I take a fall




I kicked a ladder out from under myself yesterday and fell six feet, landing flat on my back. Luckily, I didn’t land on the ladder, or my tools, or the heat-pump, or the border of the patio. I couldn’t believe it when I felt the ladder going. Fifty years of using ladders without an accident, and now this!? I was pruning an apple tree at the time, and tried to grab the branches as I fell. My upper body was surrounded by them (which was probably why I lost touch with the fact that the ladder was leaning), and I was fairly confident that I would succeed, but I didn’t. I then realized that I was irretrievably falling, and that, given my height, it was going to hurt, and then it hurt. The jarring was incredible and the pain instant, but my first problem was that I couldn’t breathe.

When I finally caught my breath, I made sure that my parts would move, and then I lay there wondering if my neighbors had seen me fall, and hoping they hadn’t because I am NOT the kind of idiot who falls off ladders. The day was turning to night, and the air was getting cold, and all that I had on were coveralls, so I wanted to get indoors as soon as possible. I began the journey on hands and knees as gyrating strings of lightning filled my vision. I didn’t think I had hit my head, so I assumed the pain was the cause of the visual effects. I made it to the back door, but couldn’t lift my hand to open it, so I had to lay on my side to reach for the doorknob. I got back onto hands and knees and crawled across the laundry room in the direction of the kitchen. When I came to the single eight-inch step between the two, I couldn’t raise my arms high enough to cross it, so I returned to my side and tried to inch my way over. I got my head stuck in the corner under the open door (it's bottom being at same height as the kitchen floor), and lay there or a long time shivering (the laundry room being unheated and me being on the floor), hurting, wondering how to get out from under the door, and hoping I could make it into the kitchen before Peggy came home in about an hour. I hoped this partly to spare her the shock of finding me, but also because shivering on a hard floor was making the pain worse. 

It being news time, I thought that the TV might distract me from how much I hurt, but I would have to get up that step to get to it. I reflected on the fact that most people would be praying about now, and that I would too if I had the least idea it would help. Finally, my body began to move as if it had a plan of its own, so I let it take over. After numerous attempts, it made its way into the kitchen (I don't know how). It didn’t even try to get back onto hands and knees, but inched along on its side, its goal being a chair in the adjacent den. We passed the TV remote, so I turned it on, but immediately lost the remote, and had to settle for a movie about a little girl and her pig. As my body crawled along, I wondered how it was ever going to into that chair. As it turned out, it couldn’t. I was disappointed, but had to give it an A for effort.

It was past time for Brewsky’s supper, but he was so weirded-out by my behavior that he didn’t even cry. When Peggy came home, my body and I were on the floor in the dark, me wondering where the remote was, it trembling, and both of us watching a little girl sneak a pig into her school desk. Peggy had been shopping, so, not wanting to upset her, I asked about her trip, and she showed me her purchases. Since I never lie on the floor in the dark watching what I calljunk TV, she finally asked if I was okay. I told her what had happened, and asked her to find my glasses and gather my tools. She came back in saying that she couldn’t find them all. I suggested that she look in the tree. 

That chore being done, she brought me a 1’x’3 plywood platform that I had made for some long ago project and then saved in the thought that I would probably need it it again for one thing or another. It being four inches tall, I thought that maybe I could use it to get myself high enough to transfer into the chair. With much help from Peggy, I succeeded. I then had her bring me a jar to pee in. I also had to shit, so, again with much help from her and with the aid of a walker that we had bought when she hurt her own back (and then kept in case we needed it again), she got me onto the pot. I sat there thinking about how glad I was that this wasn’t our first date. I couldn’t push to get the shit out, so, giving up on that project, I had her help me to bed. I lay there for two hours, high on oxycodone and listening to relaxing music from the '50s, but the pain never let up, and ice packs, which usually help pain a lot, didn't help any. I had her move me back into the den where I became nauseous, dizzy, and shivered while sweat poured off my body. I thought I might faint, but the sickness passed, and Peggy brought me my supper. We watched two episodes of Cheyenne (1955). It was either that or Peter Gunn (1958) because both DVD sets had just arrived, and I was eager to watch them.

