about the universe forum commander Shop Now Commanders Circle
Product List FAQs home Links Contact Us

Thursday, July 25, 2013

And So the Mighty Fall Once Again

This is Steven Petrick posting.

I am too a point where the greatest difficulty I have sleeping is my left leg, and currently the problem is concentrated in the joint (the top of the ball of the left foot actually) behind my left big toe. At various times I get a "sharp pain" (for want of a better term) in that joint. It throbs somewhat (in that the pain recedes and then returns), but this is not in sequence with my heartbeat. I have found the best way to deal with this pain is to go for a short walk. Ignoring it does not work as the pain is sufficient that the nerves in the leg try to move the foot away from the pain. Mental override only works so long, and the leg eventually "moves" whether I wish it to or not, and sometimes violently.

Okay, so I go for a walk when this drags me out of sleep (and I should point out that compared to what was happening even at Origins this year it is not nearly as severe).

Most nights this is no big deal, two or three times I will rise and walk the circumference of the apartment complex (or walk the hall of the Red Roof Inn at Origins).

Last night was different.

It rained.

I was in the infantry, and I have no particular problem with walking in the rain, particularly when I know I will soon be in a warm and dry place, i.e., back in my apartment.

However, last night I hit a patch of concrete that, for some reason, became absolutely slick, as in like ice, when wet.

Both of my legs shot out from under me, and I imagine a movie would have made the moment quite comical as the force and speed at which they did so caused the sandals I was wearing to fly off my feet (not joking here).

As you probably have imagined the resulting impact was quite solid, but fortunately not restricted to my posterior, but spread over my entire back from my shoulders down to my buttocks, and a good portion of my right arm (not sure why my left arm seems to have failed to try and help absorb the shock).

The major negative is that I did fall, and I am sore, if apparently not really bruised, from the fall. The major plus is that somehow I kept my brain housing group from joining my back in impacting the concrete. No bumps or contusions on that component, and while I am as a result somewhat stiff (or at least stiffer since I have been), I am still ambulatory and (as you can see by this blog posting) able to type.