dark + dog + glass door = . . .

Sometimes we forget how certain dangerous situations in the home are.

Early Saturday morning around 2 am I get a really bad attack of night cramps in my lower left leg - the cramps are bad enough to pull a muscle - I even heard it crack! And on top of that the cramp continues. . . . . plus just for fun I also have a flu!

In agony I awaken SWMBO and she stretches my foot and massages my lower leg but it does not seem to help.

Still in nauseating agony, I manage to stand up and apply the optimum forward pressure on my foot. I stand like this for a few minutes to hold the cramp and then I need to pee.

Feeling really sick with the shakes at this stage I hobble/shuffle my way in the dark to the toilet and tripped over the large dog we are dog sitting, and fall head first through an old glass paneled door in our hallway.

https://www.woodworkforums.com/attach...1&d=1317434735
The buckled section of metal cross bar is where the bridge of my nose hit and probably saves me from really serious injury.

Here is a close up of the cross bar.
https://www.woodworkforums.com/attach...1&d=1317434735

SWMBO, who also has a bad flu, hearing the sound of breaking glass, feeling nauseous - on hands and knees she crawls over to me and when she sees my laying in the door way with bits of glass sticking out of my head. She thinks, "I know first aid I can help", but standing up and helping me out of the doorway and probably seeing all the blood she feels nauseous and she feels like she will pass out so she has to sit down on the floor. I crawl into the bathroom about 2 m away and mange to stand up, turn on the light and sit on the loo, and start to inspect my injuries, wipe away the blood dripping down my face and pull bits of glass out of my head. Fortunately the head cuts are not as bad as they look but I find I have two long cuts on my left arm and hand that will clearly need stitching so a trip to emergency medical care is needed. However, SWMBO will definitely not be driving so I call my son and we head off to Royal Perth Hospital emergency. All this time what hurts the most is the bloody pulled muscle in my left leg and when I hobble into RPH with blood still slowly dripping off my face I must have looked like a right drunken hobo who has had a bad night with the booze and been in street fight or two.

Now to cut to the chase, the sum total of my injuries are, relatively superficial cuts but requiring 26 stitches on 2 places on my left arm/hand. The multiple punctures on my forehead where I pulled bits of glass out, and two badly bruised rakish cuts across the bridge of my nose, have been superglued closed (see there is a WW link here!)

My nose bridge is swelling up quite nicely which should add to the drunken street hobo look.

All I can say I was really lucky that I did not receive a deep puncture or two or hit a major blood vessel. I was definitely saved by that metal cross bar in the door and my now rather painful nose.

The doctors at hospital emergency were amazed I did all this without any alcohol.

Also my leg still hurts more than everything else.

At the first available opportunity that door is gone!

Bob, how is the dog?:U



Good to hear you are ok, but you may be mistaken for Freddy Kruger:;

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Originally Posted by Pat

Bob, how is the dog?:U

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The dog is fine - it's a somewhat bewildered full size long haired/rough collie. It's a sweet dog and I do not blame it one bit - it's nervous about being in a new household and it can't seem to find a place to sleep in the house. I was already concerned that I would tread on and injure it during my regular night-time shuffles to the loo - instead . . . . .

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Good to hear you are ok, but you may be mistaken for Freddy Kruger:;

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Yeah, next Wednesday I have to represent a national professional association (ie suit and tie) and be a chair of a review panel. Could be an interesting meeting - I'm hoping for a "don't mess with me" appearance, but fear it could be a, "who's the jerk with the busted face". :(

Bob, I hope you appreciate how lucky you are. I know of someone who did the same thing many years ago and did not survive it.

I hope you recover quickly.

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Originally Posted by Groggy

Bob, I hope you appreciate how lucky you are. I know of someone who did the same thing many years ago and did not survive it.

I hope you recover quickly.

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Thanks Groggy and I really do appreciate how luck I was. One of my school mates died when he was accidentally pushed into a large glass door. One small sliver of glass hit a major blood vessel and it was all over in a few minutes.

One of the reasons I'm posting this is as a wake up call for everyone to check all their door glass and make sure it is safety glass.

I often think of how clever the Japanese are to use paper and screens.