She kept bringing me ice packs, but they weren’t helping, so I asked for a heating pad, and it did help some. After supper, Cheyenne, one Aleve, and a whopping dose of Neurontin, she helped me back to bed where I more or less passed out from the Neurontin. Without it, I don’t know if I would have slept at all. I only had to awaken her once for my pee jar during the night, so that was a relief. Now, I’m up, and here I sit, dependent upon her for everything.

Tomorrow (Monday), I will see if I can get in to see my primary care doc. He’s good about same day appointments (a rarity in America), so I’m confident that I can either see him or someone in his practice, and maybe get a steroid shot. Today, I’ll try to get some movement back. I can use my arms, and bend my knees and back, but that’s pretty much all I can do without the pain stopping me. My biggest worry is kidney damage because that’s where the pain is, but, so far, I haven’t passed any blood. I thought of going to Urgent Care, but would need more help than Peggy could provide without endangering herself, and I sure as hell don’t want to pay for an ambulance or ask friends to help if I don’t have to. Mostly, I just don’t want to go.

Later: I came back and found a video for Peter Gunn. When the show comes on, the red sparkly-looking things in the photo pulse in harmony with the music, making for what is surely the most intense beginning for any show that was ever on TV. I would even call the program surreal, film noire at its best. The above album made the Top Ten. The style of jazz was popular in L.A. in the '50s and is called West Coast Cool.

Update on Monday. The doctor thinks I might have broken one or more vertebra. He ordered stat blood work, stat x-rays, and a stat CAT scan. These tests took four hours because the CAT scan people wouldn’t do their job until the blood work people had done theirs. Their concern was that my kidneys be okay because I had to drink one kind of contrast and have another kind injected through an IV, and both are excreted through the kidneys. Now, I’m home waiting for test results…

My internist’s physicians assistant called as I was writing the last sentence (nice things happen to nice people, which is why he called at such a fortuitous time). The x-rays and CAT scan showed that my L1 vertebra is crushed to half its normal size (which is a lot), and that I have either a cyst, a tumor, or a hematoma on my left kidney. He ordered an MRI on both the vertebra and the kidney, and said he would try to rush it through, but since it requires insurance pre—approval, it might not happen today. He also referred me to a surgical neurologist to be evaluated for (what else?) surgery. As for the kidney problem, I’ll be seeing a nephrologist if its a tumor. Otherwise, it will just require a periodic re-evaluation.

As for how I’m doing, I can’t get even reasonably comfortable in any position, but the longer I stay in a position, the more uncomfortable I become, so I spend a lot of time switching between sitting and standing, being still and stretching, standing and walking, etc. It takes a long time and a lot of painful effort to switch positions in bed, and its a much bigger hassle to get out of bed, especially after a few hours, and then when Im out, I need help to walk until I get limbered up. And, of course, there are my usual pain problems which were being helped by QiGong, something that I can no longer do. As for the good news, at least I can walk now. Its not pretty because I’m stiff, guarded, tentative, and hunched over, but at least it’s walking. Presently, I’m in slightly less pain because I took a stiff dose of oxycodone (the narcotic that’s found in Percocet) an hour ago.

I’m bummed about the test results, but don’t know enough to know how bummed to be, and am good at not letting my fears run away with me. As for Peggy, she’s in tears and nearly frantic, but she has the ability to bounce back from negative feelings with amazing rapidity. It’s also true that her reaction is partly determined by my own, so if I stay centered, it helps her to stay centered. Fortunately, years of experience (including three cancer scares) have made it easier for me to stay centered, at least in regard to medical problems.

40 comments:

Elephant's Child said...

Oh Snow. Not a post I enjoyed reading.
I do hope you can get into the doctor - soon. And get some relief.
Ladders scare me. Both my partner's father and his uncle have taken spectacular falls from them. And damaged themselves severely. So when he is up a ladder I am at its base, holding it steady.
I fall myself (not from ladders because I am not brave enough to use them). And have found that falls damage my confidence at least as much as my body.
Keep us posted please.

angela said...

Snowbrush I'm so sorry you had to deal with all that yourself. I surely hope you get into the doctors and he does lots of testing to make sure you don't qhve any internal damage. You say you didn't hit your head but you might not know if you passed out for even a few seconds. Makemsurenyou tell him about the flashes of pain and light in your head. Please let us know how you go and take care

Helen said...

