughout the day. 

My routine now has become to move as infrequently as possible, since any movement in my torso causes a sharp pain where the rib is broken and any walking or weight bearing activities on my right leg cause pain to spike in my hip.  But, I've got great people in my life--one of my friends helped me bring up my luggage and other vacation stuff up to the apartment from my car.

Another one of my friends brought me over some easy-to-make meals.  He'd texted me asking if I needed anything and I said if he could bring me a gallon of milk,a box of cereal, raisins, and syrup that would be a huge help.  I had scaled back on my groceries before leaving on vacation since I was going to be gone for over a week, meaning that there was almost nothing in my apartment for food.  Going to the grocery store wasn't exactly feasible with my injuries, since I can't lift anything heavier than a pillow without pain right now. So I figured milk and cereal and stuff for pancakes/frozen waffles would be easy enough and would tide me over for the next few days till I could do more without pain.

When he came over later in the day on Monday, he had milk, raisins, syrup, and cereal for me, as requested, and he also had bought me 2 half-sandwiches from the deli counter, 2 single-serving bowls of Chef Boyardee beef ravioli, 4 bananas, a bag of trail mix, a 4 pack of Kraft Easy Mac, and a 4 pack of squeeze-tube applesauce. He went way above and beyond and I was super grateful for it.  I've been able to rely on those items for quick, filling meals that don't require much time or effort to make, since walking/standing/twisting/lifting/turning, etc. all cause me a lot of pain. So I am very blessed to have such great friends. 

I am hoping to be able to return to work some time this week, although if I still have to take the pain medications to get through the day, then I can't drive myself to work because they make me too sleepy/groggy to drive safely.  I had to request an extension on a brief that's supposed to be due on Friday of this week, but I don't know if I'll be able to come back to work in time to finish it and submit it by that date.  So, I had to request an extension on the deadline for that.  I'm also scheduled to start a trial next week, but I don't know if I will be able to do that, either.  I was out last week on vacation and I may be out for most or all of this week, meaning I haven't reviewed the file in the last 2 weeks and didn't get a chance to prep it for a trial.  I also may end up having to ease my way back into full days of work.  After I broke my collarbone, I was out for a while until it didn't constantly hurt just to exist and then when I came back to work, I was only able to work 4-5 hours in the beginning because the movement would cause the pain to flare up after a few hours. So, I may not be able to jump right back into a full 8 hour day next week, either. So, I have to notify the court and see if the court will continue my trial date so I can be physically capable of being there all day. 

Bah. What a pain in the ass and what crappy timing.  Right when I have a brief due and a trial starting and when I've already been gone for a week, so the work is piling up and piling up and piling up on my desk.  I don't even want to know what my inbox looks like. Ugh. 

Thankfully, I have 2 perfect nap buddies ho are more than willing to cuddle up next to me on the couch or in the bed and take naps with me as I spend several hours in a drug-induced coma. Ward and Hubert are great nurses!