[Rhodes22-list] Ouch, That Hurt!

[Steve]

Roger
Hope the arm get better soon.  Take it easy with it
for a while.  Best regards.
Steve


--- Roger Pihlaja <cen09402 at centurytel.net> wrote:
> Hi Everybody,
> 
> This morning, there were thunderstorms in the
> forecast.  The night before, my wife & I had ridden
> on our 10' inflatable sport dingy to a restaurant
> about 3 miles down the lake & back.  We had gotten
> back after dark & the inflatable was still tied to
> our dock.  I went down to our beach to pull the
> inflatable up onto the custom made storage rack I
> built for it on our beach.  This storage rack is my
> own design, made from pressure treated lumber & boat
> trailer rollers.  The inflatable self launches off
> of it & 1-man retrieval is almost as easy, except
> for today.  I reached down & grabbed the
> inflatable's bow lifting handle with my left hand &
> started pulling the bow up onto the 1st set of guide
> rollers, an operation I've done literally hundreds
> of times before.  I didn't even pull very hard, but
> something went seriously crooked this time because I
> felt a "snap - pop" deep inside my left elbow,
> followed by a searing pain up the outside of my
> forearm from the elbow almost to the wrist!  I
> dropped the bow lifting handle & instinctively bent
> the elbow.  As I did so, I felt the elbow joint
> shift internally & go "pop" again.  It turned out I
> had dislocated my left elbow joint & then popped it
> back into place myself!  The inflatable was starting
> to float away, so I grabbed the bow line with my
> right hand & pulled it back.  I was able to pull the
> inflatable up onto the storage rack with just my
> right arm.  I didn't bother locking it down or
> putting the mooring cover on it.  The swelling &
> pain were already starting in my left arm.  I made a
> splint out of my day planner book & drove myself to
> the MidMichigan Medical Center Emergency Room, about
> 20 miles away.  The X-rays showed the joint was back
> in place, but I can't support the weight of my
> forearm & any sort of rotation of the forearm really
> hurts.  The hand, wrist, & fingers seem to be OK. 
> I'm currently typing this 1-handed as my left arm is
> in a splint.  The hospital has me on a heavy dose of
> ibuprofen to control the inflammation & industrial
> strength pain killers so I can sleep.
> 
> This is really stupid!  I just got back from
> backpacking on Isle Royale, where I spent 8 days
> clambering over rocks with a heavy backpack, without
> a scratch.  Now, I dislocate my elbow on my own
> beach pulling our inflatable onto the storage rack?
> 
> Roger Pihlaja
> S/VS. Dynamic Equilibrium       
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