Wow Bob, what a comedy of catastrophes! So glad u got off so lightly, take care mate. :2tsup:

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Originally Posted by Rattrap

Wow Bob, what a comedy of catastrophes! So glad u got off so lightly, take care mate. :2tsup:

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I agree - on reflecting about it , it almost has an urban myth air about it!

Cripes Bob, lucky boy. Hope your injuries heal soon and not too much time in the shed is lost :)

I've got a similar problem, left thigh just locks up,muscle gets as hard as,Quack put me on an over the counter product called CrampEze,a natural product, so far so good, fractured a toe the other night getting out of bed so quick collided with the bottom of the bed ,didn't feel much at the time but in the morning foot had swollen, big bruise in area, off to xray ,Yeah ,small fracture across 4th toe.
I sympathise with you:oo::oo:

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Originally Posted by acmegridley

I've got a similar problem, left thigh just locks up,muscle gets as hard as,Quack put me on an over the counter product called CrampEze,a natural product, so far so good,

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Thanks for the tip - I'll check it out later today

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fractured a toe the other night getting out of bed so quick collided with the bottom of the bed ,didn't feel much at the time but in the morning foot had swollen, big bruise in area, off to xray ,Yeah ,small fracture across 4th toe.
I sympathise with you:oo::oo:

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Been there and done that too. I've also dropped a length of 2" glav waterpipe on one of my big toes just 30s before I put on my steel caps.:(

Hi Bob,
Jeez, you had an adventure!!! :oo:

I used to get leg cramps and I was put on magnesium tablets about six years ago - no more cramps. :2tsup:

Best wishes for a speedy recovery.

BobL: Quite frankly, I'm happy that you lived through it to explain what happened.

In McBride at 53N, the sun slides behind the mountains as early as 2:10PM in mid winter.
We average one power failure of uncertain duration, each week. Damn but it is dark when the whole town goes out! It is BLACK. -20C, and a winter snow storm, I'm unhappy (again).

I have a bunch (6?) of little rechargable flashlights with high intensity LEDs which sit in the power points all the time. Power failure? Half a dozen nice bright little lights meant primarily to avoid accidents. The rest of the time, they have a secondary light, just enough to see by. Third, I can pull one out of a power point and really, really turn it on for a very bright light.

Then I go down stairs, start the power inverter in my solar power system. When the display lights up, I plug in my smoldering wood pellet stove, 500 watts of juice and I'm warm to go back to bed. I'm running a Harman P38+ stove and burn 8,000lbs to 10,000lbs pellets per winter.
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Eeek.

Thanks for telling the story. We all need the occasional reminder of how dangerous the ordinary home can be - never mind the shed!

- Michael

Gees Bob, that's a bit rough. Hope you're on the mend ok.

Cheers,
Dave

Ho Bob,

Crikey mate you have been in the wars lately. And what everyone else said, you are so lucky, a bit closer to the door when you tripped and a different outcome for sure. Must have been an ordeal for your poor wife as well.

I have two tall panels of glass by the front door, quite thin, one with a crack it it and they just about fall out if the wind grabs the door and slams it shut. Keep thinking, 'I am going to wear that glass one day'. Might be a good reminder to swap it out for some laminated panels. So thanks for the incentive.

Don't have a dog to fall over but alcohol has been known to be consumed on the premises, a little bit.

Hope you heal soon, and swap that door out.

Cheers
Pops

G'day Y'all,
I had bad leg cramps ( Charlie Horses) until my Dr . told me to drink Tonic water, no alcohol. It has quinine in it. Tastes horrible until you get used to it, then it only tastes terrible. Start with a litter a day.
Regards
Joe

thanks for all the sympathy fellas. The injuries from the glass are currently a bit of a side issue. As well as the pulled muscle I had a professional commitment in Toowoobma I had to deal with on, so on monday I flew drove to Toowoomba and came back wednesday night. During this time the low level flu I had running in the background has flared, almost certainly because I just pushed every thing so far. Anyway I'm not at home in bed!

On hearing my croaky voice and seeing my bandages and bruises, and drawn face, said, "You look like you've had a rough time?"
I just said you wouldn't believe it if if I told you.

jredburn, I have tried the tonic water method but it has not really worked. The crampeze seems to be working so far.

