Took the seat out of the skid steer to clean the battery connections behind it. Backed out when done and totally forgot the loader boom was up and being held by pins that slide out from the cab. Turned half way around and BANG right into the boom almost knocking myself out. Went down on my knees and discovered my head was bleeding. Luckily had some tissues and the bleeding didn't last long but that &^%$#! hurt. Earlier in the day I had to get a covid swab and it hurt too but not as bad. Might be much safer being in the hospital for a stem cell transplant. Just not sure how long I'll be out of commission. Guy helping me read it could be 3 to 12 month's. I sure hope it's not too long.
It will be what it will be I suppose. Perhaps it’s as well as the decision is made by people that know better than us. Good luck with the journey sir. The Covid eventually caught up with me.It was no big deal for me or my family,but it’s the first time in my life I’ve ever stood down from action and decided to let nature take its course and rest up. I’ve enjoyed it to a point.I’ve been tuning into YouTube and watching a chap from Idaho in America keeping his old D9 and scrapers going called J Paydirt.There are loads of fitters,welders operators etc that give you running commentary on their working lives all over the world. It’s been intresting to be honest,but I’ve started doing abit back at the quarries this week,and it felt strangely good to be servicing a D9 againI suspect you’ll be more than ready to lie under your grader welding something back on it when you recover. Make the most of your bed time and try and embrace it. Before you know it,you’ll be smashing your thumb with a hammer doing your job again
I had it back in April. The Covid itself wasn't too bad just three days of a somewhat mile headache. The double pneumonia that accompanied in both lungs kept me resting and out of work for almost two weeks. Hospital didn't even want to admit me. I didn't take any pills, or prescriptions at all, but did drink a lot of water and stayed in bed sleeping a lot. Same thing with my wife but she had no pneumonia to contend with. No lingering effects at all with either of us.
I was originally supposed to go in for the stem cell transplant on Sep. 29 but it was cancelled because of the 4th wave of covid. I had a central line left in from when they took my stem cells that could have been used to put them back in but it was taken out thinking it would be a couple month's or more before I would get rebooked. I was quite surprised when they called saying it was rebooked for Oct. 25. I would have preferred if could have been done in the winter but it is probably best to get it done sooner. I had another round of chemo in the meantime. The better health and lower the cancer level the better chance the transplant has of getting my level to zero. It was at 1 the last checkup so something is going right. I wish I didn't get such a nagging back ache though. Getting up from kneeling down and having to slide under the Cat to get the belly pan off wreaks havoc with my back. Sometimes you have to do things you don't really want to. When Murphy shows up with odd repairs doesn't help. As long as I don't have side effects like the C-Dif bug I'll be OK.
It's hard enough as an adult to go through all that stuff, what gets me is when some little kid has to battle with illness like that. I know some complain about our health care, but I wouldn't want to be paying for all that treatment.
It is terrible to see little kids have to go through this. If given the opportunity I would talk to them and tell them to hang in there, it will get better. I feel like such a dud trying to fix my equipment. I don't have nearly the energy I wish I had or used to have but want to do it none the less. I feel lazy if I have to ask for help on stuff that should be pretty straight forward. I had to have a nurse(Homecare) come to the house every week to flush and change the dressing on the central line. The cancer institute supplied everything free of charge and the Homecare also cost me nothing. Canada's healthcare could use some improvement but it's still one of the best in the world. You don't have to mortgage your house to get long term treatments. I would imagine all my chemo and cancer treatments would be thousands and thousands of dollars. I have to pay about 20% of the cost of prescriptions because of my partners benefits. When I was working I didn't have to pay anything. The Vertebroplasty procedures, hospital and cancer institute stays, stem cell collection and transplant are all covered free of charge. Can't really ask for more. At the cancer institute you get your own very large private room and they bring a snack cart 2 or 3 times a day if want something between meals. They will even make your meal special as long as it's on their menu and you give them a day's notice. You don't just have to take the meal or meals of the day. I'm really glad I'll be at the cancer institute as it is much nicer than the hospital and all the staff really take care of you. I can't say the same about the hospital but did have a few really good nurses.
My RN wife had one job with an oncologist where one of her responsibilities was administering chemo. Tough job but it really got to her when the patients were children.
Being bald/shaved headed, I don't have any "feelers" telling me when I'm about to crash my cranium into stuff. When working cramped conditions or if it's cool enough for my hot head to withstand a hat, I keep a cap with a bump cap insert in it to minimize the trauma on the melon when working on or near equipment. I do find that the older I get, the more careful and slower moving that I am on equipment. I've had enough slips, slams and bumps to be more careful but I still bleed quite often from minor incidents. Thankfully, nothing major as of late. Dave, have you looked into colloidal silver as a supplement to any of your treatments? I've read good things about it. It really helped my Lyme disease and some of my major cuts that I've sustained over the years.
