I have been in the trades for nearly a decade now, and hadn’t suffered any “real” injuries. Short of bumps, bruises, lost fingernails(the norm, right?), I did pretty good. That was until a couple of mondays ago I was installing the last bit of metalbestos for a furnace when the ladder(which was wedged in a snow bank) slid backwards. Know the ship was sinking,quick, I turned or tried rather a 180 as to maybe jump into a snow bank, only to fall forward and down about 12 feet, thats when my right leg caught the fifth rung up and my body kept on going. Long story short a co-worker and a shovel as a crutch got me the 75 yards to a truck, so that we could drive the 20 BUMPY miles to the hospital. Lat me also say her that the emergency room in my town was not as accomodating as I would have liked..:)
8x9mmscrews,6 pins,a bone graft from a cadaver, some new aged “bone paste”, almost 40 staples, and a 3inch by 6inch metal plate later
Looks like I get the winter off afterall..Doc says no weight on the leg for 3 months than 6 months of physical therapy.Sucks man, I just baught a new compressor too..
Replies
That sounds like a bad one, Captain. Hope you heal up quickly.
Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
look at the good side, you can now pedict the weather, you will know when it to rain before anybody else.I got the same problem, more bolts than home depot
<BUMPY miles to the hospital.>
Idn't that the truth? Bumps you never noticed before. My clearest memory of afterwards is trying SO HARD not to throw up in the client's nice new car.
Forrest - hoping you heal fast
Man sounds like you might have been better off ridding the damn ladder strait down! Sorry to here about the fall. You might as well settle in and see what Oprah's up to, its either that or ####.
Hope you mend well.
Doug
Not a happy merry Christmas.
Soooooooo sorry for your slipze.
Hope you heal up better then new.
And it scares me thinking about it. You never know when your gonna get bit.
I feel your pain!
I did the same thing installing storm windows. Extension ladder at too great an angle (to far out) because I was working over landscaping near the house. Rode it down and into the snow. No jump, no harness, no rope, no foul....until....
Years later I was only 3' up on a stepladder. Fell back and hit head on floor I just built. (That means head fell 9'). 2 months later I regained some degree of consiousness in a hospital. Sub dural hematoma. Now those funny helmets bike riders use look good. Even outfitted my hardhat (kept home safe on the shelf) with a surplus army chin strap.
On this job I was about to tear out the original kitchen exterior wall (only minor inconvience for HO) because the expanded kitchen had just been built (by me). No blue tarps or security issues existed...yet. I had to quit that job, and scale back things for 7 years.
Made me think about HO's that could have been left in tighter spots if the sole contractor can't do the job. The insurance I carried was effective only if I screwed up something on the existing house-like caused an electrical fire during tearout.
I had done two previous jobs for these HO's. They had approved the plans, gave me something down for materials, the keys, and went on vacation for 2 weeks in Italy. What is the best way to cover your a__ and the homeowner? Hope you return to immortality soon Capt.
Tyr
I was pulling a step off a deck last week and I was standing one ice. Step ripped off and I fell back, left leg went out from under me and my right light stayed planted. Snap! Oh I didn't need that patellar tendon - those are overrated.
I have about 3-6 months off but it's not exactly how I'd like to have spent my vacation time.
I worked with brain-injured individuals for a time. The irony is that I had a fall and suffered a concussion right before I started, so I got a year-long demonstration of how bad it could have been. I've been known to put on a bike helmet before climbing ladders. You are one lucky SOB - most people who suffer comas are never right again; it sounds like you've recovered over the years. I have a living will to the effect that if I'm in a coma, they shouldn't keep me alive.
Yeah, once I learned that I wasn't immortal anymore I started checking up on all those little legalities. After being released but before getting anything written up I was just chatting with the wife when suddenly I had no voice. Kind of like someone had you around the throat and the voice box was squeezed shut. I didn't have any pain and could whisper only.
Wife starts yelling for adult son to call 911 etc.
