Ouch!

For the past month I was certain that the pain in my left hand was arthritis, which is not uncommon for many people my age, and younger.  I've read that millions of people are walking around with undiagnosed arthritis. Recently I have also noticed that my wrist had what appeared to be a slowly spreading bruise that looked like pooling blood. Yesterday I became alarmed so I went to Urgent Care where I had blood tests and an x-ray.  I was told that "you are one tough lady." I was diagnosed with a fractured wrist and am scheduled with a follow-up with an orthopaedic surgical specialist.  How on earth did this injury occur, you ask?

Well, again like most people my age, I have discarded throw rugs to avoid slips and falls, but I still have large area rugs over my hardwood floors in several rooms.  About 6 weeks ago when getting up out of bed, my foot caught under the edge of a rug and with lightening speed I fell forward, without hitting my head, but landing flat on my stomach. Immediately my chest pained, which lasted for several weeks, but gradually went away. During that entire time I didn't feel any extraordinary pain in my arms and wrist that had helped me break a total fall that protected my face and head. Only within the last 4 weeks has my self-diagnosed "arthritis" given me pain.

Moral of the story?  Don't ignore pain--see a doctor!