It finally happened. I fell. A big, spectacular fall. In the middle of the hair salon. With a head full of foils. It wasn’t my first near fall, but the first true fall. Here’s what I think happened. 

Since surgery, I’ve taken my time getting up from a chair, firmly put my feet down, lift myself up with the chair arm rests and stand up. I allow myself to stabilize and make sure I’m steady before I’m on the move. My PT team jokes and says I’m calibrating my systems. Today I think I stood up too quick and didn’t calibrate enough. I know I was standing on the mat the stylists stand on. The surface may not have been very firm and stable. Guess I tried to walk to the shampoo bowl before I fully calibrated and was safe to walk.

I think I might have taken 1 step maximum and just fell. Not sure if it was my footing or I tripped over my own feet (not unheard of for me) . Either way, I ended up on the floor with people running to help me. Pretty mortifying. My stylist knows my medical saga so she knew I couldn’t get up on my own. She helped me up the right way by offering both her hands for me to guide her how much help I needed. I was able to get up on my knees and then to standing by using her hands.

She guided me to the shampoo bowl, as I wanted to hide under the cape, and she made sure I was ok. I could feel my knee hurt but I bruise easily and figured it would be a bruise by bedtime. That scalp massage, while she washed my hair, never felt better.

By the time I got home, I was very tired and starting to hurt. A tramadol and rest in my recliner didn’t help much but enough to get me through the rest of tonight until I go to bed.

My nerve issue is on level 10 and I’m sore all over. Hopefully good sleep tonight will help me feel better by tomorrow. Thankfully I didn’t truly injure myself except a bruised knee and embarrassment. At this point in my life, I’m not embarrassed by much though.

Don’t think it can’t happen to you. I’m 17 weeks post, strong and doing good overall. But the wrong combination of factors had me on the floor. So take your time, remember you’ll always be a fall hazard, and don’t be apologetic to have other people wait on you.