I am thankful you are alive, Snow! Falling from that distance?? I cannot fathom it. The fall certainly didn't compromise your ability to think, to write ~~ HOWEVER you will have to show me 50s music that relaxes! Please keep us updated ... blood in the urine can be microscopic as well ... No more pruning trees!

ellen abbott said...

Holy cow Snow. Falling is not good at our age and I'm sure if you weren't aware of that before it's been brought home quite precipitately. I hope it's just seriously bruised muscles and nothing more serious. And yeah, you should definitely have gone to the emergency room. I don't like them either but seriously man, there is such a thing as too much macho.

Snowbrush said...

I hope you guys will come back and see the youtube video containing the Peter Gunn theme.

Thanks so much for your kindness in writing. You might not realize how very much it means.

"HOWEVER you will have to show me 50s music that relaxes!"

I would have to look up each song on my playlist to verify that it was written in the 50s, but the performances, at least, were from the 50s. Here are a few: Ebb Tide, The Sea, How Deep is the Ocean, Beyond the Sea, Moon River, Windjammer, and A Stranger on the Shore (the theme from A Summer Place, and NOT to be confused with Strangers on the Shore, which I would never put on playlist of favorite songs). I have five versions of Ebb Tide alone on the playlist I was listening to yesterday, and more than one version of some of the others. I also threw in the theme from Tammy and several versions of Pacebel's Canon in D.

"you might not know if you passed out for even a few seconds"

I can hardly argue with that, but in my own mind, I'm confident. Through it all, I took comfort in the fact that I could move my limbs, and that the damage was probably to soft tissue rather than organs or bones. Of course, I could be wrong.

"Falling is not good at our age and I'm sure if you weren't aware of that before..."

I'm very aware that I get hurt easier and recover more slowly all the time. Yet, I must carry on with my work. I know of nothing that would hurt me more than to not work. Peggy is already insisting that I never go up a ladder again when I'm alone, and I can't see my way to agreeing to that because it would be damn inconvenient, and would make me feel like a pathetic old man who can't be trusted to be on his own.

"I'm so sorry you had to deal with all that yourself."

I knew that Peggy would be home soon, but if I lived alone, or if she wouldn't have been home soon, I don't know what I would have done because I couldn't reach a phone. I guess I would have crawled out the front door and crawled to the house next door on my side. Of course, I couldn't have put a coat on, so that plus the pain and the fact that I was already exhausted, would have made for a miserable crawl. The experience very much put me in sympathy with people I know who have no partner or even close friends to be there for them, because things that were so easy had become impossible in the passage of a moment. No one can be independent all the time.

Putz said...

i qm sorry snow, watch a lot of t,t, is my advice and read my comment to michelle on her post{her indorr bike}i did not fall down that 50 foot fall and if i did i would have landed in my bedroom floor, and i have fallen off my bed many times thinking i am fallin down a window well<><><><>honest,,.i am so surprised when i amm not hurt because being in that window well is so real<><>nothing like a rabbit hole like in alician in wonerland

stephen Hayes said...

What a terrible ordeal for you. I make a point of never climbing a ladder when I'm home alone for just this reason. I hope you're feeling better. Did you ever find your glasses?

Linda said...

Snowbrush,
The possibility that you could have lain there for hours really frightened me. I know a man who fell just like you did. He was only 36 and the fall caused plaque from his arteries to later cause a heart attack. Just because you fell and injured yourself does not mean you have to keep climbing ladders alone and kill yourself trying to prove something. Peggy will not be able to leave you and be in peace if she knows you will climb up again. For her sake, just give in to her wishes. Of course, I know the guy in you is chafing against doing as you wish.

When the doctor gets the urine under a microscope, he can see best what damage you might have done. Don't hold back on how you feel and where I hurts.

I fell down icy steps when I was in my 40s and lay like a bug on my back in foot of snow with ice on the top. I just knew I would die if I could not get up. My neighbors were absent. It was scary. But, you may say, "You're a girl." However, I treasure my independence as much as you. Now, I just try to stay safe even if I am limiting myself.

I hope you are okay tomorrow when you go to the doctor.

Helen said...

I give! Theme from A Summer Place one of my favorites. My life paralleled Sandra Dee's when I saw that film, unmarried and with child, marriage came quickly for me. Thanks for adding Canon in D .... Irrestible in my humble opinion.

Snowbrush said...

" I make a point of never climbing a ladder when I'm home alone for just this reason."

