Throw Back Tuesday — Reflections on an accident

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Throwback Tuesday — Five years ago this month I was in a car accident. My car was totaled and my body (and pride) were bruised. Here is a part of the journey.

My recent auto accident taught me a few life lessons. First out of the box is that you can’t predict what you will do. When things go south fast, some primordial instincts kick in and they may not always be the best solution. The lesson here is do not judge others. If I could relive that nanosecond again I would certainly do things differently but there are no instant replays in life.

I was fortunate that all I needed was over the counter pain medications. That’s the good news and the bad news. There is regular, extra strength, capsules, gel caps, time release, etc. I’m not feeling great and I have to make all these decisions. I started with the supply on hand. The label on the container is full of cautions. In micro fly poop type. There are no directions on the container.

At the far corner I find a tiny arrow (also in micro fly poop type) that points to the corner. I think that means lift here. Pay dirt. I lift it up and there is more (micro fly poop type) information. A lot more “don’t use if” and “this may kill you” but I keep lifting. The label is almost completely off when I find the directions. At this point I’m terrified to take any but the discomfort wins. I finish that bottle over the course of a few days (there weren’t many left) and had the beloved husband buy me another. I wanted the same thing (strength and delivery method) so I don’t have to read a lot of cautions (in micro fly poop type). Nope. It was not to be. I had regular. He went to three different stores and could only find extra strength. Yes, I had to read more cautions (in micro fly poop type) before finding the directions. Then I opened the bottle. I’m not feeling well and it’s 11 p.m. I can’t get the dang bottle open because it’s made so only 6 year olds can open it. I didn’t have a handy 6 year old. Finally it’s open. Holy cow! These are horse pills. Huge. Ginormous! I’m wondering if my throat is big enough.

What I didn’t understand was that the directions for the regular strength were to take one pill every 4 to 6 hours but the directions for the extra strength horse pills (at a higher dosage) were to take two pills every 4 to 6 hours.

The lesson here is that more normal people need to go into pharmaceuticals. Rational people like me (I can hear you smirking here). I liked the old days when pills came in a bottle inside a box. The box or a flyer inside had all the “this will kill you” information and the bottle contained the directions in a readable type. Easy peasy.

There is more. The accident caused what looks like a tie-died boob. Lots of swirly colors  that make me nauseous (only because it’s on me – if it was you I’d be laughing). It took me several days to notice the bruising because it’s on the underside. Perhaps that was best. My ER discharge papers said I was to come back if I started to barf and I’m sure seeing that early on would have made me barf. (This is why I’m not in healthcare. Lots of things make me barf!) 

Fortunately, everything turned out ok except for my car which had to be replaced.

64 thoughts on “Throw Back Tuesday — Reflections on an accident”

  5. Five years already for the car accident – time is zipping by way too fast! Happily I did not have to have cataract surgery this year, so the eye doc prescribed stronger lenses. I’ve not had new glasses in two years and I can see much better, but even with progressive lenses, I still have to push the glasses down to read (or try to read) the really fine print. Next, I’ll be like my mom with a magnifying glass for fine print. When I laughed years ago after she asked me to thread a needle, she said some day I’d remember laughing at her. My new glasses are great but they pinch my nose. The other glasses had the same type of nose pads … this is annoying. So today I became my grandmother. I went into the emergency glasses repair kit and got out the spongy stick-on things you put on the glasses’ nose pads for comfort. Except I took them off a half-hour later as they pinched my nose. They also weren’t a good look to be honest. I guess I’ll be returning to the eye doctor for them to help.

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    • I had so much trouble with the adjustable nose pads that for my last glasses I got all plastic with a molded bridge pad. It helps but they slide when I sweat. I hate wearing glasses but I can’t wear contacts anymore. Wore them (happily) for 35 years then I started having the dry eye issues.

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      • I have never had issues like this before and I’m going to need to stop in and see them to get them adjusted. I’m back to a strip of Kleenex on my nose for now. I hope tightening helps, but I’m not so sure. Amazon had something that fits over the bridge of your nose to keep glasses from flipping with the all-plastic frame.

        I wore hard contact lenses, then gas permeable lenses for 35 years, even transitioning to having one contact for distance and one for close up which worked great since the readers did not work so great when I was on the brink of needing bifocals. I couldn’t even see the time on my wristwatch. I started wearing glasses again when I began working from home – I probably should not have done that and my eye doctor has tried to convince me for years to try soft lenses. When I wore glasses, my original contact lens practitioner told me I didn’t blink enough – that was before computers where you’re staring at a screen for long periods of time. At least when typing on a typewriter, your eyes and head shifted from time to time. I hate wearing glasses too, especially outside when it’s hot or coming in from the cold … I am blind as a bat.

