A Very Bad Beginning to a Brand New Year...

mrrsm

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This is a very inauspicious beginning to a Brand New Year. Late Last Night… My Son walked outside of a friend’s deep woods country home up in Madison, Florida into total darkness and out a ways into the local woods to relieve himself, since the house BR was in a state of “The Line Forms at The Rear” situation with so many family members and friends being present. At some point along his trek… he lost his balance; jamming his leg and foot under a large tree limb and all 6’1” 285#s of him fell awkwardly, twisting his foot around completely backwards and snapping off both the Tibia and Fibula as compound fractures at the ankle level. I only just received a Text Message advising me about this problem within the last hour.

Soon after being hurt, he ended up in the Local Hospital Emergency Room up there and after he was triaged and treated as well as could be expected, they turned his foot right ways around as best they could and casted his leg to hold things in roughly a proper position pending more required surgery. He will, as of tomorrow be seeing an Orthopedic Surgeon to have the work done ASAP with the requisite screws and pins inserted to try and fix the foot and leg back together as normal as possible. This is a real damned shame since he only recently passed his examination as a Public Claims Adjuster in his new job. This work frequently demands that he climbs ladders to access roof areas of weather damaged homes and only recently nailed down an excellent position with a good company.

Including my Wife… who broke her arm in a similar accidental fall last year… this will be the second family member to have broken bones during last year and now at the start of 2018. But I am getting ahead of myself in this unfortunate beginning for us in the New Year. This story actually began around two weeks ago in the lead up to a Christmas Holiday Visit:

Recently… My wife and I took a trip up to visit our Son, our Grand Kids, his Lady and her extended family up in Madison County, Florida. While on I-75 and traveling at around 75-80 MPH (when being pushed to move aside by STTs and impatient Drivers) ...we experienced having a Motorcyclist pull right up alongside of us ...and after giving me a slight nod, he pulled a wheel stand and rode on the fat back tire...‘Standing On the Pegs’ ...at around 90 MPH while leaning left and right to steer in and out of traffic until he was almost out of sight. Other than the expected outburst of surprise, much concern for his very life and the loud swearing that came from both of us… my wife commented, “Thank Christ that Scotty has finally outgrown that stage of doing any such dangerous and stupid behavior!.”

I thought about that for a second and really felt grateful that he had indeed survived being a typical, fist fighting, risk taker when he was a teenager and into his mid 20s and now… in his early 30s.. he has finally “settled down”. He is a Good Father in his own right and with a very good paying job now and a great family around him, we could not wait to see them all since they moved up North to be very close to Kendra’s Family last September. Once we arrived there, it was like visiting a Disney World Jurassic Theme Park.

We were “shuttled” in various 4WD vehicles on all of the rolling and hilly dirt roads over to the homes of their friends and her own family in the remote wooded areas. Once there… I had a nice chance to cautiously stretch my legs and roam around Kendra’s Family property to meet her Dad and witness first hand the effort that went into the making of their Hand Built House and their Home Made Lake that he and my Son had created ...(it was amazingly large, plastic lined and filled with Catfish) and also a Ranger Trek to their Deer Stand.

We enjoyed everyone’s very nice Welcome while being there and had several get-together visits and ate some great Country Cuisine. Later, when it came time to leave, my Wife and I had that sad sensation of being characters in that movie, “Local Hero” as visitors who really did not want to leave when our three day visit finally came to an end. Our ride home was uncommonly quiet and while driving southbound and deep in thought, I wondered if my wife was as reluctant to leave as I was. In any case… when we got home home, our two Cats stared at us and refused to come near… apparently because we were gone too long and smelled so different… and likewise, I could not shake that feeling that we were in the ‘wrong place’.

I finally asked my wife, “Honey… why not check the local Real Estate up in that area and see if we can find a place that is better suited for all concerned? After all… we are not getting any younger now and if something happens to me… you would have no one down here to look after you.” And so she scoured the local Real Estate possibilities and found something that might just fit the bill to a tee... so If all goes well... I'll get to pull this off.