They have driven us crazy about hard hats for so long. I finally found one that is not to hot, and I don't mind wearing. I put it on when I leave the house, and take it off when I get home. Left a job for a dental appt on Thursday, and when I sat in her chair, she said you can take off your mask, and your hard hat.
I absolutely hate hard hats, being 6'6" it's bad enough banging my head into things, never mind a hard hat sticking up even further, and they will never stay on. I don't know how anyone can wear them all day, even when i'm on a site that requires them, I rarely if ever wear it. I tend to be more careful now, but always wind up banging my head on stuff here and there.
I used to wear hard hats all day long, seemed like years at a time. At a certain point it feels like a part of you, I guess you just get used to it. Now I work for myself, and I mostly build houses so nobody to tell me to wear one! I don't even own a hard hat anymore. I remember one time I rode a scissor lift into an I-beam, I had just taken my hard hat off to wipe the sweat from my forehead. It rang like a bell, and I tasted metal. But I went back to work.
Used to scale 80' towers with no safety gear at all and thought nothing about it as it was part of the job. Always figured my head was harder than any hat so wore a ball cap to use my skull to open the trap door on floors of the work platforms when doing cable runs or antenna maintenance routines on the same. That is until a com padre fell to his death from the 45' level changing a clearance lamp from a tower on an airfield. Why he didn't swing the arm this lamp head mounted to into the tower is not known, but the fallout from that changed the whole safety culture almost overnight. We already had the fall protection rail up the middle of the ladder, and the waist belt arrestor devices but they were so damned uncomfortable to wear, nobody did. With this incident came contractor supplied tower climbing training, confined space training, etc., and several million dollars of newest safety gear and training programs implemented agency wide. The whole safety culture changed near overnight with the immediate ban on tower climbing over a certain height. IIRC it was 40ft and then the two man rule went into effect immediately. I'm no "Safety Sam" and that's for damned sure; but I am human. I've seen a guy fall out of a manlift and get hurt after that first step from their own stupidity and try to blame others. In the cited case, one is not supposed to climb the safety cage for additional reach. Had the mandated harness been worn, and attached, his ass wouldn't have impacted the ground and he'd in all likelihood only suffered some bruising to both body and pride. Contractor verbiage for their personnel compliance with established safety rules was incorporated into contracts as it is/was a learning curve for everyone. Being the union steward for many years I've been tied up in claimed injury cases several times and although of no legal authority, had to cover the union side of things and sometimes be combative with my own brethren when established parameters were not complied with. Jobsite safety is a culture, make no mistake about it. Although OSHA can be a real pain in the ass, there is a reason for their existence and establishment. Although you seldom hear of the good work they do, they are there to help you; if you ask. Just call and request an evaluation and they come for free but don't have grotesque safety violations present, as they will be looking for them. Several times on our jobsites we would have the local OSHA reps out to look over things. Several good recommendations for your own safety program can easily come from one of these evaluations. Some good friendships too which can pay handsomely if something goes awry. I guess the moral of the story is we all want to go home to our family and friends. Neglect common and established safety practices and one significantly reduces chances of that happening. Thanks,
Lots of welding shops had very poor ventilation in the past and even getting a respirator or P100 mask you pretty much had to bring your own. It's good that OHSA has brought in some safety protocalls. Even safety glasses are good but there's still people that don't wear them when they should. Hardhats are like welding helmets, find one you like that's comfortable for you not comfortable for someone else who's trying to push their type on you. Accidents will always happen but the ones caused by your own neglect aren't accidents. My head banging was an unfortunate accident and thankfully the only lasting result is a couple scabs on my head.
Well I got moved into my new digs at the cancer institute. Pretty nice! Private room with windows overlooking the university soccer field and a big washroom complete with full size tub and shower. Kind of like a fancy bachelor pad. The staff here is great and encourage me to complain if something isn't right. LoL They said I will get sick during the treatments before they put the stem cells back in which I'm not looking forward to but said it will be worth it in the end. Days 5 to 10 are usually the worst. I think I'm doing pretty good which will help a lot. I can even pick my meals which is great.
I certainly wish you well with the treatment. Know a couple folks whom have been through it and glad they went. If they offered brain cell replacement injections I'd prolly join you over there. Wife insists I need them.....
