Enough has happened to inspire me to write my first blog in six months. To be honest it’s mainly because I like the title. I had an eventful Thanksgiving. As my gentle readers know, every Thanksgiving I make a pilgrimage to Massachusetts to visit my once a year family. This year my friends decided to do something different we rented a house in Maine. The first issue was transportation, usually I take a bus up, get picked up and brought back to the house. Unfortunately, this year Emily’s car wasn’t available. I did not just need a ride up to Massachusetts, we all needed a way to get up to Maine. I then realized hey I now have enough money I can rent a car not just a car but a van so that’s what I did. It was a bit of a challenge finding a place that could pick up a car in the Bronx. I ended up not going with a national brand but a local business. I couldn’t even comparison shop I just bit the bullet and rented the van. This was actually a pleasant adventure I hadn’t driven in two years since the last time I visited Emily and her family. Then it was just the drive between her house and the house where I was staying. It was a borrowed car. Now I was making my first road trip in over 10 years I look forward to that. There were some issues with connecting my phone to the car’s display so I just had my directions on the orally. Fortunately, I knew the way most I knew the way pretty well and didn’t need that much help. I got there on Monday and on Tuesday we started the big trip to Maine. I had to drive not just myself but for other people Emily’s children Lynx and Genevieve and our friend Mel. I actually had to drive back to Connecticut to pick up Mel before we left. I then had the fun of a road trip with friends. As the master of the sound system guess what we listen to, Yes it was Gord’s Gold.
When we arrived Emily’s sister Sarah, her husband and four children were already there. We already had quite a Thanksgiving party. We didn’t get to do much on Wednesday. It was raining so I never left the house. Thanksgiving morning was a beautiful day and we decided to walk on the beach, a few blocks away. I’ve only been to Maine once before back when I was a teen, one thing I learned about it is that their beaches are mainly rocks not sand. There was one nice stretch of sand and of course right next to it lots of lots of rocks. I called Emily Sarah and some of the kids crazy for waiting in the icy cold water. Here’s a clue don’t call other people crazy when you’re crazier. Since I was a little kid, I could not resist clambering on rocks. This has never gone away. My sister sue feels the same way. So, there were these nice big rocks that under high tide were underwater but we’re still like 7 feet above the sand. I decided I needed to climb them and become king of the hill. As it had been raining the day before and at high tide, they’re underwater the rocks were wet and guess what that means they were also slippery. They’re also jagged and not at all flat. Did I let that stop me? no. I am not reckless. I planned my route at least as far as I could see. I had to go and four to a few streams coming off the rock and sometimes they couldn’t see the difficulties ahead of me. Still, I made my way relentlessly to the top. Oh, this is where things get a little fuzzy. I was walking across that lunar surface and the next thing I knew I was pitching forward. The rocky service was rapidly approaching my face. Guess what broke my fall, my face. I wasn’t aware of it at the moment but also my left shoulder. I am lying on these rocks not knowing how badly I was hurt. My face was wet and I thought I might be bleeding. Tell me that the rocks near me were bright red. There was a pool of water it had turned bright red from my blood. My hands look like I just murdered somebody. My pants were covered in blood. I tried getting up and realized I couldn’t, my shoulder was perhaps broken perhaps dislocated. I couldn’t really move I was not in the most comfortable position and out of sight of my entire party. What did I do? I screamed “help!” at the top of my lungs. Only male was close enough to hear me. At first, she didn’t realize I was in distress just heard by voice I thought I wanted her to see something. She then called the others for help. It was very windy and difficult to hear and Barry Sarah’s husband, thought he heard that I’d fallen on the sand so wasn’t no big hurry. Sarah made it clear that’s not what happened, she had come to the point where she could see me but couldn’t help me. Barry made it all the way to me but we’re still not in the position to help me get up. They called 911 and explained the situation. And after what seemed like an hour but was probably about 5 minutes the EMT ‘s arrived. There were four of them and they were all needed. The rocks were so treacherous they were worried about falling themselves. They couldn’t use a stretcher it was not flat at all. EMT ‘s are amazing they knew what to do. One Group One grab my belt one grab my good arm one and God knows what the other two grabbed. They got me on my feet and then led me down the rocks. I had to take steps but there was a point in my weight the entire time. When we got down to the sand, I was able to walk to the ambulance. There, to my great relief, I could lie down on a stretcher. You know all that blood I found out where it came from. I had a huge gash on my head and a few small gashes. What everyone was concerned with was a concussion and brain damage. When I started feeling nauseous, I really started worrying about that concussion. They gave me all the standard tests. My pupils responded normally to light. I just remembered when Barry got to me, the first thing I asked them was my pupils the same size. I may have had a concussion but I was in good enough shape to realize I was in danger of having a concussion. Back to the house and get my wallet with my insurance information. She gave it to me as we boarded the ambulance. On the ride they checked my vitals, my blood pressure was not too bad but kept rising. Oddly, my blood sugar was high my blood sugar was never high. For the rest of the trip, I did what I always did I became friends with the EMTs. None of my friends traveled along with me in the ambulance, I didn’t think they would be allowed to.
