Accident Prone
Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2022 9:43 am
I seem to have reached that age when the body starts to fall apart in order to warn one "you're not as young as you were".
Today I was supposed to be catering for a training-group of 21 persons, lunch and dinner. So yesterday it was off to the supermarket for veg and other supplies. Stumbled over a display box and landed flat out on the floor. Knew immediately something was wrong as my left arm was hanging uselessly at the side.
People here are helpful and caring, and a man helped me up, but things weren't good. The shop manager got me a chair, called an ambulance and gave me an Ibuprofen for the pain - which after the initial shock was starting to build up. My wife is starting to sink into early stages of senility, so I got her to call our assistant to come and pick her up with the necessary shopping and asked the manager to keep an eye on her.
Ambulance arrived and the paramedics gave me a couple of Paracetamol and got me onto a stretcher. The trip to hospital was unpleasant as I was constantly struggling to keep the arm in a position where it caused the least pain. I knew that the arm was dislocated and it really isn't a pleasant experience.
Getting to A&E, the staff were friendly and competent, but I am physically big, 2.06m (6'8") and 140 kilos and they couldn't lift me in their usual way, so I asked them to let me get myself from the stretcher to a bed, which I managed slowly. Then first an X-Ray to see if there was a fracture. Not the case, so then it was a matter of them massaging the shoulder area to relax it until the joint reurned to its proper alignment. They did pump me full of painkillers first, otherwise it would have been murder.
With 3 people massaging, stretching and pulling for 15 minutes (or so) the shoulder finally popped back in, to everyone's relief.. Another X-Ray to check that things were okay and I could go home. By this time our assistant had picked Jeannette up and driven on to the hospital, so they witnessed the last part of the treatment.
Now I have the arm immobilised in a sling, can't use it for at least a week but being right-handed means that I'm not totally crippled. Getting back home, there was a message from the group that, due to Corona-infections, they had called their session off - so all our efforts were for nothing! Sending them a bill for the late cancellation, though.
Well, I can use a computer and listen to music - so all is not lost. Flipping LP's with one hand might be a bit tricky though.
Life goes on.
Today I was supposed to be catering for a training-group of 21 persons, lunch and dinner. So yesterday it was off to the supermarket for veg and other supplies. Stumbled over a display box and landed flat out on the floor. Knew immediately something was wrong as my left arm was hanging uselessly at the side.
People here are helpful and caring, and a man helped me up, but things weren't good. The shop manager got me a chair, called an ambulance and gave me an Ibuprofen for the pain - which after the initial shock was starting to build up. My wife is starting to sink into early stages of senility, so I got her to call our assistant to come and pick her up with the necessary shopping and asked the manager to keep an eye on her.
Ambulance arrived and the paramedics gave me a couple of Paracetamol and got me onto a stretcher. The trip to hospital was unpleasant as I was constantly struggling to keep the arm in a position where it caused the least pain. I knew that the arm was dislocated and it really isn't a pleasant experience.
Getting to A&E, the staff were friendly and competent, but I am physically big, 2.06m (6'8") and 140 kilos and they couldn't lift me in their usual way, so I asked them to let me get myself from the stretcher to a bed, which I managed slowly. Then first an X-Ray to see if there was a fracture. Not the case, so then it was a matter of them massaging the shoulder area to relax it until the joint reurned to its proper alignment. They did pump me full of painkillers first, otherwise it would have been murder.
With 3 people massaging, stretching and pulling for 15 minutes (or so) the shoulder finally popped back in, to everyone's relief.. Another X-Ray to check that things were okay and I could go home. By this time our assistant had picked Jeannette up and driven on to the hospital, so they witnessed the last part of the treatment.
Now I have the arm immobilised in a sling, can't use it for at least a week but being right-handed means that I'm not totally crippled. Getting back home, there was a message from the group that, due to Corona-infections, they had called their session off - so all our efforts were for nothing! Sending them a bill for the late cancellation, though.
Well, I can use a computer and listen to music - so all is not lost. Flipping LP's with one hand might be a bit tricky though.
Life goes on.