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          • I’m going to go tomorrow after I get my new crown – might as well combine both not-so-fun stops, then go grocery shopping … a fun Friday and the heat and humidity are back by mid-day with a lot of rain. I’d like to fast forward to Fall.

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              • Yes, it was a less-than-fun day and 90 degrees by the time I got home and schlepped in groceries, but now they say we will have rain for six of the next seven days … I finally got done with contractors, a dental cleaning, followed by the two-part crown apartment, stopped to fill up the tank, grocery shopping and now I’m in the house again for almost a week. Unbelievable weather this year. The eye doctor’s office tightened my glasses, but said “just a little bit today because you’ll be back saying they’re too tight.” Hmm. They don’t feel any different to me to be honest. I’ll live with it for now – I have sunglasses for outside. These are primarily my inside glasses but I wear them more hours than the sunglasses … back to Kleenex under the nose pads … a good look. :)

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                • Most eye places (not the ones affiliated with a doctor’s office) have a 30 day return program if they don’t work out. I’ve used it in the past and was glad I did. It’s hard to pick out glasses by having them on your nose for less than a minute. You get a different frame which may not be exactly identical to the one you tried on. A smidge here or there can make a difference.

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                  • I think I may have to do just that. This morning I cut up a flexible Band-Aid and stuck the tiniest piece of Band-Aid onto the nosepiece and trimmed it. It has a little “grip” to it … so far so good, but I want it fixed properly.

                    About five years ago I got new glasses and I always had an extra set of frames from old glasses and handed them over, so I never had issues. But they discontinued the frame (that year only), so I went with Nike frames, only because they were lightweight. I got the new glasses and waited ’til I got home to put them on. I could walk around while wearing them, but sitting in front of a computer it was not only blurry, but made me feel dizzy, almost sick. I was still working at the time, so I was online even more than I am now. I went back to the eye doctor and asked one of the three people who are “fitting specialists” to test the glasses because it might not be the right prescription, maybe switched by accident at the place they have their glasses made. She got a bit snippy, but went and checked and said “no, it is not the wrong prescription – you just have to find your spot – look ahead with your head and move your eyes, not your head, then you will be fine.” I went home, tried what she said and there was no difference. I should have returned and asked for one of the others to help me, but didn’t and used my old prescription. This year, when the eye doctor and I walked out of the eye exam together, he said “I know just the frame for you” and that’s when he told me he used to help fit frames to decide if he wanted to go into this business or not. I told him the last time I had brand-new frames I never wore them as they made me dizzy. So, he asked if I had the Nike lightweight frames because they later learned that the curved frame caused distortion. I said “well Marilyn said I had to find my spot!” (I almost added maybe that is why she is gone now? She was older, so maybe retired.) He said “you should have brought them back again.” Or maybe they could have gone through their records or the optical lab’s records and see who ordered them and if they found them problematic.

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                    • I get my glasses at one of the chains and there are no issues about exchanging within the time frame for any reason including you just don’t like them. I had an issue where I got new glasses and everything was blurred. I had walked out of the store with them and couldn’t find my car (everything was blurred). Went right back in. Something in the prescription was reversed. Most annoying was that I had to wait another 2 weeks for the new ones.

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                    • Maybe I ought to consider a chain as well. I’m amazed they will exchange the frame because you don’t like them. That’s what I thought was the problem with those curved glasses. The reason I’ve stuck with this eye doctor is because he has Optomap. Just before the ophthalmologist’s office closed, after the doctor I went to for years had a nerve disorder in his legs and couldn’t stand, I had a bad reaction to the dilation drops they give you to test your eyes. I had my mom with me – we both had eye appointments and she didn’t drive. The dilation drops were given to me at 9:00 a.m. and at noon we were still in the waiting room as my eyes were blurry. They gave me some reversal drops. Then at 5:00 p.m. I still couldn’t see to drive, despite the doctor giving me more drops to reverse the original drops. We had the eye doctor call our neighbors to come and drive my car home. With Optomap, they have a machine that takes a computerized image of your eyes and the eye doctor can compare it on a screen from year to year to check for damage/issues. I’ve been going there for 25 years now. I’m sure other eye doctors have it, but I know an eye doctor will balk if you don’t have the drops, saying they can’t give you a thorough exam. I had to wait four weeks for these glasses!

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                    • You can still have him do your refraction. He is required by law to hand you your prescription which you can take anywhere to get filled. Also, you don’t need a dilation for a refraction exam.