When I arrived at the hospital, I was put into a hallway not the emergency room. They knew what I needed, a CT scan for my brain and an X-ray for my shoulder. This was the fastest way for me to be taken care of. The only thing I really wanted to do was sleep but when they are afraid of a concussion the one thing you’re not allowed to do is sleep. How was I to stay awake I couldn’t really look at my phone it would hurt too much. So, I made phone calls. Of course, I called Emily to let her know what’s going on. Then I called my sisters and some friends and I stayed busy that way. Thank you everyone who kept me awake and alive.
I finally got my turn at the CT scan. The reason I had to wait was someone else had taken a header and had a gash on their head with a possible concussion. They did not fall on the rocks. I was told that there was a discussion in the hospital what a 66 year old man was doing falling on rocks. I don’t think anyone made a joke about the rocks being in my head but I would have done it if I was there. Fortunately for me, being in a hospital is my natural social habitat. I’m riddled with anxiety by not over health matters or being having medical procedures. I spend my time making jokes and talking to the staff. I finally got the head scan. I’ve had many cat scans for my abdomen, this is the first time for my head. It’s strange because you’re hardly inside the donut just for my eyes up essentially. I wasn’t moving so the shoulders didn’t hurt yeah, I had a headache but i was no longer nauseous, things were not too bad. Then it was back to the hallway to wait for the X-ray.
The X-ray was somewhat challenging as I had to stand but I managed it without too much trouble. I’ve had so many X-rays in my life That it’s a miracle that I don’t glow in the dark. After that I was back in the hallway. Then I got my first treatment which was simply being cleaned up. Remember I was covered in blood and my head needed to have stitches so of course to be clean. I wasn’t that happy with bright red hands either. A really lovely young woman did the job. She’s coming to New York in December. I invited her to come Christmas caroling with Terre Roche. If she comes, I wonder if I’ll recognize her, even more I wonder if she’ll recognize me without scars all over my face. I looked a fright. I had spoken to the doctor a few times over the course of waiting around and he finally came to stitch me up. The biggest gash required seven stitches, 10 and all. The result of the CT scan came back and I didn’t have sides of a concussion as I was no longer nauseous, I figured that was true. All I had to do then was wait to be picked up by Barry.
When I got back to the house I had a Thanksgiving dinner that couldn’t be beat. Everyone else had beaten their main course was up to dessert so that’s where I started; Dessert is there the best part of dinner anyway. I didn’t feel up to having a full dinner, that’s all I ate. I spent Friday in a house full of friends, we even played a game, Coup. I didn’t win but I finished ahead of Sarah and that’s really all that matters. I’m tempted to give the entire order of finish but I’ll resist I’ll let you know that Sarah and Barry’s daughter, Kate-Morgan won.
I’m out Friday was figuring out how to get home I remember that car right rented in the Bronx and I had to return there. They had no locations in Maine to return them. I actually had to get the car back to the Bronx. They had many ideas but the only thing we could actually come up with was that I put Mel on the rental agreement and she would drive you back to her house in Connecticut and then I would drive all the way home with what arm. That actually worked out not too badly. I was so tightly bound by my sling and my seat belt my shoulder didn’t hurt and I was able to adjust to drive you with one hand.
I’ve been just resting up since then. I made an appointment to see an orthopedist on Wednesday. I need to make an appointment for an MRI and then on Thursday I have to have my stitches removed. I am incredibly lucky I have the best friends in the world, They have given me practical help and they have kept me sane.
You might be wondering how am I typing this with one hand? I’m not I am dictating this into word. One of my wonderful friends suggested that to me. Southeast 18 here looks really stupid that’s why. I will edit and spell check but I’m sure I’ll miss some obvious errors. I’ll let you know what the doctor says.
Wise Madness 