There’s never a dull moment around here, I can tell you! While in the midst of the #DoThis weight loss challenge with Jerry Agar and other colleagues from NewsTalk1010 and Virgin Radio, I had an accident. Not just a trip and fall over a low hanging branch. Nope. A full-on, thrown-on-a-sailboat-when-the-keel-hit-the-ground kinda accident. One that launched me in the air. No part of me touching the boat. I was flying without wings, only to land on a metal winch that’s oh-so-useful when we trim the sails – not so useful for cushioning my left side ribs as I descended from my short flight and crash-landed on it.
If you’ve ever broken a bone, you know. You hear the crunch of your bone that takes your breath away at the same time as knowing that it’s bad. Like, real bad.
It’s interesting, the things that went through my mind (other than every curse word known to man). I first wondered how on earth I was going to get off the boat and to a hospital (I was on Toronto Island at RCYC). Then I wondered just how badly hurt I was. Did I have any arnica in my backpack? I always mean to carry it with me and sometimes use it for someone who hurt themselves or give it to someone in need. Luckily I had some, so I started taking it about 15 minutes after my flying fall.
After two ambulance crews, one police boat and an X-ray of my ribs, the amazing ER doc confirmed that I had in fact broken two of my ribs (photo evidence above). Well, that explained the pain. And the unforgiving winch that I landed on.
Fast forward to a week into my healing, and I’ve learned a lot.
- While I’m so bummed that the momentum in my workouts and yoga have been sidelined, the fact that my body is strong and flexible has helped me in so many ways. I can’t bend much from the waist up, so I’m using my legs for EVERYTHING. I easily squat as if I was at the gym at least 100 times a day. My yoga moves came into their own in trying to get into and lay down in a hot Epsom salts bath. My abs have taken the pressure off my back muscles another thousand times as I try to sit, lean back or half lay down (which is how I’ve slept for over a week now).
- I’m grateful that I have friends and my kids to support me. The rest of my family is in other parts of the world, so my friends are my family and they’ve stepped up. Bringing me food, remedies, taking me to see my osteopath while driving so, so, so carefully as not to jostle me much, and so much more. While I tend to hold back with asking for help in what I need, I couldn’t have survived without asking. And asking, and asking. People love to help when it’s needed, just as I’m there when my friends need support. What goes around, comes around in the most positive way imaginable.
- I have amazing colleagues who I can rely on. I know a lot about vitamins, minerals, remedies, first aid and all that. When it comes to self-treating though, it’s not so easy. I have a wonderful friend who is a homeopath who has recommended specific homeopathic remedies for first aid, knitting my bones back together, remedies for all the ligaments and tendons that had to endure the trauma and many more. My osteopath in Burlington helped me to be able to breathe and allow my body to literally exhale more than I thought possible. He is taking care of my body beyond what I could have imagined. I have an acupuncturist on my wellness team who came over and helped with the pain and who I’m seeing to treat all the other areas of my body that have been in shock and have to break down the pain medication that I don’t usually take (cue liver detoxification). I know some incredible healers and am calling on them to help me heal.
- Patience. I honestly know that this is one of my life lessons. Patience for things to unfold. Patience for things to show up. Patience for my body to heal. All of it. A sudden injury that literally halts life for a period of time happens for a reason. I’m aware enough to know that and am listening to my body (because when it yells, it hurts), being patient with myself and learning my new limits for what I can do. For me, it’s a time of re-focus. Rest and repair. A time to see what’s most important, ask for help and the rest will have to wait.
Along with the rattle of my ribs, my 10 vitamins that I’m taking daily has me rattling all over! From magnesium to probiotics to calcium, vitamin D and K and tissue salts, I have the best food and nutrients going into supporting my healing body, I know I’ll be back at the gym, at yoga and driving when my body is ready.
I am so grateful that I wasn’t hurt any worse than being badly bruised and broken. I didn’t hit my head or get thrown overboard. Two huge wins! Let’s see what this bump in the road will bring me, as all that happens in life happens for us, not to us.
