A painful weekend

PapaBear

Guit Fiddlier
Glad you're doing better now (sorry I missed this before) Elio. My wife banned me from anything beyond the first two rungs of a stepladder years ago. Might have had something to do with me missing the last of our three front steps and face planting in the driveway. Banged my knee up pretty good, but thankfully nothing was broken.
After two or three falls on the job, I was looking to get something off the top shelf in the warehouse, boss said he'd get it, I told the warehouse guy "He don't like me getting on ladders" boss looked down and said "I don't even want you looking up":(:cautious:
 

EJG

Central NJ
Ouch! A couple of years ago I fell down some icy steps and broke my shoulder and then a few months later I fell again and broke a rib on the same side. Extremely painful. I couldn’t play guitar for months.

I hope you heal up fast!
 

david moon

Attempting the Blues
I live on one of those streets that goes all out for Christmas decorations. My neighbor spearheads the effort, and we run lights from house to house, back and forth across the street, all choreographed to music you can listen to on your car radio. During the annual setup this weekend, I managed to learn about the awesome power of gravity while climbing up onto my roof to run my final strand of lights. I landed on a brick walkway with severely bruised ribs, a sprained ankle, and a slightly collapsed lung. I never fully appreciated how painful rib injuries can be, although it's not bad as long as I don't inhale, cough, sneeze, hiccup or laugh. Holding a guitar may still be a few days off, and practicing the harp is totally out of the question. At least the COVID test I got at the ER came back negative.

Consider this a Public Service Announcement. Be careful out there, especially on the top rung!
It might cheer you up to watch Christmas Vacation. Or maybe that would involve laughter. Do you have any relatives coming over?
 

JohnHurley

Rock and Roll
Ouch man dang!

I had broken ribs a couple of times not since high school though!

Rehab instructions from me ... ice and warmth alternating are good. Slowly build up to stretching and flexibility might be a week away might be bit longer follow doctors orders!! Swimming really slowly a good idea maybe 3 weeks after but dang swimming access not easy to find now safely ... so very light weights eventually instead maybe?

No John Travolta dancing moves till 6 or 8 weeks out if then?
 

Dr. Ron

Nuthin’ But The Blues!
Damn Elio! ... take care of yourself. Glad you seem to be improving, though rib injuries feel like they take forever to heal.
 

blackcoffeeblues

Student Of The Blues
as long as I don't inhale, cough, sneeze, hiccup or laugh.
I hear you Buddy---broke 5 ---All mentioned above are bad momma's--the sneeze thing hurt the most---and the problem is Meds don't really help that much--even with them it still hurts BAD---my sympathy to you--they really don't heal that fast, or maybe I should say--not fast enough.:cry:
 

Elio

Student Of The Blues
Ouch man dang!

I had broken ribs a couple of times not since high school though!

Rehab instructions from me ... ice and warmth alternating are good. Slowly build up to stretching and flexibility might be a week away might be bit longer follow doctors orders!! Swimming really slowly a good idea maybe 3 weeks after but dang swimming access not easy to find now safely ... so very light weights eventually instead maybe?

No John Travolta dancing moves till 6 or 8 weeks out if then?


Your advice is right on with my doctor's and my wife's. She started me on some stretches last weekend that seem to helping and I've spent the last couple nights sleeping hugging an ice pack. I do have a pool available but hadn't thought to swim. I may try to work that into the regimen.

After the first few days, it seemed like there was some dramatic improvement, followed by a huge plateau. At least I can sit at the desk comfortably to work, and I can play guitar with no significant pain. Coughs and sneezes still make me cringe, but much less than a week ago. ...and I have had to put that John Travolta instructional video on hold indefinitely!
 

david moon

Attempting the Blues
My parents (in their 90s) have had recent issues with falls and a compression fracture of a vertebrae. With my 70th birthday 2 days away, I think i will stay off ladders or crawling around on roofs.
 

Elio

Student Of The Blues
My parents (in their 90s) have had recent issues with falls and a compression fracture of a vertebrae. With my 70th birthday 2 days away, I think i will stay off ladders or crawling around on roofs.

That reminds me of my dad, who at close to 90 and with inner ear problems that caused vertigo decided to climb up the ladder to prune of the trees in the yard. He tumbled off the ladder over the fence and landed in a pile of leaves in the neighbor's back yard. He had a compression fracture as well, which he actually bounced back from surprisingly well.
 

Mireyes1

Blues Newbie
Elio... thanks for the public service announcement. I'm glad to read you are on the mend. Any chance you can share the general location of your neighborhood? With this COVID-19 crisis my wife and I take lots of drives together. I wouldn't mind taking a drive to see some nice Christmas spirit with synchronized lights and choreographed music you can listen to on your car radio.
 

Elio

Student Of The Blues
Elio... thanks for the public service announcement. I'm glad to read you are on the mend. Any chance you can share the general location of your neighborhood? With this COVID-19 crisis my wife and I take lots of drives together. I wouldn't mind taking a drive to see some nice Christmas spirit with synchronized lights and choreographed music you can listen to on your car radio.

Our little street is Woodfield Pl. in Valencia, CA. I just ran out to shoot some quick video and noticed that my neighbor has the music broadcasting but hasn't programmed the light show yet. Normally, each strand going across the street can switch between 3 or 4 different colors, as well as the lights on the trees. They're programmed so that about every other one is synchronized. For New Years, we usually have a party out in the street and let all the lights flash wildly. Oh, and there's a selfie bench where people who drive through can stop and take a selfie.

The last house on the left is mine and still unfinished while I recover some more mobility. Unfortunately, COVID seems to have limited what everyone did this year, but it's still fun to watch. Hopefully by next weekend we'll get some more up.

Our neighboring streets have a bit of a competition normally. In past years, they would wrap lights around the lamp posts to turn them into giant candy canes. People driving through loved it. That is, until the city showed up and took them all down without warning.

Oh crap, I just saw on the video that my trash can is still out there. I need to go bring it in!

 
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MikeS

Student Of The Blues
Staff member
I always wonder where people store all that stuff the other 11 months of they year. I have no attic to speak of and no basement.
And ... Do you paint your grass white or is that some kind of covering?
 

Elio

Student Of The Blues
I always wonder where people store all that stuff the other 11 months of they year. I have no attic to speak of and no basement.
And ... Do you paint your grass white or is that some kind of covering?

Building lots of garage cabinets is one of the best home improvement investments we've made, so that's were my stuff all goes. The white stuff is a really durable fabric that we pin down over the grass. I'm not sure where my neighbor found it, but he cut it to perfectly cover our two sides of that lawn
 

patb

Blues Junior
As my wife told me this weekend as she handed me the pain meds, "Just face it, you aren't coordinated enough to climb up there!" I can't entirely disagree.

As an aside, the guy ahead of me at the ER was almost exactly my age and with almost identical injuries he got from crashing his ATV at 30 mph. I think his story sounded a little better than mine.[/QUOT
Don't know the ages involved here but an ATV at 30mph? I don't know about interesting but his story at least sounded a lot dumber.
That coming from a guy that fell over the dog and cracked a rib and dinged up a knee.
 
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