How I spent my summer vacation of 2013

morningstar55ny

Veteran Expediter
Driver
april ...... i was at a delivery , getting unloaded and steped out of my truck wrong. My left foot missing the top step and going down as i had grabbed the hand grip bars my right foot stayed on the top step, causing my knee to crunch together , feeling a pop .. that smarted. i finished what i was doing with a lil hobble and when done drove somewhere to park and play the waiting game. I fell asleep , woke at 2/3 amish and omg my knee had swelled and i couldn't even stand on it hardly at all. this all happend in Iowa land .... i had a good friend whom lived a lil over 100 miles away ..... sooo i just knew i would need some help .... i managed to drive to her town and she came to meet me at the truck stop , and took me to the ER ..... everything went down hill from there. I started getting treated for my knee injury , ice, pills whole 9 yards.... then ended up with a staph infection in my blood stream! how did that happen ?? have NO earthly idea , cuz i had no cuts or anything like that. by mothers day weekend i was in the hospital for 5 days , of them trying to get my temp down that kept shooting up over 100 to 104 for a few days .... during that time , i was developing pain in my shoulders/ upper arms and a small lil lump on my collar bone .... when i asked about it all 2 docs and nurses all said .." Oh its most likely from you using the walker them muscles are not use to that. I didn't know i had a muscle on my collar bone ....... ok
well it got worse , by memorial weekend my upper arms / mostly left shoulder and upper arm .. got so painful i could hardly move them, plus the lump got bigger.. it was so painful to the point of tears, so i requested we go to the ER that monday night , i couldn't even dress myself ... that was so awkward and i never in my life felt so helpless.
So 2 shots in my ahh butt .and my arms felt great , hell i even made breakfast the next morning and a nice dinner as the sorriness slowly came back and i went for a follow up on this whole situation. Finally a 3rd different doc who was doing my follow up and seeing what i been thru said , wow this is very serious ms henderson .... im like NO kidding ..... so he strongly refered me to a specialist in Des moines which was 35 miles from my friends place. Sooo off we went that same day..... and thats where they kept me there for around 8 days i think. I ended up with surgeries on my knee , collar bone and upper left arm and 3 and half months of strong antibiotics IV inserted , thru a pic line that stayed in my arm all that time. It was finally removed in middle of aug. and I was kept on antibiotics pill form till end of sept.
By 4th of July weekend i was healthy enough to drive myself home back to Buffalo NY . We rented a car and off I went .. my left arm was a lil sore .. my right arm was fine.... my friend was a little nervous at 1st wondering if id be ok to drive .... i just laughed and said . IM a truck driver.. hell yes i can drive and besides i was soo soo anxious to get home to be free of the hospitals and being cooped up for months and sleeping in a recliner. for a while there it was extremely painful for me to sleep flat in a bed , the pressure from my upper body to my left shoulder made the pain worse.
during all this time ....... i kept my owner updated , and the truck was parked in a safe place.. i had NO idea how long I was going to be down for. He never asked how i was or even sent a card. JUst was more concerned about the truck .... my friend went and got all my things out of it , so he could come and pick it up. I would never ever abandon a truck ... in all the years I been driving for panther I always took good care of the trucks i was in , and stayed loyal to the owners i drove for , and stayed out there on the road for months at a time. I do miss it , i miss the $$ too. ( note : yes I did ok as a solo and had NO complaints on my pay :) )
I can go back to work .... well so thats what a couple of my docs are saying .... work mens comp has been a hassle to deal with. But I know the owner I was working for at the time will not hire me back.
my injured knee is slowly getting better ... but it can be painful when i 1st go to stand when sitting for a while.... my left arm is about bk to normal. i do not need a walker anymore and only use a cane or walking stick when im going to walk a lot like at a mall or festival kinda thing.
My Primary doc wants to put me on disability. * sigh* ...... so im checking into learning to work office computer programs.
ive had thoughts of applying for a small business grant and maybe just getting my own truck.
anyways
Christmas season is here.... and sorry to all the fellow Panther drivers ... I wont be out there sticking them chocolate mint candy canes to your windows this yr .. lol .. :(
soo thats whats been happening in my world ...... everyone have a nice holiday and stay safe out there.
 
