Wipeout
— छः हज़ार चौंतीस —
I'm still pretty sore as I write this. I wiped out on my bike this morning, probably worse than I've ever experienced. I kind of slammed my entire body, the left side, on the pavement on Union Street just before the turn-in to the parking garage to Rainier Square. It seriously knocked the wind out of me and I couldn't even speak for a couple of minutes. It was a very odd experience, in addition to being painful: kind of like an impact-induced panic attack.
I was actually slowing down to turn, so it probably could have been way worse. Actually I know it could have been way worse, because my head did hit the pavement too, just through my bike helmet, which probably saved me from serious head trauma. Anyway, a guy driving a truck suddenly pulled out of the garage, right past a parked car that blinded us from seeing each other, and I slammed on the brakes. I never did hit the truck, I just wiped out onto the street. The guy got out of the truck to make sure I was okay, though, and within moments a Rainier Square security guy was there too.
I was asked several times if I as okay, but at first I didn't even know, as I was so winded and hyperventilating, and kind of saying "Huuuh! Huuuh!" over and over again. The driver said he thought I might be in shock, which was perhaps true. Neither of them were even close to satisfied until I assured them multiple times that I was pretty sure I was okay, even though until I was able to do that I was shaking.
After the driver left, there was a second security guy who also spoke to me, from Rainier Square. I suspect they were concerned about liability, and perhaps didn't realize my crash was outside of the building, in the street—I was just outside the down-ramp into the parking garage. Between the two of them, I must have been told four different times that they should have security footage of what happened, although it occurs to me now to wonder how much is actually visible on it, as again, it happened in the street and not inside the building. I think I was in view of the ramp where I fell though, so maybe the camera did pick up the whole thing.
I didn't even realize at first that my bike chain was dislodged. The driver of the truck had even realigned my front wheel, which was turned almost all the way around (but not bent, that I could see anyway). I rode the bike down the ramp and to the bike rack where I always lock it up, and the second security guy came by and said he was asked to get my name. I gave him my name, and told him I work here at the PCC office. He gave me a card with the number for Rainier Square Security, just in case I might need it.
I honestly have no idea who would potentially have any liability here besides me. That driver sure should have been coming out of the garage more slowly, but also I think maybe I panicked too quickly when I saw him and slammed on my brakes harder than I needed to. Either way, there was no impact between myself and the vehicle; and the incident occurred on the street and not on Rainier Square property. I suppose it's still comforting to know that the footage is there were I to need it.
The whole experience was terrifying, more than anything. I got one small scrape on my left hand, and I found a band-aid for that. I have a feeling I may have significant bruising on my abdomen. And as for getting the wind knocked out of me, I suspect that was simply a matter of the way I tilted to the left when I crashed, and slammed my side into the road.
When I texted Shobhit about it, he immediately said I should make a doctor's appointment. I was skeptical, but his instinct turned out to be right. I needed to call to reschedule my next quarterly doctor's appointment anyway, and so I brought up the bike accident during that call. The first lady I mentioned this to, the one who did the scheduling, had a series of questions she had to ask me: have I lost consciousness at any point (no); am I having any trouble walking (no); do I have any neck pain (no); among a couple of others. I'm guessing it's because of my abdominal pain that she transferred me to a triage nurse at Dr. Means's office, and I then explained what happened to her.
That nurse said it would be best for me to get looked at, just to rule out any cracked ribs. She even tried to find an appointment for me today, and put me on hold to do so; she got back on the line and said there was nothing available. She suggested I therefore go to an Urgent Care just to get a quick assessment—and, perhaps, get a tetanus shot, which I last got in 2021. Apparently even with the one very minor scrape on my hand, tetanus is a concern.
There's a ZoomCare all of one block from this office, so I walked over there. I did not have an appointment there either, though, but they were able to make one for 10:40. So I went back to my office to sit at my desk for half an hour and then walk back to ZoomCare again. At least the guy took my insurance information when I went in the first time.
…
Okay, well. I’m writing this from an ER hospital bed. I went back to Urgent Care, and the lady there examined me and said an X-ray would be a good idea, maybe also a CT scan to rule out any organ damage. They could not do any of this at that location, though they have one with X-ray capability in South Lake Union. The Virginia Mason ER is closer and can do both X-ray and CT scan so I just decided to come here.
It’s 1:34 pm as I write this, and the visit so far has been a bit more eventful than expected. It hurts when I take deep breaths, and it was hard to find any position in the waiting room chair in which I could stay comfortable. I can’t say the pain was ever agonizing, but it was pretty constant. So this triggered something I perhaps should have seen coming: I nearly fainted.
It got me brought back into a room, at least. The adjustable hospital bed is way easier to deal with, although it hurts like hell trying to sit up. I also have new pain developing in my upper-back shoulder area, fun!
Anyway, I said to Shobhit, “I think I might be about to pass out.” My hearing was getting muffled and my vision starting to cloud over—both telltale signs. Shobhit immediately sprang up to get some attention. A nurse brought a chair over and I managed to get in it while slightly out of it. Once they transferred me to the hospital bed, and Shobhit had followed in, he commented on how I was covered in sweat. It really freaked him out, but the nearly passing out was probably the most normal thing to happen to me today. I have a history of passing out at either the sight of injuries or my own injuries, so there you have it.
