Thread: I can't get no... satisfaction

TRX
04-29-2011

Two weeks ago I saw a board on the floor of my project house, and thought "I better slide that thing aside before I trip on it." We're talking, oh, maybe an 18" piece of 1x4 here, that I threw down there to level a ladder.

So, I'm barreling through, reach out my right foot to slide the board as I go by, and it slides maybe an inch and then catches on the unfinished floor. My foot rotates under and I do the Lone Stooge chicken dance, narrowly missing going through one of the unfinished sections of the floor.

Short summary: right foot "righteously broken" according to my doctor. No weight on it for six weeks, and a referral for an "orthopedic shoe" to keep the broken parts in alignment. I was expecting one of the big ski boot things, but what I got was the Clown Shoe, which looks like an open-toed slipper except for the three inches sticking out the front, that's supposed to keep you from ramming your foot into cabinets, etc., at least according to the tech who fitted it. Somehow I've put a crutch tip down on it twice, resulting in more chicken dancing...

All of my work involves standing up. So four more weeks, plus probably three more months to get caught back up before I can afford the time to play with any gun projects again.

At least with a gory compound fracture and steel rods sticking out of my flesh I could spin a gruesome story, but the Clown Shoe pretty much takes care of that. And it takes just as long for the tarsal bones to knit as it does for any other bones. Dangit!

TRX
04-30-2011

Originally Posted by BBill
Years ago I stepped on a skid at work- half on half off and sprained and pulled muscles and ligs so bad the Doc said I'd have been better off breaking it! I feel for you!!

I tore up the left knee and tweaked the ankle in the chicken dance. The doctor asked if I wanted anything for the pain from the broken bones; I told him no, it was hardly noticeable compared to my knee, besides the knee would be okay in a week or two from past experience.

But I've had some friends who have done the ligament thing like you did, and from their descriptions, I think I'd take a broken bone any time. Sometimes a torn ligament will require multiple surgeries to repair. Six weeks for a bone seems hardly a hassle compared to that!

TRX
05-14-2011

Two more weeks of the Clown Shoe. Arrgh.

TRX
05-27-2011

Today I'm officially free of the crutches and Clown Shoe. I wasn't expecting the foot to be so freakin' sore after six weeks, though.

All in all, the main hassle has been getting in and out of the bathtub when taking a shower. It's an old-style tub with a highly curved bottom instead of a modern flat floor, so it required innovative crutch work and a grip on the window security bars to make it without falling.

After being hit by a car 25 years ago and having a broken leg, and my wife having back surgery, and now this, I'm definitely going to put some useful grab bars in. I've marveled at places that had "handicapped" bathrooms covered with bars, all at heights or angles that seemed deliberately designed to be placed where they were of least utility and maximum interference.

TRX
05-27-2011

After reconstruction on the left leg I have some nerve damage of something. Every now and then the ankle or knee (or properly, whatever muscles are involved) just doesn't do its thing, and I'll stagger for a step or two. Not often, but mostly on steps. I don't have any problem going up, but going down I always use the handrail. More than once, I've been glad it was there.

At least I don't have numb spots any more, and I've gotten used to the cross- connected nerves along the incisions. For years, I could touch near a scar in one place, and I'd feel the touch a couple inches away. It didn't hurt, but it felt so weird it wasn't far from being a panic attack.

Hopefully there won't be any similar problems with the right foot; it was a clean pair of breaks and has healed fine, best as I can tell.

I have the walls out of the Project House bathroom now, and the ceiling is next. While everything is open I'm going to put some 4x4s or 2x6s in possibly- useful places, where I can just run some lag bolts in to mount some bars.

Traditionally that sort of thing is made out of brushed stainless steel, but it would be cheaper and simpler to make the bars from ordinary mild steel and then have them powder coated.