Freak Accident

Or you can also call it "Accident sg Freak" hahaha

Fellow blogger kristel just had an unfortunate mishap and I wish her a speedy recovery. But now it seems the untold story of last week can now be told...

After I posted the "I'm OK" blog post I really thought that the rest of my week would turn out fine.

Tuesday: the flooding in my room was fixed.

Wednesday: I spent the whole day in the mainlib, deciding to come home around 6:30 in the evening. Unfortunately, rain started to fall - and the rain turned into a torrent that seemed unceasing.

As it is my custom to walk the few blocks from the library to the boarding house, I was a bit pissed that the rain would be an added hassle on my trek home. I decided to get a take-out order from the food stall beside the mainlib as I was determined to go straight home and weather out the storm (since Bagyong Marce was still active in Luzon that time).

It must've been a combination of the unlighted street and my haste to go home that the big gaping pothole (lubak) went unnoticed by me. One moment I was shuffling along the middle of the street, with my backpack slung on my back, my umbrella on one hand, and the other carrying my takeout order when - BAM!- in an instant I was sprawled on the middle of the street. It took me a moment to realize that I managed to save myself from completely falling flat on my face by resting my elbow on the hard pavement. It f*cking hurts! My left knee, I knew, was scraped and bleeding as I could feel it underneath my pant leg, while my right ankle was throbbing with pain - possibly sprained.

Thankfully I still had the strength to immediately get up and hobble painfully to the side of the road. And THAT'S when I noticed the pothole...what the f*ck?! It would also seem that I still had my wits with me because as I was slowly inching my way away from the scene of the accident, I immediately checked to see if my takeout managed to survive (it did, though medyo naghalo na ang bolognese sa chicken hehe). And as I was painfully hobbling my way toward the Shopping Center, I began to unconsciously plan a course of action.

First I would need to get rid of the cumbersome backpack. That meant going to the boarding house first. Upon arriving there, I checked if I had any supplies to dress my wound. None. Then I rolled up my left pant leg and saw the bleeding scrapes juxtaposed on the old scar tissue from my vehicular mishap waaaay back in high school (another story left untold, andami ko kayang accidents in my life...) Having no choice and faced with the need to immediately disinfect the wound, I poured alcohol on it.

The pain was monstrous.

Without changing my clothes, I immediately went outside with my umbrella and braved the torrential rain to buy antiseptics and antibiotics. When I arrived at the Shopping Center, the Pharmacy was closed. Just my luck. I badly needed antibiotics since the place where the pothole was was flooded by water leaking from a sewage line just at the corner. I feared infection, and worse, tetanus. My mind was already calculating if I had enough allowance left for an anti-tetanus shot...I managed to buy Betadine and a pack of cotton swabs from the coop grocery. Then after making my purchase, I made my way home.

Good thing my landlady is a doctor, so I was sure she'd have some medicine stashed somewhere. Unfortunately, she wasn't home when I called on her, so it was her husband - an engineer - who answered. Doc (Ph.D. si engineer) was kind enough to riffle through their medicine cabinet and then the familiar name came up: Amoxicillin.

Eureka!

I managed to get some more antibiotics from a fellow boarder who was kind enough to give me her blister pack full of 500 mg amoxicillin. Seems God was still looking out for me. So after washing the wound, I applied the antiseptic, ate my takeout order, took 500mg of antibiotics, and willed myself to sleep despite the pain in my left knee and right ankle.

The next few days were spent confined within my room, recuperating. I also bought some ready-to-eat stuff together with the antiseptic anticipating I would be confined for a while, unable to go out. I already expected the pain since, as I've told you earlier, I've been through graver mishaps. Fortunately, there was no signs of infection on my left knee and my right ankle, though sore to touch and difficult to move the day after, didn't experience any swelling.

My imposed convalescence meant that I would miss almost four days of research work. But what can one do but bow to the will of Divine Providence? hehehe In the meantime I was googling symptoms for tetanus infection and having been convinced that any infection had been held at bay, I turned my attention to healing...and killing boredom.

It wasn't all that bad though, I managed to finish my 205 book review and got started on the 110 exam paper. I even got through several chapters of Dostoevsky. And then of course, there's blogging and the internet to chase the blues away.

One week later...

I am now looking at the dried crusts peeling away from my knee, revealing fresh pink skin. Parang skin ng baby! haha My ankle's not bothering me anymore, though I think it would still take a few more days for it to fully recover. I feel confident that I could wear long pants and shoes tomorrow as I will be making the trek to the National Library.

By the way, the research is doing fine.

I still pass by THAT street, though the rains have stopped and I was now a bit more careful to steer clear of the pothole.

* * *

Yesterday I passed by and know what I saw?

They covered up the f*cking pothole.

Just my luck, I guess....