Leg nearly severed by a stump grinder

[Tree Machine]

Thanks Squid. My family appreciates your concern. As far as the household, it's just me and my beautiful and wonderfully supportive wife, Elizabeth. She's able to stretch a dollar half way around the block, and that's coming in quite handy these days.

She wasn't so supportive when I told her yesterday that I needed to order some replacement blades for the Silky saws. I thought she was gonna have a Cow. That's what love is all about though, isn't it? Sorta? OK mebbe that's not what love is all about.

When I got home from the hospital my beautiful and wonderfully supportive wife was on the phone ready to cancel all the insurances surrounding my tree business. I 'm trying to get creative in how to keep the business somehow moving forward and producing income somehow, and she wants to shut it down completely, disable and cripple it to the point of no chance to do anything with it.

I thought this was a really bad idea, and she conceded. My rig has been sitting for 32 days, but as Timber and JimNZ and others have put forward, there are other ways to approach this.

Arboristsite houses an vast, diverse, talented and creative bunch of men and women. If there's a way to get a Tree Brother back in the game in a non-traditional way, I can't think of a better bunch to network with.

You guys (and gals) give me an incredible sense of optimism and confidence that something really special can come of this. I am willing to do whatever it takes and I really have an abundant stretch of time to create results. There are unlimited ways to go about making a living, and it starts with the mental shift in accepting that things have changed, and it's time to stretch a bit. I would love to do something that is a win-win for everybody.

I'm fully engaged to embrace what change is in front of me. I'm as ready as I'll ever be.

 

[046]

I read this in horror, thanks for sharing so others may avoid this fate. hope you get well soon!!!

 

[Dadatwins]

My best wishes for a speedy and healthy recovery. I almost lost my right hand last year due to injury and infection and can relate to the feeling of 'What the he!! am I going to do now'? Some time in the hospital is NOT R&R, it s*cks. Nurses give you pain killers and tell you to rest and then come in 20 minutes later to wake you up and draw blood for more tests. My wife did a similiar get out the yard sale sign and sell it all deal. Have to sit her down and explain that this is what you do, and what you will do again.
Maybe not exactly the same way, but it will get done.
Prepare yourselves for lots of physical therapy coming ahead with good days and bad.
Find a good physical therapist that has some experience with your injury. My injury was over a year ago and now I look at this scar and laugh a little, I
have lost some feeling and movement, but I will live with it.
When you are feeling your worst, think of how much worse it could have been and be thankful. When I had a bad session and felt no progress, my therapist would remind me about the folks that did not wake up that day and how they probably wished they could suffer through some therapy. :angel:
Good Luck.

 

[Tree Machine]

What holds for the future of the leg?

Wow, thanks Dadda. Funny you mention the R and R in the hospital is NOT R&R. I adored my nurses, but I would get woken up out of a sound sleep at 6:00 am to take a valium. I would roll my eyes, drop it in my urinal and go back to sleep. Looking at my medical bill, I think I was paying like $24 a pop for those.

Physical therapy. Doc was asking my physical activity history: 14 years as a wrestler, 6 years adventure racing and the last 12 as a technical tree climber. He labelled me a chronic, habitual athlete and doubted I'd need PT. He said, "Your foot goes left, right, up, down. You can handle that."

Treeman FJR asked, "Are you in a wheelchair? If so, how long? Ligament damage? Future surgeries?? Fill us in!!!"

Wheelchair? I have one here, but I don't go anywhere really. Up and down the stairs I found the thing to be a real beast . I prefer crutches. Right now is 32 days since the incident and there is still no putting pressure on it. I'm still in the acute phase of the pain, and I've heard too many horror stories of people on the recovery track who get too ambitious and end up screwing themselves up REAL bad. I don't want to be one of those.

Ligament damage, tendons? I fried the terminal ends of my achilles, where it goes up into the calf muscle, but that was only because I took out the calf muscle. The achilles is otherwise stiff from a month of zero activity, but I think it's all right. Tendons attach muscle to bone, and you find em near the joints. By a miracle, I stayed away from the knee joint and the ankle. The impact was right in the middle of the calf, so I was spared damage to ligaments and tendons (I think). It was all meat and bone as far as I know right now.

Future surguries? They drilled a hole through the top of my knee joint and inserted a stainless steel rod through the tibia all the way to my ankle. Then they bored a couple pilot holes through the top of the tibia and two through the bottom of the tibia. Through those they spun in what looks like #10 deck screws. I think it's time to share some pictures with you.

