“That poor man,”said an elderly woman. Her tone suggested pity but also a hint of relief, sort of a sympathy base with a dash of “There but for the Grace of God go I.”. In truth, in that instant, it was my pride that hurt most of all. In fairness though, the middle finger of my right hand was still numb and my knee wouldn’t start aching for another fifteen minutes.
The morning had started promisingly enough with a trip to a local coffee shop in nearby Pointe-Claire village, Victor Rose, a quaint little place that offers up a warm, dog-friendly environment AND internet. It had fast become Akemi and my go-to place since my sister recommended it a few days back. Run by a mother and her two daughters, it has a real Cheers vibe except that, instead of beer, it serves up varied caffeinated beverages and a Sambuca biscotti that Akemi adores. Also, it has its fair share of colorful regulars as we discovered on two separate occasions.
Bubba accompanied us on our first visit. He spent most of his time there cowering under a table. Suji was next. Nestled in her stroller for the duration of our stay, she seemed bored, staring up at us with a plaintive “When’re we going?” look. Finally, today, it was Lulu’s turn. Lulu, the most sociable of the pack. Lulu, who LOVES to meet people. Lulu who, on this particular foray, panted and paced anxiously until it was time to go.
On the way home, we decided to pick up dog food. The pet store is located in a mall – also dog-friendly – so we parked and walked in with Lulu. As we were strolling along, I noticed that one of Lulu’s booties was missing. “I’ll go find it,”said Akemi, doubling back. “Meet you at the pet shop!” She disappeared from view and we continued on our way.
And then, it happened.
As Lulu scampered along, she casually dropped a single piece of poop. She seemed completely oblivious as she motored along, not even breaking stride, like someone who had unwittingly dropped their wallet. I, of course, hit the brakes. And, as luck would have it, a wet patch. If I’d been scripting this incident, the coincidence that precipitated my fall would have struck me as exceptionally contrived. Instead, all that came to mind was “Shit!” and then I hit the deck.
I quickly picked myself up, more concerned with locating a baggie and picking up that lone poop nugget than considering any possible injuries. “Poor thing is anxious,”I heard the same elderly woman say. I wasn’t sure if she was referring to me or Lulu.
Akemi caught up with us at the pet store where I told her what had happened. “I’ll write about it in today’s blog entry,”I told her.
“The title should be ‘I’m Sorry I Make Fun Of My Girlfriend Falling Down'”she suggested.
So there you have it.
Lulu works on her tan.
For Christmas, Akemi asked for a gift certificate from Muji, a Japanese retailer that has opened a shop in Toronto. It offers up homey essentials, everything from toothbrush holders to Japanese sweets. Sadly, one of the things they don’t offer are gift certificates. As a result, I crafted a clever, official-looking facsimile – signed by the fictitious Tanaka Muji no less!
Lulu isn’t a fan of other dogs, generally preferring to ignore them in favor of their human counterparts. For some reason, though, she really seems to have hit it off with my sister’s dog, Kona. Pictured above – them sharing lobster.
Lulu pins Kona for the three count!
P.S. Okay, I think I really did a number on my knee. This is definitely going to put a crimp in my daily leg workout.
Awww poor baby! Sorry you hurt yourself, especially when you were just trying to do the right thing. 🙁
But let’s not use it as an excuse to read more books, and put off writing, ok?
😀
So sorry for your knee, and so sorry there was no one around with a video camera to record the incident. Two days until 2017! Yay.
So sorry, Joe — ice, heat, rest, yadda yadda. I made the mistake of trying out my nephew’s new hover board. Those things sense the slightest body movement to figure what you want them to do. It read my motion as ‘oscillate forward and back in ever greater extremes until the rider is on her butt in the dining room.” Once free of me, it hit my sister in the foot. And this is the safe, non-exploding battery version!
Go Lulu! She is one tough girl. I thought you said she was slowing down! LOL!
That sucks about your knee – I hope it doesn’t turn out like mine from my fall in NH back in August. There’s still something weird with it. It hurts if I work it too hard and there’s still a swelling below the kneecap, which the doctor believes is fluid or an inflamed bursa. An x-ray didn’t seem to turn up anything untoward, and it does *seem* to be getting slightly better. But still – that was months ago and I’m rather annoyed by it.
I take it from Akemi’s comment that some fun was made of the poor girl about a fall of hers? Perhaps it was Karma Electra (yes I know that’s not the right name, but work with me here) who stuck out her foot and tripped you up! 🙂
@Gforce You probably need an MRI too. 🙂
I liked the post for anything but your fall. Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation. And yep, this is an apology to Akemi for sure. I hope you didn’t seriously injure anything. Sometimes it takes 24 hours before you really find out the damage. But doing RICE now might prevent a bigger one.
That’s great Lulu found a playmate. Kona is beautiful and he looks like he adores playing with Lulu, too. I’d be fighting for the lobster, too. Oh wait. I don’t like lobster. Now if it were King Crab legs maybe a fight would ensue.
It was an electronics holiday at my house. And sickness.
Ahhhh! These are the stories I love!! And miss. 😉 And hope that someone took a video of…
A word of warning… I fell on my knee once. It hurt, but it only lasted a day or two, without any other issues. Fast forward a year or so and I started having problems with that knee. Now, several years later (and still putting off a doctor’s visit 🙄 ), I have all sorts of issues with it, including – but not limited to – having it buckle when going down stairs (so I have to take them one at a time), and having it try to hyperextend when walking fast, and I am naturally a fast walker. Or, I was. 😛 My age and weight are probably a factor, but I think it was the fall that did the damage that is now manifesting itself. So don’t monkey around with it…after a certain age you just can’t shake this stuff off.
