offbalance | Sharon's Anatomy

"I'm sorry, I forgot my manners in all the concussion..." -- Riley, BtVS 4.1 "The Freshman"

There's nothing like spending an entire day in the ER. Really, nothing at all.

This morning I was on my merry way to work, just like any other. I took what I call the "scenic route" through Rockefeller Center (down and around what's the skating rink in the winter, then up again). All was fine and well and good.

Something, however, went amiss while I was attempting to walk back UP the stairs. Somehow, my foot slipped, and all holding on to the railing did for me was cause me to fall at an angle down four stone stairs and hit my head on the lower part of the railing. (What I find truly amazing is that I take this route through a good part of the winter without incident, and yet fall down the stairs when it's nearly summer. Go team me!) I saw a few stars, but I didn't lose consciousness. Two women immediately ran over to help me pick up my lunch and ipod (miraculously unharmed!!) and get me back on my feet. They kept asking me if I was okay. I was disoriented and in pain, but insisted I was fine.

In the next 5 minutes it took me to get to work, the pain only got worse. My head was throbbing, my neck and back sore. I remembered that there was an icepack thingie in the fridge at work, so I took it out when I put my lunch away and put it where it hurt. It felt good, but my arm hurt from trying to hold it in place. One of the other assistants, J, saw me and asked me what the hell happened. When I told her, she insisted that I talked to R, who is a volunteer firefighter on the weekend and trained as an EMT. I did what she said, and he took a look. He said that nothing was too swollen or bleeding, and since I was walking and talking I should be okay, but if I started to feel nauseated, dizzy or disoriented, I should get to an ER pronto.

Ten more minutes go by. I eat my yogurt. But then, just as R warned, I started to get nauseated, dizzy, and disoriented. Boss L and Boss T arrive, and I tell them what went on. I decide not long after they get there that I should head to an ER. Of course, this being New York, no one can decide which one I should go to:

"NYU is on 35th, and she lives in Brooklyn. That might make more sense."
"Did the ER at Cabrini close yet?"
"Ugh! Who cares? That place is horrible!"
"The internet says that Cornell Med is on 55th & Madison."
"That's an ER? I thought they were up in the far east 60s!"
"Maybe St. Luke's-Roosevelt?"
"Are you serious? I'm not letting her go there."
"Well, what do you think, Sharon?"
"..."

Boss T intervened, and told me that I should go to Lenox Hill. His daughter was born there, and he thinks highly of the place. He asked if I wanted him to take me in, and after a moment of hesitation, I said yes. He left after they were going to take me in to take tests (which is fine by me, as I had to wear a gown, and I didn't want my Boss to see that.) I was kind of embarrassed by the entire thing - I hate putting anyone out for any reason, and it's not like I needed an ambulance, right? Right?? eeep. My inner voice was all, "Oh come on, you big faker! You can stand! So what if it hurts like hell when you turn your head - you CAN turn it, right? This is all totally unnecessary! You're totally fine...absolutely and totally...well, maybe I will lie down a minute, since there's a bed here and all..."

I changed into a gown, met the really, really reallllly cute doctor. (oh, and he was nice, too. Maybe just fake bedside-manner nice, but I saw him talk to one of the nurses at one point from a distance and he was really nice to her, too. So.) I also got my first CAT scan ever, and spent the day in my own room (!) with a tv and everything. Of course, it took me awhile to figure out where the remote was, but once I did it was MUCH better (really? Being forced to watch hours of daytime programming on the now-former UPN is another thing I'll add to the list of Things You Experience in Hell). It took several hours from the time when they returned me from x-ray to the time when I finally got discharged. (12:30-5:00. SO NOT ON, you people). Still, I was apologized to profusely for this. Which I'm not used to at all.

Thankfully, I only have a mild concussion. No bleeding, no fractures, nothing too serious. I'm on bed rest for the next few days, and I'm to do no heavy lifting, boozing, or exercising (figures, I was going to go to the gym tonight before all of this happened). I'm basically fine, just sore as hell. Tylenol and I are BFF for the next week or so. And Dr. McDreamy says I should check in with my regular doctor and get myself back to an ER if any of the major symptoms of a serious concussion arise in the next day or so. He said that he sees this kind of injury all the time, but on football players, since he works a lot with the New York Jets. Hee!

And in summation, I have to really compliment the entire staff at Lenox Hill. Everyone was so nice, so caring, so concerned about everything that it made the whole experience much easier. They were even distressed to hear that I was cold! They brought me a heated blanket, and socks with treads on the bottom. (The socks came home in my purse.) If you need an ER, that's a pretty good one to go to.

Right now, I've (finally) been fed thanks to Puck and

quasisonic, and am sitting on a heating pad for my poor back, and I'm tired as all get out. Maybe I'll be able to concentrate on more than the bright and shiny in a few days.

HOW WAS YOUR DAY??

Current Mood: sore
Current Location: in bed, with laptop.