• Hi all and welcome to TheWoodHaven2 brought into the 21st Century, kicking and screaming! We all have Alasdair to thank for the vast bulk of the heavy lifting to get us here, no more so than me because he's taken away a huge burden of responsibility from my shoulders and brought us to this new shiny home, with all your previous content (hopefully) still intact! Please peruse and feed back. There is still plenty to do, like changing the colour scheme, adding the banner graphic, tweaking the odd setting here and there so I have added a new thread in the 'Technical Issues, Bugs and Feature Requests' forum for you to add any issues you find, any missing settings or just anything you'd like to see added/removed from the feature set that Xenforo offers. We will get to everything over the coming weeks so please be patient, but add anything at all to the thread I mention above and we promise to get to them over the next few days/weeks/months. In the meantime, please enjoy!

Well, that day didn't go to plan.

I visited Mike this afternoon, he was hobbling on crutches, not looking that happy.
I did offer to take a picture to post here, but he declined.
The offending wire is still hanging from the roof of Mike's shop.
I can sympathise with him, I remember back in 2011 when I broke my leg, the chaps I worked with thought I was mad not getting signed off. I worked from home, leg in a cast up on a side table, laptop on the coffee table, set up with a packed lunch and flask of coffee. I would have gone barney not having anything I could do.
 
Sorry to hear that, Mike. Hope you are back on the road to recovery some time soon.

It's unfortunately a fact that 55% of all accidents occur at home as against less than 1% occurring at work. A lot of attention is given to preventing accidents at work or on the road but accidents at home don't get the same publicity. I suppose that one thing we could all bear in mind is that, if we were in charge of health and safety in a workshop, would we allow an employee to carry out the task in the way that we intend to?.
 
Sorry to hear.

I did mine playing badminton a few years ago. How long were you in A&E for? 10 hours for me, obviously wasn't considered critical. I failed the calf squeeze test, so equinus cast applied. Went to see a specialist (privately), after two weeks into a VACOped boot for about 10 weeks. My specialist said that they encourage non-surgical treatments now, if the rupture is caught early enough, and surgery only for athletes.

One thing I would stress is don't skimp on the physio. I did somewhat, because once it wasn't impacting my life I lost interest a bit, but it is still weaker than the other leg, and does twinge from time to time.

I gave up badminton, and any other intensive activity, terrified it would go again, but am now playing padel a bit and all seems well. Cycling is also good if done in moderation with limited ankle flex.

Best wishes for a strong recovery
 
SimonB said:
How long were you in A&E for?
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Four hours. I was first examined after an hour. The rest of the time was waiting for various tests, and for the plaster. It took both doctors I saw less than 15 seconds to diagnose a complete rupture.

SimonB said:
I failed the calf squeeze test, so equinus cast applied. Went to see a specialist (privately), after two weeks into a VACOped boot for about 10 weeks. My specialist said that they encourage non-surgical treatments now, if the rupture is caught early enough, and surgery only for athletes.
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I expect that this is the path I'll be following, with the caveat that my break is quite low down by the heel bone, which apparently can mean an increased chance of surgery. Also, with the force of my fall, it's hard to know how far up my leg the other end of the tendon has gone. If it's a long way, then surgery is required to pull it back down into contact with its other half.

SimonB said:
One thing I would stress is don't skimp on the physio.
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I spoke to my physio whilst I was still in A&E. I'm a big believer in physio, and am a stickler for the regimes they set. One of the reasons I think my recovery from a hip operation was so complete was that I saw a physio privately, and followed his protocols assiduously. As a sportsman, you get used to doing what the physio tells you!

SimonB said:
Cycling is also good if done in moderation with limited ankle flex.
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I hope so, because it's the only sport I have left. One of my first questions will be "when can I get back on my bike?"
 
Lons said:
Has that snookered your plans to get away with the teardrop Mike?
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Yes. I reckon I'm about 2 weeks work from finishing, but as I need my hands for the crutches (so can't hold any tools), and am likely to be on crutches for 10 to 12 weeks, it will be a bonus now if we get to use it this summer/ autumn.
 
FFS Mike, that is not good. :oops:
Look after yourself, you are not getting any younger.
Hope your recovery is successful. Physio and more physio.