Right now, with decent housing at a premium from the standpoint of meeting all of our family needs, my inclination is to buy a place large enough for all of us. My Son’s present predicament might make this happen much sooner than my reluctant Wife is ready for… but it cannot happen soon enough for me, for our Son and his Family. So I feel sorry for anyone else out there in the world who has had to start their New Year with so much misfortune. Nonetheless, I’d still like to wish a Very Happy New Year ...To One And All… And Hope That Better Days Are Coming!

This music by Mark Knofler from the movie “Local Hero” says it all:

 
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Mooseman

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Dec 4, 2011
25,257
Ottawa, ON
Omg. I can feel for him. I did almost the exact same thing with my right leg in '00 when I slipped on some ice on my driveway. Off work for 6 months and office work for 3. Lots of physio as well. If he can, he should ask for the fiberglass cast. Much lighter.
 
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mrrsm

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Will do @Mooseman ...and Thank You... You have no idea how much I want to get back up there and help out in whatever way I can. I'll pass along your suggestion. I have my fingers crossed that the surgeon slated to work on my son is experienced, has "aggregated his fecal material" and really knows what the Hell he is doing in the Operating Room. This is a small town hospital and I am a bit concerned about the quality of care he can anticipate. My Sports Surgeon down here is Dr. Adam Brunson who was one of the surgical specialists who worked a good part of his career fixing broken bones and soft tissue injuries for Players on The Tampa Bay Buccaneers before he went into family practice. If my son's own "Saw Bones" is half as good as Dr. Brunson is... his surgery will come out just fine.
 

cornchip

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Jan 6, 2013
637
Having a close call and nearly breaking my femur after hitting a tree ATVing, reading your accounts of the compound fractures reminds me of the nausea you go through right after the accident. As I write this I can only hope he is on some major pain killers. Hope his surgery goes well and he has a speedy recovery.
 

Mooseman

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Dec 4, 2011
25,257
Ottawa, ON
When I broke mine, I had no cell phone and had to help myself. Nobody around to help me so I had to straighten and stabilize my broken leg with my good leg and drag myself sideways into the house to get to the phone. Oh, and there were two sets of stairs. First aid courses I got for all these years paid off... for me. The pain of the ends of the broken bones hitting each other was excruciating. I wound up getting a rod inserted through my knee and screwed the pieces together. A couple years later, it had to come out due to pain, again, through my knee. Leg is fine now but my knee is buggered up.

Reason I had no cell phone? We only had one and my wife went to her mother's for the weekend so she brought it with her.
 

mrrsm

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Jesus Wept, Guys... @Mooseman ... talk about having "True Grit". Its only a miracle you did not suffer from a fatty embolism moving through your blood stream from having to work that hard with a fractured leg to get to some help. And @cornchip... Christ Almighty... Breaking your Femur is about as hard to do as breaking a Louisville Slugger Big League Baseball Bat... My God. And yes... Kendra just texted me that my son's substantial pain medication is barely scratching the surface right now. Hopefully, the fact that he bears his Mother's Dominant-Recessive Gene for her Red Hair (...meaning a Full Red Beard for him with Blond Hair on his Giant Coconut in this case). That gene is supposed to give such people a 25% greater resistance to pain than the average person can bear up under... but you could not prove it by my son tonight under the present circumstances.

Tomorrow ...the doctor they will initially meet with will NOT be his actual surgeon and hopefully whoever that turns out to be will know WTF he is doing about his business. Brothers... Knock on any door right? And you'll always find some Poor Soul in worse shape that you. I've got to try and get some sleep now too... tomorrow morning I have a Dentist appointment to install a permanent crown on Tooth #24 that Lost the Battle with a Turkey Leg Bone a few weeks back and broke it right in half. Ever since then while waiting for the Enamel Crown to get made, I've been dealing with real soreness from a Temp Tooth that has felt like a very sober and very angry Doc Holiday shoved a spent, cut down .32-20 cal empty cartridge in there until I can get the new crown cemented in tomorrow morning.

Oh Well, Gentlemen... Tomorrow... Is Another Day...
 