Went to the docs today to have the stitches removed - all seems to healing well. I just wish this flu would leave me alone. I was awful last night, luckily my swollen nose from the dive through the glass door is subsiding so I can now half breathe through it. I could do without this hacking cough and bringing up the odd green slug every now and then.

The pulled leg muscle is still giving me gyp - can't walk on if without limping and I get a sharp pain after walking ~50 m.

The doc was too busy to treat me today for these ailments so it's back again on Monday - lucky I am not sick :(

Only just caught up with this thread - glad to see that you are on the mend and nothing permanent from your header through the door apart from some scars you can embellish with the grandkids.

Timely reminder re the non safety glass and how easily you can come to grief. Go buy a lottery ticket and enjoy.

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Originally Posted by Bob38S

Only just caught up with this thread - glad to see that you are on the mend and nothing permanent from your header through the door apart from some scars you can embellish with the grandkids.

Timely reminder re the non safety glass and how easily you can come to grief. Go buy a lottery ticket and enjoy.

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Thanks Bob.

It's bizarre because at work I am very OSH aware and even in the shed things have improved markedly over the years (for example one end of my new shed is built with fireproof materials so I can weld/grind etc) but once inside the house things tend to get a bit casual.

Talking about fireproof - I was feeling a bit better this afternoon so I headed off to the hardware to pick up a couple of fixings and remembered I still had some gift vouchers from my birthday. After wandering through the tool section nothing grabbed my attention so I headed over to fixings and on my way I walked past the fire extinguishers. I already have a 1 kg extinguisher in the shed but given how accident prone I have become I decided to put the vouchers towards buying a 2.3 kg unit. With any luck I won't need it but I feel a bit better having it on hand just in case.

https://www.woodworkforums.com/attach...1&d=1318067263

Bob, I am really glad you are getting ok again. I suffered with continual night cramps to my feet and sometimes calves as well for over 20 years and this was with taking minerals including magnesium. When I moved here my new doctor put me on Blackmores S.79 Silicon dioxide 33mg twice a week. The dose was increased to thrice weekly and it works a treat. :D If I forgert to buy the S.79 from my doc I just go to a health shop and ask for it.:)

Marg.

Reminds me of a mate some years ago at his Birthday party, of all places,- who managed an even more spectacular, " entrance !! " ( or should I say, " Exit, " ) through an old plate glass sliding door. He'd had a few drinks,- just a few. He also owned a totally stupid mutt of a kangaroo dog which never ever looked where it was going,- more interested in what everyone else was doing, than looking where it was running. Someone had invertingly shut the sliding door for some reason. Mate was heading back out to his party with carton of cold " tinnies." Stupid dog for some reason decided to gallop ahead of my mate, and literally went, " Crash,' through the old glass door head first, tripping up the Birthday boy in the process, who endded up on the back verandah face first, amongst a mix of broken glass, squashed beer cans, and a half-dead blood-covered dog. Mate was the lucky one,- apart from the shock, and a few cuts and bruises he lived to tell the tale,. As for the dog,- it endded it's life there, & then, and as my mate said afterwards, " It was the ONLY useful thing that dog had ever done in its entire life." Door got replaced with a modern Safety Glass Door, complete with modern up-to-date Safety Screen Door on the outside as well. Last time I heard from my mate, he'd got another dog,- but now when he has a party he keeps dog OUTSIDE on a chain, out of the way, also makes damm sure the glass door stays open,- even though it is a new one, he's not taking an chances second time round.

Roger

Anything with large glass panels arround the home is potentially very very dangerous, and bad accidents invilving them are all too common.

My mother had a real "thing" about glass sliding doors..she never wanted one in the house.

The families old neibour in his young years in the 60s had a night job as a securuty guard, one night he was chasing an intruder and ran straight thru a glass door he did not see...fortunately it only cost him his knee cap.

Not all that long ago a mates girl friend, simply put her hand out to stop a swinging door at a friends place and put her hand straight thru a relativly small glass pane...lots of blood lots of stiches.

They started putting glass in doors arround houses big time in the 50's and 60's, and pretty well none of it was either safety or laminated glass and this persisted thru the 70's and into the eighties.