(Someone mentioned a ladder. Can we start a Go-Fund-Me to buy you one?;))
 
John Brown said:
Keen to see the teardrop progress!
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So am I! It's not impossible it will be slightly sooner than I suggested yesterday, as it appears I could be standing unaided (ie no crutches) in about 4 weeks time. That would let me get on with some limited jobs.

-

Funny story from the day of my fall. A huge lorry had gone along the road half an hour or so before my accident, and had ripped a branch off a tree which had then blocked the lane. I had hauled this out of the way, onto our drive, to let the 2 blocked cars get through. Because I had electricity on the go in the workshop, I left it there to deal with after I'd finished my wiring. So.......

............when I came to be driven to the hospital, there was a large branch blocking our drive. Far too heavy for my wife to move. Our nearest neighbours up the road are 100 metres away and much older than us. I obviously couldn't start a chainsaw in my condition, and couldn't pull the branch. I got my wife to fetch a saw. So, for quarter of an hour before I headed off to A&E I was sawing up a tree whilst balanced on one leg. All very silly.
 
Best wishes for a good and speedy (as possible) recovery Mike G. Having followed your work on the forum since joining I can appreciate it must be rather frustrating at this time not to be getting on with things.

My most recent 'accident' in the workshop was getting hit on the forehead by a length of (very sharp edged) yew. I've been moving it around (with other timbers) for a while... earmarked for use to edge the mobile fliptop units. Well... I wasn't quite paying attention when hanging back in place a sash clamp, knocked against the leaf blower (should have moved it prior) which knocked into the yew - and a couple of bits of oak - which whacked me HARD! Quick rub (as we do) to then see the blood on my hand and feel it running down my nose... Rush into the house, cold wet flannel... call wife ‐ to hear her words of "what have you effing done now - - - Oh my G..." So, out come the plasters, swabs etc., and a HUGE plaster applied. Cut about 1½" long... had a headache for a while and it's taken just over a week to heal.

Ive another 'tale' in respect of using a folding/extending type ladder but I'll leave that for now. Just will say I could have broken my back - but thankfully didn't.
 

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Mike G said:
Counter-intuitively, recovery is slightly quicker after an op than without one.
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I think they sew your trendon ends back together so they heal faster than if there isn't a gap.
I read they drill holes in your knee cap to sew your quadriceps tendon back on.

Pete
 
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Mike G said:
I've just got back from seeing a consultant. The gap is too large (and too low) to deal with this injury conservatively, so I'll be having an operation next week.
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All the best Mike, wishing you a speedy recovery after such a freaky accident. I follow a lot on this forum and find it wonderful. Greetings from Abu Dhabi where I work now to help with Air Defence systems. As a hint and you know I am from SA: With your summer around the corner, even though you might still be on crutches, don't forget to light a fire and sear some first class lamb chops! With a glass of class of course! Kind regards. Carel.
 
Karookop said:
.........With your summer around the corner, even though you might still be on crutches, don't forget to light a fire and sear some first class lamb chops! With a glass of class of course! Kind regards. Carel.
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Thanks Carel. Yep, it's going to be a lazy sort of summer for me, unfortunately.
 
Good luck with the Op Mike. A bit of a faff but as I'm sure you know, surgery is often the best way to properly kick off the healing process and get you back up that ladder before you know it.
 
Mike G said:
Thanks Phil. The operation is scheduled for Friday PM, and if all goes well I'll be home that evening. I have reacted badly to general anaesthetics once or twice, so I'm banking on an overnight stay.
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Can they not give you local anaesthetic or spinal block Mike?
My wife had that for both Achilles, one of her hips and a knee. She could see the knee op in the screen of a switched off computer, not something I would want to see, Gave her some headphones and choice of music and aparently she sang along. :ROFLMAO:

She said she could feel and hear them chopping around her bones but no pain and very quick recovery. The Achilles involvd bone removal, manipulation of the tendons and brackets screwed in so not minor surgery.
 
They've offered an epidural (spinal block), but I have a history of bad backs, so am completely against anyone sticking anything into my spine. I'll take my chances with a general.
 
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