Help I'm Trapped

Threshing In IL · Feb 5, 2010

Hi Guys- I need some advice. I am a young go go go guy and I slipped on the ice yesterday and broke by ankle. Doctor says bed rest for at least a week and then very little work after that. I am so use to working all day, going to the farm and feeding cows etc. for a couple of hours and then heading home. Not to mention, I have my first born coming in 9 days!! Anybody else been in this spot? What worked for you to pass the time? I don"t dare start shopping for equipment online, because I spend all summer going and getting it all!!

flying belgian · Feb 5, 2010

I think you need to ignore docs advice. You know your body better then him. Spend the first couple days figuring out how you can do all your usual chores while taking care your ankle and then get back to work.

CLTX · Feb 5, 2010

You don't want to do anything that is going to intefere with the healing process, but if there is no pain when moving around, then moving around and light chores may actually speed up healing, as opposed to just sitting around. Depending on the type of cast, just be sure to keep it dry. I'm thinking of the old hard casts with open toes...brrrrr.

ChrisinMO · Feb 5, 2010

Back when I was doing masonry work, I broke one of the fingers on my right hand (don't ask...it was dumb). I called my younger brother, who had just gotten out of the Navy. He travelled to where I lived and stayed for a couple of days helping out with my work until I could figure out what I could and couldn't do.

Get some help when you need to and keep going with what you need to do. There'll be time to feel worn out and beat up when your older....

Christopher

old · Feb 5, 2010

LISTEN to your doctors. BTDT sort of thing and I'm now disabled because I did push my self and should not have let others tell me I needed to do this or that as for working that is. Any time you get hurt you also need time to heal and if you do not take that time you will not heal correctly and that in turn can lead to being disabled and believe me being disable is no fun. Ya I was the type of person that worked a 10 hour day then came home and did hay in the evenings and still had time to do some shop work but not any more

GordoSD · Feb 5, 2010

I broke my left ankle back when I was on active duty flying. Was back at work the next day. BUT, I had a new 65 Corvette with a 4 spd, and working the clutch was not an option. We were scheduled for an APM (all pilots meeting) that morning so I got up and asked, "Who has an automatic that will trade for my Vette for about a month?" You never saw 15 hands shoot up in the air so fast.
I swapped a guy with a 64 Impala SS convert,with a 409, almost kept the thing!

Gordo

Anonymous-0 · Feb 5, 2010

If you don't heal now, you never will. You don't want to end up like the rest of the old farts around whining cause their bones hurt. You don't have to spend the time on your back, just take things easy. thought about needlepoint?????

Dave

rrlund · Feb 5, 2010

Well....when my appendix ruptured back in 97 with cows to milk and corn to pick,it wasn't easy being laid up for a month. Didn't even have satellite TV at the time. Looking back,I'd say slow down your mind. Accept your fate. Having your mind racing with all the things you'd LIKE to be doing doesn't do any good. Just look at it as a vacation that you might not get again for a long time and try to enjoy it.

fixerupper · Feb 5, 2010

If you get too antsy to sit around anymore and feel the need to go for a drive but your vehicle has a straight stick, a crutch does work pretty well on the clutch. If you're sitting at a stop sign and the law drives by just slip the crutch down beside the door and the seat. I used to be pretty good at it. Jim

Dave Sherburne NY · Feb 5, 2010

It ain't as bad as all that, In 1978 I broke my
outside ankle bone just above the joint. I was walking on crutches right afterward, and in no time
I was back on a tractor chopping corn. And I didn't
have to hook and unhook the wagons. Keep that leg
elevated whenever possible. I had a cast on for
almost 4 months but it didn't slow me down much.
Funny thing, my brother broke his shortly after,
went to a different doctor, and he cast was off in
about 6 weeks.

Nebraska Cowman · Feb 5, 2010

Read. But then I've always like to read. I feel trapped if I have to watch TV

Ecnerwal · Feb 5, 2010

Work. But on things that don't tear up your ankle so it doesn't heal right.

Planning is good - it's even the right time of year for it. Anything from what to plant where, to how to rearrange the shop, to a new shop or barn or tractor shed.

Probably plenty of paperwork to be sorted, filed, shredded etc - got your taxes done yet?

