The Aftermath of the Accident

Here I am, lying in bed at 10.30am on a Wednesday morning. Yes, at this time, I would normally have a computer in front of me, but I’m generally dressed in something other than PJs and sitting in the office with Henry. But then again, this week hasn’t been normal.

I mentioned in my last post that, while I walked away from the car accident, I was still a bit injured. My neck was burning and slowly turning into full-blown whiplash, but the doctor that I visited on Friday told me that there was nothing I could really do, and that it was just going to get worse before it got better. Over the weekend, this injury just got worse. Sitting in the rock-hard seats at the Wallabies game didn’t help, but they certainly didn’t cause any extra damage–if anything, they showed me that sitting in anything less than the high-backed seat I had in the theatre for the Dark Knight (which was a great film, by the way) on Friday would cause me serious pain…which wasn’t a good omen for work.

I went to work on Monday morning and was pretty promptly sent home and told to get myself looked at because the pain had spread from my neck down about 2/3 of my back. I couldn’t walk properly and pretty much every movement was painful–getting out of a chair, opening doors, etc, etc.  I decided that it would probably be good to get a second opinion, so once the taxi dropped me off at home, I called the closest doctor’s office. It turns out that you have to register as a patient IN THE OFFICE before you are allowed to make an appointment, so I had to walk (luckily, only a few blocks) to get there and show them my driver’s license. You’d think they would know that someone wanting to make an appt is probably not in the state to get to the office for a short visit, go home, and then come back later for their actual appointment…

But I digress. My appointment was made for 6 o’clock that night. After describing the exact circumstances of the accident once again to the doctor, he got me to stand up and started poking and prodding at my back and neck. I jumped quite a few times, especially when he found a spot right in the middle of my back. I swear I jumped about 3 feet! He also wanted me to try to bend over and touch my knees, and I barely got past my waist before I got completely stuck.

This doctor was a lot better than the previous doctor I went to, because he actually examined the injury in depth and then explained everything he thought was going on in my back and neck. He even got out a model of a spine and demonstrated what happened during the accident during the rear and front impacts. He said that he was pretty sure that I didn’t have any fractures in my back, and that it was just “significant soft tissue damage” in the muscles around my spine from my neck all the way down my back. This obviously causes swelling, which was causing the prickly feeling I got occasionally all around my back, especially during the one time I tried to play MarioKart. Apparently the swelling pushes on the nerves going out into my back and makes them tingle like that.

For the pain, he gave me cortizone tablets to take for the next 5 days, plus valium to help my muscles relax so I could finally get a decent night’s sleep. The valium’s definitely helped me get slightly more comfortable so I can sleep, but I haven’t noticed much improvement on the cortizone. However, the pain’s stopped getting worse, so that’s definitely a positive.

Even though he was pretty sure that I didn’t have any fractures, he was still on the fence about whether I should get x-rays or not. The thing that tipped him over the edge was the fact that I am heading to England in 3 weeks’ time, and he didn’t want me to go abroad with any undiagnosed injuries. I went and got those x-rays done yesterday, which took quite a while since they had to do about 10 different ones to get my neck all the way down the length of my spine. Fortunately, the results came out good–aside from a bit of scoliosis that was already there, there is no other obvious bone damage, although they said that if I keep having pain I should go back and get a bone scan.

On top of all this, the doc said it would be a terrible idea to get into a bus, since every time they stop and start they simulate a whiplash-like motion. So, I’m essentially banned from using them, and it’s not a good idea for me to be on the road at all if I can help it. Plus, he didn’t think it would be good for my back or neck to sit in a chair all day, so I’m not going to work for the entire week. I’ve pretty much just been lazing around the house, doing a few chores until my back starts really complaining and then going back to bed. Luckily, Chelsea introduced me to the Wheel of Time series, which consists of 12 books (one as yet unpublished) that are all about 800 pages each. It’s fantasy that’s similar to the Lord of the Rings, and I’m really enjoying it. I finished the first one yesterday and have plowed straight on into the second one. It’s definitely helping time pass, as is LibraryThing, a new web 2.0 application I found that lets you catalog all of the books you’ve read. It’s sadly addictive.

I’ve also spent quite a lot of time on the phone talking to concerned friends & family. Thanks so much for calling and chatting–it definitely makes a world of difference!

Other things keeping me occupied: Flickr, especially browsing random photos and checking on the insane number of comments the flower picture I posted at the top of my last post has received. Funny, for a picture where I just stuck the camera under some flowers and hoped for the best! Also, it’s given me time to get my IgoUgo up-to-date, but mostly picture-wise since I’m not in much of a state to write at the moment. This blog will hopefully have a lot of things added to it in the next few days as well, including my library from LibraryThing and a new format for my Igo travel journals. All in all, thank God for mindless ways to spend time on the internet!

Also, I got a call from the insurance yesterday saying that the damage on Ribena looked a lot worse than it was, so she’s going to be repaired rather than replaced. I just hope she comes back in perfect shape!