I broke my backbone

On 19th afternoon I was sitting in my suspended swing (confy chair) at my apartment and working on my laptop. I was totally unaware of what was about to happen to me and how it would change a lot of things for me in the next three months.

The hook that was drilled in the ceiling of my balcony, through which the swing was suspended suddenly decided to disown me not to take my weight anymore. It bumped out of the ceiling without giving me any warning. The swing got liberated of all its worries and, under the impact of gravity aunty, it hit the floor with a BANG.

There I was, still inside the swing, unconscious for a split second. As I regained my consciousness, my nervous system spawned two parallel threads.

The first thread started thanking God for saving my legs from coming in between the swing and the floor; and thanking my laptop for taking the impact of the heavy iron chain (that was holding the hook and the swing together) which could have hit my chest and face otherwise.

The second thread started complaining about the acute pain in my back forcing me to take some action to heal it. I attempted to lie down straight on the floor to stretch my back, but soon realized that this might not help. I tried to stand to grab my phone to call for help but could not. I went back to the basics and gradually crawled inside (from the balcony). I got hold of my phone and found myself the nearest bed (I wish it was as easy as typing this ). I rang my wife, Swati who fixed an appointment with an orthopedic and summoned an ambulance on her way back home. I also called my friend, Kunal to help us. Thanks a lot to both of them; I reached the hospital.

The doctor got a few X-Rays done and confirmed that I have a compressed (30% compression; >=33% is more dangerous) fracture in my T11 of the vertebral column. I was admitted to the hospital immediately. (A few collegues from Akamai came over and helped us with all the formalities.) Then he got the MRI and CT Scan done to confirm that my nervous system is intact and that all my sensory (and censored) organs are not affected. The reports came in the next day and confirmed that all was fine except that small bone in the vertebral column.

I got discharged from the hospital on saturday, 21st. I have been advised complete bed rest for the first 10 days, after which a physiotherapist will help me mobilize a bit. I am not allowed to sit for the next 6 weeks to avoid any pressure on my back bone, though the doc will help me stand up after the first 10 days for 5-10 mins a day. Also, the doc has sentenced a 3 months house arrest.

I wrote this post using my PSP Slim (Thanks Daljeet Bhaiya for this gift). I plan to start using my laptop from this weekend onwards using something like this (Thanks Kanishk for giving me the right contact. I have a feeling that the guy has understood my requirements and that he can make that table for me).