Thursday, July 5, 2012

Sharon had a bad day and a bad break…

Heystack Rock

With a promised sunny day we decided to head south and check out Tillamook and its renowned cheese and ice cream factory. They make all the Tillamook cheese in this small little coastal town. They make over 167,000 pounds of Tillamook Cheese each and every day at this small looking factory. Tilamook factoryWe were able to enjoy samples of several cheeses liking both the sharp cheese and the habanero jack cheese a lot. The sample of the pumpkin ice cream wasn’t all that good so we bought our own scoop of a flavor we preferred – good ice cream but we like Texas Blue Bell and the east coast Hershey's better.

Oregon dunesLeaving the factory we started to head back slowly checking out all the beach cutouts and trails to the beach. Each visit to the ocean we were greeted with the familiar sound of crashing waves, the coolness of the sea breeze, occasional sights of magnificent sea stacks (especially those of Cannon Beach) and beautiful beaches.

Just south of Cannon Beach we pulled into a spot that has a trail to the beach that passes through a real nice stand of older growth forest. Lots of people with surf boards were heading down the trail. As we walked down the nice path admiring the large Sitka Spruces we heard a creek and decided to go take a peak at it. This is when our day took a turn for the worse.

I looked over the edge of a 8-10 foot drop off into the creek and Sharon passed me to look herself when she seemingly disappeared! She had stepped on some soggy ground that either gave way or was vegetation only and off she went over the edge, head first into the rocky creek below.

Tilamook Coastal areaAll I saw was her feet heading down and as soon as I got to the edge she had already up righted herself, completely soaked in the cold water and told me she thought she broke her wrist. Not good! So I dropped myself over the edge to get to her and realized it was going to be very difficult to get her up over the 8-10 foot ledge with a broken wrist. So we walked a little ways upstream with me holding her as to not allow her to fall again on the slippery rocks and injure her wrist further.

Just before the bad fallWe found a spot where the ledge was only about four feet high. I found a huge rock and placed it for her stand on and then I lifted her up on the ledge where she was able to stand. We were then able to take the 10 minute walk back to the car. Once in the car we needed to find the nearest hospital so we used our Garmin and located one about 25 minutes north in Seaside, Oregon.

Into the emergency room Sharon went as I parked the car. She checked herself in and then we waited for doctors, x-rays, more doctors… you get the picture. They did their best to set the fracture of her radius, she has a Colles’ fracture, Sharon afterbut were unable to get it “just right.” So they splinted her and stitched up her cut knee and the next day we headed to a see hand specialist in Portland. They told her she did a “good job” on her wrist and as a result Sharon will have surgery on her wrist on Friday.

Well there you have it… a full timer’s nightmare… Sharon is doing well and with the pain meds feeling no pain. Wish her well and hope that her surgery goes without a hitch on Friday. Sharon thinks the worst thing that happened was she destroyed her Droidx as it fell in the creek so we will have to figure out a temporary solution to get a phone until our contract runs out this fall.

Fortunately for us we had already made reservations in Portland and we arrived yesterday at Fairview RV Park. We planned to stay a week but may need to stay a bit longer… oh well, at least we have all the time in the world…

33 comments:

  1. Oh my! Best wishes for a clean and sucessful surgery. i'm sure you will take good care of her. Keep us posted on her progress.

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  2. I'm so very sorry for this. Please get well, soon.

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  3. Occasional follower here, never comment. BUT I had a similar mishap this winter as we were travelling with my upper left arm, ended up having surgery and so on. This is not fun, but once the surgery is done, the worst is over as every day gets better (except for all the things you can't do for yourself). Good wishes to both the patient and the nurse.
    Dione

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  4. Good luck with the surgery and hope for a speedy recovery!

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  5. I hope Sharon is right handed. I broke my wrist in seven places once when I got bucked off a horse. It was very painful for a while. I hope the surgery goes well tomorrow, and Sharon makes a speedy recovery.

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  6. Best wishes for a speedy recovery.

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  7. Oh my. So scary. I'm glad it was her wrist and not her neck. You must have been FREAKED OUT! Glad you were able to get her out of there.

    Sharon...Hang in there. The fall sounds horrible. You must have been scared on the way down. Oh my!

