A foolish fall

I have a sad story of foolishness to tell. So often people ask how I fill my days. I get tired of talking about all of the medical things I do. So I've been working to come up with some more interesting and worthwhile things to tell people. On Thursday I thought I would be a great help by dusting under the microwave (which is on a shelf above the kitchen counter).

This is a fairly simple procedure:
Step One. Remove the microwave from the shelf. It turns out that this is one heavy microwave. Done.
Step Two. Clean. Done.
Step Three. Replace the microwave. The microwave is heavy and I am weak so this requires some sub-steps.
A. Get a chair and stand on it. Done.
B. Pick up the microwave. Done
C. Place the microwave on the shelf. Working on that but I can't quite get the bottom high enough. Improvise:
i. Get more leverage. Easy enough. Put my right foot on the counter. Done.
ii. Use knee to support microwave. Done.
iii....from here on out, things don't go according to plan. Instead, it looks something like:
lose balance, drop right foot to the floor and catch self with heel, get left foot caught in rungs of the chair as it falls over, drop microwave grazing right shin before it falls to floor, crumple to the floor, catch breath, dislodge left foot from chair. Assess situation. Lots of pain in back. Not good (especially because I have osteoporosis from taking lots of prednisone).

So I crawled to the phone after I realized that I couldn't walk on my right foot due to some surprising pain. I called Mom. She came home as quickly as possible and drove me to the ER. Dad met us there. After some x-rays and a CT we found out that nothing was amiss with my foot and leg, but that I had a compression fracture in one of my vertebrae (T11 if it means anything to you).

Now I will be wearing a back brace for at least 6 weeks. That's not so bad, but I still can't really walk without a walker because of my foot. End of the story: I'm spending even more of the time doing medical stuff and even less helpful around the house. Lessons learned: suck it up; be satisfied with boring; and most importantly, ask for help.

Otherwise I'm doing very well and looking forward to the beginning of the holidays. I hope each of you is well and much smarter than me. Jill

Thankfulness

As Thanksgiving nears, I find myself thinking of many of the things for which I am thankful (I was going to say 'all,' but I'm quite sure I could never think of them all). Most of all, I am thankful for all the loving, caring, giving people in my life. There are so many I could never name them all. I am thankful to be alive and that my body continues to heal and progress. I am thankful that as far as I know I have no cancer; for no more blood transfusions, for fewer medications, for control of my graft vs host disease, for my two fuzzy guys (Kishka and Turbo), for 10 months of good weather in Missouri, for moments of peace and joy. I'm thankful to have some good thunderstorms again, more saliva, repaired teeth, reliable insurance, a warm home, time to rest and heal, music I like, hair on my head, warm brownies and the approaching holiday season. I give thanks for Team in Training and the opportunity to be an honored patient again, for sunny days, long distance communication, comfortable shoes, lotion, snoring pets, and household sounds. And of course, I am thankful for you--for taking the time to read about me. Happy Thanksgiving. Thanks! Jill