I
often think of falling at this time of my life. Tripping and the
possible damage done. Older folk have this problem and there are more
stories than I can recall about these kinds of incidents.
My wife and I are constantly warning each other of obstacles on the
paths we walk. We pay attention and this has become a good habit. BUT!!
A
normal Thursday morning and I was walking to the truck to put in a
handful of small items, then start the truck to warm it up for our
trip to Sulphur Springs. It was going to be a good road trip day for
us. Lunch out to boot.
My
left foot caught the raised edge of our carport entrance and I
suddenly found myself flying through hanging yard tools, both arms
outstretched in front of me finding only air to support my forward
motion. I hit the ground, the left forearm taking the brunt of the
fall. And there it was, my worst fear coming true. I had fallen and
could not get up.
I
did a quick system check, all was ok but my forearm reported some
discomfort. Nothing broken, but I knew the wound on my arm would mean
a trip to the emergency room. A peak down the sleeve of my sweatshirt confirmed the injury and bleeding. I am on blood thinners now,
but am fortunate that I do not bleed any more than I did before the blood
thinners. The wound would need attending to, but not serious enough
to worry about laying there on the ground.
I
had not taken my cell phone with me, so I had no way to tell my wife
in the house I had fallen and could not get up. She would be coming
outside in a few minutes. I knew she would find me on the ground and
would immediately know I was in a predicament.
For
the next ten minutes I tried and tried to find some leverage, a
method, an incline, a yard tool handle on which to somehow raise
myself into a position of standing. But was no vertical structure
along with that to help me to that position. All I could do was struggle.
“If
only I had................” thoughts and none helpful. Enough time
to realize that this situation could have been much much worse had my
wife not already been in the queue for coming outside or not at home. I was not
able to find any solution for getting up in the time that passed. I
was smart enough to not make the situation worse by getting onto bad
knees and then falling again in a poorly planned “solution” causing a worse injury.
She
did find me sitting helplessly on the gravel driveway. A neighbor was
called, arrived but because he had just clipped the tips of his
middle fingers off his right hand using a jointer the day before,
lacked the strength and grip to help raise me. Other neighbors,
usually always home and available in a moment like this, were gone.
Calling
911 brought our local volunteer EMTs to the house within 7 minutes. Two of the men stood me up, dusted me off and bandaged my left
forearm. They helped me into my wife's car and we were off to the
emergency room on the outskirts of town.
Ironically, my wife had delivered a couple dozen of Christmas cookies to the
emergency room at the hospital the day before. The gal behind the
desk wondered why they were receiving Christmas cookies and my wife
said she and her husband were “frequent flyers” there for the
past 5 years. The next day she was bringing me in again for an injury
needing emergency care.
The
long of all of this is that I was fortunate. Wife was home, local 911
help folk live just up the street from us, sweatshirt prevented dirt
and rock road rash debris, and the wound needed cleaning but
would heal just fine the the weeks ahead. I had, though, removed a good
portion of skin from my forearm.
I
have had a lot of time to think about this now and making a plan for
that if either my wife or I fall in the future, we will have
communications at hand. This is a work in progress.
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Woodshed in New Hampshire topped off last week.
New LED night lights.
Bigger tires and then some!
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CHRISTMAS COOKIES
My wife has baked over 40 dozen of several different kinds of Christmas cookies completed today for local friends, businesses and family. Delivery will be accomplished this coming week.
I have fulfilled my duties for quality control too!!! --------------
Fried in butter!
Fresh veggies with Raspberry vinaigrette.
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JIBBER JABBER
But can she act?
Wizards Of Winter
Best Chevrolet Christmas Commercial
Thanksgiving Turkey will happen Christmas Day here. Then Silver Wedding Anniversary and the New Year.
Winter has been very mild. A good hard freeze for a few weeks would be helpful to kill off spring/summer bugs.
Started re-watching Yellowstone series from the beginning, following Taylor Sheridan's Landman season 2 with interest and on the 17th, FALLOUT season 2 begins. We are fans!
Have a good week and thanks for visiting.
