Friday, October 19, 2012

A Triggered Memory

    The other day a local newspaper photographer came to our skating group to take pictures. I have met this photographer many times and can say that he is and excellent photo journalist. 

    Talking to him the other day reminded me of the first time I met him. I was doing a Christmas bird count in Dec. of 91.  I slipped on an icy down slope piece of trail. I reached back to break my fall and my hand landed on dirt. I felt a sudden severe pain in my wrist and I knew something had broken. I sat up and just about passed out because of the pain. I took my glove off to see what things looked like. That gave me a tremendous jolt. I tried the old test to see if things moved to find out if a bone is broken. Things moved...sort of. I thought maybe if I move the wrist to another position it might not hurt so much and I could walk home. I got up. Things really went in circles. I grabbed the railing and tried to get back up the slope. Extreme pain. I was blacking out and thought I would fall. I leaned on the rail or over it. 

     At that point I saw a runner go by me. I hollered and the runner turned around to see what I wanted. The runner was the photographer who I saw the other day. Jeff helped me up a steep bank to a large apartment. Jeff had a great deal of first aid training so I appreciated his assistance.

     I phoned my daughter to come and get me. She took me to emergency and I sent her home as I knew I would be there for quite a while. I told her , "Don't tell Mom."  Xrays were taken and  an orthopaedic surgeon was called. was called. He decided that surgery was needed but he couldn't use anesthetic because I had eaten. Finally about 3 PM my wife came racing in just as I was being taken  for surgery. She became alarmed because I was at emergency for so long.

   The surgical process they used was called closed reduction. They have imaging technology which allows the orthopaedic surgeon to see the bone pieces and manipulate them into place without opening up the wrist. The ulna had four fractures and the  radius had three fractures . When I later saw an xray the whole thing looked like crushed ice. 

   I was amazed at how much pain I had. I was used to seeing kids come to school with a cast and it seemed like a lark.

   I was teased endlessly about breaking my wrist while "bird watching." People remarked that, they didn't know bird watching was a dangerous activity. The students teased me about being in a tree and watching birds. Bird jokes were flying around through the air continuously.. 

   So that Christmas I had the worst of memories and the best of humor. 

23 comments:

  1. thanks for letting us continue to laugh a bit at the situation. :)

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    1. I'm used to that as I kind of ask for things like that.

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  2. Ouch, that sounds painful! I won't conjure any bad jokes about this one, it sounds as though you've heard enough in the past. It's my be nice night! lol

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    1. Very painful and I could take more ribbing don't worry.

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  3. And it only hurts when you laugh. I slid down a hill in an ice storm and was amazed there were no pieces sticking through.My phone was a few miles away in my car.

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    1. Accidents seem to happen at the worst possible moments.

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  4. I guess I've been lucky; I've never broken anything.

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    1. Are you superstitious? I made the same comment a week before I broke my wrist.

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  5. Owie..I bet it was extremely painful..how did it heal..does the cold bother it in the winter? :)

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    1. They did an excellent job as it healed well and doesn't bother me in any way except if I compare it to the other wrist it doesn't bend quite as much.

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  6. Lucky for you he stopped. It sounds like you would have made it back home anyway, but he was so helpful, I can see why your memories were triggered by seeing him again. Glad it all turned out well.

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    1. I know I would never have got up the steep bank. I knew that I had to get to emergency. Luckily I was about 4 blocks from emergency.

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  7. Ouch... I can appreciate the distress you experienced. Do you experience pain or discomfort when the barometric pressure changes?

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    1. I have no after effects at all. they did an excellent job of putting it back together.

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  8. That sounds awfully painful!! I'm glad it at least gave you a good story to tell years later. :)

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    1. It's one of those things that you don't forget.

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  9. And I was hoping for a photo of you on skates!

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    1. I have done posts on skating and have pictures of me skating. I also broke my wrist a second time and that was while skating.

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  10. a few months ago a friend of my son did the same thing on our trampoline...my son ran inside to get me, but i do not jump every time they call, when he told me the bone was sticking out of the skin and his friend was crying "help" i knew too it was broken. when i saw it..no doubt. the kid he was jumping on the trampoline with ran inside his house and hid in the closet for 4 hours.

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  11. The kid's response...not surprising. Their brains are not ready for this kind of stuff. I saw one broken bone with bone sticking out and it's hard to forget.

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  12. Goodness! I'm glad you didn't break your neck or your back. The wrist is terrible enough. I'm glad you can type and still 'bird watch'!

    Linda
    http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
    http://deltacountyhistoricalsociety.wordpress.com

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  13. Man, oh, man, you sure have had adventures! I love that, 'Don't tell mom!"

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