No, I wasn’t in an accident.

So…I’m sporting a new look these days; a very chic cervical collar. (Better know as a neck brace but that sounds frightening) It’s soft and foamy, not metal and scary.

It looks like this:



Those of you who knew me before I was an E might remember a certain gymnastics incident back in the day. For those of you just tuning in- I attempted a dismount off the uneven bars in high school, but I didn’t execute properly and landed on my head. Hilarity did not ensue.

A couple months later, I was good as new. However, to this day I still feel the affects of this injury once in a while. For example, like now.


I woke up Friday morning pretty miserable. Not sure how I did it- but it seems I’ve sprained my neck. We can’t take an MRI until the swelling goes down, so in the meantime the orthopedist gave me this collar to relieve the tension in my spine and help support head while it heals.

Walking home from the doctor’s office I snapped this pic with my camera phone. As you can see, I wasn't thrilled.


Cute, no? No!

The looks I got yesterday in the office ranged from the classic double look of shock- sort of saying “what on Earth happened to you?!” to the compassionate look of pity- more of an “oh you poor thing.” Mostly I just get asked, “Were you in a car accident?” which is totally fair. I’m still trying to come up with exactly the right answer.

I also learned that while it’s nice, I'm a little uncomfortable with people opening doors and automatically getting out of their seats for me. I mean, it’s nice to sit on the Metro but I can stand at the bus stop for a few minutes. Still, it is appreciated. Thank you kind commuters of the DC area.




Today is day 2 with my new accessory and although it’s embarrassing and ugly, I think it is actually helping. I mean, it prevents me from turning my head or tilting it in painful positions- so I guess it's doing its job. I also feel less fatigue across my back at the end of the day.

I tried to camouflage it into my white collared shirt today- I don't think that was too much of a success. I have another 2 weeks to work on it.

So this is going to be interesting. I’m not sure how much I will be posing about this adventure, but I thought it only fair to share what’s going on with you.