[ellied]

So yesterday, having had a sore foot for 3 months or so, it seemed too much to climb the furthest gate into the furthest paddock and hike down to check a pony was grazing in a dip rather than gone missing in the period since last checked close up - instead I climbed up the top of the gate to peer down the field and yes, there she was safe and sound, water running fine (reason for being there at that moment), job done.  Except then I lose balance and fall back, in that split second manage to opt to jump clear backwards rather than risk tangling in/over gate with an attempted save, and land on both feet - result.  Except I am a lot older and heavier and the shock absorbers aren't so great, got a jar to the ankles but no major damage - fine, get back to my day and forget it all..

Until the afternoon when for reasons I can't work out, my right leg feels too big for its skin, it's tingling and a bit sore above/outside the knee - assume I've caught a nerve sitting at my desk or something but it gets worse.  Hmm, all kinds of ideas from relationship to the damaged foot the other side, maybe overwork, maybe a spreading rheumatic type thing going on?  Carry on pottering, clear out the chicken coop but find bending the knee uncomfortable - finish jobs and get to evening still in pain and a little confused but it isn't til I go down to the far pony field gate that I actually remember the fall  and suddenly the connection is made, cause, effect  just like going back to a room where you thought of doing something when you get to where you are going to do it and can't remember what it was..     I know I have a poor memory but forgetting a fall off a field gate when trying to work out why I have a sore leg, surely that's a bit doddery even for me 

Anyway, clarity achieved, I'm out of arnica so opt for cuprofen and red wine, feet elevated over the arm of the sofa and strangely life is good.  Why?  Still in pain and still not looking forward to coping with yet another mobility restricting injury, cancellation of plans to go a walk or go swimming or both over the weekend.  Why?  Just because it's simple, I know what it is and how it happened and tho not the specifics or long term risks of yet another arthritis point, I have so many undiagnosed and not understood causes of pain and mobility issues that just the understanding is all it takes to make me happy.

Today I am twice as slow, one bad foot the other bad leg that prefers not to bend at the knee, so I waddle like a duck and every now and then a mis-step leads to muttering under the breath which is not a quack but ends with a similar sound..     I am still old and overweight and less able than ever, I have no idea if this'll be healed in time for moving 5 ponies from that furthest end paddock to the barn, move the mares foals and stallions into what would have been their field and then those 5 into what would have been the stallion's field if the neighbour hadn't put his wee welshie pet mare out beside it so I have to totally reorganise for his stupidity, while suffering the results of my own..

But hey, I'm still going, I have one thing I know that I didn't have yesterday, and I think other than the half speed regular necessary animal related chores (hay, egg hunting etc) I'm going to have a more sedentary weekend..  I have some web stuff to do, a story to write and a book to read.  I guess today's the day for it 

My memory must really be declining, and as for standing up the 2nd top rung of a field gate, I must have forgotten I'm not 18 any more  or 28, or 38..   Don't know why I'm sharing my stupidity but maybe I had a reason and forgot it.. 

[sabrina]

We all do things that afterwards we think why was I so stupid. Age is there to reminds us that we can no longer be the person we were in our youth. Bending, running and staying up late are things that are now behind me but, there is a bonus. I am wiser, calmer, enjoy life so much more than I did in my younger years its just a pity that it has taken so long for me to become the person I am today. Hope you recover quickly.

[HappyHippy]

I don't think you're old or stupid mrs 
I think you're trying to do too many things all at once and a sedentary weekend will do you the power of good - rest up, take stock and form a plan (whilst giving yourself big doses of reiki, interspaced with more wine  )
I don't think it would be unreasonable to ask your neighbour to move his Welshie - after all, it's your land and you need an arrangement that works for YOU (especialy if you're slower/in pain walking out to the furthest field every day because you can't put your horses where you want them) Blame the fall/leap and make a couple of excuses, I'm sure he'll understand 

Sending positive healing thoughts to you, hope you feel better tomorrow 

[doganjo]

Neither as old as me nor as stupid as me - but I did something similar when I was 59! 

Couldn't get a field gate open because of the weeds growing through it so decided to climb instead. 

Wet grass, wet feet, slime on gate from years on non-use, hardcore track on the other side = mobile phone call to neighbour, hospital visit, and a  broken collar bone - 6 weeks no driving, 20 hens, 10 ducks to look after, a field full of sheep to keep an eye on, 7 dogs to exercise, 4 missed dog shows, 

Sheer and utter stupidity.

So, just get on with writing that story and your book - Chapter 19 awaits    Another glass of red stuff after lunch will undoubtedly help the healing process.

And don't do it a second time like I did - skidded on icy wooden decking - four weeks no driving that time, 4 missed shows, still same number of animals to look after.

[SallyintNorth]

Just wanted to give you a hug  and say Yes, I recognise that!  And once upon a time, I could write that eloquently too!