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northcreek

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Jan 15, 2012
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Man! breaking a leg that badly while doing something as benign as taking a leak has to be the very definition of bad luck.
 

mrrsm

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As of a few minutes ago… this is the condition of my Son’s broken apart Left Leg and Foot. He is on Day Two now of this dreadful event and is dealing with the pain with medication that is hardly touching this amount of injuries. He is also trying to deal with the terrible amount of time he must wait for the surgeons to come up with a plan and the gear necessary for a major operation to rebuild his leg from the Left Knee down. This is making me insane... I have no idea why there would be a reason for such a delay… but he is holding up as best can until they take the action needed. I can barely look at this without feeling overwhelmed. The Doctors had better get on it… because if it goes on like this much longer and I have to drive up there and get in their grills… They’ll wish their mothers… never met their fathers:
SCOTTSHATTEREDLEG.jpegSCOTTSHATTEREDLEG.jpeg
 

DAlastDON

Member
Apr 6, 2014
5,550
Kentucky
Oh fuck that is terriable and in one of the worst spots.....Near a joint. I pray the surgery, healing, and rehab goes as well as it can. He is hurting but be patient and let the surgeons get their shit together. They cant go down to the spare parts room and just grab stuff. Every screw and pin has to be custom manufactured and their material compounds must be compatible with each other to avoid corrosion issues.

Makes my knee hurt looking at it. Burned a telephone pole in 1998 six months after learning to climb poles safely with gaffs. Unknowingly put my gaff in a crack and it did not hold when I took the next step. Fell from about 30ft and tore/broke everything to do with my left knee. Happened about a mile away from anything, including my truck. Like moosey I set everything in place and made splints out of some tree branches and my belt then made my way to my truck to call for help on the 2 way radio.
 
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mrrsm

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@DAlastDON ...Thanks for this encouragement ... I have as yet not heard the details of how he managed to get help in the dark woods that night and finally get the Hell out of there... but it follows that like You, @Mooseman and @cornchip ...there is no doubt that if no help was coming... You all had to dig down deep to help yourselves at being rescued. My son has quite a few Corn-Fed Sized Friends up there... and I am hoping that they heard him yelling out... God knows I would have been Yelling Out ...and that he did not make matters worse by trying to walk out of the woods.

I doubt that he would have been able to, with his Fibula 'stove-piped' in like the image shows. Its hard to wrap your head around somebody being so badly hurt... let alone your own flesh and blood. So IMHO... YOU Guys... Have Balls as Big as Church Bells ..for overcoming your stranded isolation and lack of immediate assistance. Brothers... after seeing what happened to Scott... these anecdotes you've mentioned are just more reasons for me to admire the whole lot of you.
 

DAlastDON

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Apr 6, 2014
5,550
Kentucky
I sreamed for help until I was hoarse. I had practice resetting broken fingers in my tweens. Figured out it was less pain then waiting to do it in the ER. Always went to the ER though. Resetting the bones into the shattered knee cap was so painful that it made me black out. I'm thankful to not have suffered or caused any significant artery damage during the fall or reset. With dye in my blood during an MRI they could see abrasions to the popliteal and femoral arteries. I hope your boy had help with in an ear shot. If not then id say he's got church bell sized balls as well. Would have hurt much more to mobilize yourself without a reset.
 

Reprise

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Just came across this thread - healing thoughts & wishes to your son, @MRRSM . No doubt he's got a long rehab / recovery period ahead. My best wishes for a successful, pain-free outcome.
 

HARDTRAILZ

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Nov 18, 2011
49,665
My dad and I were just talking last night about 1993-94 winter when I broke my leg and the shit hit the fan. It started in August, that night I broke my leg, while in the hospital my parents got word that my lil brother finally got his second kidney donation and they went to the big city hospital for it. That next morning while he was in surgery, they diagnosed me with compartmental syndrome and cut my leg open to avoid amputation. So they had two kids laid open 50 miles apart. I ended up in a hospital bed for several weeks then a wheelchair for month or so and then crutches til October when my grandmother died and I ditched the crutches to carry her casket. Then New Years eve my brother told my sister he wanted to die cause he could not breathe and parents rushed him to Childrens hospital where they found the $10,000 a day out of pocket anti-rejection drugs had ate holes in his intestines and his lungs could not expand due to leaking gases in the cavity. Ileostomy that night saved his life but he did not leave the hospital for over a month, finally leaving Feb 2nd. In January my sister had gotten Mono so with the chances of infection getting to my brother, there was no shared parenting...mom was in one hospital and dad was home with us two.