Glass is one of those great materials that we take for granted.....it can be very very dangerous, and it is very inconvienient to treat....it is hard or nearly impossible to see in a wound and does not show up well on xrays.

replacing plate or float glass with safety glass or laminated glass is a real good idea.......another option is fitting security film..it is like strong clear window tint.......the better brands realy hold the glass together in a sheet and vastly increase breakage strength and reduce susseptability to cracking.

I sold the stuff about 20 years ago......scotch used to have a product and there was a coupe of other brands like "profelon".

cheers

Just a followup to this story.

On Monday my pulled leg muscle was still causing me gyp so I went to the docs and was sent off for a battery of blood and urine tests and scans. The result is I was diagnosed as being diabetic (type II) and having blood clots behind my left knee. The docs also noticed my cough and generally run down condition and asked me how long I'd had it, and I said 3 weeks, so I was prescribed antibiotics.

So - it is most likely that the leg cramps and the constant need to go to the loo were cause by the diabetes, and all this happened because I was just not taking care of myself.

Right now I am on sick leave and have to keep still with my leg up and go for gentle short walks every couple of hours or so. In just one day I went from someone who took no medication to someone who now takes 14 tablets a day! Next week I have to go back for an ultrasound to see how they are going and no flying until they are sorted out.

Now that I'm on all these meds almost immediately I noticed that my constant thirst and multiple daily trips to the loo have a disappeared and for the first time in years I got 7 hours of continuous sleep last night.

Thats a bit unfortunate......but hardly uncommon.

Diabetes, is epedemic in Australia and most other western counrties......once your eyes and ears are opened ya start to see how many people close to you have the blasted pestilance.

So far, my sisters husband, my niece and about 5 of my mates have been diagnosed with diabetes...my quack is right onto it and does blood work on all his at risk patients about once every 12 months.

Diabetes will only kill you if you let it...if you get right onto the diet and lifestyle issues, early and take it serioulsy.......you will probaly be more healthy than before you were diagnosed.

If not......it is a slow and lingering death, it effects every organ in the body, ya start to lose fingers and toes, then arms and legs then ya kidneys shut down followed by ya liver......very very nasty.

seriolusly chaps these days diabeetes and prostate cancer are right up there with heart disease.

If ya have not been to the quack for a while..its a real good idea to go a get a check up and make sure ya get some blood tests done.

And don't think you have to be fat or old for these problems to come knocking.

get these things early and you will be far far better off.


As for the blood clotts and DVTs....these are more common than lots would have us belive....SHMBO came home with a couple of DVTs after he last trip to the UK..so she spent several months on the rat poison tablets (warfren).
All good now, but she is not keen on flying economy class any more.

Hope all goes well bob.

cheers

Yep I agree - there's nothing special about any of these conditions and I just have to get on with fixing myself up. I just hope the sequence of events can serve as a warning to others.

Bob
I have just found this thread and read it with some interest, and sympathy.
You must get better.
I have not seen any of your wood slabbing holidays for some time now, I am suffering withdrawels. I always enjoy them as they are much better than reading about those horrible weeds that are slabbed in the East. (of course, I need to insert a TIC here).
Sincerely
Willy
Jarrahland

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Originally Posted by Willy Nelson

Bob
I have just found this thread and read it with some interest, and sympathy.
You must get better.
I have not seen any of your wood slabbing holidays for some time now, I am suffering withdrawels. I always enjoy them as they are much better than reading about those horrible weeds that are slabbed in the East. (of course, I need to insert a TIC here).
Sincerely
Willy
Jarrahland

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Thanks Willy, I'm suffering withdrawls too. SWMBO went out and I snuck down to the shed and I spent an hour or so putting things away and re-arranging the screwdrivers and now I'm pooped.

Gawd Bob, you have been in the wars. No doubt the diabetes diagnosis was a shock but at least you now know, and can do something about it.

Get well soon. :2tsup:

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Originally Posted by BobL

https://www.woodworkforums.com/attach...1&d=1317434735
The buckled section of metal cross bar is where the bridge of my nose hit and probably saves me from really serious injury.


At the first available opportunity that door is gone!

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SAFETY GLASS

glad to hear that your crash was slightly amusing and not catastrophic