It's a point that Linda is trying to drive home, but, tell me, how often are you on a ladder? It doesn't matter except that I would suspect that, for you, it's an occasional thing, whereas, for me, it's frequent.

"i have fallen off my bed many times thinking i am fallin down a window well"

"Many times"? Why not get a bed with rails, Putz? What are you waiting for, a broken bone?

"Peggy will not be able to leave you and be in peace if she knows you will climb up again."

It's a good point, but to stay off any ladder for any reason would also present quite a problem since I'm on one ladder or another almost everyday. To suddenly, after using ladders nearly my whole life, to have to coordinate with her about when she would be available would be pretty onerous, especially since most of my work happens she's not here because if she's here, we're usually doing something together. She will retire in July, so that means she will soon be home a little more (she only works 20-hours a week). In any event, I'm definitely grounded for now, and we'll be talking about it some more.

"But, you may say, "You're a girl.'"

No, no, no, not I. People are individuals, and much of what I value as a man, many men never do or want to do, while still other men do things that I would never do or want to do, and it's the same way with me and women. After all, there are women tradespeople, and other women who don't work in a trade, yet take a lot of pride in the work they do on their houses. We all have our limits, and I'm not judging anyone else's, I just know that, for me giving up things that I've always done is like putting a foot into the grave or, worse yet, a nursing home. That said, I've already had to give up a lot, but only when it was clear that I simply couldn't continue doing it no matter how much I wanted to.

"I give!"

It's funny to know more about the popular culture of 50 and more years ago than of the popular of today, but then I don't care about the popular culture of today. For example, 99% of the TV that I watch is PBS, but I have to scroll through other channels to get to it, and it astounds me how many times, I see an autopsy while scrolling. THIS is what people watch now, it and reality TV, and one-third of their viewing time is spent watching commercials? No, I don't think I want to do that. As for music, I'm pretty eclectic, yet I have no idea what is popular or who is performing it. I suppose there is some good stuff, but when I do happen to hear current musicians, I don't feel that their work is worth pursuing.

lotta joy said...

Since Joe....the retired firefighter, started stumbling, I'm now the designated ladder climber. It took him forever to accept the fact that climbing ladders (to him, as natural as breathing) was beyond him now. Age hurt mind, body and spirit.

One thing about being an atheist, there's one less thing to concentrate on when you're trying to make headway on your hands and knees. If not for oxycodone, I couldn't have made it through the past two weeks.

While at the hospital, no one heard me utter "Dear God, make it stop." Instead, they heard me say "Damn. Who, in their right mind puts CARPET in an ER?"

There ARE atheists in foxholes. We're the ones wishing everyone else would stop praying and start firing with more accuracy.

kylie said...

i once knew a woman who broke her back and got up and walked away. just because you can move doesnt mean you are alright.
i really like you , snow and i dont wish to add insult to injury but i think you verged into stupid territory by not getting to the ER!


hang in there, you lovely old goat

All Consuming said...

Arrrggghhhh!!!! Oh Snow! I could almost feel everything you went through there, such is your description. Peggy, I can only imagine her fear when she saw you - and then the pot - "I sat there thinking how glad I was that this wasn’t our first date." - This *points back to that which he wrote - is why I love you.
I have just sent you a rambling mail and the reason it mentions this not a jot is because I finished that before checking blogger. I;d hug you, but you'll scream. I concur with others, never climb a ladder again without someone in the vicinity because you might have died. Balance buggers off with the advancement of years, you have to just suck it up and stay alive I'm afraid. Xxx

rhymeswithplague said...

This Christian man is now going to use a rare expletive, and here it comes:

You are too damned macho for your own good.

If you were a normal Southerner (of the non-racist sort, I mean), you would get your hiney to a doctor post-haste, but NOOOOOO, you have to be the Southerner Who Broke The Mold and moved all the way out to Oregon where everyone is a Rugged Individualist, and what Peggy thinks be damned (there, I said it again), you're going to do what you jolly well want to do, aren't you?

Even so, my sincere condolences on your current condition, and I hope you feel much better soon and that nothing important was broken or even bent irretrievably.

And that you stay off ladders.

Charles Gramlich said...

Ouch, man. Damn. Hope you start feeling better pretty soon. Sounds immensely painful.

Snowbrush said...

"One thing about being an atheist, there's one less thing to concentrate on when you're trying to make headway on your hands and knees..."

