blogging July car accident

 On July 20th just after I dropped Madison off at Perrigo Park for a soccer practice, I drove down 95th towards Avondale.  It was minutes before 4pm.  When it was clear to proceed, I turned right onto Avondale into the curbside lane.  A lady sideswiped me changing lanes from the inside lane.  The whole left side of my car damaged.  When we pulled over to assess the damages, busy taking photos with our cells, I broke the ice and said to her, "So I guess you didn't see me?"  Her reply was, "I checked twice and you weren't there.  You must have been speeding."  I said, "I don't know how I can be speeding in this traffic."

Anyways, by 4:30pm, I reported the accident to my car insurance.  And then wrote an online police report.  By the next morning, the case was resolved.  The other driver was 100% liable.

I started feeling discomfort the next day.  Sore neck and shoulder.  Some left knee discomfort too.  I started visiting David Bourree, my chiropractor with regular visits.  Since that initial visit, he did an xray, regular laser therapy and adjustments.  I would regularly ice my knee. 

In early August, we went on a family trip to Whistler.  I spent most of the time with the kids and Gilbert.  We went on a few scenic walks.  Each time after the walks, I felt some discomfort with my knee and would just ice it.  After the last long walk, that was it.  My knee was doomed.  And since then my knee was presented some challenges.  Tightness, pain, locked, unable to fully extend.  I have had difficulty getting in and out of shower, in and out of car, walking down stairs, or have to pause when standing after a long time of sitting.  When walking down stairs, I had to walk one step at a time with the left foot first.  For some reason, if I led with the right foot, it was painful.  Or another easier way to walk down was to go backwards!

Dr. Bourree suggested I go to Reflex Knee Specialist where I had an xray and ultrasound.  Nothing serious was presented.  Some meniscus issues and some arthritis.  

I have also had 3 massage treatments with Alissa Dalke, and that seems to help.  Because I have been limping for so long, my right hip was started to hurt from compensating.

Now we are into early September (today is Sep 10).  My knee is better but not 100%.  I don't have to ice it as much and my limping is less obvious.  I saw Mike Lewis, a PT with Washington Physical Therapy, yesterday, and he gave me some exercises to help work on my knee and left elbow.  Yes, now my left elbow is locked and can't fully extend.  That started last week some time.  It has been painful to shampoo and blow dry my hair.    

A new thing that started two days ago is sharp pain/twinges on my inner thighs, especially on the right side.  Not sure what that is about.  It would just twinge with the smallest movement. 

Because of this car accident, I had to cancel our annual end of July waterskiing trip to Stella Blue and some other shorter adventures.  It's a good thing my girls were able to pick up more work shifts - Jaclyn at Deru and Madison at Trader Joe's - to keep their summer busy.