The trouble with being strong and steady for others is that you can't pour from an empty cup. Every now and then you need to take the time and refill, by nurturing yourself and taking care of your own needs. If one person can't handle your story, for whatever reason, then tell someone who can. Which is what you did here.

I'm sorry you had this scare. Even if you did end up escaping it, the fear of what could have happened stays with you. It doesn't matter if somebody else had something worse happen. This is what happened to you, and it's traumatic, and it too needs to be dealt with, not ignored because other people have it worse.

To draw a parallel, several weeks ago I dropped a 35-pound bucket of cat litter on my foot, and broke a toe. It isn't healing as well as it could. Being diabetic slows the process down. It was an open fracture, and I had to have antibiotics when the wound started getting infected. At least the broken skin is healed now, but the broken bone isn't quite.

Meanwhile, a good friend of mine was in a serious motorcycle accident and suffered several broken bones. I mentioned that I felt silly worrying about a broken toe when he had a whole lot more broken than that. He himself told me that just because his injuries are worse doesn't mean my toe should be ignored. It too needs time to heal, and I should care for myself properly while that's happening.

Point being, it's not a contest. All injuries, physical and emotional, need attention and should not be minimized.