The Fall of the Spring of 2011:

A year ago last night, I fell down our basement steps. Just a freak accident but tramatic to say the least.
I was going to bed, I remember distinctly having my cell phone (brand new!! Just got it the day before) in one hand and a full glass of water in the other. I shut off the kitchen light and started into the bedroom. I kind of bumped into the door frame and I had thought I was stepping into my bedroom, so I kind of backed up and walked in the doorway. Apparently I was a little disoriented as I stepped into the open stairwell to the basement. (The basement door was left open) I didn't fall down the steps, I fell and landed in the basement. I can remember thinking the glass was going to break and I would be cut from the glass but other than that I don't remember much. I think the heavy glass with a handle might have been what hit my forehead and caused the hemotoma. My cell phone didn't make it. It hit the baseboard and then the floor and smashed. It hit so hard it left a nick in the wood. I remember waking up and moaning and then Dwayne coming down the steps yelling my name. To me, it seemed like he was wanting me to get up and I couldn't move and didn't feel like getting up. He said that it wasn't that fast he tried to get me to move. I do know, I am very lucky that we didn't do further damage as he helped me up and we went straight to the emercency room. I remember being in a lot of pain and I could feel my forehead swelling and thinking the skin was going to crack open as I could feel so much pressure and stretching.
Looking back, I am surprised at how fast we were taken into a room and them checking me out so promptly AND not asking a lot of questions before treating me.
Hematoma on my forehead:


The night is kind of a blur, I had a major concussion, a sprained neck and two hemotomas. The one on my forehead you can see and the other one at the back of the head. They did an MRI, x-rays and other tests I can't quite remember now. We have always been pretty self-reliant and didn't even dream about calling for an ambulance.
The released me some time early that morning and we got home about an hour before Dwayne had to leave for work. They told us we needed someone to keep an eye on me and watch for any changes. As I said, we are pretty independent, so Dwayne went on to work and I stayed home by myself. April had come out during her lunch hour to check on me but I was out of it from my medication and didn't even know she had been there.
This all happened on a Tuesday night, I went back to work for half a day on Thursday. This bouquet was on my desk when I got there.

Friday, March 4th, this is what I looked like:


March 7th, still looking like an abuse victim. lol

March 11, 2011, starting to look a little better:

I did not realize a concussion could affect you for such a long period of time. I was confused a lot (ask Dwayne and April, they used to make fun of me at night because I thought they had two heads or seeing double on TV-I would get so mad that they didn't see it too). I still have epidsodes of dizziness occassionally but I got a check up last week and I have an inner ear infection, so it's good to know the dizziness is from the infection and not still lingering from the fall. My concussion was from a fall, I cannot imagine the pain and trauma car accident victims go through.
When Blake found out I had fell down the steps, he said, "Well, April should have had a gate up!!" lol Now the family joke is if the basement door has been left open or not and telling me to be careful and not fall. That's okay, I am just glad my fall was not any worse and it can be joked about. And Dwayne has shared in the joking discomfort also as everytime people would see me they would jokingly asked if Dwayne beat me up. That does get old after awhile even though people don't mean it.

I am grateful I am okay a year later and I was not injured more than I was in the fall of the Spring of 2011.