Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Ah, the Joys of getting older...WHAT???

I remember my mother saying one day, "do you know what the advantages to getting older are?" Expecting pearls of wisdom to fall from the lips of the woman who had taught me everything I know about life, in my ignorance, I waited for the answer. Then she spoke. "Nothing. There is no advantage to getting older at all. Now all I do is wait to get old. End of lesson, grasshopper." Oh my, and now I find that they were pearls of wisdom after all.

I don't know if you've noticed, but I haven't been posting quite as often as I once was. It was because my shoulder was bothering me so badly, that just moving my left fingers was painful. I type fairly fast (67cwpm) and it's hard to slow down just because of a little (OWWW) pain. I was attributing the pain to the RA I suffer from. I have flares, and assumed this was one of them. Since I am right handed, the pain didn't interfere to badly at first. But as the days wore on, it got worse and worse. I never once associated it with a fall I had taken a few weeks before. It had been raining and we had been out on date night. While he was putting the truck away, I came in with the "kitty bag" of shrimp. Wearing my Crocs, I stepped on the kitchen floor and was immediately lying flat of my back. Now, I worry about falling more than the average person, since I had broken my neck a few years ago and had been paralysed. So, I lay there, wriggling fingers, toes and lifting my head...the trouble is I'm like a turtle on it's back...I have trouble getting up. I really didn't want Mac to find me like this, and was struggling to get up off the floor. Well, he came in and immediately began yelling, "what happened? Are you alright?" There I lay with shrimp everywhere, cats ignoring the person lying in the middle of the floor...all they wanted was the food. Damn them...no help there. So anyway, Mac helped me up, I seemed to be fine, all my parts were working that were working before the fall. And now comes the rest of the story...

We had a car theft in the neighborhood night before last. What does this have to do with my shoulder? Well, I'll tell you...someone stole our neighbor's car, driving it right through their Christmas decorated yard, into the ditch and up on to the road. This occurred about three a.m. (the time that their pit bulls (OMG PIT BULLS) were barking loudly enough to wake the dead...and them. Assuming (there goes that word again) they were barking at an animal, they simply turned over and went back to sleep. So, yesterday morning Rene asked me if we happened to be up at about 3 a.m. I mean, really people, I know I get up with the chickens, but even the chickens have better sense than to get up before sunrise. So, my answer was no. That's when I learned about the car theft. So anyway...yesterday evening I was on the phone with my other neighbor, Joanne. We discussed the car theft, the need to lock cars, because even if we do live back of beyond, thieves do manage to find their way here. We live so far back in the woods that they have to pipe in sunshine...and so we get careless. So Joanne and I are yakking, I'm cooking supper and holding the phone on my shoulder (the good one) head tipped to the side to hold it in place, and putting the black beans on to simmer when suddenly the phone fell, I jerked to grab it with my left hand and I heard a distinct pop...it was loud enough that Pyewackit (the recently defeated Presidential Candidate) looked at me as if to ask, "did you fire that gun?" I think I may have screamed, because suddenly Joanne was asking me if I was alright. I could only speak through clenched teeth as the pain subsided, got off the phone and bent double. Mac came in and started asking if I was alright. I stood up, the pain gone now. All the pain. Even the pain from before. I looked at him and giggled. I reached my arm out, straight up, then rotated it without screaming. "Remember when I fell a few weeks ago?" I asked him. "I think maybe I might have dislocated my shoulder...I heard it when it popped back in." He grimaced. And then he asked the million dollar question. "You did throw those damned rubber shoes in the trash, right?" Errr...yeah, right...

36 comments:

Pam said...

Oh my goodness Sandi! I bet that pop was quite shocking. I can't imagine the pain you must have been in before. gah!

"kitty bag"! LOL!

Anonymous said...

Thank goodness, Sandi! When I began reading I thought sure you were going to have to have rotator cuff surgery, like J did, after slipping and falling! So good to hear that "pop" and all went back into place! Hope you don't have anymore mishaps for a very long while, if ever.

I type as my right arm is telling me, winter is coming!

RiverPoet said...

I'm so glad your shoulder is back as it should be. As we get older, we can injure ourselves much more easily. Things we used to get up and shake off just aren't that easy. A friend of mine recently had a fall from a horse, and her husband acted as thought she should be all better a week later. (Yeah, I don't think I have to tell you how I feel about HIM!)

