# Welp, That’s Done It!!



## Buffalo21 (Jul 3, 2020)

About 45 minutes ago,  I fell in the shop, the step ladder I was on collapsed, I fell from about 3 feet up, in between a milling machine and a drill press. almost 3 yrs ago I had massive reconstruction surgery on my right knee, well I can tell you thats not still “repaired’. I call the doctor, got his answering service, he called me back about 10 minutes later, he will see me on Monday at about 9 am, he said just come to the office, I squeeze you in. I bashed my left elbow, the one I shattered in 1993, is not feeling real good, huge mark on my right side and I may have broken my left thumb for the 3rd time.

Now the good news, during this incident, no machine tool, tooling or projects in progress were damaged. Neither the Bridgeport Mill or the huge Jet drill press, move at all. I did take me about 5 minutes to get back up on my feet, but no blood or missing body parts. I now sitting in the La-Z-Boy recliner with and ice pack on my right knee, another one taped to my left elbow.

looks like the drill bits will have to wait a day or two..........


----------



## extropic (Jul 3, 2020)

Sorry to hear that Jack.
Your misfortune serves to remind us all that falls (and especially falls from ladders) are very high on the list of most frequent injuries and deaths. 
Knock-on-wood.
Best wishes for a fast and complete recovery.
Take care.


----------



## mikey (Jul 3, 2020)

Hope nothing is broken. Falls can be nasty and I'm glad you weren't hurt worse.


----------



## DavidR8 (Jul 3, 2020)

Dang it! 
I hope that there’s no lasting damage!
Good reminder for me to get rid of my 6’ fibreglass ladder. I noticed that one of the steps is bent....


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## tjb (Jul 3, 2020)

Oh, man!  That had to be scary!

I had a rather frightening fall from a ladder a couple of years ago that could have been horrible but, mercifully, was okay.  I was high up on a ladder changing a light fixture in my shop, and the ladder slid out from under me.  I landed flat-footed on the concrete floor (my feet were about six feet up).  My feet scored a direct hit BETWEEN two rungs of the ladder, and I fell over backwards.  No telling how bad it would have been if the tops of my feet were under the higher rung.  Nobody was home, so I just lay there for a few minutes.  Nothing felt broken, so I got up and waited until I had help to finish the job.  Things like that happen so quickly that you just don't have time to react.  It was a real wake-up call for me.  Old bodies don't heal nearly as quickly as young ones do.

Wishing you a speedy and full recover, Jack.  At least you have a La-Z-Boy.

Regards,
Terry


----------



## brino (Jul 3, 2020)

Ouch!
My hopes too for a fast and full recovery.
-brino


----------



## Canus (Jul 3, 2020)

PLEASE make sure you have your cell phone with you ANY time you are working alone.  That way you can call for help if needed.


----------



## Dhal22 (Jul 3, 2020)

Looks like you've had a few mishaps like me.   Probably not as many as I've had.   I've combined accidents (auto, sports, work, hobbies), bad luck, clumsiness, stupidity, etc into a long list of injuries.   Hope everything works out.


----------



## FOMOGO (Jul 4, 2020)

Glad to hear no machines were harmed in the production of your action movie stunt work. I took a bad 10' fall a few years back,  and shattered t-7.  Has gotten a litlle better every year, but still hurts by the end of a hard day. Get better, and be careful out there. Mike


----------



## Buffalo21 (Jul 4, 2020)

Welp, the night was a slight struggle, trying to get comfortable, finally got a couple hrs of sleep. The left elbow, while still a little swollen, does not hurt as bad as last night, the right knee is incredibly sore, almost as bad than before the repairs, there no doubt in my mind, that the left thumb is broken.

I was in the shop for a couple hrs this morning, got some stuff done, now back in the chair with the ice packs.


----------



## Z2V (Jul 4, 2020)

Hope to hear that you will be able to recover without any more surgery. A hospital is not a good place to be right now.


----------



## Packard V8 (Jul 4, 2020)

For true, we get older but not enough smarter.  Pilots say any one you can walk away from is a good landing.  However, as we get older, we use up our luck and one would think have learned to be a bit more careful about not having emergency landings.  Not so in my case.  My shop is dangerously overcrowded, I was bending a piece of bar stock by clamping it in the bench vise and pulling on it.  As the bend came around, the stock loosened in the vise and I fell backward.  There are an infinite number of hard and/or sharp things I should have hit, but I landed in literally the only 1' x 6' of clear floor space in the entire shop.  The only damage was a skinned elbow.  

jack vines


----------



## aliva (Jul 4, 2020)

Statistics show that the most serious injures involving ladders occurs with at fall of 3 feet or less. Reason being there's not enough time to prepare for the sudden impact of the floor. Sounds corny but true.


