I thought I heard her come in, but I wasn't sure, so I continued with the dishes. Something felt wrong, however, so I called out and seemed to hear a plaintive whimpering. Thinking that I should investigate, I found Sue sitting on the little staircase by the front door. The noise was indeed plaintive and somewhat more than regular whimpering, but words fail me to describe it accurately.
Above her left eye was a lump almost the size of an egg. Her cheek an chin were red and scraped, but it quickly became worse (next two photos).
Sue had gone out to check on something or other and somehow had done the faceplant of all faceplants. She doesn't know how it happened.
Friday
After applying ice and getting a night's sleep, despite the mile, she was looking pretty grim the following morning with an incredible amount of bruising and her eye almost closed.
Sue has always bruised easily, but I never seen bruising like this on anybody. Her hands and knee are also scraped and painful where she tried to break her fall.
On Saturday, Sue could open her eye, but the bruises don't look much better to me.
Sunday
Yesterday, she was still looking mighty grim. The lady is still abed this morning, but I don't think that improvement will occur rapidly.
Our doctor doesn't work on Friday, but Shauna did contact her guy from work right away on Thursday evening. He took a look at Sue's photos right after the fall and asked the pertinent, concussion-related questions.
I kind of kept my eye on her during the night, and she seemed to be sleeping normally, so I didn't think it necessary to wake her to run checks.
As bad as it was and is, I shudder to think how much worse the damage could have been. She wasn't concussed, and no bones were broken. Although she wasn't feeling terribly lucky about the whole situation, Sue didn't break her nose or teeth. Luck is a relative thing, and we are breathing sighs of relief when we think of how much worse the damage could have been.
This Christmas, Sue's colours will be black and blue. We say blue, but it is really purple, isn't it?
27 comments:
O M Goodness. Poor Sue. I'll be sending some healing thoughts her way. Hopefully she'll remember how this happened to ensure it doesn't again - loose rug, ice on the steps????? I am sure a night of a thousand questions.
Oh my…i hope you heal quickly, Sue. Unbelievable damage which could have been so much worse as AC said. Take care!
What an awful experience for Sue and hope she is feeling better, albeit bruised, sore and colorful (but not seasonably). I also have the same tendency to bruise easily and had a similar experience years ago falling face first on an asphalt surface. It was not a pleasant aftermath, just as for Sue’s current experience. Sending well wishes that her spirits will be healed enough to celebrate the holiday, even if her body will need more time.
Oh dear, Sue, I do hope you feel better soon. Sending the etheric wishes of healing energy your way. Yes, AC, purple definitely is Sue's color. Hope not for much longer.
Our neighbour fell down her basement stairs, and another friends daughter who has cats had a cat twine itself around her leg and she lost her balance. The daughter was out cold and came to some minutes later. The next door neighbour her husband was outside and came in and found her and had to call an ambulance. Falling does scare me. My sympathies to Sue. Take care.
Oh dear, what a fall. I'm glad it's at least not worse.
My God, how awful! It must hurt like the dickens. Oh, I feel so bad about this. Take care, Sue. Hope you feel better.
Ouch. Ouch, ouch, ouch. Plenty of rest and cold compresses.
Oh, Sue. How horrible. Was there ice to slip on? Thank goodness no broken bones. Did you really want AC to share these photos with the world?
Poor Sue. As we age we bruise much more easily and she is lucky there were no broken bones. She is brave.
Oh, no! Poor Sue! I hope that it looks worse than it feels, although I'm sure it hurts like crazy. Sending her quick healing vibes!
OMG, Poor Sue! Yet as you say, also lucky Sue to not have broken anything or gotten a concussion. It's terrifying how quickly accidents can happen. Hope she mends quickly and the bruises fade. My mom bruises like this when her blood is too thin (she takes Warfarin); does Sue take any blood thinner med?
Oh the poor girl. It looks really painful and it is so scary. I am really nervous walking on ice since I fell several years ago and broke my wrist while out walking the dog. I hope the bruises heal fast.
That is terrible! Hope she recovers both physically and mentally. These are large bruising called ecchymosis. There may be suspicion of platelet or coagulation factor issues that will warrant some medical attention.
If she looks that bad, I can't imagine how bad your face looks right now! Just joking of course. I couldn't resist. You've posted some pretty pictures over the years but these aren't even close to pretty. I hope Sue heals up fast and well!
As seniors we fall easily and we get injured quite badly from our falls. I hope she doesn't have another incident like this one.
Those are great looking bruises!
Poor Sue, that looks like a scary fall. I am so sorry. Hope Santa is extra nice to her. Hugs and healing.
That's like the faceplant I took about six weeks ago. The "egg" is almost gone, certainly no longer a strange color. All the discoloration was gone in a few days. Pass the good news along to Sue.
Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Falls are awful for people of our age. With head trauma being about the worse thing you can have, Sue was indeed very lucky that she didn't get a concussion or brain bleed. Please be careful to watch over her. Art's aunt and my aunt both ended up with brain bleeds and had to be operated on. Please give Sue a gentle Hawaiian type hug from us.
The poor woman! At least JB fell in the forest. I looked up concussion symptoms, too. You take good care of her!
Wow! That is a bruise for the ages, and the one on her chin is pretty impressive too. I am glad she did no permanent damage, as you pointed out. That was a huge lump!
Poor Sue! But how fortunate nothing got broken. Be careful out there, you all!
Oh jeepers! I've never seen swelling and bruising so bad, even among all my elderly patients who land on the corners of coffee tables. Sue needs her own hockey helmet and mask for Christmas! Linda in Kansas
Sending Sue hugs and healing thoughts and hope that every day is improving her pain.
I have to say that if my husband had every posted a photo of me in similar disarray, he would be toast. He took one of me in the intensive recovery room after my heart surgery, and deleted it, the alternative being me smashing his phone.
Sue, you have a beautiful smile and beautiful eye(s), even with the bruising. And you should see a doctor to discuss why you fell. Truly you should.
Oh I do hope that she is better soon. With any luck the worst bit from now on will be having field all those corny jokes about you beating her up [g].
WOW. That lump above her eye is really something.
You're right, it could've been much worse.
But still it's no walk in the park.
Poor girl. X's and O's to her.
-Kate
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