Peace - D

Everything Stops for Tea said...

owww owww owwwwww owww owwwwwwwww

your poor crocs - I love mine - couldn't be without 'em!

Mima said...

Mac is going to freak if he finds them, I hope that you have them well hidden, then they can emerge again when the coast has cleared.

So glad that your shoulder is feeling better, it must have been really hurting you, but is a lesson to us all (again, and one time we will listen) that new pain is not necessarily the same thing as the pain we already have, and that we should still get anything new checked by the doctor! With my last one of those we found out that I needed B12 injections every 3 months, and that I might have some sort of gastro problem. Luckily it has settled again at the moment, so can be safely ignored - the doc said so not me!!

Anyway glad to hear that you are once again sorted, and walk carefully!

Love Bears All Things said...

Well, at least the pain is gone. How easy it is to forget those things when they happen. It is the same way with bruises. I'll discover one and have no idea how it came about. Sometime that week, the door has come out and grabbed me during the night or maybe the door of the dishwasher got in my way but I won't remember.
A few years ago, I had a shoulder pain like that. It hurt to sit, lay down and walk. Not to mention using my arm. I never did figure out why but eventually it recovered.
I enjoyed this post.
Mama Bear

Maggie May said...

Glad it did pop back. Ouch! Must have been awful.

If you only knew how many kids tripped & feel in those crocs over the summer period! Dangerous things.

Anonymous said...

That's wild! And I had to stretch after reading this one.
Maybe you need to say, "See you later, alligator" to those Crocs.

Vee said...

Oh dear...I'm sorry to learn that you've taken a spill. Those danged rubber shoes...so many times I've almost gone down wearing my beloved flip-flops.

Every time that John slips or hurts himself in any way, he thanks God because he has this whacked idea that God may be straightening something out. Glad to know that, in your case, He did.

Pyewackit...now I'm sad all over again about this election.

Lib said...

Hi sandi,
Hope you are much better today!
Oh,How I know they Joys of aging all too well, wake up with a different pain etc. :o(
Well wisdom is a good thing.lol
Feel better soon!
Blessins',Lib

The Phoenix said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
i beati said...

ah yes I'm wearing 2 pair of glasses at once to see- side bar [picture worth a million sandy

Anonymous said...

Sandi...The same thing happened to me. Went with the kids to cut down a Christmas tree, when we were living in France. Dragged the stupd thing half a mile home and got this awful pain in my shoulder. Three weeks later, acting the fool I took a run and jumped onto the sofa and heard a click. All pain gone.

But your mum has it wrong: the great thing about getting old is you don't have to worry about things like, do I look older, fatter...? and you don't worry what people think of you, and you can slop around in Uggs everyday and just get more and more eccentric and, hopefully, lovable.

Karen M said...

OH, my!! What adventures!! and what pain. I'm glad to hear that all is better now.

Jeni said...

Boy, wish I could figure out a way to get something in me to "pop" and put my lower back, left hip, back to working the way it once did -a few, okay, quite a few, years ago now! When I fell on the kitchen floor about 2-3 months ago now, with only the cats here too and Maya standing over me with a puzzled look on her face, I worried at first as to whether or not I'd broken something. Then I really worried about how the heck I was gonna get up. Every time I put my right hand down to try to brace myself, it managed to hit another spot of yogurt spilled on the floor and would slide out from under me, thus no traction available. (BTW -it was yogurt Maya had spilled on the floor that I had stepped in that caused the fall in the first place.) I ended up having to scoot on my butt till I got near enough to a cupboard that I could open and then, reach inside the cupboard to get hold of a shelf to brace myself and get up again. If I hadn't been able to do that, I probably would have had to just lay there, virtually covered in blueberry yogurt till my son-in-law would have got home and have him help me get up! So graceful, ya know!
Just glad you managed to do self-chiropractic stuff though!

menopausaloldbag (MOB) said...

You must feel so good after it popping right back in like that.I winced as I read that bit! Crocs are the most amazing footwear if you are on your feet all day - they are so ugly though! Glad you are feeling better. getting old? Moaning every time I get out of a chair!

Epijunky said...

As someone who dislocated (and fractured) my shoulder a year ago wearing the same darn shoes you describe all I can say is I've been there. My mother is still begging me to throw them out. Crocs are lethal when wet!