Best of luck Dave.
Started on some IV and am supposed to take lots of ice chips to keep my mouth cold so I don't get mouth sores. Also taking lots of anti nausea meds. My back was aching pretty good but is better since I took my pain meds. They put in a catheter because that's how my body will drain the bad cancer related cells. It's different than when they took the stem cells out by continuously circulating my blood. My blood gets flushed and comes out in the urine. I have to keep track of how much liquid/ice chips I'm taking and they compare it with how I'm discharging. Kind of sucks having the permanent catheter but I guess it saves me getting to go to the washroom constantly. It's also very easy to measure my output. It's a bit if a pain if I have to get up though. I'm on continuous IV and then also have to carry the urine bag. I'm doing good so far but just started on the treatments to clean my bones out before they put my stem cells back in on Wed.
Old truck driver had issues with his prostate. There were times when he had a catheter in at work. We were working inside the max prison, no plastic outhouse, cameras everywhere, and going out to the bathroom involved going through 4 locked gates. He was standing by his truck, and I went to talk to him. He had a funny look on his face. Are you peeing?. Yep almost done. Uncomfortable, he said, but convenient.
Welder Dave, I assure you there are thousands reading your posts or talking about you and your posts, which are darn-near uplifting. Please post again when you can.
It's very encouraging to have all the support I have on HEF. In/out catheter is much better than having a foley bag strapped to your leg and a thousand times better than having the large bag you have to carry around if you need to go anywhere. That's what I have now because I'm getting continuous IV fluids. They said it's better than having to go to the washroom every 45 minutes with the IV stand and having to empty the leg Foley bag. In/out catheter gets to be pretty routine after a couple month's. It's so nice not having anything 90% of the time. If I don't get to where I can fully empty my bladder, they can do an operation to fix my prostate. I go back to the urologist in about 5 month's if I don't improve. Nurse said I will get sick so not looking forward to that. They said I should let them know as soon as I have the slightest symptoms. It should be worth it in the long run. I start the transplant tomorrow. I will try to keep everyone posted on how it goes. Can't thank you guys enough for your support!!I! Damn, I'm feeling a little nausea right now, probably because I started on chemo drugs today. They gave me something for it so hope it helps. I was taking anti-nausea meds already and now I have more. I'm also kind of chilled and sweaty at the same time. Hoping the meds work and I can get a good sleep.
Best of luck Dave, hope this all works out. All us Vertically Challenged fellas end up with noggin scars due to a world built for 5' to 5'6" types, enga's are the worst for setting us up for head bangs.
Had my stem cells put back in today. Took about an hour but so far so good. I got a little chilled because the stem cells were froze in liquid nitrogen. They thawed them out in warm water but even the IV line was still cold. Off of IV fluids and chemo by IV but still take Dexamethazone (sp) in pill form. I'll have to take maintainence chemo meds for the rest of my life kind of like someone with diabetes but shouldn't be too big of deal. Just hoping the side effects aren't too bad over the next couple of weeks.
Really really drained today. No energy, no appetite, taste buds out of whack and just want to sleep. I'm off the Dexamethazone so hopefully will get my appetite and taste buds back.
Hang in there Sounds as the body is making repairs
Glad to hear about the progress Dave. One day at a time, one day at a time.
They gave me some club soda to rinse my mouth out with that should help with the bad taste. Still really tired though. Hopefully I'l feel better in awhile.
Kind of sucks that I'll get worse before I get better.
Hang in there Dave. Focus on getting better. Don’t worry about all the **** you gotta do, it’ll all be there when you get back! We’re all rootin’ for you.
Thanks everyone! The sore throat is the worst and I have thrush they're giving me an IV for. Waiting for misty freeze from Dairy Queen. It's cold and I was able to get down yesterday so hoping I can today. Have a gag reflex with anything else.
Sorry you have to go through such an ordeal Dave, life can really suck sometimes.
I'm a little better now. They gave me some mouthwash with lidocane (sp) that will numb my throat. Back aches a little, I think maybe just from lying in bed for long periods. Hopefully only 2 bad more days and I'll start feeling better.
I'm hoping I hit rock bottom because I felt completely drained earlier today. Totally in just another universe. I'm a little better now so hope I'm on the upward curve. Getting on my feet was difficult and even though my mouth and throat are really dry, a bunch of stuff wanted to run out my mouth. I wasn't very stable either but seem somewhat better now. It's a horrible way to feel.
Thank you for your reporting. Your inner strength is inspirational and your recording your trip will be of use to others experiencing the same.