If only I would learn to take my own advice. 😛
das
Thank God Akemi didn’t fall. I was all set to yell at you if she had fallen and you were making fun of her. As we age, the last thing you want to do is fall. Hope your knee is okay. You might have torn your meniscus ligament.
Hey, poop happens. My beagle will be playing and running around crazy in the house when a hard little poop “nugget” (as you called it) will just suddenly fall out. Usually no harm done.
Is that Bad-Back-Lulu picking on Kona? Glad to see her back is better.
btw….. @Joe, @gforce, @Das – An x-ray will not show anything. You’ll need an MRI on your knee to show any damage.
Joe, I’ll follow up PBMom’s RICE with the elevation rules. For arms, wrist above elbow above heart; legs, ankle above knee above heart.
Das, your complaint sounds like the muscle fatigue I suffered while recovering from knee surgery. I suggest you slow down, see your doc, and ask about physical therapy to improve strength & balance.
All is relatively well here, considering that the Mr. now has the respiratory illness that I suffered starting the 13th. I think he will get over it faster than I did.
Re: MRI – Agree with Ponytail, I do.
Re: RICE – Agree with PBMom.
An x-ray can indicate shift in the knee cap – this is important.
MRI will show any damage to the surrounding meniscus, muscles, and soft stuff in there.
IF…you shifted the knee cap and do not adjust back to “normal” it stays that way and you will have more issues with the knee as you age.
Landing on your knee straight on…or at an angle will make a difference in the injury.
You’re in decent shape and hopefully the damage will be minimal and go away.
with sufficient application of Salonpas spray or plasters. Keep doing RICE.
You can get an inexpensive knee compression sleeve – like the ones seen on TV advertised by Copperfit (endorsed by Brett Farve).
No I am not a medical professional – but I watch a lot of TV…lol.
Wishing you well with the knee.
To all – a very Happy, Healthy, and Prosperous New Year.
To 2016 – get thee behind us and be gone.
Hauoli Makahiki Hou y’all.
And, as gforce says, it takes a while to heal.
From my tv doctoring – muscle/nerve grows reaaaalllly slow.
exaggerating here – 1 milimeter a year. So please give it time to heal.
Returning you to regular blog. I gotta go shopping.
Poor thing. Sending a lot of healing wishes.
Did you ever find the missing bootie?
Imma be the voice of dissent and say you’re fine. If there’s one thing TV and the internet has taught me, it’s that Canadians don’t get hurt when they fall, as long as it was on ice. It’s a thing.
Kona reminds me so much of the dog from Hyperbole and a Half.
Have a safe New year’s Joe
With my orthopedist, they first order an x-ray to rule out bony issues, and then they move on to MRI for all the soft tissue stuff.
I agree with @Ponytail and I speak from experience. You are in 1000% better shape than I am, but after 50, you really have to be careful. My orthopedist said he tore his meniscus just getting out of the car and he is a runner. He said more people tear their meniscus in such ways. I did mine just trying to put on my socks while standing up.
@Joe:
Ouch on the fall. Be careful with that one…knee injuries have a way of coming back as problems later on (personal experience talking…). I also agree with Sylvia, Ponytail, et al, that X-rays are mostly useless to show knee problems because they don’t show soft tissue damage and areas that are blocked by bone (under the knee cap for example) won’t be visible on an X-ray. An MRI is needed, so maybe keep that in mind if further pain develops.
And glad to see Lulu having fun with her cousin! We are a multi-dog household as well now since we adopted another husky the week before Christmas. We probably should have looked sooner, but when the time is right, it mostly just flows right along. Lucy (our Alaskan Husky) and Lancer (our new Siberian Husky) are integrating well, with the only disagreement occurring when Lancer (who is neutered) tries to get amourous with Lucy, who will have none of it and lets him know it by snapping and growling (no real bites…just a flash of agression to tell him to back off). After a week under our roof, Lancer has seems to have finally gotten the message and for the past few days he has been behaving himself.
They’re also behaving more like brother and sister and they’re enjoying going outside together and chasing bunnies in the back yard. Lancer doesn’t seem to have the prey drive that Lucy does (and Lucy being 12 doesn’t have the speed she once had), so maybe the bunnies are safe for now? Having a more active dog in the house does seem to have helped Lucy deal with her arthritis…it keeps her more active and I’ve noticed she seems to be moving around with less difficulty, so having a “brother” in the house to play with looks like it is doing her some good.
And lastly, Happy New Year to you, Akemi, your mom and sis, and all your furry kids!
Loved the post! Karma is a bitch or as Akemi would say “I’m sorry I make fun of my girlfriend falling down”.
What were your favorite treats at the new “caffeine” shop?
Love the gift card!
And yes I agree as previously written, RICE. Rest Ice Compress Elevate. Above the heart if swelling really is an issue. Rules for ice: 20 min on, 60 min off. Barrier between ice and skin (pillowcase is okay). Once it feels cold, skin is cold to touch, and light pink in color – good to go and remove the ice (may be 10 min, may be 20, everyone is different). If skin is deep red or purple – too long!! Hello frostbite! You can use an ace wrap for compression. Wrapping distal to proximal. Meaning start below knee, top of tibia, wrapping up to above knee/lower thigh. No gaps in the wrap.
Take care and enjoy the last days you have visiting!! No more injuries!
I took my pratfall last Friday, and there was no ice or snow to blame. My right knee now has fresh road rash next to decades of other trip and fall scars. I was just exhausted and anxious to get home; my apt was less than 20 steps away when I tripped. My winter boots are like ski boots; once you’re off balance you’re going down.