Shit can get bad...I know. You will be ok. My dad still says the God only gives one what they can handle, but sometimes he thinks God overestimates him. You will be alright. Just listen to the dr's and keep your spirits up.

FYI--my brother has had 3 transplants now and gives speeches for organ donation. He has his own house and full-time job and other than a few pills a day is basically normal. Parents are still together and got all three of us kids through college. Shit was bleak for a minute, but it works out.

Best of luck to you and yours!
 

mrrsm

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62 Days ago today… On New Year’s Eve… While at a family gathering up in rural Madison, Florida my son stepped out into the darkened woods to relieve himself and while traversing downhill out of there… he snagged his lower ankle on a downed forked branch. His resulting loss of balance caused him to fall awkwardly and with his foot pinioned hard to the ground, his body turned completely around, snapping the supporting bones of his lower leg and ankle... and turning his foot around completely backwards as a result. A hectic emergency ambulance ride to the local hospital was next and then Major Surgery two weeks later up in Valdosta, Georgia was necessary to repair and rebuild his lower leg and ankle. The surgeons set the broken bones in his calf and ankle and after cutting into both sides of is ankle, they installed an assortment of Titanium Screws and a Drilled Plate to support his Fibula and join the broken pieces and fragments of the Tibia from the bottom of the large bone right back together as straight and properly as possible.

After two long months… and with the hard cast removed as of last Friday, March 2nd, 2018, he will now wear a soft boot for another few months. There is a Long Titanium Screw that passes through both leg bones from one side of the ankle to the other, through the Tibia then into and through the Fibula that will have to be hand unscrewed and removed next week so that he can renew the ability to rotate his ankle once again. The doctors have explained that his body has been doing a very good job of absorbing the smaller pieces of loose bone and re-joining the major breaks while laying in enough Calcium that will ossify over the next year or two into Very Solid Bone. I’m very glad he quit smoking cigarettes five years ago, as this is one bad habit that can seriously inhibit bone growth and healing under such conditions.

An even longer rehabilitation is apparently in store for him… but thanks to him maintaining his Florida State Pharmacy Technician Certification… He has been able to work off site while laid up in bed with computer equipment provided by his prior employer; a Private Pharmaceutical Company he’d worked for when down here in the Tampa Bay Area. They were gracious enough to allow him to work for their Jacksonville area subsidiary company, completely off site and right now...this is a Bill-Paying Godsend, for sure.

This work has helped to allow him to remain calm and distracted well enough to maintain his sanity and create some income while my Grand Kids are busy running around on the periphery. As he gradually heals, he is grateful to have been able to maintain some ability for ‘Keeping the Wolf from the Door...” until he is fully ambulatory and can get back to his New Job as a Florida Licensed Contract Insurance Adjuster. The trick here though will be for him to be mentally fit and physically strong enough to be able to once again ...climb up and down his Triple-Decker Aluminum Ladder to perform Roof Top Inspections for Hurricane Damage, etc. and so there might be a bit of psychological worry for him if his foot does not come out of this; weight-bearing and articulating in a completely normal manner. He is the the beat of my heart … so I am very concerned… but I remain very hopeful for him as well.

http://s557.photobucket.com/user/60dgrzbelow0/library/SCOTTSBROKENLEG?sort=3&page=1

scottsankle1.jpg
scottshatteredleg.jpg
scottsankle4.jpg
scottsankle2.jpgscottsankle3.jpg
 
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Locksmith

Member
Nov 19, 2017
76
Columbia,SC
I broke a wrist and feel for ya! Keep massaging and it will heal faster!
 

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