Maybe my experience could help someone else who goes through a similar experience. Feeling better today but bad side effects last night.
Horrible today. No C-difff though.
Hope you're catching up on some good Youtube stuff! those mechanics from Inda are a blast to watch! How to machine a flywheel on a running engine with only a rock...
Great on the absence of the C-diff. One step after another.
My hair is coming out pretty good today. Just feel completely drained of anything.
On a more positive note,if you’ve no futher use for your hair brush or comb,then you can keep them until your well enough to comb the fins out on your old grader rad
Good idea. I don't have energy to do much of anything. Running a fever so full precautions being taken when anyone comes room. Full gown. Face shield and mask. 38.2c temp. Was lower last night. Hoping it gets better soon. No covid or c-diff which is good. Just trying to get by, should be on the upswing soon
Fever is down. They think it's from an infection on my arm where they put a butterfly line to give IV painkiller. Getting a 2nd anti-biotic to hopefully clear it up. Feel a little better and would be happy if I just maintained where I'm at. Lousy but bearable.
Temp went down but back up again. Just resting the best I can.
Hang in there It will turn
Last night was horrible!!! Felt worst than. Death warmed over and a nightmare where I felt the same in the nightmare. Temp went up to 38.6c but last check finally come down to 37.4c which is much better. They put ice packs on my neck and armpits because I can't take any thing orally. Will dry heave just on the small amount of salvia in my .mouth.
My mouth and throat are very dry but I can't really swallow anything. My hair is also coming out in droves. I'll have to find a good toque.
Hang in there, hope it gets better soon!
Apparently I'm right on track so will feel crappy for a about week and get better as my levels come up.
Feeling a lot better than I have the last few days, yeah! Hopefully will be able to get some solid food down without gagging. The infection in my arm is called cellulitis. Feels like there's a tennis ball under my skin
Dam, Cellulitis is one nasty infection. It's the last thing you need to deal with. Good thing you live with a nurse !
I'm getting another ultrasound tomorrow on my arm to make sure there isn't a puss pocket causing the cellulitis to expand. If there is, they would have to remove it. Talking about going home early next week but they won't send me home until my arm is on the mend. If I don't move my arm it's not too bad. Hoping to get where I can eat solid food. I'd like to but gag when I try. I had this before and it can happen kind of suddenly where I can eat. I'll definately need a good toque or 2 as my hair will have left the building. I have a couple horizontal stripes on the back of my head with a big bald area in the middle.
Thank you fot the report. Take care of today and tomorrow will take care of itself.
Same thing as my son (remember him?) had in his leg. Nasty. Remember how they cut his foot open because nothing showed on either utlrasound or MRI and they wanted to be 100% sure that nothing nasty was luriking inside there.? All the best Dave. Hope you're on the mend soon.
Sorry, off topic Dave, how did your son end up Nige, fully recovered?
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Doing better every day now. It sounds like if I have a puss build up in my arm, it's a fairly simple operation to suck it out. It doesn't bother me too much. It' just there. I remember your son Nige but don't remember him having cellulitis.
I must be a guinea pig of how many medical conditions a person can endure. The good thing is they are monitoring me very close and if I need a procedure it gets done ASAP. It's also good that everything is covered by healthcare. I have a catheter in now but sounds like will go back to self catheter in the next day or 2. With very light hair it feels like I'm doing 20MPH getting pushed in a wheelchair.
Ultrasound showed no signs of puss or other build up. It is clearing up so just have to wait and keep on the antibiotics.
Slept good last night, crashed really early before 9. Feel pretty good today watching road Atlanta endurance race. Great way to pass the time.
A better report!!
Felt horrible the latter part of yesterday. Got really tired around 7:30 and could not get comfortable. Didn't know what to do with my arms. They couldn't give me anything to help with sleep until 9. I propped the bed up and watched the fast and furious. They gave something to help me sleep and thank God it worked. Feeling so much better this morning. My arm with cellulitis is a little sore but it is getting smaller and looking better. They're trying to get me ready to go home. My own bed will feel great!
Looks like I might be going home on Wed. Big obstacle is my ability to eat and swallow solid food. I have about of trouble swallowing.
Feel pretty lousy today. Still lots of trouble swallowing.
Hope you're homeward bound tomorrow, Welder Dave.
I hope so too. I don't feel like I got run over, more like the truck is parked on me. I am just zapped of any energy.
Feel better!!!!
Came home today!!! Still have trouble swallowing but Debi brought a raspberry shake that gives a better taste and helps freeze my mouth a little. Nurse said I'll probably feel really week for 3 months!!! I hope not but at. Least I am home.