 

[Lumberjack]

Sorry to hear that TM.

My dad is also messed up from the RG85 grinder, his happened on June 10th.

Speedy recovery bro!

 

[Tree Machine]

I'm sorry. You mentioned that earlier. Is he OK? What's the status? Mebbe I should give him a call and then I can report back to everyone.

As I've learned firsthand (as well as your Dad), stump grinder accidents aren't too forgiving. I think I can speak for the rest of us that we'd like to know more details. It wouldn't be like a de-rail, and he deserves as much healing energy as what you're all giving me. Can we call him LumberDad?

 

[okietreedude1]

TM,

HOLY COW! I read in disbelief at the front.

If there is anything I can do for you, PLEASE let me know. If I was anywhere near Indiana Id come help you for some time.

Best wishes for a speady recovery. Tell Miss Elizabeth 'everything will be alright' and give her a big squeeze.

 

[sharpstikman]

I hope your recovery goes well.thank you for sharing this with us

 

[Tree Machine]

Okie, thanks Man. I just hope something like this doesn't happen to anyone else ever, ever. I'm really concerned about LumberDad at the moment.

I did go and give Elizabeth a big hug. I told her it was from Okie Tree Dude. She said, "Who the heck is Okie Tree Dude" I told her I' ve ordered ropes and gear from you and she immediately thought the hug was a ploy to talk her into letting me buy more Silky blades. Silly Girl.

Hey SharpStik, thanks for your concern, and WELCOME TO THE SITE!

 

[Lumberjack]

TM, from the MASTER BLASTER at http://***************/treehouse/viewtopic.php?p=34905

"I wish the brother ALL the luck and healing mojo."

LumberDad sounds fitting Good call

His status: Broke the tibia and fibia in his left leg, had the rod inserted with no screws. Damaged the ACL and Lateral collateral in his right knee. He had soft tissue damage to his left leg and his right ankle has tendonitus in it right now. However he is out of the brace (for the most part) on his right leg, but still no weight bearing on his left leg. We finally got the swelling down in his right foot 2 days ago after being swollen since 6-10-05.

The PT man said he should be back at work in October if everything goes well from now till then.

Heat/Ice reps seem to help with circulation, you may want to give it a try.


Pain meds suck!

Edit to add: He may be able to get on his walker end of next week perhaps. He was suppose to be on it earlier but the right ankle has complicated matters. For him it will be a wheelchair/walker/crutches/cane/walking progression. He is still at wheelchair but he can get into and out of it now without help most of the time.

I appreciate your concern, your a mite younger than him as well I would immagine, he is 58. I am running the biz so its not suffering much if any, I hate to hear that about yours. I wish there was something I could do to help, if you think of something let me know!

 

[okietreedude1]

she immediately thought the hug was a ploy to talk her into letting me buy more Silky blades. Silly Girl.

This was not a ploy to get her approval on purchases. Its what my wife want sometimes when things get rough and there's a lot of stress in her life. :angel:

 

[Jumper]

I have insurance, Jumper; Liability, disability, health, life, auto and equipment

, and it is a very, very good feeling right now.

Great news......sure takes takes at the least the financial worry off getting better. All the best as you recover from this nasty accident.

 

[Mike Barcaskey]

TM, just catching up on this thread now. Prayers and best wishes to you. makes me scared in the gut to go out to work. Late start today, might drag my feet alittle more.
Take care

 

[Tree Machine]

Did Larry contact me?

Thanks, Mike. Thanks Jumper. Who else haven't I acknowledged?

Has Larry contacted you, Jim? That's a serious blunder on his part, and it must eat at him. Did they save your foot?

I wouldn't mind seeing the pictures, but more out of morbid curiosity than any real need to. I'm amazed you were able to get away from that thing.

Ah yes, thank you Mule. You ask a most interesting question, "Has Larry been in contact." One would assume yes, but this is not the case.

I have to be careful here. Anyone who's known me for any time knows that the Tree Machine doesn't speak badly of other people, even if they deserve it. I have the capacity to name-call, denegrate and be judgemental just like anyone, but I consciously choose not to (there's enough of that going on in the world without my help).

In the first couple days of the accident, a level of anger DID come up. My first few years as an arborist, I hired help, some guys were awesome, some guys not so much. I found the clearcut difference between the good helpers, and the not so good helpers: The good helpers were intrinsically CAREFUL. They were aware. Minds alert to things going on around them.