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Mailer

Veteran Expediter
Owner/Operator
No wonder haven't seen you post in a while. Hope you get well and healthy soon :)
 

ATeam

Senior Member
Retired Expediter
Wow! What an ordeal! I'm sorry you are in these circumstances. Your work ethic and sense of responsibility comes through loud and clear in your post. If you do drive again, your next fleet owner should be glad to have you.
 

davekc

Senior Moderator
Staff member
Fleet Owner
That is a summer all right. Hope you get better soon. Wonder what happen to you as you dropped out of sight for awhile.
 

layoutshooter

Veteran Expediter
Retired Expediter
Happy to see you back again and on the mend. It sounds like that was not the best way to spend your summer. Let's hope there is no repeat of it this summer.
 

morningstar55ny

Veteran Expediter
Driver
ty everyone...... i can't believe how long its taking to do all this mending .... im am sick and tired of the pain and i never been poked with so many needles and hospital stays ( 3x ) ... in all my life in such a short period of time. i am going a lil stir crazy heh ......
 

cheri1122

Veteran Expediter
Driver
That was some 'vacation'! For people who are used to being self sufficient, there's nothing worse than being 'disabled', even temporarily. Add in the nosocomial [hospital acquired] infection, and the misery index is waaaay up there, I'm sure. It was good that you had a friend nearby, to help, even if you hated needing the help.
I don't know anything about going on disability, but I hope you can find something to pay expenses without returning to driving - it sounds as if your knee would not like it much. I know you love driving, but we forget how poorly designed the human body is for it. It's hard on your knees, ya know? And our knees are a lot more fragile than we suspect - until we blow one out.
I remember your [sneaky] habit of hanging candy canes on the trucks' mirrors, lol, and maybe I'll do some this year, in your honor.
But you can do other things, [like draw & paint] and I think you're going to bounce [oops, bad word!] back from this setback and do good things with your life. :)
 

morningstar55ny

Veteran Expediter
Driver
That was some 'vacation'! For people who are used to being self sufficient, there's nothing worse than being 'disabled', even temporarily. Add in the nosocomial [hospital acquired] infection, and the misery index is waaaay up there, I'm sure. It was good that you had a friend nearby, to help, even if you hated needing the help.
I don't know anything about going on disability, but I hope you can find something to pay expenses without returning to driving - it sounds as if your knee would not like it much. I know you love driving, but we forget how poorly designed the human body is for it. It's hard on your knees, ya know? And our knees are a lot more fragile than we suspect - until we blow one out.
I remember your [sneaky] habit of hanging candy canes on the trucks' mirrors, lol, and maybe I'll do some this year, in your honor.
But you can do other things, [like draw & paint] and I think you're going to bounce [oops, bad word!] back from this setback and do good things with your life. :)