Happy for you, Kind Sir! Enjoy that raspberry shake.
Great news! Cam and Shawn
I hope I start feeling better soon.
Just hoping I get a bit of an appetite and can start swallowing easier.
Takes time just have to have patience.
I dropped about 23lbs. and the compression fractures in my back caused me to shrink 3 to 3.5 inches. Just slowly working on getting something down. Had some frozen yogurt in a shake which is a start.
I sure hope the transplant is worth it. I have no energy and my mouth gets very dry. I need cold juice or ice cubes made from juice, the colder the better as it freezes my mouth and I can let it slowly go down. I sure wish I could swallow better. Maybe tomorrow will be better.
Hope you can get some sleep.
Trust your body to regenerate what it needs, then the system can resume being normal. So long as the transplant was a success then your own bone marrow will produce what is needed to recover now.
You’re certainly going through the mill Welder Dave. Hang in there mate
I am trying. I slept OK which is good.
I'm getting an IV right now to get me rehydrated. Dietitian talked with my Dr. and they want me to get admitted in the hospital and put a feeding tube down my throat to get something in my stomach. Apparently it's close to starvation when they do this. Just the thought of putting something in my mouth can trigger the gag reflex. I need to get some nutrition in me for the transplant to be successful. I want to eat and be able to swallow but my mind isn't letting me. It's not normal but nobody should have to feel like this.
Hang in there buddy, sounds like a Calvary Charge is coming your way.
I got a 1/2 a can of soup down with a plastic spoon. It's a start and maybe I can stay home and work on eating more. Baby steps I guess. I have like babies blood right now so.... I used a plastic spoon so I wouldn't have a metallic taste. I have to wait 6 month's to get my covid shot and all the other vaccines I got as a kid. The thought of getting admitted in the hospital again may be helping me to stay out. It's mind over matter but still really hard to keep from getting a gag reflex putting anything in my mouth. Soup went down pretty good which is progress.
Did you try beer? Do what you can, most important keep doing. muzy
Never was a beer drinker but with my taste buds all out wack, beer would probably taste awful.
A friend who went through chemo had a goal from the doctor of drinking one bottle of Ensure protein drink per day until he got better. Hang in there!
I had an Ensure 3 days ago. Tried yesterday but no go after a few sips. Might work to add it to shakes I can get down.
Went for IV to get get rehydrated yesterday and was able to get some yogurt down today. It's a start. I don't want to go to the hospital to get a feeding tube down my throat.
Dave, go with anything you can tolerate right now. Soup, shakes, yoghurt, all this and especially soup is good and will get you some calories.
Thought I should give an update. Still feeling like crap and having trouble swallowing/eating. Tried to eat a good bacon and cheese hot dog yesterday afternoon but it didn't stay down which really sucked. I had some IV fluid to rehydrate yesterday morning which helps but I'm tired of feeling like total crap. I could have 6 blankets on me and I still get cold shivers. I think the worst is the awful taste I have in my mouth. Really hoping I have a day where all of a sudden I'm able to eat. I did before but the stem cell transplant just really put a damper on my progress. Its been a few weeks of feeling like death warmed over and I'm wondering if the transplant was worth it. I'll probably feel different once I can eat more but right now I feel like I'm just putting time in. It's a horrible way to feel and my back aches to boot. Wish there was some kind of magic elixir they could give me.
Thanks for the update Dave. Hopefully you will be able to eat soon. Thinking of you and wishing for the best, Cam
Bacon and cheese hotdog, mate that is like something I would do! Think the magic elixir might be more in the form of the yoghurt or soup, even plain roast chicken, apple sauce, boiled potatoes and veg.. until a few more meals are in there.
You’ll probably go through the same thing with the grader once you’re better.You and the grader aren’t so different at the moment.Eventually,that old grader will start to slowly look better everyday you put the time into it. Time is where things are at for both of you at the moment. One day,you’ll be sat on your nice,shiney fixed up grader feeling so much better,and you’ll look back on this time and think how far you’ve progressed since you wrote this thread.
I am trying hard to stay out of the hospital and have a feeding tube down my throat. It's frustrating when my body doesn't cooperate with what I want to do. I am improving though. I"m hoping I feel good enough on Moday to pick up the arm rests for the new seat. They were on back order. Don't when I'll be able to install them but just having them makes me look forward to some seat time. I also have the rebuilt steering valve to put in the Cat. It's probably too frozen to do anything now but when I feel up to it, I have a bunch of work I'm looking forward to. I like the grader because it is faster and very roomy inside the cab.