So I smashed my face…

If we’re friends on Facebook, you might have saw my status update last week that said:

“So today I learned not to look at my phone while walking on a sidewalk. The hard way. As in the ground felt very hard when I hit it with my face.”

I was in Montreal for the week for a meet-up with some of my coworkers. On Tuesday, my second day in Montreal, six of us were walking to a co-working place we had rented space in for the day. When we were within a block of where we expected it to be, someone asked what the street number of the office was. I pulled out my phone to check. The next thing I knew my foot was off the edge of the sidewalk and it felt like I was going over on my ankle and it was going to hurt. So instead of breaking my ankle, I guess I launched myself forward instead. Somehow I just couldn’t stop. I just kept going faster and faster, and on more and more of a downward angle, until the left side of my face smashed into the ground.

I rolled over and was a little embarrassed to see 5 of my coworkers there. They looked pretty concerned and told me I was bleeding. One of them ran for ice.

All in all, it really wasn’t bad. I scraped my forehead and the side of my face. I flattened my glasses and they cut the bridge of my nose. I skinned and bruised my knee.

Luckily for you, I have some photos. I took selfies and was sending them to Jeff so he could see the ridiculousness.

So shortly after falling:

Not too bad. Just a surface scrape and a bruised and skinned knee.

That night, with my sore puffy face coated in Polysporin:

Next morning, complete with bed head:

Not too bad at all. My triceps were really sore by the second day, rendering my arms practically useless. I must have tried to stop myself with my arms before my face hit.

It was all fun and games, and just a dumb and embarrassing fall, until some time on Thursday, two days after falling, when my neck started hurting. And got worse and worse.  By Friday night I was in so much pain I couldn’t decide if I should go to the Montreal hospital or if I should just fly home. I decided both involved too much movement and I stayed in my hotel room, skipping out on dinner.

I made it through the weekend, and WordCamp Montreal, thanks to Advil. During the day I had a headache and a sore stiff neck, but at night the pain was so bad, right at the base of my skull, just to the left of my spine. Lifting my head while lying down was excruciating and I couldn’t find a comfortable position for my head. This morning, Monday, I woke up at 2:30 or so in the morning moaning and crying with the pain. I ended up sitting up straight, watching TV, until checking out at 5am and heading for the airport.

I decided to stop at our local hospital on the way home from the Halifax airport today. I’m not good at ever getting anything medical checked out, but this pain seems rather extraordinary.

After a 3 hour wait at the ER, a resident Doctor examined me. He had me do all sorts of sobriety like tests and concluded that I have a mild concussion and likely whiplash. All the pain in the back of my head is from my trapezius muscle that I somehow strained. He said it could have been triggered from hitting my face, also even from just the blow I took on my chest (it sports a big yellow bruise from hitting the ground too).

His advice is to keep up with the Advil for another week, and try heat on my neck. If it isn’t better in another week or two, then I need to go back for a closer look.  When he touched the spot on my neck that is the sorest, I was instantly nauseous. He recommended that after it isn’t so tender, and if my insurance covered it, massage therapy would likely help work it out. He even went and got an anatomy book to show me the trapezius muscle and where it goes and what it is attached to.

If you’ve been to Montreal, you know the sidewalks are a mess! Cracked, missing, heaved, uneven, holes in the middle, trees, flower pots, sewers, fire hydrants. So many obstacles, so many accidents waiting to happen everywhere! I thought the place I fell must have had all of those for such a great fall. Until we walked the same route two days later. Here is the scene of the crime:Whoops.