Daddy used to take us roller skating at the Fairborn Skating Rink. I remember him whizzing around the rink whistling. My goodness, he could do all kinds of fancy things on those skates – going backwards, turning around and all that stuff. Dad would often take us by the hand and try to help us get better or at least more confident. He did seem to love all that. Wonder where on earth he learned to do that.
I remember the different skating sessions being called out over the loud speaker – “all boys skate”, “all girls skate”, “couples only”, etc, etc. The lights were often dimmed and the lighted ball changed colors as we skated around or… some of us tried.
Well.. being the Aunt, I thought it would be fun helping little 3 year old Jeff skate. We got the tiny little skates on him and stood him up. I thought it would be a good idea to put him in front of me, with me kind of bending over and holding him under the arms so we could teach him to skate. I think we got about 5 or 6 feet oozing along the edge when all of a sudden my feet went straight out in front of me strattling around Jeff and kerplunk right on to my butt. Oh my goodness!
Don’t ask me if Jeff skated on out in front of me! Lordee, who knows. I remember Daddy coming along to help me up, but I don’t recall what happened to Jeff. Maybe he went on to skate the whole way around!
I had pain I couldn’t believe. Found out I had fractured my coccyx (tail bone). Nothing much could be done about it, but try not to sit flat down, and in those days, one never much thought of taking pain meds. But I had pain for about a year.
So, here’s what I learned about my fractured tail bone. (Remember I was going to be a nurse, so these things interested me.)
Causes of coccyx fracture include:
Falling on the buttocks—Skating and other activities that lead to falls in the seated position often contribute – Yes that fit the scenario!
(I think Martha might recall a fractured coccyx from childbirth – but that wasn’t my cause.)
Sitting can be very uncomfortable after a coccyx fracture.
Suggestions to make sitting less painful include:
Sit on an air cushion or doughnut pad.
Alternate between sitting on one side of the buttock or the other.
Try sitting on a hard chair. Sinking into a soft chair sometimes increases the pressure on the coccyx. (Maybe that is the reason to this day I prefer hard chairs and I tend to sit straight up almost on the front edge of a wooden chair.)
Slouch to move your weight forward and off the coccyx. Note: This advice holds only until you are well enough to sit properly again.
Sit on a telephone book, with the area of the coccyx hanging off the posterior portion of the phone book.
Yes that all fit the picture – but that pain is still a memory – but did Jeff learn to skate? If so, I guess it was all worth it. I thought it was fun at the time. Now, I think if I fell on my tail bone, I might die! “Not really”.
