Are you prepared for your own disability?

[Cheryl Marchek AKA JM]

It seems I wasn't. I thought I was. I'll just call carol was my answer. Carol is sick. My family is hustling trying to figure out how to milk the goats, what needs to be done with the rats, how do you fix an electric fence and a hundred other questions bout little things I do everyday without thinking about them.

I'm down and out for the next 6 to 8 weeks and I've been pretty much useless for the last month so things were already starting to deteriorate around the property.

About a month ago my hip started hurting. I didn't fall or anything that day but I'm a klutz and I do fall down a lot. And I was kicked in that thigh by a cow 6 months ago, but I don't recall hurting myself that day. It hurt pretty bad so I went to the dr. Brucitis. Gave me some pills. Didn't help. Pain getting worse, he sent me to another dr. Pain pretty bad now. Xrays didnt show anything so gave me more pills sent me to physical therapy. That really hurt so went to see a third dr. He ordered MRI. Saturday morning went for MRI. Saturday afternoon panic call from MRI imaging place. Hip is broken go to er. Admitted to hospital. Hip is not cracked, where the bone narrows into the hip is broken all the through. Pieces fit together nice which is why xray missed it. Sunday surgery to screws in my hip bone.

Now 2 am Monday morning in hospital. Pain is unbelievable. They won't let me up even to pee. I'm down and out for 6 to8 more weeks.

I was prepared for a lot of things but not for my own disability.

[Cheryl Marchek AKA JM]

It's Friday morning now. I came home from the hospital Tuesday evening and was still convinced the world was going to stop revolving. The farm was going to fall apart, my husband was going to trade me in on a younger healthier woman, I was forever going to be trapped in a bed or a wheelchair.

I was a *little* depressed

Over the last two days at home though I have discovered that I can do almost every indoor thing from this wheelchair~ and if someone brings me the goats I can milk them on the porch. I'm getting pretty good with this wheelchair (Except that I've run over my own foot twice now when turning quickly and the cat HATES me!) and come June I should be able to allowed to walk again. I really didn't realize how run down the pain in my hip had made me before the surgery. Other than the fact that I can't stand up I FEEL GREAT!!!!!

I sure hope that lasts when the hydrocodone runs out! LOL!

I was not at all prepared for this~ and when it was hurting at the worst I didn't think we were going to survive it. Gloom and doom and we were all gonna die....but I feel better~ I'm wheeling through the house and I can use the bathroom all by myself (39 years old and excited about being able to go to the Big Potty....it's kind of sad) But now I see we are going to be fine. A little less well organized, a little messier, but I think we will all live through it.

I tell you though I will make sure I am better prepared in case of surprises like this later and I really think EVERYONE else attempting to be at all self sufficient or not should be better prepared for accidents like this than I was.

[AbsoluteApril]

Cheryl, I'm glad you are feeling a bit better, I'm so sorry to hear about this! You make some very good points about having a back up plan just in case.

(Except that I've run over my own foot twice now

sheesh you really *are* a klutz! :D (said from one klutz to another) ;)

[Cheryl Marchek AKA JM]

My husband has asked me to slow down a little before I fall off the porch and break my other hip....
But I'm just so happy to feel better!
I really didn't realize how bad that hip hurt~ the Drs kept saying they couldn't find anything wrong with it so I was trying to suck it up and stop whining over nothing....but now that they FIXED it my leg moves right (It wouldn't lift straight up before~ I think one of the Drs thought I was faking that! But it lifts now!) I feel SO MUCH better I just can't get over the joy of being pain free!

[AbsoluteApril]

One of my hips popped out of socket when I slipped on some rocks at the beach some years back, it hurt *so* bad, I cannot imagine how much that must have hurt being broken! ouch!

[Southern Wolf]

Nice to see your starting to feel better. Definitely gives me something to think about since Im starting my own little farm. Even got my first acquisition today :dancer01:

[SamanthaJane13]

It seems I wasn't. I thought I was. I'll just call carol was my answer. Carol is sick. My family is hustling trying to figure out how to milk the goats, what needs to be done with the rats, how do you fix an electric fence and a hundred other questions bout little things I do everyday without thinking about them.

I'm down and out for the next 6 to 8 weeks and I've been pretty much useless for the last month so things were already starting to deteriorate around the property.

