Adventures in the ER on a Snowy Night

Good Monday!

To begin with let me say a big "thank you" for the prayers lifted up on my behalf this evening. It means a lot to me, for sure! I'm home from the Emergency Room now, munching on a few chips and with a hot decaf tea going. I thought I would update you on my misadventures Sunday night.

On any given night we send trucks out from the presses in Lowell to the distribution centers two times. In the first run we send what we call preships, in other words the innards of the newspaper (classifieds, feature sections like the food section, advertising, etc) and in the second run of the night we send out the "mains" which, as the name implies, is the main part of the paper with news, sports and so forth.

Thinking we were a driver short I took the truck which had the preships for the distribution centers in Rogers, Bentonville and Bella Vista and headed into the snowy night. My first stop was Rogers. I was putting the dock plate in position when my feet slipped out from under me and I landed hard on my right side, with my right arm taking the blow. My shoes had gotten some snow and ice on them.

Remember those old commercials long ago that said, "I've fallen and I can't get up?" Well, I've lived that now. Thanks be to the Lord I had the presence of mind to grab my cellphone as I exited the cab of the truck! I summoned help (I was alone in the center at the time) but still lay there for a little over a half hour, my right arm not moving and I was feeling a bit queasy. After a bit my boss and one of our drivers converged on the center and with both of them assisting I got on my feet. So here I find myself in the ER at Mercy Med Center in Rogers where X rays revealed a hairline fracture of my humerus bone just below the shoulder.

The Doc ordered two days total pampering-er, I mean rest and I'm in this sling brace thingy for six weeks. Yuck!

The kicker? The driver I thought was not coming in? He came in. He was the one who helped my boss get me back on my feet. So later as we're waiting in ER, Chad says, "Boy I wish you would have remembered Dale was coming in."

Quoth I, "YOU wish??"

I'll never live this down.