I broke a rib this week
I broke a rib this week and it is as painful as hell.
We had 2 tonnes of topsoil delivered for the new veg beds and it needed shovelling into the beds. No problem. There were two of us and we did it pronto - with a little sweat and puffing we got it done.
RIGHT AT THE VERY END when I was just leveling the soil out in one of the beds, I must have turned oddly because this shocking snap occured in my right chest and I was a doubled up in agony. It felt as if the rib had broken and the ends were rubbing together in my chest which was sore as hell.
I phoned 111 and the very sweet women asked me some details and spoke to someone else in the background and she agreed with my assesment that I had maybe broken a rib or certainly fractured it and if I felt it was too sore to go to A & E - but as it hadn't punctured a lung, wasn't bleeding or bruising, the best thing was to take some pain killers and just be gentle... so that's what I have done.
I am now more use to how to move and how to cough ( there is a way ) and how to even get dressed and get in and out of bed... all takes a lot longer and with great precision so not to fall, or stumble. I was watching a silly horror film and something made me jump out of my skin - WRONG THING TO DO - it hurt like hell, so every time there was a creepy bit coming, I looked away and so missed the scary jumping in the air moments and saved myself more pain....
Naturally all the heavy work I was in the middle of doing - tons of redecorating - has ground to a halt as I do what I can but now rely on others to move the heavy things so we can finnish. Not easy asking someone else all the time when I just want to get it done.
So I am taking it easy for as a friend said -
' At your age dear - 65 - you need to be a little more careful as you don't want to do anything really serious.' -
and thanks for that - made me feel ancient and I could hear myself talking to my Mother decades ago when she was going to help push my broken down car off the road, and when I pointed out that she was 85 - and not a good idea - she said how she often forgot her limitations with age and just did things a younger her would have done without thinking, and I did say that those times are past and now, every little thing, needs thought and planning JUST IN CASE - as the older you get, the longer it takes to heal. So there we go... Of all the hard work I do around here - Of all the strenuous things I Put my body through, a simple turn - no bang - no knock - no accidental fall - just me turning with a shovel full of soil and BANG.
Take care of yourself as you get older. It's the only body you have got.
John Bellamy