You simply MUST see a video entitled "The Tillman Story," which is about Pat Tillman. For those who aren't Americans, I should say that Pat Tillman was a professional football player who gave it up to join the Army after 9/11 and was killed in Afghanistan due to gross negligence on the part of his own soldiers. After his death, the Army lied repeatedly about why and how he died, and, when exposed, covered everything up to save the asses of the higher ups. Tillman was an atheist who, moments before he died, ordered one of his men to stop praying and to instead focus on what to do to get out of danger.

"Just because you can move doesnt mean you are alright."

Oh, no, I might have kidney damage; I might have bowel damage (I still can't shit); and it took me over a half hour just to get out of bed a few minutes ago. No, I'm fucked, and I'm sitting here now waiting to hear from the doctor's office (it being 7:30 a.m. on a Monday morning).

"Balance buggers off with the advancement of years, you have to just suck it up and stay alive I'm afraid. Xxx"

Did you know that if you give CPR to the music of "Staying Alive" that you will be able to provide the 100 compressions a minute that are required to keep a person's blood circulating. Too few won't do it, and too many won't do it. It needs to be 100, and if you play "Staying Alive" in your head while you're doing CPR, you'll come out just right. (By the way, here in America, at least, you don't do the breathing part of CPR any longer.)

"You are too damned macho for your own good."

Funny but I don't feel macho; truly I don't. I can look at my experience through your eyes--and the eyes of other readers--and see why you would think that. I can even replay my experience in my own mind, and realize that, gee, that sounds really bad. Yet, to be in my skin and go through it, I guess I just became fixed on how to make this situation work for me. That is, how to get into the house, how to get into the den, how to get into a chair etc., and then, later, how to stand up, how to make it to the bathroom, how to pee and brush my teeth, how to get in and out of bed, and so forth. Maybe there's denial, and maybe there's wishful thinking, just as I know there's a of shame. There's also a profound disenchantment with modern medicine. I get so tired of feeling screwed financially every time I go to a doctor, and I go to doctors a lot. I've seen one sleep specialist, one ear/nose/throat doctor, one neurologist, and two physical therapists, just in the last two months, and for what, to put out $400 for a fifteen visit in order to help pay for their latest extravagance? I've just recently given up on even trying to consider of doctors as my allies, but rather as mercenary bastards who are to be avoided except in the direst of circumstances. My thought, rightly or wrongly, rationally or irrationally, was that I would give my situation a couple of days and see how I did. Okay, this is the second day, and I'm going to the doctor today if I can get in, and I feel sure that I can. As doctors go, my internist is among the best, so I feel better about going to him than I would to most doctors.

Thanks, Charles.

possum said...

Holy CRAP! Snow!
The best advice my Dr ever gave me was to never, ever, go outside without a phone on my person. And I don't. I used to fall a lot more than I do, but like you, I would crawl to get inside, not always an easy task, and certainly not macho on my part.
But the need to do my own thing has gotten me into numerous scrapes... so, in my old age, I am learning to pay someone else to do it. Hired help is cheaper than the emergency room! LOL!
And I never go up on a ladder anymore with no one at home, even if I have to pay someone to come babysit me. But, so far, they always tell me to back off and they go up the ladder for me! I like the way that has worked out!
The fear of breaking a hip at my age is enough to get me to see what folks have been saying to me for years. I have enough trouble walking... I prefer my wheelchair to have cobwebs on it out in the barn.
Joke of the week: Do try to behave Snow. (OK, everybody stop laughing, but the mommy in me had to say it.) We want you around a bit longer.

Snowbrush said...

I've been blogging for years but never felt more grateful for my bloggy friends than now. It's 8:15 a.m., and soon as I get up from here, I'll get dressed for an 8:45 doctor's appointment. I must say, they seemed very eager to see me.

Joe Pereira said...

Good grief Snow!Why the long wait to see the doctor? I hope the only damage is to the ladder.

PhilipH said...

Dear Snowy - your fall is hopefully not as serious as it sounded. Bones become more brittle as we age and thus break more easily. Very dodgy, falling.

I stood up too quickly about four weeks back and fell backwards, cracking my head on the bedroom wall and gouging some of the skin from my left shinbone. Saw the GP same day and he patched the leg OK. Silly thing but sore.