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                    • That is good to know and I didn’t know you could ask for your prescription to get it filled elsewhere. I need to be savvier about these things. Amazingly, when the Wyandotte Eye Clinic closed they charged us $25.00 apiece for our records. My mom had had laser surgery in one eye for low angle glaucoma and she had Humprey Fields tests for years after that. We wanted both our records for the new eye doctor and when we got them, they were four pages at the most and Dr. Barsky’s handwriting was illegible and did not include the Humphrey Fields printouts, just his notations. That’s good to know about the dilation not needed. After that time, the first time ever, I told him the next time I would not have it done, then there was not a “next time” … he closed the entire office down, rather petulant of him, since he could no longer practice. There were two specialists there, another ophthalmologist, a contact lens practitioner, plus a full optical department. Dr. Barsky told me I had to leave my contact lenses out for 24 hours before an optical exam as they alter your vision.

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                    • My original ophthalmologist was older and set in his ways. He had been Chief of Staff at nearby Wyandotte Hospital and also on the Board of the Kresge Eye Institute. He made me promise I would never get RK surgery (radial keratotomy where they used to put a series of slits in your eyeball so eliminate wearing glasses forever … this was before Lasik surgery). He said “I know you’re vain or you wouldn’t wear contact lenses, but please don’t do this.” My new eye doctor, an optometrist, not an ophthalmologist, is totally different. I told him I started wearing contacts in 1974 – he said “I wasn’t even born then!” He keeps trying to give me business cards of his wife, who is a financial analyst. He’s okay, but I think I’d prefer old school better. When the Eye Clinic closed so suddenly, my mom and I picked this practice, which was run by two older docs and they had a doctor who came in once a week who specialized in gerontology for eyes. We thought that was a good idea, especially for my mom. But a year later they sold the practice to this doctor. Yes, different docs, different methods.

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                    • I like the young doctors (old enough to have some experience but not old enough to resist change). My dry eye doc keeps up with all the new treatments and that has been helpful. She’s the one who dilates my eye. I only have it done every 2 or 3 years as I don’t have back eye issues. Dry eye is all about the cornea and glands. I remember RK. I looked into it but I wasn’t a good candidate and not sure I would have done it. I did have PRK done (laser) and it improved my vision considerably. Now I only need glasses for reading and to correct some astigmatism.

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                    • You know that makes sense and younger doctors are savvier about all the computerized aspects of eye car as well. I just never thought of it that way. When my eye doc said “you’ve worn contacts since 1974 – I wasn’t even born yet” I was taken aback. My mom had laser surgery for low-angle glaucoma – it was incredible to watch the doctor do it. He sat on the floor and pointed the laser at her eye. He showed us a penny and how the laser could make a hole in Lincoln’s eye. I think you have a better eye doctor than me … mine is not an ophthalmologist like Dr. Barsky was. He is referring me to a specialist for cataract surgery when it has to be done, thankfully not this year or likely next, for which I’m grateful.

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                    • Okay, I will try to be positive about it and that is good to know. Seeing more clearly will be a plus for sure. I did worry since he told me it would be this year for both eyes, so I was relieved. I am lucky to have always had good health, so thinking about any kind of surgery puts me into a tailspin to be honest, especially the fact that I live alone with zero family members.

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  7. I’m so glad you survived the accident with only bumps and bruises. Though I understand the mental distress it would cause. I used to not mind driving the interstate to visit my sister and friends, but over the years, the traffic has got so bad. More tractor trailers, more congested and just Ugh!

    Ooh, I hate horse pills, too! When I was in the hospital after my heart surgery, I had to take magnesium and potassium pills. They were awfully big!
    Rainbow boob 🤣 You crack me up!

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    • As I’ve gotten older, pills are harder to swallow. I also have dry mouth which doesn’t help. I can’t swallow a pill without a liquid. (Once upon a time I could.) I try to get gel caps if I can or some sort of coating.

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  9. I definitely remember this post. I am so glad that you and your tie-died boob recuperated well and that there was no barfing. It was a scary accident and I understand the lack of driving enthusiasm. I don’t like to drive at all anymore but when I have to I do. Too peopley here and peopley with many that should not be driving. I understand the anxiety. I think hiring a driver sounds like a plan!

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  12. WOW……so glad you were OK in spite of the rainbow boob issue! I’ve never had an accident but have seen plenty of them on the road over the years. Knock on wood (my husband’s head is handy for that….) I’ll never be in one. I probably don’t have many more years of driving ahead of me – we rarely go anywhere! Anyway, so happy you lived to tell the tale my friend. Seriously.

    Hugs, Pam

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  13. Glad you survived the accident without serious harm. But being scared can cause long term emotional distress.

    I used to love to drive ~ long trips, short trips, around the block trips, Sunday drivers. Now, after a number of close calls, I am leery of other drivers getting distracted by cell phones, and also by bad weather, road construction, road congestion, speeders, and figuring out where I am going without relying on GPS every step of the way.

    Life was better in so many ways . . . back when.

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    • Posting was certainly easier. Now I’m required to do multiple log ons in a day and even then it often doesn’t recognize me. I hope the changes helped someone but certainly not your everyday normal blogger who doesn’t monetize.

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