Chris in SK · Feb 5, 2010

I broke my left arm and wrist in three places in Nov 08, had a metal plate screwed in, so I know what you are going through. First thing i did when I got home was get my side cutters and trim down the fibreglass cast so I could move my fingers. Getting Carharts on was tough. You’ll figure out what you can and can’t do. Like the others said, don’t push your self too hard too soon. Rest up, watch TV, computer etc, get some of those jobs around the house done that you have been putting off. I ended up building some sawing horses in my basement with one hand…. Slow, but it passed the time. Also catch up on your sleep, you’ll need it. Most important thing is get some physio when the cast comes off, to get all your movement back.
Chris

just another old geezer · Feb 5, 2010

It's H*ll BTDT. April 02 I had back surgury. 6 months recover time. From People who have had this, I knew I HAD to follow doctors orders to fully recover. 6 months of h*ll. friends helped me keep my sanity (what little of it I had left). I filled in with Internet, T.V., reading (now know much more about WWII, Thanks to the public library) and the phone when they were not arround. When the dr said it was O.K. to walk, I did, in 3 weeks I was walking 4 miles a day. Following the doctors orders is why I an nearly fully recovered. just have to watch out not to lift too much.
Good luck.

Threshing In IL · Feb 5, 2010

Cold toes has been my biggest trouble so far! The wife and I are experimenting with what clothes fit and what doesn't because I will hopefully heading to the farm for a little while this weekend, just to make sure dad is doing chores right!! Thanks for the help guys

rpirkle1 · Feb 5, 2010

Maybe h*ll ... BTDT... broke 3 bones in my right foot 2 years ago (brake pedals do hell if you actually head on under a yellow light). Doc said ice/elevate come see us in a week when swelling goes down and we'll put you in a cast ... expect 8 weeks+. Go back in a week (after sitting / sleeping and everything else with it proped up)... everything was lined up right... and knitting.. Doc puts me in a walking boot and says stay off of it.. keep elevated as much as possible.. Never did get a cast.

Point being stay off of it (at least the first week/10 days).. elevate/ice and hopefully you'll be mending by the time the baby gets here.

Play on the computer... ready the books on having your first child.. prop it up. Enjoy some time with your wife before the baby comes ... cause once it's here there's never again a time when there's just two of you.

Being cooped up is challenging.. you're getting a baby... focus on the good... and in a way this might be someone's way of saying.."slow down.. stay home.. enjoy your newborn".

BTW... there's nothing like being a dad... or granddad... enjoy.

Threshing In IL · Feb 5, 2010

Thanks everyone for the great advice and words of wisdom. I do need to learn to slow it down, but I come by it honestly. My dad broke his ankle and still milked 90 cows and even climbed the silo to break the frozen silage up.
THANKS GUYS!

JMS/.MN · Feb 5, 2010

Broke my left one ten years ago, falling on ice. Still had cows to milk and crops to plant, being on crutches for two months- plate and seven screws. Made hand clutches like this for three tractors for about $5 each. They don"t interfere with regular operation. Family took turns with milking, hooking equipment, filling the drill, etc. AgrAbility picked up on the clutch idea and it is in their files for anyone to copy.

armand tatro · Feb 5, 2010

Watch out for blood clots!!!! A friend of mine broke his ankle and had a lot of pain one morning. He thought the pain was from his ankle. Turned out the pain was from a blood clot and the clot moved to his heart and killed him! Be careful! Armand

t

Pat-CT · Feb 5, 2010

Been there, Crushed my foot in an atv accident, I found that the worst thing was itching and taking a shower, i bought a chair so i could sling my leg out the door of the shower other wise, trash bag and rubber bands

Anonymous-0 · Feb 5, 2010

Once your child is born you'll be plenty busy and you will want to be with them and won't worry about anything else. Maybe the good lord did this so you would be there for them. Just a thought, they grow up fast. chris

olgentdc · Feb 5, 2010

btdt... got lites all over this place so I can Farm all nite and go to work for the Man the next day after 4 hours sleep ... SLOW DOWN damit, .,thats what GOD is trying to tell You , Catch up on some book work , after all its tax time ... ENJOY that New Baby and Most of All be a Charming fool for your Wife ... take my comments with a grain of salt Ok . ... I am so glad I raced like the wind to get to where I am today , however , I am so glad i took the time to LIVE and be with my Family , I remember that far more happily than i dop thelong nites doing whatever I THOUGHT WAS MORE important ,,. you are Made of What made thiscountry Great , and I shouyld not try to change that , So I wish YOU PEACE AND LOVE , and as a friendSAYS LIVE LONG and PROSPER

olgentdc · Feb 5, 2010

the 409 engine was really sumthin , guess how I know .... LOL, but a guy could throw parts thru theside of the block

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