BrianT Posted January 16, 2015 Report Share Posted January 16, 2015 Laying in a hospital bed right now with a bunch of metal hardware freshly installed into both lower bones of my left leg. Slipped on that top step and when I landed, saw a leg move in directions it was never intended to move. Guess I'll have a few months to mend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin H Posted January 16, 2015 Report Share Posted January 16, 2015 Ouch!! Did you try putting some ice on it? Ok, ok - that was terrible - but I couldn't resist. Hope you get to feeling better... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirk W Posted January 16, 2015 Report Share Posted January 16, 2015 Wow! That hurts all of the way out here! What is they used to say on the TV cop show? "Be careful out there." Sure hope that you fully recover and are back on the road soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrea5 Posted January 16, 2015 Report Share Posted January 16, 2015 So very sorry this happened to you, and hope you'll be back behind the wheel in weeks instead of months. I've come close to breaking a few body parts myself on those bleepin' metal steps. Thanks for warning everybody from your hospital bed. That's really thoughtful on your part. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alie&Jim's Carrilite Posted January 16, 2015 Report Share Posted January 16, 2015 Wow, glad you're on the mend! At least when I did it, my fall was slowed by the handrail ripping out of the wall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill B Posted January 16, 2015 Report Share Posted January 16, 2015 Best of luck and hope there are no complications. DO THE PT!! One of the first things I do is stop by HD or Lowes and buy the reflective step slip grip things. I have still slipped but not nearly as much. http://www.lowes.com/ProductDisplay?partNumber=96650-1681-67304&langId=-1&storeId=10151&productId=3185621&catalogId=10051&cmRelshp=req&rel=nofollow&cId=PDIO1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigjim Posted January 16, 2015 Report Share Posted January 16, 2015 Did that once without the breaks but I hit the back of my head on nearly passed out. I crawled back in as quick as I could in case I did pass out as in that location I was the only one around and it was about 10pm so there was a good chance I would have frozen to death. We just can't be too careful can we. So sorry yours is that bad and hoping you mend up fast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirk W Posted January 16, 2015 Report Share Posted January 16, 2015 We got one of these for just that reason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjwicklund Posted January 16, 2015 Report Share Posted January 16, 2015 I have those carpet treads even with the freezing rain we had last Saturday they provided good footing. Hope you mend quickly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmcb Posted January 16, 2015 Report Share Posted January 16, 2015 That happened to me last year in El Paso. Went out in the morning, ice on the step. I would have been OK if the door handle hadn't come off. As it was I landed on my face and ruined a pair of glasses that were about 2 weeks old. Face wasn't that good anyway but a huge black eye and lost skin and a big lump. I was lucky that was all. A good message. Hope you have a fast recovery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Medico Posted January 16, 2015 Report Share Posted January 16, 2015 Brian, sorry for your difficulties. Get well soon. It does not take black ice. I slipped more than once on wet tile steps in our coach. Fortunately did not suffer significant injuries. Do be careful on all stairs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianT Posted January 16, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 16, 2015 Thanks for the good thoughts. I wasn't doing anything I haven't done a dozen times before. And I really did not see the ice. I was carrying a large crockpot of chilli to the car so never got to grab the handle. Not allowed any weight on it for a long time while the multiple pieces grow back together. I guess then we'll deal with PT. Kinda put a kink in the plans for the year but we just hope not to reinjured and have to start all over. Staying at a friends house for a few days and they are going to build a deck for more substantial steps back up into the RV. The pain meds are still going but at least it's pretty bearable most of the time. Like having a headache on the wrong end! Glad for modern medicine in this case!! Hope no one else slips on those steps. I think we're gonna get a little sand to have close by. Couldn't hurt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wylie Posted January 17, 2015 Report Share Posted January 17, 2015 Hope you have a quick recovery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chalkie Posted January 17, 2015 Report Share Posted January 17, 2015 Man, oh, man! Many years ago I broke both bones in my lower left leg in a sail-boarding "incident"! I feel your pain! Hope you have a speedy recovery. As a side note, my wife discovered this from a friend. I wonder how it would work on our RV steps? https://www.pinterest.com/pin/41728734020772188/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rdickinson Posted January 17, 2015 Report Share Posted January 17, 2015 Brian, sorry about the fall. I've had to deal with lower tib fib injuries. The leg will heal, stiches will come out in 10-14 days and it will look worse than it is. You are fortunate there was no brain damage if you hit your head. I presume the Medics were peppering you with, did you hit your head, do you have a headache, any pain, nausea, tingling in this arm, that arm, this leg , that leg etc?? Talking to you all the time while packaging you on the spineboard. Did they collar you? Oxygen, blanket I hope?? If they were, they were checking your GCS scale, Glasgow coma scale. Standard operating procedure in advanced first aid. Doug is lucky he didn't have a penetrating eye injury or head injury, same with Big JIm, you may have had a concussion. Had I been there you would have been off to the hospital strapped to a spineboard, head secured for evaluation. Remember what happened to the actress who hit her head and died 4 days later. These injuries and treatments can be found on UTube. Both my father and grandmother fell, hitting their heads and died within 12 months. I think everyone over 65 should always wear a brain bucket, as if that's going to happen. For those like Gregg Shields with lots of hair, a couple of xtra coats of hair spray would do. Here is something to think about, I hope I don't get warning points for being off topic. All of us are getting older, we break don't bend anymore. Falls are one of the most common causes of death at home. Another is heart attacks, strokes as well as diabetic issues. With good CPR you have 10> 15% chance of success, with an AED 70> 80%. Do the math. It may be something to consider having an AED and someone with first aid at the rally or rallies. 