ER Visits

[horsemom]

Once while gardening, I stood up to answer a question my husband asked, went to stick the garden fork in the ground, and it went through my foot!! Right through a leather work boot and out the bottom of my foot! I pulled it out and went inside where veterinarian hubby looked at it, laughed at me (ok, I was laughing too) and cleaned it a little. I put my boot back on and went out to finish what I was doing, but it got annoying sqishing around with blood in my boot.

The next morning it hurt like a bear and started to get red lines going up my foot and ankle. I took myself to the ER and told them about it, the nurse casually put me in a room and left, and I took off my shoe and sock. Over an hour later she came back, took one look at my foot, said "oh my" and put me in a wheelchair, fast tracking me to a curtained area where the doctor saw me immediately.

I had to spend the night at the hospital on IV antibiotics. When I called my husband to tell him, he said "that seems a little excessive" Yikes!!! I have a little funny scar on the top of my foot to remember it by...

Laura

[Haudlady]

Oh - what an awful thread! Somehow, I just had to keep reading anyway... Let's see:

1) my horse stepped on my foot and then slid off (nothing broken)... I think I was ten or so.

2) I hit my head on a beam in my barn while throwing hay (last summer).

3) I was twenty or so (ten years ago) - my horse kicked me - but it wasn't his fault, I swear! After eight weeks of stall rest following colic surgery, I was allowed to let him out daily for an hour... his first day out, he was so excited and "full of it" that when I unsnapped the lead he whirled, spun, and kicked out in joy! Um, I whirled, spun, and kept upright by holding the fence. Broken hip.

Yes - I kept the horse; he was happy and healthy for another seven years. I recovered nicely except for some arthritis and occasional "skipping" in the joint.

What amazed me is that the ER, for some reason, didn't think it was necessary to x-ray my hip! My DH (boyfriend at the time) had to insist - I was a little out of it. I still don't understand that one.

4) I went once for my DH, who was hit by a car while cycling. The bike was totalled, and poor DH had a sprained ankle and a lot of abrasion. Thankfully, nothing worse. I will NEVER FORGET that awful phone call.

[DebW]

What a long list of injuries we have here. I have only 2 to contribute.

1) broken collarbone from bike accident. Ambulance ride to ER strapped to board, and the ambulance had really bad shocks.

2) broken xygomatic arch from table saw accident (thrown board). Actually went to my health plan center rather than the ER (lower co-pay). Got x-ray and went home. Later doc call to say something is broken, schedules me with ear-nose-throat guy who sees me and schedules me with oral surgeon guy who sees me and schedules me for surgery at Mass General. Seven days later I get surgery to put my left cheek bone, broken in 3 places (beside eye, across upper jaw, and below eye) back where it belongs. Odd symptoms of this fracture included inability to open mouth more than 1/2 inch, inability to chew, and half of my face dead-numb (luckily I missed the other likely symptom, pinched eye muscles). The numbness went away in 3-5 months, but some nerve weirdness remains in my nose, cheek, upper lip and gum 14 years later.

[emily_in_nc]

1) broken collarbone from bike accident. Ambulance ride to ER strapped to board, and the ambulance had really bad shocks.

What she said! When I had my bike accident and fractured my pelvis in three places, I was taken by ambulance on a body board to Duke. It was a long ride, over RR tracks no less, and I felt EVERY bump. When I told the the clueless young gal in the back with me that I thought I'd broken my hip, she said "Oh, I am sure that's not it; you'll be fine...."

Yeah, right.

Emily

[btchance]

Oh jeez, all are in some way horse related.

Okay, for the first one I had a horse bolt, (I was only 13 and didn't have the strength to stop him - I did the next two times I rode him and he pulled the same thing - haven't been on him since) - he ran underneath the walker (he was 16H), through the barn, through the workshop, out a door, and threw me head first into a pipe rack on the fence. I had a helmet on, but still ended up with a concussion.

Next one - horse flipped while working on lead changes in the pasture. Ended up with a cracked pubic bone and broken nose.

Horse flipped while jumping - I think we mistimed it and caught her front end. Ended up with a compound fracture of my left forearm, two surgeries, 10months in a cast. Was showing the same horse a week later with the staples still in, and arm in a cast up above the elbow jumping.

A couple of weeks after getting the cast off, got thrown and that arm swelled up. Went to the ER but nothing was wrong.

Stepped on by the horse - cracked a bone in my foot, still went to a show the next day.

For the least horse related, I was trying to lift a gait up, had my right hand on top, and the latch fell down and slammed my hand between two pieced of pipe. Broke a bone there too.

Those are the only ones I can think of right now. Might have been more for times things ended up not broken, but that's all I can think of. And believe it or not, I've broken more bones that I didn't go to the ER for! Actually had a doctor gripe me out because I came into the office for other reasons, spotted my broken nose, and griped me out for not going to the ER for it. Hey, I didn't know it was broken until the next day when my friend noticed it. What good would the ER of done then? Also broke my thumb, never got it set.

[MomOnBike]

And believe it or not, I've broken more bones that I didn't go to the ER for!

That's us. Not necessarily for broken bones, but other things. I didn't bother when I broke my tailbone, Yes, I knew what I'd done, but that's not a terribly castable bone.

I just thought of another ER visit. I'd had a tumor removed from underneath a fingernail - an experience I do not want to repeat nor do I recommend it to others - and just as the fingernail was starting to grow back nicely I ripped the sucker off on a cotton candy machine. I haven't been able to stand cotton candy since.

For the record, the fingernail did grow back, but it's a bit odd looking.

[SalsaMTB]

Childhood:
Around kindergarten age, I was jumping on furniture, missed, and slammed my head on a table. Then, the next day, we were playing horsey rides, I slipped off my friend and hit my head on a marble fireplace. The combination resulted in a loss of consciousness. Rushed to ER, slept through the CT scan, diagnosed with a concussion and finally woke up with some memory loss. I had to relearn the alphabet and simple math. They think I also forgot who some people were because I was very uncomfortable around some people I was once close to. I can't really remember anything other then laying on my parents sofa afterward and asking to dance and they said no.

~10yrs: Jumped to the monkey bars from some elevated bars and missed. Landed on my wrist and dislocated and broke a bone.

~15yrs: Dislocated my knee. Possibly the mose painful injury I have ever had.

Adulthood:
None thankfully! knock on wood

[Raindrop]

No biking related ER visits.

However, all within a year (when I was 28) I:

Accidently stuck my hand in the lawnmower, breaking all my fingers and cutting the pad off of my middle finger.

Had a needle break off in my heel while walking barefoot on a plush carpet, and I left it there for three days...even after I found the other half of the needle (a HUGE darning needle which must of come from the homes previous owners since I don't darn....or give a darn either!).

Sloshed hot grease over the back of my hand while moving it off the stove.

Broke my wrist when I slammed a door, and it bounced back.

After that year I finally realized I needed to divorce my husband instead of trying to self-destruct a little bit at a time.

(And I haven't been back to the ER since....knock on wood!)