2007: Year of the Tailbone

This weekend I fell down a flight of stairs and broke my tailbone. As Tod rushed to my rescue and helped me up from my undignified heap while assessing my injuries, Jim was counting the number of thumps he heard – seven steps’ worth.
The venue was Tofuya, the “shedding house” at Echigo-Tsumari. It’s beautifully hand carved in scratches and shreds on all of its wooden beams, pillars and surfaces. Even the steep, ladder-like Japanese staircases are shredded and it was on one of these that I lost my footing. I was even being careful not to do so, so I am doubly annoyed at myself.
Tailbone fractures are effectively untreatable. The injury will heal on its own eventually and until then, I just have to be careful with the way I sit and move. Getting in and out of the car yesterday as we were touring around Niigata was painful. I’m a little bit worried about spending too much time at the computer.
This is the second time this year I’ve injured my coccyx. The first time was in January while attempting to snowboard. It was about three months before it healed. I hope this break heals quickly but it feels worse than the first one. Time will tell.
P.S. Thanks for the well-wishes. I wasn’t expecting the kind sympathy; I really only wanted to note this for future reference, so when I’m an old(er) lady I can remember when I fell down the stairs the first time.