    Susan

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  8. Oh my!! So sorry to hear of Sharon's fall and injury, but very glad that the injuries weren't even worse! Hope the surgery goes well, and that Sharon is on the road to recovery very soon. (No pun intended) :)

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  10. Oh Dear Lord. Our prayers are with Sharon and you. We pray for a successful surgery and complete healing.

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  11. Best wishes for a speedy recovery!

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  12. Oh such an awful thing to happen!! GOOD wishes and prayers for an easy surgery and recuperation.

    You could go get her something really nice: ummmm like good smelling lotion, favorite magazines, a soft new pillow with a pretty sham to rest her arm on?


    ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
    Karen and Steve
    (Our Blog) RVing: Small House... BIG Backyard
    http://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com

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  13. Omigoodness....that sound just so awful. I am sooo sorry, but glad that you could get medical care and can settle into Portland. Wishing you well.

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  14. Oh my, things sure to happen in a blink of an eye. We hope Sharon's surgery goes well. Please keep us posted. At least you have a pretty place to recover.

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  15. Best wishes from Michigan on the surgery tomorrow. You'll be good as new in no time. Just think - John will be cutting all your food up into little pieces for you!

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  16. Good luck, hope the surgery goes well and quickly. And no, you can't share her pain meds... ;c)

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  17. Oh, DARN, Sharon! Because we pass "your" RV site at Collier every day, we think of you both and regret that we won't be in Elkton when you pass through. NOW we will be thinking extra long and hard to send get well wishes! Jim & Jeanette

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  18. So sorry to hear of Sharon's accident. Hoping all goes well with the surgery and recovery.

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  19. Had an on the road broken ankle last year. It is a nightmare and I really feel for you both. Hope your insurance is easier to work with than ours was. So glad you are in a big area with good medical facilities. I was in small townville Montana and they wouldn't pin it and it still isn't right 10 months later. Sure hope all goes well.

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  20. Really want to thank everyone for their well wishes... Sharon is enjoying the pain meds and hopefully tomorrow all will be almost as good as new...

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  21. Sorry to read about Sharon's accident. Hopefully there will be quick healing after surgery.

    I'd love to have seen the look on your face as Sharon disappeared.

    Another challenge to face but it won't spoil your fun.

    Blessings

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  22. The surgical repair will help it to heal faster- glad they can do that. Tell Sharon to take care and enjoy those pain meds while they last :). Try putting the phone in a bag of rice- it might dry out.

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  23. we're so sorry to hear of Sharon's mishap! Here's hoping the surgery will get you back to where you want to be soon! that's scary, that something can happen so quickly when you least expect it! A blessing, sort of, that it was a wrist and not something worse.

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  24. PS. With AT & T, we bought a cheapie phone for 10.00, added on to our plan in case our phones die or drown. Maybe your phone carrier has something like that, a contingency phone for emergencies?

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  25. Oh gosh, SO sorry to hear this. Hope Sharon heals fast from the surgery. If it helps any there are LOTS of REALLY good chocolate shops in Portland. I recommend as much chocolate therapy as possible. Best healing wishes!
    Nina

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  26. So sorry about the break! I hope it all heals fast and you'll be on your way.

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  27. Oh so sorry to hear of your nasty fall. We are currently heading north on I-5 and going through Portland at about 1:30 so we will be thinking of you and your surgery. I agree with the comment above: lots of good chocolate always helps.

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  28. Oh No! Poor girl. Hope she isn't in a lot of pain.

    The older we get the worse it hurts when we fall. I hope your waiting on her hand and foot for the next few weeks!!

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  29. I heard about the fall from Sharon's Facebook followers and sent her a text to see how she was doing. Now I know why I never heard back--no Droid! Portland has great medical facilities, so that is something to be grateful for. I also noticed your park is very close to the well-known McMenamin's Edgefield Pub and Lodge in Troutdale. They usually have live music there on the weekends if Sharon is feeling up to it. Hope the sunshine helps her make a speedy recovery.

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  30. Sorry to hear about the accident but Portland is a good place to be 'stuck' - especially now that summer has arrived. We are also in Portland now - please let us know if we can help out!

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  31. Yuck - best wishes for a speedy recovery!

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  32. I am behind in reading blogs and just found out about the accident. So sorry to hear.

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  33. Wow! So sorry to hear about Sharon's fall. You're so right that is an RVer's nightmare. It sounds like she's in good hands. Hope she heals fast.

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