To make a long story shorter, knowing that our closest neighbors would be out of town, and also that I would be at work, my wife decided to do something decidedly STUPID on Saturday. She climbed up on the top step of an 8' high step-ladder straddling the top of it so that she might trim a tree branch away from another tree, and using all the wrong tools doing it I might add.
Needless to say, the end of the branch she was cutting came down, slammed into the ladder and knocked her off. She landed on her right shoulder breaking it and knocking her conscience in the process, her collar bone, 5 ribs and partially collapsing her right lung.
This is the woman I am married to.
I came home about an hour and a half early from my day at work, fortunately, expecting to eat lunch with her as we always do when I work Saturdays, and take a nap... perhaps catch an afternoon baseball game on the tube in the process. Instead I found her sitting, unable to move on the ground w/the legs of the ladder straddling her.
(Here comes the short part): We are looking at about a week in the hospital followed by 5-6 weeks of recovery at home in our future. I now have ALL the household chores to look forward to for a time as yet to be determined and will not have as much time to spend here... which was the point of this post in the first place. (<<< See what I did there?)

Moral of the story? Just because you gain years in this life, does not mean that you automatically gain wisdom along with them.
PLEASE let that be a lesson to all the young guys and gals here. Wisdom is something you must strive and work for. It is not a gift. Thinking about what you're doing or about to do is not the enemy, but your friend.
NOT thinking ahead about what you are about to do can cause you weeks, even a lifetime of pain.
She's lucky as hell she didn't land on her head or she could very well be paralyzed right now and for the rest of her life. As it is she is liable to feel the effects of this for the rest of her life, just as I do now from the broken hip I sustained over 13 yrs ago.

 

Hope she has a quick recovery Richard.

 

Neither FS post is in the correct area, JHOV 28.
If you want these relocated you will also have to provide proper pictures.
Please go the the Classified/FS section of the forum. At the top are the forum Rules FS threads stickied to the top of the page. Please be sure to read and follow these or your thread(s) will be deleted.

 

Hope the Misses Recovers quickly, Collar bones are a bitch, and with the Ribs I hope she has some good pain meds.

 

I hope your wife fully recovers rich. She would probably not work for the next few weeks I would assume. and this thread keeps going on and off but yea anyway good luck rich and we all hope the best.

 

Rich....do they have her in a sling or a figure-8 for the collar bone?

 

At first they had her in a sling which didn't seem to help so they removed it. Also, they were nto going to do surgery on the collar bone or shoulder at first either. After I pointed out the jagged, splintered condition her collar bone was in from the initial X-ray, the next morning (yesterday) they changed their minds. She was operated on this AM @ 8 and is currently in the recovery room... maybe back to her room by now?
They told her she could go home after the surgery today??? I question that and would be more comfortable about it if they kept her under observation through tomorrow at least.
I have asked for Mon/Tues off next week. That along w/my regular days I will be off from Sat through Wed. Hopefully enough time for us both to get reorganized.
I am so tired of talking on the phone... been calling my family, hers and our neighbors every day with updates, repeating myself over and over. Never realized how much that can wear a body down. That along w/taking care of all the day to day stuff around the house I usually have help with and I'm tired!!

 

My wife broke her collar bone snowboarding about 10 years ago. She's still got the lump where the bones healed back mis-aligned (doesn't seem to have pain from it though)

If they didn't operate and she was in-pain I was going to recommend a bandaging technique called the figure 8 (It's one of the National Ski Patrol protocols I use regularly for collar bone injury.) It's a long bandage that criss-crosses the back and pulls rearward on the shoulders (reducing the load going through the collar bone.)

Sounds like she's on the mend. Hope it goes quick for you guys.

 

If I understand you correctly, it seems your technique might put additional strain against her ribcage. Am I correct in this assumption? Remember, she also broke ribs 1-4 & 7 in the process.
Home, yes, and already getting into trouble.
I had to go to work today, but I found out when I got home that she had taken a little walking tour of the back yard and a trip to our mailbox... on our gravel driveway. The doctor & PT guy told here to walk around inside the house twice a day until she was tired, then rest. She didn't hear the "inside" part.
Our yard is not completely civilized... certainly not enough that I would trust an invalid to peruse around out there. I'm going to have to tie her down so that she cannot not re-injure herself.

Thanks for all your concern and well-wishes, Scott.

 

Dam thats an unfortunate situation your in Rich, any idea why she even considered doing something so dangerous w/o supervision??? I hope for the best for both you guys and i hope her recovery is as painless and quick as possible.

I hear ya on the constant progress reports you have to keep giving the same people every 3min, you would think that something drastic (knocks on wood) would happen is when you should call but no they have to pretty much feel like their there like they think your joking or something.