Month: July 2015

Help!  I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!

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A quote from a  TV commercial eons ago.  And  words I said on Tuesday July 7.  I wasn’t using them as a joke, but rather saying them to a LifeLine operator so they could tell my wife and send paramedics to my house.

I fell.

I had snagged my cane and did not realize it until it was too late.  Picture a person whose right arm and leg are rigid and then falls like a tree onto their right side.  They have no way to cushion the fall.  That’s what it’s was like for me.  It was the worst pain I have ever felt.  While I waited for the paramedics to arrive my   Dog stayed right by my side yelping at the door with a sound that I’ve never heard him make before.  I think he was calling help.  The last he saw me on the floor was when I had the stroke.  I was gone for 5 months after that.

The paramedics showed up and basically put half my body into traction.  They could not lift me because my right of my body cannot be used to lift me at any time and in this case we didn’t know how much damage was done to my right side so there was no way to lift me anyway until the ambulance showed up.  We then waited about 90 minutes for a ambulance with me on the floor looking at the ceiling.

After a uneventful ambulance ride to the hospital I only had to wait about 30 minutes to get me a bed in the emergency room.  (Usually that takes hours and the ambulance paramedics have to wait with me.  To me that is not right.  The paramedics should not be tied up with me.  They need to find a better solution)

After taking a TON of X-Rays they determined nothing was broken.  They then made sure I could walk and then sent me home.

I think the fall might of sent my recovery backwards.  Maybe a lot.  My right arm doesn’t move at all anymore.  Before the fall I had a little bit of movement that took a year and half to accomplish.  I hope that this fall didn’t erase that accomplishment.  Today is Friday and the accident happened on Tuesday. The pain in my shoulder seems to have increased rather than decreased.Edit

I’ll update this post as my condition changes.

Unsung Heroes

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(This is a reprint of something I wrote in January but I think it is important enough to warrant another posting)

I was going to write a blog post about this anyway (I have a list) and given my current circumstances I think now is a good time.

First responders (paramedics) are very important people. When something happens to you they are probably going to be the first medical people you see, and could be the difference between life and death.

I don’t think they get the thanks they deserve. Not because we don’t appreciate it but because after you are transported to the hospital you (hopefully) never see them again. The doctors and nurses get thanks all the time (the nice ones) because you see them more.

I thanked the paramedics tonight (one of them lives right beside me). I also found out that if you call central dispatch (not 911…unless you want to deliver the message in person 󾌯) they can pass on a message.

So if your ever in a situation that requires paramedics I suggest you thank them. They don’t do it for the thanks but I bet they appreciate it.