Do let us know how your doc visit went.

I've just had some facial surgery to get some (probably) cancer growths cut away. There were 4 bits to remove, three on the nose and one on the forehead. Had some of THE most painful anaesthetic jabs. Didn't hurt once that had been done but face looks as though I've been in one hell of a brawl!! Going to have the stitches out on Wednesday.

Good luck to you old chap. Keep off ladders for a while.

Snowbrush said...

I just put the following at the end of the post, but I'll put it here too for those who have read the post.

Update on Monday. The doctor thinks I might have broken one or more vertebra. He ordered stat blood work, stat x-rays, and a stat CAT scan. These tests took four hours because the CAT scan people wouldn’t do their job until the blood work people had done theirs. Their concern was that my kidneys be okay because I had to drink one kind of contrast and have another kind injected through an IV, and both are excreted through the kidneys. Now, I’m home waiting for test results…

My internist’s physician’s assistant called as I was writing the last sentence (nice things happen to nice people, which is why he called at such a fortuitous time). The x-rays and CAT scan showed that my L1 vertebra is crushed to half its normal size (which is a lot), and that I have either a cyst, a tumor, or a hematoma on my left kidney. He ordered an MRI on both the vertebra and the kidney, and said he would try to rush it through, but since it requires insurance pre—approval, it might not happen today. He also referred me to a surgical neurologist to be evaluated for (what else?) surgery. As for the kidney problem, I’ll be seeing a nephrologist if it’s a tumor. Otherwise, it will just require a periodic re-evaluation.

As for how I’m doing, I can’t get even reasonably comfortable in any position, but the longer I stay in a position, the more uncomfortable I become, so I spend a lot of time switching between sitting and standing, being still and stretching, standing and walking, etc. It takes a long time and a lot of painful effort to switch positions in bed, and it’s a much bigger hassle to get out of bed, especially after a few hours, and then when I’m out, I need help to walk until I get limbered up. And, of courser, there are my usual pain problems which were being helped by QiGong, something that I can no longer do.. As for the good news, at least I can walk now. It’s not pretty because I’m stiff, guarded, tentative, and hunched over, but at least it’s walking. Presently, I’m in slightly less pain because I took a stiff dose of oxycodone (the narcotic that’s found in Percocet) an hour ago.

I’m bummed about the test results, but don’t know enough to know how bummed to be, and am good at not letting my fears run away with me. As for Peggy, she’s in tears and nearly frantic, but she has the ability to bounce back from negative feelings with amazing rapidity. It’s also true that her reaction is partly determined by my own, so if I stay centered, it helps her to stay centered. Fortunately, years of experience (including three cancer scares) have made it easier for me to stay centered, at least in regard to medical problems.

Elephant's Child said...

I am so so sorry. Glad that you got to the doctor, and glad that further investigations (and hopefully relief) are underway. So very sad it has happened. Aaargh is perhaps the most comprehensive thing I can say at the moment.

Snowbrush said...

I just want to thank all of those who haven't said they were praying for me because I hate it when that happens because when you tell an atheist that you're praying for him, he gets the shingles. I know this for a fact because it happened to me. Someone wrote on my blog, "I'll be praying for you," and 5 1/2 days later, I got the shingles, so I realized that it might take a while, but that I would definitely get the shingles if someone said they were praying for me. The converse of this is that I have a believer friend (a few actually, but it was this one) named Bob, and one day it hit me that maybe Bob would like for me to pray for him, which I would never do, of course, because I'm an atheist. But then I thought that, well, I guess I would do it, but it would require a total sacrifice of my integrity, so I would need at least $50 to make it worthwhile. Sure enough, 5 1/2 days later, Bob came down with the shingles, and I thought that, WHOA, I don't think I'll ever wonder about whether a believer wants me to pray for him or her again cause you just never know who God might smite with shingles....Maybe I should cut back on the narcotics...

"Hired help is cheaper than the emergency room! LOL!"

Ain't that the truth! I've been pruning that same tree for 23 years--and it was old when I started--and it hit me today that I could have paid someone to do it for all of those years, plus all of the years I have left for what this one accident will cost, and even after all the hassle and money, I might never be as good as I was when I went out there to prune that tree on Saturday.

"Aaargh is perhaps the most comprehensive thing I can say at the moment."