well........ ha .. this about made me all ahhh teary eyed ...... ty :) i miss it , going places , seeing things , and i did ok as a solo ... I learned a lot over the yrs in this expediting field .. and yep handing out them candy canes lol ....... hershey makes them .. chocolate mint ones.
i get them long name tag stickers and put To .. driver .. from truck # with my truck number on it..... i only did it to the fellow panther trucks / cargo vans ..... if i seen them in a truck stop i was at.. if they were there id hand it to them telling them Merry Christmas .... gave them 2 if it was a team. which i guess these days most are teams now anyways. If no one was in the van or truck cab i stick the canes to the windows.
knees ..... yep my doc says it would not be good for my knees if i went bk out there , cuz i have to be able to move around every so often. Just sitting in a chair now .. for like 10 min or more... they ache when i go to get up and the longer i sit of course. I know I can still drive .. might be a bit of slow go when 1st climbing out of the truck and standing up , but once i get moving im ok. heh
think if i did go bk to driving id have to hunt me a team mate someone that could help on the physical end of things... oh well ...... anyways ... im trying to get more involved in my art.. i been doing all kinds of cooking and baking , doing things with friends and family:)
I been painting more and sold a few things and went to a art show that a local art group was having it was a big one too. Buffalo art studios. So im going to join it so i can get into up coming events.
I did carry my art supplies on the road with me and did some paintings in the truck. One time i had a glitter accident in there was glitter all over the front floor of cab heh .... i cleaned it up best i could. lol
I know your on my FB page.... let me know if your in buffalo sometimes. Ill come pick u up and we can go eat somewhere. there are some awesome local places we like to go here and best place for over night parking near my place is ... in the front parking lot area of Home depot on Elmwood in Buffalo sorry i don't know the adress number but its the only one on elmwood lol .
there is a Mc donalds there a brand new popeyes, Aldes a big super market across the street "Tops", dollar tree , 2 auto supply places , a movie theater across the street , behind the super market is Target, apple bees , 5 guys , some stores , office max, Anderson's which has the most awesome lunches and ice cream lol PLUS .... FREE wifi you can pick up from home depot with NO time limit.
I always parked my truck there over night , even camped there a few times cuz it was late , i was to tired to walk home since im like 1 mile from there. other local drivers park there TT there too.
So i guess now i have war scars ... from my surgeries lol ... they flushed the area of my collar bone , left shoulder/ upper arm, and my knee with a antibiotic. i lost 25lbs during all this .. yayy .. now trying to keep it off and lose more lol
 
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paullud

Veteran Expediter
Hopefully you can put all your focus on getting better and worry about returning to life on the road when it is time. Having the life you love taken away really sucks but try to find the positive of the mess you are in now and keep it going until you are doing what you love.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using EO Forums mobile app
 

blizzard2014

Veteran Expediter
Driver
That's exactly how I hurt my leg back in 2011. I missed a step when I was climbing out of the back of my van. I'm glad you didn't develop a blood clot. I would be all better by now if it wasn't for my genetic clotting disorder. Having an accident give you a lot of time to think and reflect on the things that are truly important in life. I hope your pain gets better real soon!
 

morningstar55ny

Veteran Expediter
Driver
That's exactly how I hurt my leg back in 2011. I missed a step when I was climbing out of the back of my van. I'm glad you didn't develop a blood clot. I would be all better by now if it wasn't for my genetic clotting disorder. Having an accident give you a lot of time to think and reflect on the things that are truly important in life. I hope your pain gets better real soon!

Blizzard thats a big ouch ..... and speaking of Blizzard there is one happening here now.... 5 miles west of where i am in Buffalo... ha missing my neighborhood by 5 miles LOL .. getting like 8 to 12 in. from here to Erie along i90 .. and i hear some over by Rochester way.. heh ... darn that lake effect.
 

BillChaffey

Veteran Expediter
Owner/Operator
US Navy
I used to run from N.Y., N.J., & CT to Rochester three times a week late 70's early 80's. It's always snowing there. The State would not plow #17 from Monticello to Binghamton they left it to the trucks running that route.
Here's hoping all works out for you. Merry Christmas.
 

morningstar55ny

Veteran Expediter
Driver
Hopefully you can put all your focus on getting better and worry about returning to life on the road when it is time. Having the life you love taken away really sucks but try to find the positive of the mess you are in now and keep it going until you are doing what you love.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using EO Forums mobile app


i am and have been staying positive as much as possible .. im already walking with out a cane ... only time i use one or a walking stick is when i know im going to be doing a lot of walking , like at a mall or festival. I know it takes time.... :)
ty everyone
 

paullud

Veteran Expediter
i am and have been staying positive as much as possible .. im already walking with out a cane ... only time i use one or a walking stick is when i know im going to be doing a lot of walking , like at a mall or festival. I know it takes time.... :)
ty everyone

The winter time in western NY is definitely a hard place to keep your spirits up. Good luck and I'll pray for your continued healing.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using EO Forums mobile app
 
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