I couldn't imagine going back to the hospital. I already was trying to come up with $50 g's from the last go round. It actually took tears running down my cheeks and a continued (whispered) NO! NO! to stop the 911 call. We all learned something that day.I think I actually said something like, "If I'm going to die I want it to be the home I built" Wife didn't want anybody to die--anywhere (I don't know why Vietnam was acceptable to her--too long ago)
Recovery was (is) lengthy and we have referred to the old Tyr vs the new Tyr. Pretty big mental adjustment from the time it takes a scab to peel or a bruise to heal compared to sub dural hematomas.I went to one TBI meeting but I was about the only one who wasn't drooling and could talk. I did track down the neurologist who was called in and went to his office. I thanked him for not drilling into my skull which was what the ER people had in mind. He was up on using a scan to establish a base point and waiting a few hours before doing it again to see if cutting was necessary (wasn't). DNR and legal written instructions is invaluable. Tyr
sorry to hear about your fall and injury. I just spent a week after knee surgery for some torn cartiledge. it turned out ok so far and I'm thinking of going to work again after xmas. I hope you have as speedy recovery as possible. not sure I could do 3 months recovery. hang in there.
jason
"it aint the work I mind,
It's the feeling of falling further behind."
Bozini Latini
http://www.ingrainedwoodworking.com
Glad you're still breathing.
Feel better...buic
.
.
P.S. Compressor for sale? ;>)
Edited 12/24/2007 1:08 am ET by BUIC
Last Friday evening, my son and I were heading up north for a couple days of skiing and snowboarding. We were about twenty miles from home in heavy traffic. In fact we were at standstill just chatting when all of a sudden WHAM . . . we got rearended by a guy in a F 150.
The cop estimated he was going about 40. I was driving a Toyata Sienna and the back bumper ended up in the back seat. My son was o.k. but my neck and back were hurting so they strapped me to a board (which in themselves are pretty uncomfortable) and the ambulance hauled me to the hospital.
Long story short. I guess I'll be o.k. but this has been a stiff and sore weekend for the neck and back. The E.R. doc just ordered plain films but I think I'll ask about an M.R.I. or C.T. scan just to make sure there's not going to be long term consequences from this.
Edited 12/25/2007 5:36 pm ET by fingers
And I bet he was talking on his phone!
I got rear ended about 3 1/2 years ago. I had just crossed a RR track after a train, and was stopped by a traffic light, when, wam, a lady hit me.
She couldn't have been going very fast, but I am still hurting from it. My neck bothers me most of the time. I've been to the Chiro for the last 2 1/2 yrs. I am going to try a different one here in the near future.
The insurance company settled with me, but wouldn't give me much, and I didn't want to spend time in the courtroom. So, make sure you are checked out well, and if need be, get a good lawyer.
Hope the guy had insurance.
I love it when they show accidents on the news, some look pretty bad, and they say no one was hurt. I know better.
Bryan"Objects in mirror appear closer than they are."
Klakamp Construction, Findlay, Ohio - just south of the Glass City
Just some thoughts for your followup. I was hit by a car when I was 16 or 17. I was on a bicycle. I went by ambulance to the ER. they said all was ok and released me. I was a hurting unit for a long time (weeks maybe a month). Always had back issues over the years (minor). Recently I hurt my back so bad I was scared I did real damage. the hypocondriac that I am, off to the ER. they said all was ok just muscle / ligament strains. later I showed the x rays from the er to my chiropractor and he noticed I had two old compression fractures in my upper back. pretty much right where all my usual tightness is. It was probably from way back when the car hit me. can't be totally sure but it's only one of a few truamas to my back that I can remeber. All I'm saying is if you want more attention paid to your injuries - it is your right. you are the only one that has to live with them. hope you feel better.Jason"it aint the work I mind,
It's the feeling of falling further behind."Bozini Latinihttp://www.ingrainedwoodworking.com
No injuries for me today! But my bulldog got a cut foot :( She'll be ok in a few days. She needs to get the stitches taken out of her belly friday anyway so I'll have the vet check it out. Hate to see a dog with a sore foot.
Sorry to hear about your accident. Hope you heal real well.
Just wait till the therapy. That will probably hurt more than the injury itself.
Bryan
"Objects in mirror appear closer than they are."
Klakamp Construction, Findlay, Ohio - just south of the Glass City
Sorry bout the unspeedy response(no home CPU) But yes you are right. What hurt the most in all of this wasn't the 15 foot fall knee first on a ladder, it was the initial x-ray, and now the therapy. It'll all be worth it once I can put my bags back on. I miss my tools...
