It just takes a second …

The day before Christmas was like any other day. I was getting ready to take a shower. Since there is about a four-inch lip between the floor and the shower stall, I have to step up and then inside. While stepping into the shower, I reached across as I always do to grab the bar and pulled myself up and inside. When all my weight was on my left leg (the one inside the shower), the knee buckled.

Now anyone who has Kennedy's Disease and has fallen a few times is aware of this feeling of helplessness. It lasts perhaps a second, but in that moment you have time to realize that the knee did not hold and that you are going down. People talk about their life flashing before their eyes when a serious accident occurs. Well, every bad fall I have ever taken flashed across my eyes in that moment (a slight exaggeration). I also had time to yell, "Not now!" It is interesting that my only thought (more like a fear) was that it was the day before Christmas and we were planning to go to Marietta to be with family (twenty of us this year).

Now, you have to realize that I have fallen so many times and most falls have not resulted in any serious injuries. My recent record, however, has not been favorable with several fractures and one very serious one. Moreover, my last two serious falls happened as I was preparing to take a shower. Falling naked on a tile floor in cramped quarters is bad enough, but when you break a leg in the process things become even more complicated. I know from experience that trying to get dressed (it is funny how that becomes very important at the time) on the floor in the bathroom with a broken leg is difficult, to say the least, and very painful.

Well, fortunately for me (and especially for my wife), my quads held this time and I did not go down (another miracle). I wrenched my knee and it was a little sore, but otherwise I was unharmed. I kept on saying, "Thank you, God" repeatedly as my heart rate started to return to normal. I will credit my exercise program for this "save." It must be working, because in the past I would have been down for the count.

The brain is an amazing thing. It is the fastest processor imaginable. How all these thoughts and visions could take place in a second while the central nervous system is sending messages to your quads to "hold" is amazing. It all worked this time … thank God!