40 or more old f**ts in one spot seems like an accident waiting to happen. I may not be a fan of one or two people here but I wouldn't want them to die, especially if something could be done......someone has to love them, and who would look after the dogs? I don't like to see folks hurt, for those who do get hurt, it is scary and embarrassing when your body won't do what its told. I could ramble on but .... I wish you well Brian, I know what you are going thru, last year I fell off the roof shattering both wrists, broke some ribs, hit my head. They say no brain damage but there are those who would argue the point. Volnar plates put in, Volnar plates cut out and on 2nd Feb rt hand gets cut open for the third time to reattach thumb tendon. Roger By the way Brian, what did they give you for pain meds, Percocet?? Dosage?? is your wife making sure you comply?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirk W Posted January 17, 2015 Report Share Posted January 17, 2015 The typical RV step is really not that great for most of us as we get older and less agile. I have slipped on one of them many times over the years but used to be able to quickly recover balance and not fall. In the past few years, Pam has developed arthritis to a point that she has now had one ankle and one hip replaced with hardware and this brought me to the point of taking action. When I bought the step we now use, I thought of it as being for her, and perhaps it was but I find that with the larger standing area I too feel much more secure and in far less risk of a fall. I really think that as we get up in years it might pay us all to take a look at those freestanding steps that we see people using as they are not that expensive and offer much better footing. I fold ours up and sit it just inside of the door for travel and it has become a part of our start/stop routine. It only needs to prevent one fall to have paid for it's self. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianT Posted January 17, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2015 Roger, if the leg hadn't been broken, it would have been a non-event. I wasn't bleeding at all. Not even a bump to the head that I could tell. My wife did notice just a bit of a scrape on my left arm when I was in the hospital but not bad enough to even warrant a bandaid. It wasn't fun sitting there waiting for the ambulance but it did give us a change to do an inventory of stuff while we waited. I was completely awake and alert, which means I got to feel them putting a limp leg complete with grinding bone pieces into a splint. THAT HURT!!!! All things considered, I could have been much worse. I do have some sore muscles but those are kind of like what muscles feel like when you've been lazy for a while and then went back to the gym. Finally got to sleep decently last night, in a normal bed, with my wife. That helped. Meds... They started with morpheme. It worked OK until about the middle of that first night after surgery but seemed less effective with each dose. Then thwy switched me to acetaminophen with hydrocodone which seems to be doing well for now. Hoping the hydrocodone part can go away before too much longer but will consult the doc about that one. Pain levels are pretty low right now but the day just started. Thanks everyone for the good thoughts and prayers. I appreciate them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin H Posted January 17, 2015 Report Share Posted January 17, 2015 Yeah Brian, "hope you get to feeling better", "this happened to me", yadda, yadda, yadda... WHAT HAPPENED TO THE CROCKPOT OF CHILI ???? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennis M Posted January 17, 2015 Report Share Posted January 17, 2015 Sorry to hear about the fall! Hope you are improving daily and resting comfortably. A good addition, as others have noted, are those wrap around carpet step covers. They real help with the snow and ice. As the Doc often says to me "Well, as we get older …" I try to always have a hand on the grab handle before I step out (and replaced that fancy plastic bar with a steel one!.) Not being critical at all, but for the edification of others, if there is something that requires two hands to carry I put it on the floor, go out and pick it up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianT Posted January 17, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2015 Dennis, that's exactly what I should have done. Wish I had a redo button! What happened to the chilli?? Excellent question! I don't know if I sat it down on the ground beside me when I landed or whether it just landed beside me. But it was sitting on the ground with about half of the contents intact. There was some on me which eventually ended up in the ambulance and the er. My dear wife says she put it in the freezer. No sense wasting it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rdickinson Posted January 17, 2015 Report Share Posted January 17, 2015 In Marine SAR on the Rigid hull inflatables, there was a rule, one hand for you and one for the boat. www.heatersplus.com These would work if they could be cut down or ordered small enough to fit on rv steps. I googled up electric step heaters. www.warmzone.com The roof deicers fastened to the underside of the steps? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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