Once the doctor came in and examined me (probably my third examination today) and said he would order a CT scan and it would probably be two hours before it happened, I finally texted Alexia to cancel our movie plans for tonight:
Well. I think we’re going to have to do a rain check on the movie. I called my doctor, they had no availability so they suggested going to urgent care. Went there, they referred me to the ER. Now waiting for a CT scan which they said will take a couple of hours. I’ve been having enough pain as I wait that I nearly passed out in the waiting room. They brought me in covered in sweat, it really freaked Shobhit out. I’m mostly okay except it hurts when I take deep breaths. They took an Xray earlier but it showed no fractures. However we were just told that X-rays are notorious for not picking up on things like cracked ribs and the CT scan should confirm one way or the other. It should also show whether I injured any organs
I then texted Gabby much of the same thing, and told her I definitely won’t be back today. Shobhit’s insisting I work from home tomorrow if I work at all, but we’ll see how things go. Right now I’m glad I copied and pasted the draft I had already written of this post so far into a Gmail draft, as it means I can work on this as a means of killing time while I wait for the CT scan to happen. Once this is posted, that will be the latest on all of this: at the ER, in a hospital bed, waiting for a CT scan.
— छः हज़ार चौंतीस —
— छः हज़ार चौंतीस —
So, what else? I suppose I can finally mention what I did last Thursday evening, since this is my first regular blog post since then: that was the night I met up with Gabriel, Lea, Tess, and Tess's girlfriend Berkeley for dinner and then to see The Mandalorian and Grogu. You can click through that link to my review for my many thoughts on that movie; suffice it to say, it was deeply imperfect but I still had a great time. I certainly have fewer complaints about it than the many podcast reactions I have listened to. But, I went in with my expectations tempered, and it basically met my expectations.
Anyway, I took the Sounder train to Kent Station, which is such an easy thing to do now, especially from downtown. King Street Station is all of a 20-minute walk or so from work; it could be a fraction of that if I caught Light Rail from Symphony Station but I didn't bother.
This has been where I met them all (minus Berkeley) to see The Rise of Skywalker back in 2019, the last time there was a Star Wars feature film release. Tess reminded me of this while we were at the restaurant this time. I just went to check my records, and the place we had dinner before the movie back then was exactly the same as where we had dinner before the movie this time: Agave Cocina & Cantina, which is right next to the AMC Theater at the Kent Station shopping center. That was a December release, though, and last Thursday was quite warm; we all sat at outdoor seating. Lea even gave me some of her sunscreen, which I was very grateful for; I had to sit in direct sun and probably would have burned otherwise.
I arrived fairly early, and just walked around Kent Station shopping center for a bit. I could not find any public bathrooms outside of individual venues, which I found annoying. I walked into the AMC and asked there, and the guy let me use the bathroom there. After walking around a bit more, I finally found Lea, sitting alone at a table outside Mod Pizza and prepping for a workshop she's been tasked with creating at her job.
Gabriel would have made it earlier, but he cut his thumb while at his job and—guess what—had to get a tetanus shot! I guess this is just Tetanus Shot Week. He got his done quite quickly though, and arrived at Kent Station with the kids with just enough time for us all to eat, pay, and head over to the theater.
The Sounder only has a bunch of southbound trains during commute hours, and they were all done by the time the movie, which was a 6 p.m. showing, ended. This left me with a one-hour bus ride home on the King County Metro #150 as my only option. This really worked out, though, because I brought my laptop for this very purpose, tethered the wifi to my phone, and spent the entire time on the bus writing my review. I finished it moments before I got off the bus at 9th & Howell, then went over to catch a bus up the hill to home on Pike Street. And thus began my Memorial Day Weekend, with an extra day off on Friday for the two nights I spent on Lummi Island with Gabriel. This resulted in a very rare, four-day stretch of time spent with Gabriel.
— छः हज़ार चौंतीस —
All of the above, about last week, was written earlier this morning, before my final visit to Urgent Care. Basically all I have left to talk about now is injuring myself today.
They put in an IV. Bleh. The nurse had to attempt it twice! The first one hurt. The second attempt wasn’t great either but it was much better. The nurse is cool, a pretty obviously gay, bald guy with sparky nail polish named Jonathan. Shobhit asked again about the timing of the CT scan and Jonathan quipped, “It should definitely happen by Thursday.” Ha!
…
. . . It’s 1:05 now. I just got brought back from the CT scan. Apparently the results are going to take another 45 minutes.
The scan was a pain, quite literally. It hurts just to sit up, and I had to move from the hospital bed to the scanning slab. And then back again when I was done. I’m not positive but I think this was the first time I’ve ever had this done. When I went to the ER after hitting my head at work in 2003—after passing out the first time—I think that time what I had was an MRI.
When my scan was finished, I saw a digital number on the machine that said 169.5. “Is that my weight?” I asked. Nope: apparently that number fluctuates based on how high up from the floor you are. One of the two young women in there with me said she once joked at a woman patient when it read 400 that it was her weight, and the patient did not think it was funny. Ha! Well, I do.
Okay. Now, we wait. I try to find a new position that doesn’t hurt. It is a lot better in the hospital bed, at least.
— छः हज़ार चौंतीस —
