Crash and Burn, Err, Torn

Something ever happen to you that makes you wonder if your pool days are over? Frightening, isn't it?

On Thanksgiving Day, my Mom's lovely dog Izzy desperately needed a bath. I graciously took Izzy into the shower so I could use the hand-held shower-head. After soaking her and getting some shampoo on her back, she slipped away from me, knocked open the shower door, and off she went... !

She raced through the house.... wet, soapy, happy and free while I scrambled out of the bathroom to try and get her back in. I chased her through the kitchen but of course she runs a lot faster than I. I asked Mom to hold fort in front of the living room so she could catch this wet thing of a dog while I tried to run through the kitchen one more time to try and get her to run into Mom's grasp on the other side. As I flew around the corner, the now slippery floor under my feet caused me to fall. I slipped super fast, crashed into the cabinets, fell to the ground, all the while my left arm caught me from hitting my head on the other side of the kitchen wall. I sat there in disbelief, realizing my left arm was in a very bad position and I was still on the floor, not able to immediately get up.

My Mom yells, "I have her!" I yell back, "I fell!"

I sit there a minute, still leaning on my arm, my legs underneath me, and then I finally try and climb up. I try and get up very, very slowly and my arm hurts like hell, but I had a wet dog to still shampoo and my now-filthy mouth full of cuss words dragged the wet dog back to the shower. I could tell my arm was really hurt but I think I was in shock still.

I would realize later I'm kinda like a cat! I land on my feet just like a cat would! My arms and hands protect me really well from falling or hitting my head. It obviously could have been so much worse.

I mentioned to my Mom all the rest of the day, "I really hurt my arm," and she would wince in agreement that I probably did.

We made Thanksgiving dinner and ate all the wonderful foods and then it was nap time. While waking up from my nap, I realized my arm hurt even worse than I originally thought. I then went downstairs to clean up the kitchen more thoroughly and again told Mom, "my arm really does hurt." I would try to pretend to shoot pool, but I could not even lift my back arm up (my left arm) because it hurt to even simulate holding a cue.

I went to bed a couple of hours later, and could never really fall asleep - laying on my sides hurt my arm and on my tummy was a no-go. Just lifting it was brutally painful. So when I tried to move to my side in the night, I would have to lift my arm to adjust my position and it would hurt like hell.

The next day I went to work and my arm still hurt. My boss suggests it probably isn't permanent but it may take a while to heal - maybe even physical therpay of some sort. I plan on calling a doctor Monday when they open up after the holiday.

I sat at my desk at work on Friday and every once in a while I get up to go do something down the hall and I realized as I tried to stand up from my chair, that my hips hurt. I realize I can't walk straight and I'm walking with a limp. And my arm still hurts.

I am falling apart!

I dunno... but my body is beat up. No practicing for me this weekend; no pool; no pool tourney on Sunday, either.

I took some Tylenol PM Friday night and slept better and now today, Saturday, my arm feels better and my hips feel better. I can simulate holding a fake cue, and although my arm still hurts a little, it's definitately better. I prolly either strained a tendon or muscle, hopefully not tore either one.

The scary part of this story is I bet a lot of people go through things like this every once in a while in their life. And it is scary. I haven't hurt my arm so bad where I thought my pool career was over, but it really affects your demeanor - I am worried.

I think I will be okay, espeically since I do feel better today, but my arm still hurts and I am concerned.