I've decided that my next form of employment is going to be a physical therapist.
It's about the only job where it is legal to hurt someone else without getting hurt yourself. (Unlike boxing or hockey!)
Bryan"Objects in mirror appear closer than they are."
Klakamp Construction, Findlay, Ohio - just south of the Glass City
There is a story in this morning's Columbus Dispatch about an high school cross country runner at the championship meet.
400 m from the finish line (5000 meter race) she hears a 'pop'. Then another, and she falls down. Gets back up to hear a few more and falls again around 50 m to go. Crawls across the finish line, with a leg like silly putty.
She had snapped BOTH bones in her lower leg. Lots of metal and two surgeries to position the leg.
I have to wonder why her bones are so fragile, but they don't go into that.
So, it could be worse.
Here is the story.
There are two bones in the lower leg, the tibia, commonly referred to as the shin bone, and the fibula, or calf bone. Claire Markwardt, a senior cross country runner for Berkshire High School in Burton, Ohio, shattered her tibia and snapped her fibula during the state championships in November. She crawled the last 45 feet, dragging her rubberized left leg, but she finished.
What is analogous? Childbirth? Although I've witnessed this miracle more than a few times, I'm not qualified to use such a metaphor. One difference here is that Markwardt didn't have an epidural.
Markwardt is my athlete of the year -- state, regional or national, either gender. This diminutive young woman has more guts than anyone who strapped on shoulder pads, or injected steroids, in the past 12 months. Check it out. Based on a recent interview with Markwardt, and on other news accounts, this is what happened to her at Scioto Downs, in the final stretch of the Division III race on Nov. 3:
With 400 meters remaining in a 5,000-meter (3.1-mile) race, she felt a twinge in her shin. Actually, it was a crack, the first fracture of the tibia, the bigger bone in the lower leg.
"I had a stress fracture in the seventh grade -- same bone, different spot -- and this didn't feel like that," she said. "It didn't really bother me until the last 200 meters. I thought it was muscle. That's what I was thinking -- the muscle was doing something funny."
There was a second crack. Then a third crack, even
louder, and Markwardt collapsed to her knees. She didn't know it, but she had three fractures in her shin bone. She crawled for a few feet, got up, took a step and there was another crack. This was her calf bone, snapping in half, audible to spectators. She collapsed a second time. She looked up, saw the finish line and started her crawl again. What else was there to do? Whine?
"There wasn't any other reaction other than to finish," she said. "I was right there. I knew the team needed me to finish, and I was still trying to convince myself it was muscle."
Markwardt's personal record for 3.1 miles is 20 minutes, 6 seconds. She was on pace to beat that time until her bones began snapping beneath her. With a 45-foot crawl at the end, she clocked in at 20:24, in 67th place. If she didn't shatter her tibia and fracture her fibula, she would have at least matched her PR, and she would have finished 54th, or better. But that is not the point.
Crawl and all, she finished in fourth place on her team, and her team finished in fourth place. She clawed her way past the line, posted her time and helped her team, in her last race, in her senior year. Coaches dream of having entire rosters of Claire Markwardts.
When she got across the finish line, a race official tried to help her up. She's still a little miffed at the guy. When pulled upright, her left leg bent at mid-shin. It was Silly Putty down there.
Markwardt said, "My first reaction was, 'Oh, no. My sister's wedding. She's going to kill me.' "
Her sister was married that night. Markwardt missed being a bridesmaid in the wedding party. She was at Children's Hospital, having her shin and calf bones reconstructed. A hardware store was implanted. Ten days later, she had another surgery in Cleveland, to put her left foot at the proper angle, and to pull the leg to the correct length.
She has gained a measure of fame. The Ohio High School Athletic Association finish-line video was posted on a sports Web site, The Big Lead, and her story hit espn.com. The YouTube video of her final crawl is approaching 160,000 hits. (Be forewarned, the video is not for the squeamish.) She has received cards and e-mails from all over the country. Her Facebook and MySpace accounts have been inundated by well-wishers. Last week, she got a note, and a picture, from the owner of Barbaro, the sterling Kentucky Derby winner who shattered a leg in the Preakness and, after a long struggle, was eventually euthanized.
