Friday, November 20, 2015

Fall into Winter

Batten down the hatches.  Stock up on food and drinks.  It's coming.  ONE TO TWO INCHES OF SNOW!!!  Are you prepared?

I had to turn off the radio this morning as this first snowfall of the year, which is still a day away, is all anyone can seem to talk about.  This is Michigan.  It is nearing the end of November.  Guess what folks.  We get snow!

All the hype drives me up the wall.  What is more important to me is knowing how to deal with the snow and ice once it gets here.

I have not blogged much about my falls.  Two of them to be precise.  Both falls resulted in broken legs.  And because this is the time of year when falls are more likely to occur because of the weather and because this is supposed to be a blog about retirement, i.e. older folks might read it, I thought I would reminisce about the falls.  In winter.

(BTW.  Speaking of 'falls' in winter, if you want to see something astonishing, go to Niagara Falls in winter.  Among all my old photos is one of me back in January 1970 standing in front of the Falls.)

Back to the task at hand.  My first fall was in March, 1968.  I was walking to the bus stop to change buses on my way to my internship at the old Detroit General Hospital.  I managed to step on one of the last pieces of ice in the entire city and fell down.  I got up, waited for the bus, got on and rode downtown.

When I tried to stand to get off the bus, the pain was incredible.  I finally disembarked and proceeded to immediately hail a taxi.  When I told the driver where I wanted to go he looked at me and said 'Miss, it is two blocks away'.

I told him that I knew that but that I thought that I may have broken my leg.  When we arrived at the emergency entrance, I told him to go inside, make a right into the Blood Bank, and tell them Denise was outside and needed a wheelchair.

I actually worked from the wheelchair until an ER doctor was able to see me.  They were able to get the boot off easily enough.  The x-ray showed a clean break of the fibula.  I was in a cast for four weeks, but was horrible on crutches.  It's a wonder I didn't fall and break something else.  Near the end of the recovery I even managed to be a bridesmaid.  Thank goodness for long dresses.

Ever since that fall I have been terrified of walking on slippery surfaces.  Ice, wet floors, waxed floors.  Gives me the creeps.

But this was the 'easy' fall in winter.  Stay tuned for part two and the fall that prompted me to decide to retire.

UPDATE:  Now they are saying 5 to 8 inches of snow.  It will be interesting to see what we actually get.

7 comments:

  1. The forecasts always blow up the amount of snow. Sometimes they are right, but mostly the over exaggerate.

    Matt slipped on ice once in our parking lot. We laughed about it at the time. A month later he was in hospital having spinal stenosis surgery. We had forgotten about the fall until the doctor reminded us. Another time, he was trying to help someone who had fallen in the garage and ended up falling backward damaging his vertebrae so had to have another op. He has been told, severely, call an ambulance don't try and help someone like that. They too could have had a break of some kind. Sorry to hear about your leg and I am not sure I want to hear about an even worse event.

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    1. The latest estimate is 2-4. So, whatever we get they will be right, lol. Sorry to hear about Matt's falls. Our fire dept. answers a lot of calls for folks who have fallen.

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  2. Ouch for both you and Jo. All of us retirees or near retirees, sadly, have falling stories. My mother in law, in her late 80's, managed to fall Saturday on a carpeted indoor surface. But yes, snow terrifies me, a lot more than carpeted surfaces. For right now that is. Alana ramblinwitham.blogspot.com

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    1. Wait till you read how I fell in part two. Hope your mother-in-law is doing OK. Actually, your blog inspired me to write about falling.

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  3. I'll see it when I see it. The media likes to make it sound like we will be traumatized by the snow. If you don't like it...move south. You live in the Northern states and i live in Canada and we get snow. You fall sounds horrible and I am very careful because, due to my Ehlers-Danlos, it is difficult to break a bone but i can suffer severe sprains and bad tendons etc.. A few years ago (2009) I slipped on a little rock and my right foot was so bad I had to wear a boot for 6 wks. I can't do crutches because of my condition-I do more damage. You falls sound horrible and will await your next post

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    1. I think sprain injuries are more painful than simple broken bones. Sorry that you have to suffer with your condition.

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    2. I had to Google that condition. You have my sympathies Birgit.

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