Social Distancing, Resting, and Non-Stop Eating

I spent the entire week resting.

I woke up. I used the bathroom. I ate. I cleaned & wrapped my wounds. I napped. I ate. I went to sleep. Rinse and repeat.

After the accident, I knew I needed a place to rest. I needed to not worry about getting random knocks in the morning. I needed a proper shower. I needed access to a bathroom with running water. I needed drinking water. Essentially, I needed to be comfortable and not have to move in order to heal as fast as possible. I reached out to a number of people I know in LA, San Jose, and San Francisco. With the social distancing, I knew it was a very bad timing. The two things I needed most were having access to a bathroom where I could follow social distancing/CDC guidelines and a place to park our trailer without moving it everyday. It wasn't easy. I came up with multiple options in case if one doesn't work out, we would have plans b and c at least. There was no time to wait around. Also, I didn't want to put friends and relatives in difficult positions. If they take me, they risk getting coronavirus! It's the last thing I want to do.

I didn't cry when I fell off my bike. I didn't cry when I saw blood and cuts on me. I didn't cry when I had to clean my own wounds. I didn't cry when all the adrenaline wore off and everything began to feel so painful. But I couldn't stop crying when I found a family that was happy to take me in without knowing that I was injured. And, my mom stepped in to help without knowing her daughter was hurt. It was not easy during an epidemic. I couldn't go to a hospital. I couldn't stay in someone's house nor did I want to. People were scared. People were trying to protect themselves. We all needed to take care of ourselves. Here I was - creating another challenging obstacle for myself, Mark and others. Needless to say, I was happy that I am alive! Thank you all for reaching out and listening to my crazy story.

Map of Week 10

My Lifesavers

The kind family took us in without hesitation. They're my parents' friends from Vietnam. We only met them once a few years ago. I reached out because my Mom spoke very highly of her childhood friend. My mom said that her friend always protected her back then. And today, her friend is also protecting me. The whole family made us feel so comfortable. They gave us everything we needed and so much more. We also wanted to make sure we followed the CDC guidelines and not spread coronavirus by accident. We kept our distance. We quarantined ourselves in our trailer and wiped everything down we touched in the house. We were living the most luxurious life.

They even fed us delicious food. There were days we wanted to skip meals, but luckily they fed us. They left food outside our door. What a strange time we live in. We had steak, vietnamese savory rice cakes wrapped in banana leaves, and che (Vietnamese dessert) - all of our favorite food. My mom was right, they're amazing chefs. They also gave us their homegrown oranges which were so juicy and delicious!

They let us pick their avocados! I love avocados and fruit picking. Happy Ngoc = Happy wounds. Ha.

Week 10 - Random post-accident tidbits

1. I used over 200 bandages varying in sizes in one week. Mark said he's going broke supporting me with bandages. I spent the first few days looking for bandages. I bought a number of bandages from Walmart to try out. Later, I found out Costco was having a sale - 188 bandages for $10 - so lucky! It also came with a box to organize them. I already got two boxes. I still felt that I needed more. I never thought I would own with a bandage collection. A friend suggested Hello Kitty bandages for my face. My birthday has already passed this year, but I would love to receive Hello Kitty bandages as gift and/or donation please!

2. I have never had so many bandages on my body yet. I look forward to cutting down the number next week!

3. I tried to eat as healthy as possible. It meant boiled food - simple and easy to cook. My diet consisted of salmon, kale, catfish, egg yolk, shiitake mushroom, purple yam, mixed greens, papaya, avocado, orange, clementine and mixed nuts. Poor Mark. I made his life harder since he had to help me cook and clean most of the time. I felt like a queen. I could get used to this lifestyle...ha. Good thing he doesn't read my blog.

4. My wounds kept drying up. I had to rebandage at least 2 times a day. Each time, it took about 2 hours in the bathroom. I must be doing something wrong! I couldn't help but think about people who got plastic surgery vs me whenever I take my bandages off. Like the people who got plastic surgery, I would get excited to see how things look underneath my bandages. Luckily, all wounds look better everyday - except the ones I scratched in my sleep. And if only...I look prettier after the accident. ha. I guess at least I didn't pay to have bandages on my face.

5. Day 3 after the accident, I was able to shower properly - inside a home. I'm not going to lie. It was both exciting and surprisingly so painful at the same time. I have never experienced so much physical pain until that night. While in the shower, I suddenly remembered that only a few weeks ago, I wrote how much I appreciated good water pressure at the gym. All I could think of was how nice would it be if the water pressure was weaker - ideally dripping water. I almost laughed and cried at the same time. It was torturing. I wanted to scream but I held back. It wouldn't be good to scare the family late at night. One of the few times I was glad that I had Invisalign - biting down hard wasn't a problem!

6. Some wounds are healing. Some are forming scabs. Some are starting itch - a lot. I thought I was using anti-itch Neosporin cream. They lied...!

7. Mark still cannot figure out how I got most of my wounds. Everytime we talked about it, we couldn't stop laughing. I wish you'd understand why...

8. On most days, I would laugh and make fun of my cuts. On rainy days, I would just be mad at the world. Whoops.

9. It has been very comfortable even though the family felt bad that we live in the trailer and cook outside. Little did they know, I was very happy. I felt at peace.

10. Accidents happen. Wounds heal. Scars fade. And some scars may never fade completely. Nonetheless, I was looking forward to each meal because I got to eat fish. Now, the real concern is how do I tell my mom. At least, she is happy that I'm staying at her best friend's home. She even mentioned that she prefers that I stay put until it is safe to head back. How smart am I?

We're hoping to stay here for awhile until Planet Fitness is open again. Also, I still need easy access to running water to clean my cuts daily. Perhaps, it may be awhile until we could start making our trip back to Boston. Most importantly, having access to a bathroom anytime is a real luxury. I just cannot thank the family enough.

Stay healthy, wash your hands, wear masks, and LT4!

Ngoc