----------



## Suzuki4evr (Jul 4, 2020)

Boy you must be a site right now. I hope aren't too broken. Give my best to the bridgeport and drillpress ask them for forgiveness   . Just kidding Jack,good luck on Monday and keep us posted.

Michael


----------



## 7milesup (Jul 4, 2020)

Crikey Buffalo.   That was close too.  Or is that too close.  (Referencing my close call with death 3 weeks ago).
I hope that you don't have any serious issues with your knee and elbow.  You were lucky in way; could have easily hit your head on one of the machines or the floor.  
I hate normal step ladders.  I now use a multi-position ladder (Little Giant for example) due to their rigidity.  They are heavier than a normal ladder but well worth it when it comes to safety.

God bless and I wish you the best in your recovery.  Please let us know how your Dr. appointment goes.


----------



## Dabbler (Jul 4, 2020)

get welll (or at least more functional) soon!


----------



## hman (Jul 4, 2020)

Take care of yourself ... and best wishes for a complete recovery!


----------



## Aukai (Jul 4, 2020)

Hope all goes well, being hurt is no fun, but you already know that. Good luck on Monday.


----------



## savarin (Jul 4, 2020)

I sold my extension ladder last week to prevent me from using it ever again.
I feel very insecure once over 3 feet from the ground.
Take care of those injuries they hurt like hell as you get older.
I broke L4 and L5 in the early 70's and still get pain from them.


----------



## westerner (Jul 4, 2020)

My best friend, and Best Man at my wedding is a professional painter. He was out here last week giving me a hand with the SheStudio project I had going. (This ain't no SHED). When he saw the old aluminum ladders I was using, he TOOK them from me, and gave me his far newer, and far stouter. Told me that he feared for my health.


----------



## Skierdude (Jul 4, 2020)

savarin said:


> I sold my extension ladder last week to prevent me from using it ever again.
> I feel very insecure once over 3 feet from the ground.
> Take care of those injuries they hurt like hell as you get older.
> I broke L4 and L5 in the early 70's and still get pain from them.


I confiscated my father’s extension ladder many years ago when he was 65. I’m expecting one of my sons to turn up any day now and confiscate it from me!
Maybe we need to designated the extension ladder as a family heirloom.....


----------



## hman (Jul 4, 2020)

I left my last extension ladder behind in Oregon when I moved.  Never did like high places to begin with!


----------



## vocatexas (Jul 5, 2020)

Glad to hear it wasn't as bad as it could have been. Here's hoping for a speedy recovery.

I hate working off ladders. I'm trying to finish building my shop and I've been on ladders a lot more than I like. I've been trying to be extra careful when I'm working, but I found out the other morning that you can never be too careful. I got out of bed, hung my foot in the bedspread, and did a header into the chest of drawers. I didn't break anything on me or the drawers, but the top of my head is still a bit sore. LOL


----------



## HarryJM (Jul 5, 2020)

Glad to hear about no damage machines and that you survived with minor injury as the older I get the more unfriendly ladders of any kind become as I do not bounce as good as I used to.


----------



## Aukai (Jul 5, 2020)

I would say by the shared experiences, that most of us here are not 25, and invincible anymore


----------



## deakin (Jul 5, 2020)

Canus said:


> PLEASE make sure you have your cell phone with you ANY time you are working alone.  That way you can call for help if needed.



won't work for me. my cell only works standing by the third oak tree from the north

on the other hand it came in handy after a bad mtb crash last week


----------



## GL (Jul 5, 2020)

Skierdude’s reply reminded me of my dad’s craptastic wood stepladder. He repainted it after the fire, in 1963.  I assumed all stepladders had a certain amount of sway until I started painting houses in college.  Werner fiberglass is all I own.  I really need to go steal his and replace it, although he calls when he needs to use one which is better all around (at 87 he doesn’t need to be off the floor by any amount).  It kills him to not be independent, but “a man has to know his limitations”.    Heal fast, glad it wasn’t as bad as it could have been.


----------



## epanzella (Jul 7, 2020)

Glad you're not hurt too seriously. There aren't many friendly places to land in a machine shop!


----------



## rjs44032 (Jul 7, 2020)

Sorry to hear about your misfortune. Please let us know what brand step-ladder we should avoid. Thanks and good luck with healing. 

Best Regards,
Bob


----------



## matthewsx (Jul 8, 2020)

westerner said:


> My best friend, and Best Man at my wedding is a professional painter. He was out here last week giving me a hand with the SheStudio project I had going. (This ain't no SHED). When he saw the old aluminum ladders I was using, he TOOK them from me, and gave me his far newer, and far stouter. Told me that he feared for my health.



I have a "Garden Room" project coming up for my wife, could you maybe do a thread on yours?

John


----------



## Tim9 (Jul 8, 2020)

I hope all goes well for you Jack. I know personally that the aches and pains....bruises and cuts....just don’t heal like they used to. I’m glad you aren’t feeling sorry for yourself.  You’ve got a good attitude. Self pity is a useless emotion which never served me well....never at all.
  Anyway, sorry to hear about the mishap and hopefully it’s just bruises...nothing serious.