"I didn't expect this kind of support," she said, "but I really appreciate it."
On one hand, she can use it. She's still on crutches, and will be for another month. Her bones aren't knitting well yet and, although that's not unexpected, it's nothing to celebrate.
On the other hand, a part of her doesn't need much encouragement. Any young woman who crawls to finish a race with a shattered leg might be considered a little stubborn. She won't go near the wheelchair, which sits in the garage, despite her mother's protestations. She has Jan. 11 circled on her calendar; that's the next doctor's visit, and she expects lose the crutches.
I expect that, when the time comes, she'll snap the crutches in half.
Michael Arace is a sports reporter for The Dispatch.
so was she a hero for finishing or just plain stupid.
I'd say niether but it was obviously important to her - thats all that matters.
Doug
I couldn't believe this thread was still active...and it was one that I had contributed to. See...I just spotted the title, "What injury did you incur today" and started reading. Reading on my back, in bed, listening to fireworks (Happy 4th), waiting for my femur to heal so I can walk without crutches. I'm really not accident prone. I fell off that ladder in 2000. So May 16, 2008 I'm in my shop, climbed up to replace some light bulbs and when I'm all of 8" off the concrete the stool changes from verticle to horizonal. So do I. My right leg happens to hit a set of 4 wheels meant for rolling around a MIG welder. Ouch, pain, hat flies off but I pull myself up using my arms and left leg. Tried a cane--no good. Crutches get me to bed and I go for the recommended elevation, icing, and compression. Not real easy when the hurt is coming from your hip. Days later just to silence wifey's incessant chatter I see the doc. Doc prods around and sends me for xrays at nearby hospital. Radiologist says no breaks. 2 more weeks in bed, alot of ibuprofen, and back to the doc.
(have to save the eardrums). Different hospital for an MRI. Even I could see a break in my femur (thigh bone) just before it formed the ball that fits into the socket in your pelvis.
Now it is to an orthopedic doc. More xrays. Yup broken but the bone ends are in surprisingly good alignment. New bone being "layed down".
How much longer? Lessee...July 13 will be 8 weeks. Last week the orthopedic doc was so amazed at the healing that he said I could exercise in water (I even found out the rec center I belong to has a sling to get me in/out of the water--that ladder on the side would not have worked). The pain is subsiding. I can put a little weight on the leg. The deck I was building is almost complete thanks to my sons. I am getting a little tired of not being able to carry a glass of iced tea and use the crutches at the same time. Maybe I can tried out for Dennis Weaver's part--"Mr. Dillion, Mr. Dillon" or Walter Brennen type of roles. Better yet I'll just weld from now on. Tyr
dang man, that sounds pretty rough. Hope you get back to normal with no complications.
you will get to the point where you can use crutches and carry stuff, i had a compound fracture of the right femur in my youth, with a pin inserted, and after it had healed some i could squeeze the crutch with my right upper arm and carry stuff like glass of water or plate of food in my right hand.
i think it is important as you progress to use opposite hand for one crutching or caning. ie: right leg break, left hand one crutch or cane. i see pople doing it the other way and they just look out of balance.
and you do get some support from partially squeezing other crutch with upper arm, it can be done, you can do it too. just take it slow and keep practicing, what else do you have to do?
i can still walk on two crutches without touching either foot on the ground for quite a distance, forwards, backwards, and hops.
what kind of welding do you do? for a living, or hobby?
Walk on crutches alone? I thought my upper body strength was above normal when the leg broke. It has increased since the break but to walk without my leg forming the third leg of the tripod--amazing.
As for the welding--Years ago I did a lot of 4 wheeling in a CJ5. Found a Jeep shop to do some work and they asked me to go with their group one weekend. My degree of "wheeling" was like playground stuff compared to what they did. Things broke so I asked the guy to teach me to weld. Said he couldn't teach so I enrolled in a community college. After fixing all the neighbor's kids tricycles, I started making window guards--being a former cop didn't hurt. Sometimes there was no remodeling job on the plate but people wanted welding done so it put food on the table. Sometimes a job required certification so I became certified. My wife was always amazed that I made tools if I didn't have them (custom tools). Still make tools to work on a Ford work truck that I mistakenly bought. Could do the same job on my Chevs with regular tools and 30 minutes.