About a month ago my hip started hurting. I didn't fall or anything that day but I'm a klutz and I do fall down a lot. And I was kicked in that thigh by a cow 6 months ago, but I don't recall hurting myself that day. It hurt pretty bad so I went to the dr. Brucitis. Gave me some pills. Didn't help. Pain getting worse, he sent me to another dr. Pain pretty bad now. Xrays didnt show anything so gave me more pills sent me to physical therapy. That really hurt so went to see a third dr. He ordered MRI. Saturday morning went for MRI. Saturday afternoon panic call from MRI imaging place. Hip is broken go to er. Admitted to hospital. Hip is not cracked, where the bone narrows into the hip is broken all the through. Pieces fit together nice which is why xray missed it. Sunday surgery to screws in my hip bone.

Now 2 am Monday morning in hospital. Pain is unbelievable. They won't let me up even to pee. I'm down and out for 6 to8 more weeks.

I was prepared for a lot of things but not for my own disability.


OMG!!!

Cheryl!!! WTH???

You have to take better care of yourself!! If you think it all hurts now, just wait until you're OLD!!

I've only broken a couple of toes, but they hurt like hell, and I'm only 51!!

Sending healing prayers for you, sweetie!!!

Feel better soon!!

[Cheryl Marchek AKA JM]

Thank you, I do feel much better. I feel much better than I felt before the surgery. I knew my hip hurt, and my back and right foot hurt from compensating....but I didn't realize how much it was affecting me completely. I was run down and everything felt like it just took so much effort~ but now i'm in a wheelchair or on a walker and I can do a LOT more! I can't go outside and I can't walk but I'm more mobile.

And I do understand why elderly people often do not survive this kind of injury. When I first woke up from that surgery I was so depressed, it hurt so much, and I was so beaten down....I can really see why someone might decide it's not worth trying to ever get up again. I have a LOT of things I am looking forward to, but if I hadn't been reasonably sure I was going to be completely mobile and hopefully pain free in reasonably short order.....I would have just laid there and hoped to die. It hurt that much.

Everyone go hug your grandma and remind her how very much she has to look forward too on a regular basis BEFORE she breaks a hip.

And everyone get your plans in place, and redundancy of your plans on how you will get your stuff taken care of BEFORE YOU break a hip.

[Sherry Howell]

I'm glad you are doing so much better,Cheryl. It is tough. I am in a wheelchair but do pretty much anything I want to do only I do it sitting.

[Dennis Hultman]

Cheryl, I sure hope everything is alright where you are. I don't know how close you are to the tornadoes yesterday.

[Cheryl Marchek AKA JM]

We were very lucky they all went around us. Some very scary moments huddled in my bathroom with the dogs. We have a storm shelter but I was at home alone and could not get to it. So im extra lucky they went a around. Also extra lucky we had prepared 4 a storm. We don't have electricity but I have this smart phone and we have a generator we are using several hours a day for freezer and fridge. We are also able to help some of our neighbors

[WebSlave]

Good to see you are getting better.

Yeah, I know about that disability planning thing. That's exactly why I knew I had to retire and get rid of the animals. Better to do it now when it was a conscious decision and able to do it on my terms rather than when I or Connie were laid up in a hospital. My wake up call was when I got appendicitis during egg laying season. I took the hint....

Of course, I still need to come up with a contingency plan for this site and my others if I should kick the bucket suddenly...

[Dennis Hultman]

We were very lucky they all went around us. Some very scary moments huddled in my bathroom with the dogs. We have a storm shelter but I was at home alone and could not get to it. So im extra lucky they went a around. Also extra lucky we had prepared 4 a storm. We don't have electricity but I have this smart phone and we have a generator we are using several hours a day for freezer and fridge. We are also able to help some of our neighbors

Glad to hear everything is OK, Cheryl. I'm wondering about preparedness and routine for the livestock when a storm is coming in your area. I would assume probably isn't to much one can do. Might make a interesting thread if a topic was started on it. I have received a lot mixed messages particularly when it comes to horses. For instance, I have talked to several people in South Alabama and Florida that say they turn their horses out (if they aren't packing up and leaving) when a hurricane is coming. They feel it's safer than stabling. Others stating the opposite. I have heard horror stories from those that have done both. I guess there is no stats on it one way or another.

[Southern Wolf]

My guess is they turn them out so they have a fighting chance.

[Cheryl Marchek AKA JM]

That's what we do. We leave the barns open and the animals choose where they want to be. If its. Bad they usually are down in the woods on the back of the pasture