In late January and again in early February the Ozarks received a couple of winter storms that moved through a couple of weeks apart. One brought about 10 inches of snow, which in these here parts just about shuts us down until the temperatures rise enough to help melt the snow off the roads. Fortunately, the temperatures warmed up and this was only about a 48 hour event.
The second go round was a little different. When this winter weather event moved through it had been cold for a few days already. Well, cold for this area that is. Daytime highs were below freezing and at night time it got down into the single digits. Then the sleet moved in laying down a thin layer, followed by a few inches of snow, then topped with some freezing rain. Dealing with snow is one thing, ice is something completely different and much more treacherous for both roads and just being outdoors in general. With the temperatures forecasted not to get out of the 20’s for a few days we knew we’d pretty much be homebound.
On the morning of the second day of the second storm I got up early and decided I’d hike over to a widow neighbor and check on her. I’d stopped by a few days earlier and stacked firewood in the dry on her front porch, but figured as cold as it was she was probably burning more than normal and she might need some more. It’s about a mile by road from our place to hers but if I hike it I can cut through a couple of fields and it’s just over a quarter mile straight across. I told Mrs. Faulkner I’d be gone around an hour or so and I geared up, including strapping on some ice cleats on my boots, and Daisy and I took off.
It was actually pretty easy going. The ground was frozen solid and there was about 3 inches of snow over the initial layer of ice. We made it over to the neighbors in short order and I could see her standing in the big front window of her house waving to Daisy and I as we came up to the porch. She had already burned about half the dry wood I’d earlier stacked on the porch. She keeps her wood stacked under an overhang next to the barn, so I fetched her wheel barrel and made several trips back and forth until I had her porch rack filled back up.
As I finished up she cracked open the door and said, “you and Daisy come in here and warm up. I made some hot chocolate for you.” We went in and she handed me a mug, then she pulled out a towel and knelt down to Daisy and started rubbing her legs and feet to remove the ice. In no time Daisy just laid down and rolled over on her back and enjoyed the attention. After downing the hot chocolate and making sure she didn’t need anything else done while I was there, Daisy and I headed back towards our place. The hike back to our place was uneventful and when we arrived back I walked over to the covered area of my barn where I park my truck and slipped the ice cleats off my boots and put them in my truck.
I turned to Daisy and said, “come on girl, it’s too cold out here, let’s go inside.” We walked across the yard to my driveway to go inside through the garage. I was wearing my heavy Carhart jacket and had my gloved hands inside my jacket pockets. As I stepped on the snow covered driveway both my feet came out from under me and I knew instantly I was going down. I tried to pull my hands out of my pockets and in doing so I twisted a bit as I hit the ground hard landing on my left arm. As soon as I hit I could feel bones break and it knocked the breath out of me. I laid there for, well I’m not for sure how long, maybe a minute or two, trying to catch my breath and seeing stars. When the fog finally cleared I could see Daisy sitting next to me. I tried to speak to her but I still could not quite catch my breath.
After another few minutes I was able to get some air back in my lungs. I was laying on my left side so I rolled over on my back and could breathe better. I moved my left hand and it seemed to be functioning, so I tried to move my left arm and to my surprise, I was able to move it with no pain or limitation. Daisy came over and I patted her on the head. Now that I was breathing steady I decided I’d sit up and as soon as I tried that I had a searing pain all along my left ribcage. Now I knew where I’d felt the bones break. I looked over at Daisy and said, “Daisy, go get Momma. Go get her.” Fortunately, the garage door was open so she ran to the door in the garage and started barking. In short order I heard Mrs. Faulkner open the door and say, “hey Daisy, are you back already?” She could not see me laying on the driveway behind her car, and after a few moments she walked out to the open garage door and saw me laying on the ground.
“Oh my God honey, are you alright?”
I held up my hand and said, “whatever you do, do not come out here. It is slicker than snot!”
She was not bundled up and was hugging herself and said, “are you alright?”
“No, I think I have busted some ribs.”
“Let me call 911 and get someone out here,” she said.
“No, there is no one to call. They can’t get out here and I’d freeze to death before they got here anyway.”
“Oh honey, what do you want me to do?” The last thing I needed was for her to get out here and fall too.
“I need you to take Daisy and go back inside,” I told her. “When I catch my breath I'll figure it out. No go back inside.”
She told Daisy to come with her and she went back inside and closed the door, but stood and looked out the window in the door. After a bit, I was able to scoot on my back over to the rear of my wife’s car and grab the receiver hitch. The pain was excruciating, but I was able to pull myself up to my knees, and then eventually stand up. Once I was on my feet I was able to gimp my way over to the back door which Mrs. Faulkner opened and ushered me in. I stripped all my cold weather gear off and then got my shirt and T-shirt off. Mrs. Faulkner poked and prodded while I grit my teeth to find out where the damaged ribs were. Frankly, my whole left side felt like one big exposed nerve. She fetched some ice packs from the freezer and I got situated in my recliner.
She called the doctor to ask him what to do and after asking some preliminary questions he said as long as I wasn’t peeing blood to put ice packs on them for 20 minutes at a time, otherwise I was just going to have to man-up for 5 or 6 weeks. He said I could take Aleve three times a day for ten days, but that would only take a little of the edge off. I went to the doctor’s office three days later and he confirmed I had three cracked ribs.
I’m now in my 5th week sleeping in my recliner, laying in bed is out of the question. At this point I seem to be getting better each day, but never having cracked ribs before, it has been a pain.
