updated: 3rd day after the fall. I had the dressing changed.

Today was almost a light and easy day. I didn’t have to drive to P.J. (1) and K.L. (2). I went for my usual coffee, meeting up with Chris (my cousin) and Jino, our friend in USJ 17 (3). Got home at about 5pm for a short rest. My wife, Jeannie’s colleague, Soo Yin; who has always been a wonderful, wonderful (repeated deliberately) person, was dropping Jeannie off at the LRT (Light Rail Transport) station, nearby here.

I picked Jeannie up at about 6.00pm and when we got around to the usual question, “What shall we have for dinner?”; I already had fried kway teow (4) in mind. Without saying much, I drove to the coffee shop (now known as restaurant. It is more “upmarket” or a perceived value to be more upmarket than just a plain ol’ coffee shop) in Taipan.

Now, Jeannie and I were quite laid back and relaxed as tomorrow is a public holiday, “Wesak” Day for the whole of Malaysia. Wesak is a celebration of the Buddhists.

After dinner, Jeannie wanted to buy a can of corned beef and luncheon meat, so that we could +have many of our meals at home; which has a huge cost savings benefit. Another thing is I am usually one for quick meals. I decided to stop by at our regular pharmacy to get a couple of things before heading to the quick convenience mini mart to get the provisions.

As I came out of the pharmacy, I looked down to mind my step. There were three steps. The main step, from the road to the sidewalk (and vice versa) is pretty steep; meaning the height of the step is around 10 inches to 12 inches. There is a gradient climb of the road along the width of the step, which means it is not level.

Somehow or the other, I did not clear the main step, and fell, lunging forward onto the road. I saw that step. In my mind I was clearing it, but I didn’t. It was as though I was in mid-air hitting turbulence for a split second.

Jeannie, who was in the car, just parked by another car, saw what happened and came rushing out. At the same time, a gentleman who was parking his motorcycle near there, saw what happened and came to my aid.

First thing I did, like any other normal human being; was to check if my smartphones were ok. Yeah, yeah… I was bleeding and bruised on my leg, hand and palm, but both the phones had to be ok…first?😅

I had to fall in style, where when I fell, I still had my panama hat on my head.🕵🏻‍♂️😁 I was able to get up on my own, check on my wounds and felt that everything else was ok. Since, my leg had my blood dripping from it, Jeannie said she would drive me to the clinic near our house.

I thanked the gentleman for his concern and waited to make sure that I was alright.

The nurse in charge of that duty shift, attended to me. As she cleaned my wounds, I realized that I had a wound on my palm and some cuts and grazes on my left hand. The doctor on duty attended to me, too. She gave me a tetanus jab.

I grimaced in momentarily pain when the medicines and the sprays were applied to clean my wounds. The sprays were cold, really cold. They felt nice when the cold touched me, then the sting from these medicines lingered on. I think I left the clinic with more pain then when I had arrived. I am grateful to the doctor and nurse. Their kindness. attentiveness and patience reassured me that I was in excellent hands.

Notice that the Hatted Writer remained Hatted throughout the painful ordeal.

After the clinic, we stopped at the 7-11 a few doors away to buys some buns and other stuff just in case I was going to be awake the whole night and would end up hungry.

The employee there was trying top sell us some drinks and chips that were discounted – the day’s promo. I told him that he was a good salesman. He told us that he was from Punjab and has been in Malaysia for 5 years. Prior to this, he worked as a plumber in Dubai. Come November, he goes home to Punjab and does not plan on another overseas work stint.

As for the steps in front of the pharmacy, I will go to the pharmacy tomorrow to highlight my accident, that this was my second accident there. The first one was a very minor fall with some slight grazes. I hope they will take action in making the path much safer for its customers and all those people who use those steps daily. I will suggest for them to change the smooth tiles which covers the walkway of the pharmacy. Nice to look at but when the tiles are wet from the heavy rains; they become a very slippery, dangerous walkway.

I often come to this pharmacy because the staff there, are very courteous. To me, as a customer; that goes a long way.

Update, May 23rd 2024:
The old dressing was removed and a clean one administered, this afternoon. I will have to go for a further dressing each day from tomorrow, for the next three days.

May 24th, 2024; The second update.
After dinner; we, that is Jeannie and I; went to the clinic to change the dressing. The doctor says the wound is healing nicely. Pain is still there, slight pain around the edge of the wound. Once in a while a sharp pain comes and goes in a while. Other than that, everything is good.

NOTES:
1. P.J. or Petaling Jaya, is a city in the central state of Selangor, Malaysia.
2. K.L. or Kuala Lumpur, is the capital of Malaysia.
3. USJ is part of the thriving city of Subang Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia.
4. Char kway teow is a stir-fried rice noodle dish from Maritime Southeast Asia of southern Chinese origin. In Hokkien and Teochew, char means ‘stir-fried’ and kway teow refers to flat rice noodles. wikipedia