Reminds me of Bill the Cat, who, when he ran for president of the U.S. was invariably so high on drugs that he couldn't talk beyond saying words like aaargh. His staff had to cover up for him as best they could, so they told reporters that he was in a religious trance. Maybe you should try that.

"Why the long wait to see the doctor?"

I didn't want to go.

Philip, good luck with your stitches there. Did you fall because you got dizzy, or was it due to momentum?If the latter, maybe you should try to tone down your enthusiasm.

lotta joy said...

I hope progress is...uh...progressing. If I had been in my own mind I would have waited for my doctor to show up at the ER, admit me, and get all those tests without waiting for pre-approval. Now, I'm out of the ER, it's been two weeks, and I'm feeling much better....and I see the doctor this Friday!

"Hello doc. I feel fine. What was wrong with me two weeks ago?"

Yep. That's how it goes.

All Consuming said...

Crushed verterbrae...tsk, I can imagine the myriad of paths that could unfold in front of you both right now. If you hadn't had fallen, the lumpy part it wouldn't have been found mind, so perhaps there is silver lining in this, albeit a sore as hell one. I'm doing my best there. Tell Peggy I'm thinking of her as well as you, she's one wonderful lady and I'm glad you have each other through these trying times, I know alot of people who live alone, at least you have the best company you could have. x

rhymeswithplague said...

Re prayer and shingles and your friend named Bob, etc.

WHOA, indeed!

Could it possibly have been some other Bob?

Possibly, but all the indicators point to me.

Does this mean I'm really an atheist? (Because you clearly said that when somebody prays for an atheist he gets the shingles 5 1/2 days later.)

This blog is so educational.

Plus highly irritating at times.

Plus rolling on the floor funny.

ellen abbott said...

I came back to see what the doctors had to say. Hopefully the thing on your liver is just a hematoma and will subside. Crushed vertebra though. I had a friend who was in a car wreck and several of her vertebra were crushed but the doctor's rebuilt them so perhaps they can do that for you as well. As I recall, they took one of her ribs to do it. But surgery is in your future regardless I suspect. She also had to wear a thing like a turtle carapace while she healed. So sorry Snow. Wish this hadn't happened. And since I will be on a ladder soon cleaning out the leaves from the gutters, I will keep you in mind.

Snowbrush said...

"If I had been in my own mind I would have waited for my doctor to show up at the ER, admit me, and get all those tests without waiting for pre-approval."

Maybe I too could have done that, but then again, 10% (my share) of an ER visit might have still come to thousands. My $4,000 yearly out-of-pocket has been paid, so I'm keen on having everything that I can done before January 1, when I would have to start paying that four-grand all over again.

" If you hadn't had fallen, the lumpy part it wouldn't have been found mind, so perhaps there is silver lining"

Yes, I know. It could work out that breaking my back saves my life.

"Does this mean I'm really an atheist?"

No, no, no, just that it seems to go both ways.

"since I will be on a ladder soon cleaning out the leaves from the gutters, I will keep you in mind."

Reminds me of a Fred Sanford line, "Edith, I'm coming to join you honey." I hope you don't fall off the ladder and come to join me!

Right now, I'm waiting for an approval from insurance so I can get a STAT MRI to see if that kidney growth is cyst, a hematoma, or a tumor. I also have to get Peggy to pick up a prescription for Fentanyl patches and something to make me have a bowel movement because the accident seems to have ended doing that, and when I Googled crushed vertebra, that is one of the things that often results.

rhymeswithplague said...

Edith was Archie Bunker's wife on All In the Family.

Fred Sanford said, "ELIZABETH, I'm coming..."

/s/The Trivia Pest

Winifred said...

Oh crumbs it seems never ending for you Snowbrush. Glad I don't have to think about costs of healthcare!

I know you don't believe in it but I'm lighting a candle for you. Take care of yourself & stop climbing ladders! Love to you & Peggy.

Snowbrush said...

"Edith was Archie Bunker's wife on All In the Family."

I appreciate the correction. Few people correct me on such things, so it makes me the more glad that you do because I do want to get it right. The sorry truth is that I knew that, but I'm having a great deal of difficulty focusing and bringing words to mine. In the last hour, I've called two doctors' offices and an imaging center, and I couldn't think of the simplest words, so I had to keep apologizing and pausing for them to come to me, which they mostly didn't. Peggy said I had a period on Saturday night when I was mumbling incomprehensibly and not responding to direct questions. I focus much better writing than talking, so I know it must seem odd that I can think of words like incomprehensibility and not words like cyst.