Did quite a bit of ornamental iron welding based on my designs. So figured I could concentrate on welding and it would require little more than moving steel tubing (2"X1") to the bandsaw, to the welding table, the powder coater, and from the truck to the homeowners doorway/s. Feet rarely leave the ground. Even better would be to come up with something mail order. You? Tyr
Rebecca--sounds like you have been around broken femurs--any more details? Tyr aka Thor
yeah well when you have to learn how to walk three times before age 21, and the last time i mangled myself was on crutches for 7 mos, first baby steps without crutches were sideways inches at a time.
after that you can walk on crutches without touching your feet like i said for quite a distance. was considering a try at guiness world record but some double amputee had gone for miles.
welding for me started in the trades, i saw a need for welders so went back to school for it. being a builder that can weld helps a lot, and opened up lots of doors. you would be surprised how many different crafts need a welder on some jobs, frinstance i know union electricians that mostly all they ever do is welding, but they still have to know how to be electrician.
similar for pipe trades, boilermakers, and ironworkers, they need welders but hate guys that welding is all they know. You really should know the craft first and then welding second, after all a welder is doing the same thing when he is making a weld as a carpenter is doing when he drives a nail, any idiot can do that.
Interesting that you should mention electricians doing other work. I was studying marketing when I thought my wallet was going to be too thin before I finished. Went to ManPower and they sent me to a place that needed a welder for two weeks. Mostly stainless TIG work.
They needed people who could handle welding on week 1 and in cabinet plumbing (ABS) on week 2. An "electrician" was asked to do something other than electrical work on week 2. He refused. They showed him the door. The work they wanted done wasn't something he "couldn't" do--it was something he "wouldn't" do. He had a union background but I couldn't make him recognize that he could fill a temporary need and get paid the same. I didn't leave for two years and ended up being what they called "the computer graphics guy" wearing a suit and tie while working in my own private office. Every day I made it a point to meet the welder/fabricators in the lunchroom for coffee. Once in awhile I shucked the suit and dug a ditch or layed out how to make a cylinder with a cone shaped lower half, etc. I liked the guy who hired me and other co-workers so I hung around moving all my college classes to the evening. They even had me come back as an independant contractor 3 times to either stick build a tenant improvement or weld up a special project. I came up with the term "generalist" to describe my position there. The more you know.... TyrEdited 7/5/2008 9:33 pm by TyrEdited 7/5/2008 9:33 pm by Tyr
Edited 7/5/2008 9:34 pm by Tyr
Femoral neck fracture healing on its own? I'm impressed. It must have been truly nondisplaced. The "nondisplaced" ones usually get pins put in them to help them *stay* "nondisplaced". But usually they really are already displaced, the displacement just doesn't really show up well on the X-rays. Such fractures are unstable, and even in the best of cases run a risk of not uniting, or of the femoral head (the ball) partially collapsing from disruption of the blood supply.I'm glad to hear your fracture is healing, though. Just be very careful, and don't re-injure it before it's completely healed!Rebeccah
http://youtube.com/watch?v=yaX1bAL6FeI&feature=relatedBreak at 1:39Man, the world is at your fingertips on the webForrest
Last spring, the ladder slipped out at the base over the driveway.... 9 feet later, I have a compression shattered L1.
Fortunately I have a great surgeon who put me back together almost good as new.
I'm mostly a DIY with a little pro work on the side so I'm able to limit what I do nowadays to what my back will handle. I don't pick up 3/4 pressure treated by myself anymore.
Hope your recovery goes well. Pay attention to the physical therapist! They're not torturing you just for fun.
Marc
This new year, my wife made me promise to try and stop hurting myself. As a first step she suggested I not cut myself mondays and fridays. This is proving more difficult than I thought. Today I managed to slice my forehead between the rim of my cap and my safety glasses removing tile. Bleeding copiously, I managed to have some fun with it on the way to get patched up, scaring a couple of tourists by walking like a zombie.
Sorry to hear about your injury. Try and enjoy your time off. Hope your rehab goes well and that you have good health to look forward to in the spring.
today's injury ...
kicked in the eye by a one year old.
I shoulda known better ... I went low to avoid the double fist hair hold instead of holding ground and blocking.
next time little girl ...
next time ...
Jeff
Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa