A Wobbly Start

On Saturday, three days before our flight to Bangkok, I made a last trip to the Public Works yard to dispose of a utility trailer load of fruit tree prunings and other yard waste.  As I was pulling the loaded trailer up our moss covered driveway I slipped, fell, and dropped the heavy steel trailer tongue on my knee, pushing it in a direction it wasn’t meant to bend.  In a bit of pain, I did manage to take the load to the yard with Ruth’s assistance, but I spent the remainder of the day in a recliner with my knee in a brace, occasionally icing with a frozen bag of chopped rhubarb.

Around dinner time I noticed that I was getting a bit feverish.  We had had a chikungunya vaccine three days earlier, and a quick internet search disclosed that four days was the mean time for the manifestation of the common side effects of this vaccine.  Chikungunya is a viral disease similar to dengue, and we were among the first people in Victoria to receive this new vaccine.  The nurse that administered it pointed out the lot number, clearly anticipating the possibility of an adverse reaction.  We really are part of the ongoing field trials.

I spent most of the next 36 hours in the recliner, occasionally shaking from the fever.  Fortunately, Vitamin I, as we called ibuprofen in my running days, quite effectively mitigated both of my maladies.  With the scheduled start of our bike trip in doubt, we cancelled our hotel reservation for the first night out of Bangkok, explaining to them that we would rebook when our plans were once again certain.

As I write this from 35,000 feet over the Pacific, it appears that we may be able to pursue our original plans.  The vaccine side effects have faded away, and while my knee is still tender, it is improving rapidly.  

A couple of days after the accident with the trailer I was chatting with a neighbour whose husband had come to my assistance when I was under the trailer tongue.  She said they had been discussing the matter and concluded that I hadn’t broken my leg because of my level of physical activity and fitness.  I said I attributed it to my plentiful Neanderthal genes, but really it was probably just dumb luck.