Tom Skerritt
Footballguy
At some point, each of us experiences a traumatic event. And I would imagine that after we experience a traumatic event, we do some reflection. I will try to be as brief as possible, but I wanted to share my traumatic experience, my adventure for the past 8 days. I am at a point where sharing this here is finally physically possible. If you would like to participate then great. If you are not interested, then I hope you enjoy the rest of your day. And I welcome anyone who just wants to read along. I intend on describing it one day at a time... as best I can. So I will just get started.
DAY 1: Tuesday, January 2nd, 2018 (part 1)
Had just returned from out of town. Had taken my kids to see family over New Year's weekend. Today was the day I was going to start my off-week of home projects. For I had the entire week off from work, and plenty of things around the house that needed general maintenance and care.
Started the day with loading a bunch of things into my truck that needed to be taken for donation or to the city dump... clothes and a bicycle... a broken lawn mower... old landscaping... bulk trash type stuff. I then began tearing down the old garden area and prepping it for a nice new one. There were some low-lying tree branches from my neighbor's yard extending over my fence line, so I went around to cut them down. I'm standing on a low branch, maybe 2-3 feet off of the ground. I finish sawing off the offending branches and proceed to begin my descent. Now... this happens to be the tree that my kids (and myriad friends) "used" many years ago... to hone their treehouse-building skills. They would take scrap pieces of wood and just hammer and nail #### together. Which would eventually become some wooden paths leading to a landing platform. But they would borrow my tools, hammers and nails... and I'm sure it's a total mess... but it was a fun thing for the kids to do. In fact, as I'm cutting the branches, I look down and notice my long lost wood planer lying on the ground... rusted from years of weathering. So I step down off of the tree branch... and if you recall... I'm a few feet off of the ground... and I have my full weight with my right foot stepping down onto a nice, smooth, flat-looking board.
Obviously it's not just a board. I step onto a nice friendly nail sticking up from the bottom. I am immediately aware of what happens. I have a moment of panic. I say a few choice words. My son is helping me at the time, and he is witnessing the whole thing happen. I find out later that he knows that I am injured, but he is not aware that I stepped on a nail. I rush inside the house, still in mild shock. What the ####?! WTF?!?! What do I do?! I need to clean it. I need to go to the bathroom and soak it in soap and warm water. I soak/scrub the entry wound with some iodine. I apply antibacterial cream, and that's that. After I calm down... it is a little sore, but otherwise it's fine.
I was able to finish my chores that day. Along the way, I stopped at a local urgent care facility, but the waiting room was packed. I didn't feel like waiting for several hours. It just so happens that a friend of mine runs an urgent care facility in a nearby town, but he is not working today. I wanted to know if it was critical that I get my tetanus shot right away. (It's not critical by the way) I found out that the incubation period for tetanus is anywhere from 3-21 days. So I'm good for at least 24 hours. And he says that I can stop by tomorrow, and he would take care of me... exam, tetanus shot, etc. And he was also kind enough to call in an antibiotic prescription that I could begin taking immediately. Great!!! Start my antibiotics... get my tetanus shot tomorrow... all good.
DAY 1: Tuesday, January 2nd, 2018 (part 1)
Had just returned from out of town. Had taken my kids to see family over New Year's weekend. Today was the day I was going to start my off-week of home projects. For I had the entire week off from work, and plenty of things around the house that needed general maintenance and care.
Started the day with loading a bunch of things into my truck that needed to be taken for donation or to the city dump... clothes and a bicycle... a broken lawn mower... old landscaping... bulk trash type stuff. I then began tearing down the old garden area and prepping it for a nice new one. There were some low-lying tree branches from my neighbor's yard extending over my fence line, so I went around to cut them down. I'm standing on a low branch, maybe 2-3 feet off of the ground. I finish sawing off the offending branches and proceed to begin my descent. Now... this happens to be the tree that my kids (and myriad friends) "used" many years ago... to hone their treehouse-building skills. They would take scrap pieces of wood and just hammer and nail #### together. Which would eventually become some wooden paths leading to a landing platform. But they would borrow my tools, hammers and nails... and I'm sure it's a total mess... but it was a fun thing for the kids to do. In fact, as I'm cutting the branches, I look down and notice my long lost wood planer lying on the ground... rusted from years of weathering. So I step down off of the tree branch... and if you recall... I'm a few feet off of the ground... and I have my full weight with my right foot stepping down onto a nice, smooth, flat-looking board.
Obviously it's not just a board. I step onto a nice friendly nail sticking up from the bottom. I am immediately aware of what happens. I have a moment of panic. I say a few choice words. My son is helping me at the time, and he is witnessing the whole thing happen. I find out later that he knows that I am injured, but he is not aware that I stepped on a nail. I rush inside the house, still in mild shock. What the ####?! WTF?!?! What do I do?! I need to clean it. I need to go to the bathroom and soak it in soap and warm water. I soak/scrub the entry wound with some iodine. I apply antibacterial cream, and that's that. After I calm down... it is a little sore, but otherwise it's fine.
I was able to finish my chores that day. Along the way, I stopped at a local urgent care facility, but the waiting room was packed. I didn't feel like waiting for several hours. It just so happens that a friend of mine runs an urgent care facility in a nearby town, but he is not working today. I wanted to know if it was critical that I get my tetanus shot right away. (It's not critical by the way) I found out that the incubation period for tetanus is anywhere from 3-21 days. So I'm good for at least 24 hours. And he says that I can stop by tomorrow, and he would take care of me... exam, tetanus shot, etc. And he was also kind enough to call in an antibiotic prescription that I could begin taking immediately. Great!!! Start my antibiotics... get my tetanus shot tomorrow... all good.
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