----------



## SLK001 (Jul 8, 2020)

Yep, gravity is one cruel mistress.


----------



## Buffalo21 (Jul 8, 2020)

I saw the doctor, he believes at this point that the right knee issue is a bad sprain, without an MRI he can not be totally sure. As I’m extremely claustrophobic and have to use a open MRI, the only local open MRI, is currently down for repairs. So between it being down and the schedule backlog, were probably talking late August or early September, before I can get in. Hopefully by then it will have taken care of itself, if it’s a sprain.

The left elbow is still sore, if moved in certain positions, but seems to be getting better. The left thumb, according to the doctor, is broken (pretty much the a severe dislocation), but because of the type and location of the break, there is not much they can do, unless I want a club hand for 6 weeks. He said Motrin and time will take care of it, much like the last two times.

So except for some pain management, I’m pretty much no worse for wear. Hopefully the knee will progress and the thumb will remind me when I use it to be more careful.


----------



## 7milesup (Jul 8, 2020)

Good to hear Buffalo.  Well, at least as good as can be.

As a side note about claustrophobia, there is a trick that works for many people to get around that.   Take a dry wash cloth and place it over your eyes, but not covering your nose.  Try and put your mind in a good place.  The cloth over the eyes gives the brain something to focus on other than the tube you are in.  I never considered myself claustrophobic (sitting in small cockpits with an oxygen mask on never bothered me) but one MRI that was quite small set me off one time.  I went to a different MRI facility the next time and the nurse showed me the wash cloth trick.  Worked for me.


----------



## Buffalo21 (Jul 8, 2020)

7milesup said:


> Good to hear Buffalo.  Well, at least as good as can be.
> 
> As a side note about claustrophobia, there is a trick that works for many people to get around that.   Take a dry wash cloth and place it over your eyes, but not covering your nose.  Try and put your mind in a good place.  The cloth over the eyes gives the brain something to focus on other than the tube you are in.  I never considered myself claustrophobic (sitting in small cockpits with an oxygen mask on never bothered me) but one MRI that was quite small set me off one time.  I went to a different MRI facility the next time and the nurse showed me the wash cloth trick.  Worked for me.



We are talking extreme claustrophobia, if there is no one home, but me I won’t shut the bathroom door, I can not shut the bedroom door, I drive with the window half down even in the winter, I can not ride in the back seat of a car, where the window don’t roll down.  They have to almost be sedated to use an OPEN MRI. I have to take medication to be able to fly, I have on one of our jobs, that has an underground tunnel, between the factory and the remote boiler room, that about 150 ft long, roughly 12 ft x 12 ft, I can not use it, regardless of the weather, I walk outdoors. I should be using a CPAP machine, can not use it, almost instant panic attack, when I put the mask on. My wife has a walk-in closet, I’ve never been inside it. At times this is crippling.


----------



## 7milesup (Jul 8, 2020)

Wow.  Yeah, the washcloth trick may not work for you.  Sorry to hear about this issue.  I certainly know how certain issues can be crippling.


----------



## Ken from ontario (Jul 8, 2020)

This incident reminds me of my fall from a ladder in 2001, I vividly remember those last few seconds just before falling, you know you're about to fall and there's nothing you can do to stop the momentum so you sort of resign yourself to the fact that it's going to happen and it's going to hurt .
I ended up with a broken wrist , had to drive myself to the hospital.
Count your blessings, thing could have been a lot worse for you ,  you'll recover physically soon but mentally it'll take awhile.


----------



## westerner (Jul 8, 2020)

matthewsx said:


> I have a "Garden Room" project coming up for my wife, could you maybe do a thread on yours?


I considered that. I have a few pics, and a couple of examples of what NOT to do
I will see what I can come up with.


----------



## matthewsx (Jul 9, 2020)

westerner said:


> I considered that. I have a few pics, and a couple of examples of what NOT to do
> I will see what I can come up with.



What NOT to do would be of particular interest....

John


----------



## Shootymacshootface (Jul 10, 2020)

About 2-3 years ago I had 3 falls, all within a years time. Two were missteps from trucks and one was a misstep from my boat onto a ladder. I had to get x-rays from the truck falls and x-rays and lots of pt on my right shoulder from the ladder fall. I have made it a point to be more focused and take my time to do any climbing up or down. I haven't had any more falls. I don't heal like I used to. 
Glad you are ok!


----------



## Mike_Mac (Jul 10, 2020)

Here are a few photos of not what to do with ladders.






















Stay safe!


----------



## tjb (Jul 11, 2020)

Mike_Mac said:


> Here are a few photos of not what to do with ladders.
> 
> View attachment 329942
> 
> ...


I'm getting dizzy just looking at the pictures.


----------