"Glad I don't have to think about costs of healthcare!"

One-third of American healthcare costs go to insurance companies. These person don't provide healthcare, but they make the decisions about what care people can get. This is my case right now. I'm in a hell of shape, but I can't get a stat MRI until insurance approves it, and who knows how long that will take. America has the most expensive healthcare in the world, and it's fairly good if you can afford it (and don't die before your insurance company approves it), but a lot of people are left so suffer and die because they can't afford it, and the number of such people who can't afford it are growing daily because, for years, healthcare costs have been rising at a far higher rate than the cost of other things due to unbridled greed. Ironically, the parts of the country that most oppose the idea of healthcare as a RIGHT rather than a commodity like luxury automobiles are the most Christian parts, and they are also the parts that can least afford healthcare. As for the Obama plan, it will further enrichen insurance companies, but, so far, it doesn't look like it's going to do much for the country as a whole.

rhymeswithplague said...

I am now praying with all my might that when someone lights a candle for someone, the designee for whom the candle was lit will NOT, 5 1/2 days later, get either genital warts or hemorrhoids.

Because you have enough problems as it is.

Snowbrush said...

"I am now praying with all my might that when someone lights a candle for someone, the designee for whom the candle was lit will NOT, 5 1/2 days later, get either genital warts or hemorrhoids.

Ain't it the truth? I'm now anticipating a malignant kidney tumor due to widespread metastasis all because of that candle (I am just kidding here). I shouldn't think you would ever see them in rural Georgia, but here in Eugene, there are a lot of Buddhists (nearly all of whom are Caucasian Americans who grew up in some other faith or else no faith at all). At least, I guess they're Buddhists because they have prayer flags hanging from lines that run across their years. They look like clothes-lines with cheap but colorful handkerchiefs hanging from them. The idea is that the winds will convey a person's prayers to God even when the person isn't actually praying. I don't know how many of the people who hang those flags really believe that, yet the flags would seem to suggest that they don't actually disbelieve it.

Snowbrush said...

"Years" should have been "yards."

Putz said...

slashes of pain and light in your head??????i hope<><><>oh oh oh that was flashes of pain and lights plural in your head<><><>i hope they are colored christmas lights<><>oh i meant holiday lights without the religious overtones<<><>maybe you uncovered stuff not relating to your most isgnomous fall and unciovered things molding about in your body for months<><><>anywho i am sure you know how to handle pain and light and mudge and flash and fudge and><><>i might copy my comment to michelle for a post on barlow putz<><>i reminds me of you actually

CreekHiker / HollysFolly said...

Oh Snow! Falls are just the worst! I know you must be in horrible pain! I'm so sorry. Sending you good thoughts...

kj said...

hello snow, i'm late to the not-a-party but i get to see all the caring that is here for you. you put in, you get back. you show this by example.

i am sorry for your fall and for the resultant pain. i have a chronically painful back and i know it's no fun when no position brings comfort.

i am not praying for you but i am sending my version of good vibes your way by air express.

love
kj

All Consuming said...

Easy to say, but try not to dwell on the possibilities, I know you say you don't, but you do all the same (psychic side-kick that I am). Your brain will have been shaken, don't strain it too much by writing, seriously. You might know how to handle pain as Putz so eloquently says, but this is above the 'normal' level, so I feel for you immensely. Smile when you read this, even if you don't feel like it, it will exercise your face. X

Robin said...

Ah Snow.... I catch the flu, disappear for a few weeks...and return to see you have been falling off ladders and watching *Peter Gunn*!

I read the post after this one...so I am aware of the tests, medical visits and all the awfulness ahead of you.

I am -ray--g for you. I hope Peggy reads this so she knows we ALL are here for you both...I am torn because I want you to write updates.....yet, I don't want you to overdo... Peggy, can you keep us posted?

Sending gentle (really gentle) hugs and much love to you both...

Always,

♥ Robin ♥

Phoenix said...

Oh my God, Snow! I am so incredibly sorry this happened! How horrible. I started off reading your most recent blog then realized I had no idea what you were talking about re: the fall.

Gentle hugs and I hope you feel better soon. I'm so, so sorry.