I'm glad it popped back in :)

Strawberry Jam Anne said...

Ouch Sandi - I was cringing for you reading that. Do hope you are feeling much better now.

Being a woman of a certain age I have to tell you that there are some compensations to getting older, for one thing having time to please yourself instead of trying to please an employer!!

Take care.

A x

windycorner said...

Oh Sandi, you saved yourself alot of money by doing that little procedure yourself. Just be careful because those loosey goosey ligaments might let everything slip out again. I can't believe your sweet kitties didn't pick you up with their little kitty paws and carry you over to the sofa after you brought them shrimp.
Holley

Penny from Enjoying The Simple Things said...

YIKES and OUCH!!!! I am glad to hear that the pain is gone now though. And you did throw out those crocs...right?
xo
Penny

Jamie Dawn said...

Those ungrateful cats!!
Oh, I guess they WERE grateful for the shrimp. but didn't give a flying fig about the condition of their owner who brought their feast.

I'm glad your shoulder popped back into place.
YIKES!!

As for getting older...
it kind of sucks, but not all the time.

:-)

Anonymous said...

Oh my gosh! You are hysterical! I love the comment you left on my blog today! So I came here to thank you and got to laugh some more. I am glad things are back in place. Dang you are funny!

Janice said...

Hello, Thanks for stopping by my new blog. I enjoyed looking at your animal pics! My cat Annie loves to set with me at the computer too! My crazy animals wouldn't care if I fell either, they just cry like they haven't ate in days when I come home from work and they have an "all day buffet"!

Denise said...

Oh I hate that you threw those crocs away! I have three pair........ love them, just love them......... but maybe my body is more important.. I think.......Oh the joys of aging! YUCK !

Jules~ said...

Oh my goodness Sandi. Yikes! You sound like me. What is a little pain when we have a list of things to do. Sweets, I hope that you give your body at least a few days to slow down now and let things mend. Are you going to go in and get checked just to be sure?

And my goodness you had a broken neck and were paralysed? You are an inspiration!

Mary Isabella and Kiley too! said...

Oh what an ardeal. I am so glad you popped it back in. I do hope you are feeling better!!! I loved the part about the shrimp and the cats being no help. Have an awesome tomorrow...m..

SandyCarlson said...

di! Take care of yourself. I once broke a toe answering the phone, so I fully get the dangers of trying to accomplish many things at once around the house. I am glad the arm is where it belongs now!

Jan said...

You know, I've always heard that the human body has the ability to heal itself, but I think this is taking it to another level! : ) Glad things popped back into place and you're feeling better!

Gill - That British Woman said...

I feel your pain...........I have the same problem with my shoulder and yes it is painful.......

Gill in Canada

Anonymous said...

Good grief, Sandi!! You had a broken neck and were paralysed!!

No wonder you are scared to fall again. I would be paranoid. Sounds like you popped something out and back again, that is just sooooo painful! I did that with my jaw once and endured three weeks of intense pain - doc said there was nothing wrong with it - until one day when I was trying to chew something there was a loud pop/crunch and Wow! No more pain!! It is bliss isn't it?

Glad you fixed that one up yourself!

imbeingheldhostage said...

"You did throw those damn rubber shoes..." did you hear the love in that comment. That's better than all of those sappy hallmark cards.
This was one great read (sorry you had to be in so much pain for it though).

I was having a devil of a time getting over here-- you and Kari for some reason, when I click on your comment link I get a blank page-- no profile, no web site.
I finally just came through one of David's old post of the days.

Alison said...

My parents say the same thing about getting older. I'm glad you're feeling better.

Lavinia said...

Oh my!!! So sorry to hear about the fall.....it happens before ya know it...

Now as to the shoulder...there's a real mystery! Mystery cure I should say?

Here's to good health, safe houses and cars from theives, and peace and health over all....

SandyCarlson said...

Thanks for stopping by, Sandi!

Sally said...

I don't know how I missed this post, but goodness gracious sakes alive! That must have been so very painful, and I completely understand why you would be especially sensitive to falls after breaking your neck before! Please be careful. ((((HUGS))))

Merisi said...

Some people visit a chiropractor to put a dislocated shoulder back where it rightly belongs. Not our Sandi.
Am I glad, though, that you did such a fine job putting yourself back together again. Good luck! (Or shall I say, "Lucky crocs!"?)