The Bathtub Bashing

Dear Audy,

It was the strangest thing…

I had a bit of an accident last night (I know, me? Accident? Shock! Horror!). I was getting out of the bath and I bashed my right knee on the spout. I did a pretty good job, it twisted this much past where it screws in to.



The accident wasn’t the weird part, that came in the form of my reaction.

I screamed, because OW.

Then I just sat there on the side of the bath regaining my breath (because OW) and waiting for the blinding pain to subside a little.

It only took a few moments to break into that throbbing/stabbing pain.

I just sat there, watching it. Not reacting. I felt like Dexter, but without the dark passenger.

It was the strangest thing.

There are a lot of reasons why this incident would have severely upset a previous version of myself:

  • The bath is terribly designed (I was quite unwell during the planning process and did not notice this).

  • The bath was chipped by the builders and needs to be replaced anyway.

  • The spout has already been replaced once, it used to be about twice as long and twice as dangerous.

  • The room was clearly designed by somebody who never takes baths.

  • I take a lot of baths, they are extremely helpful to my pain management and it’s inconvenient to have a tub that is so difficult to navigate.

  • It’s a bathtub, I shouldn’t need special skills to use it.

  • The whack hurt a lot.

  • Like a lot, a lot.

  • The injury will probably take days to stop being really inconvenient and weeks to heal.

  • It’s nearly NYE and I’d prefer to rock out on my legs rather than my butt.

  • I was attacked by a freaking bathtub.

  • I never seem to go very long without inflicting some sort of injury upon myself.

  • The soak in the tub was nice and relaxing, it shouldn’t have ended in pain and swelling.

  • I had been planning on cooking dinner and walking my dogs after that bath.

  • The meat was already out of the freezer.

  • I was attacked by a freaking bathtub!

    • But, the strange thing? None of these existed as more than fleeting thoughts. I didn’t even have to concentrate not to follow them, they just sort of flowed away. I knew that getting upset wasn’t going to help the situation. Being grumpy never rewinds time and stops things happening.

    All being grumpy does is make the experience of life more difficult than it needs to be.

    I think that I have made some pretty outstanding progress toward my goal of not getting upset by things. I didn’t punch through any bricks, but I did come pretty close to bashing through metal. Or, it came pretty close to bashing through me, perhaps I should stop giving metal ideas…

    Having survived with my senses intact, I made myself comfy on the couch and iced the offending leg. I still didn’t get upset. I didn’t really get anything. I was quite indifferent and contented watching TV whilst paying little attention to the pain.

    It was the strangest thing.

    The knee bothered me for a lot of the night, however I knew that getting frustrated wasn’t going to help me sleep either. It’s OK to get less sleep sometimes. I’ve been awake since 5am and up since 6am.

    I am not even upset. I bumbled through my coffee making ritual and then sat down to ice the knee again and read through my Google Reader.

    It’s very sore, but what’s happened has happened, ya know? Can only deal with what is now. There’s no point whinging to myself or anybody else. Instead, I decided to tell you about this experience as it has felt so different to every similar injury that I’ve dealt with whilst living with CRPS.

    If feels better, easier.

    It is the strangest thing.

    Love & Breakthroughs,
    Caf

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    • 12 thoughts on “The Bathtub Bashing”

      1. Hayley Cafarella Post author

        Aw, that is so cute! I am going to get a whole new spout, it’s just too stupid and is dinted as well. I have no idea why they screwed on an already dinted spout, but they did. Silly builders.

    3. Della

      Ouch ouch ouch! I’m so glad you’re developing ways to deal with such things better! Keeping the stress level down sure does help in every way!

      1. Hayley Cafarella Post author

        It’s definitely nicer not to feel stressed about the injury, it has been quite hindering! Silly knee, I hope it stops hurting soon. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you! xoxo

    4. Ross

      Ouch! That looks as though it must have hurt! Good to be able to be back on your site. My computer seems to be fine with your site at the moment! I truly believe that 2012 is going to be a new year for us, a better year one where pain doesn’t consume our lives! I’m having part two of my implant on Dec.28th. The timing is terrible but I guess I get to spend New Years in bed! Have a great Christmas and New Years!

    6. Tracey

      Ow! That’s totally something that I’d do!
      You always have the best spin on things … take that bath-tub! 😉

      Have a wonderful Christmas!!
      xx

    7. Jeanne

      Hayley,

      I always love your wordings and sense of humor! Here are a couple of lines that made me chuckle because I can just hear you saying them:

      “The room was clearly designed by somebody who never takes baths”.
      “It’s a bathtub, I shouldn’t need special skills to use it”.

      I’m so sorry you got “attacked” by your tub. (That totally sounds like something that would happen to me).

      On a brighter note, I’m so happy that you were able to deal with it more easily than you would have in the past. That’s awesome progress! 😉

      Happy New Year!!!

      Jeanne

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