So yes, get on and write that book while you still have the gift and enough memory to remember what it was you wanted to write!   

[Raine]

 
I think it happens to all of us!


I was rushing round yesterday after work, trying to get ready to go out to an evening doo.  Rammed the little toe of my right foot into the wall.  Must remember that I have no spacial awareness without my glasses and lots of steps in this house 


After an evening of standing on it, it is now totally black and swollen.  My first aid knowledge says I probably broke it.  My first aid knowledge also knows that they will just strap it to the toe next to it (a job to do once the swelling goes a little).


Still outside playing with pigs, sheep etc!

[RUSTYME]

Yes , that all sounds so familiar . It is a strange comfort to know that it isn't just me that things like this happen too .
Slimey wooden gates are my thing . I always climb over the wooden gate at my place . Wet muddy wellies , green slimey wooden gate = arse over tit fall into knee deep mud and crap , after the usual frantic hop skip and jump in a pathetic attempt to gain footing , why do i do that ? , just unlock the gate and open it !
As we get older when does the bounce turn into a thud ?
I hate that thud , and then the limbo moment , waiting to discover what has broken , or fallen off , and then the omfg moment as the pain hits .
My left heel feels really bruised atm , can hardly bare to put my foot down , not good when you have to walk 6 miles everyday . The ligament in my left knee  keeps on going into spasm . I hope it doesn't come off again .
7 months of agony last time .
Think i will sell up and by a flat in town , and watch tv all day !

[happygolucky]

I can relate to that too.
Our brains appear to dislodge from the rest of our body as we age, we think we can do things but then our body says "NO"
I take the dogs out in the forest and often wonder off the path and think "better keep to the path in-case" then I go and trip, once a lady was behind me and I just could not get up, of course I did in the end but my foot got stuck in a bramble, hate brambles.
Only this week I decided to assemble our garden Cart, love it buy the way, I  lay it on the floor, got up and fell flat on my face, I hurt my knee and it shuck me up.....anyway, taught me a big lesson......or did it, well until next time I trip over and cannot get back up.
I had a gift voucher and kept looking at all the disability aids with a wistful eye.......age creeps up and no wonder a lot of older people have limps or something in plaster!!!

[Fanackapan]

Probably know I shouldn't but the way you are all writing is making me   .
Never let it be said I can't learn from others lessons in life ....................................I am not budging again today !






probably end up with corns on my bum

[happygolucky]

   me tooo
I sat next to a women on  a train, she was about my age but had a black eye, she turned and explained her fall so its as common as chickens produce eggs

[Lesley Silvester]

Yes, we've all done it. My worst was a few years ago when I was (supposedly) fitter. I was walking the dogs down by the river. On my own, unusually, because my OH wanted to finish the ironing. Two of the dogs were in the river with the other (a huge GSD) was waiting on the bank to pounce on them. As soon as they came up the bank, sure enough GSD leaps foreward and Victor (lab) leaps back straight into my legs. I saw it coming and brace myself then took a step backwards. What I hadn't seen was the big rut just behind me. Over I went into a bed of nettles. I lay there for a minute wondering how to get out without being stung any more than I already was and why on earth I had decided to wear a sleeveless top that day. Naturally, there was no one around to help, just the dogs who looked at me to see what game I was playing then got on with the serious business of sniffing around. Eventually, I gritted my teeth and rolled over into the nettles and managed to get up and hobble home with a back that protested with every slight movement.

I managed to drive home but, after a sleepless night and finding it hurt even more, went to A&E where I was told the doctor thought I might have broken a bone in my pelvis. Fortunately the xray showed I hadn't but had badly bruised the bone. "That can take months to heal," I was told.

They weren't wrong. It was eighteen months before it finally stopped hurting.

[happygolucky]

  Oh  noooooo, not great.....................

[ellied]

Thanks, glad I'm not the only one     A couple days on and it's actually improving which is rare for my various physical issues so in a way it's nice to know some things get better, not to mention that a day with my feet actually raised up on cushions on the sofa in between the necessary chores, rather than "just one more little thing I might manage before I crash/seize up", may be a Good Thing to do occasionally since the other foot feels a little less bad too 

Nettles, well, ahem that's another story - I'm pulling them by hand and trying to keep up with new hidden laying spots - don't own as trimmer and a hand scythe would break the eggs and cut everything where nettles can be fed to the ponies when dry and some weeds in there can't.  Anyway having had rare good weather I was out in a sleeveless top (and sleeveless fleece for the pockets!) when it occurred to me to tackle the next nettle patch     Strangely it didn't occur to me to put sleeves on - no madam neighbour I haven't got freckles from all the sunshine..      Maybe nettle stings are good for improving circulation or something healthy and that's why I did it out of ancient instinct rather than absent mindedness.. 

[happygolucky]

nettles can be very itchy and painful too.......although slightly less of a problem than brambles, they are nasty things...