Every reader knows what I'm talking about. Some guys are there sorta going through the motions. They're not really thinking about what they're doing, they're just producing motion. Slow motion. Mistakes are frequent. Productive time suffers. They make a lot of excuses and blame gets placed on inanimate objects. I could list more characeristics, but the point I came to realize is, I, as a boss, can NOT teach a man how to be careful. I can teach skills and technique, but if you're careless by nature, there's no hope for you, not on a tree site.

The first thing Larry and I did at the beginning of the job was the Safety Meeting, I introduced him to the PPE that would be required and the highlights, "stay out of the kill zone, be looking up when I'm running a saw...", "I know, I know. I've worked for other tree companies." This, I didn't know about Larry, so I shortened the session and we got on with it.

I'm not even going to go into the incidences throughout the two days that demonstrated carelessness, but I was completely aware of it. That's why my early bouts of anger in the hospital. The anger wasn't toward him, it was focussed at myself. I should have been on the double lookout because I was fully aware that I had a careless person onsite. I let my guard down for just a moment, and it took me out.

So back to Spacemule's question,"Has Larry contacted you, Jim?" No. Not once. Not even after I sent him the letter forgiving him. Spacemule says, "That's a serious blunder on his part, and it must eat at him." Mule, I'm not so sure he feels the least bit responsible. People who blame always find reasons why its not their fault.

I do know he was shaken up a bit. His stump grinder boss told me he went out and got a bottle of whiskey that night.

 

[CNYCountry]

Pardon my ignorance, Ekka, what the heck is a 'relly'?

I would assume that "friends and relatives" is how we would say "rellys and mates" on this side of the pond...

 

[rb_in_va]

Jim,
I can't believe it. I hardly know what to say. Prayers are on the way brother.

 

[Tree Machine]

Thanks RB. I know I'd committed to helping your service group in Indy this August with the homeless shelters, but I just don't know what my abilities will be come that time. Don't fully count me out, but the doctors say I won't be walking until October. I just don't know right now.

TreeCo, stump grinding was not covered in the meeting. Personally, I have never used a stump grinder. Larry has, hundreds of times. He was as aware of my working my way around the stump as I was of him grinding it.

True, I can see now, I shouldn't have been anywhere near the area, period. I accept my role in this completely, and expect to lose some respect from a few members here. I own that. My intent is this, and this alone,

You can bet I will more careful when grinding stumps from now on.

To instill that into EVERYONE. I've learned my lesson the hard way. I'd love it if everyone can learn just from seeing someone else having gone through it.

After I hit the ground and got my helmet/ear/face protection off and the blower off me and shut down, Larry ran around and shut the machine down. The engine was running. Whether the cutter wheel was engaged, or simply free-wheeling, I honestly don't know for sure. Don't know if would have made a difference. He left it running just a few steps from the stump, knowing I was coming around and carelessly walked away from it. That I do know. The result is, as I've said before, an accident happened that was easily preventable by either side.

 

[Tree Machine]

The Pictures

I wouldn't mind seeing the pictures, but more out of morbid curiosity than any real need to. I'm amazed you were able to get away from that thing.

OK, for those with the morbid curiosity, I suppose it's time to get on with it.


Again, I apologize for mot having gotten a picture of the actual incident with shredded meat and broken bones over a lawn background. I also wish I had the image of the chainsaw pant leg wrapped around the grinder spindle.


This is recovery (starting you out slow, the gory ones are coming up in a moment). A thin sponge-like material is applied over the wound, wrapped in saran-like plastic and a tube inserted that draws a continuous, gentle suction. After trauma, a wound oozes all kinds of fluids and is prone to infection. This unique system frees up nurses by putting the wound on auto-pilot.

 

[rb_in_va]

Thanks RB. I know I'd committed to helping your service group in Indy this August with the homeless shelters, but I just don't know what my abilities will be come that time. Don't fully count me out, but the doctors say I won't be walking until October. I just don't know right now.

Don't worry about that. Circumstances have obviously changed. I would like to meet you still. Are you planning to go to the race on Aug 7?

 

[Tree Machine]

I plan to be laying on my back porch with my leg up on August 7. I was at the Brickyard 400 last year, but not this year.

Here's a couple shots from the surgury room. I asked the Doc if I could remain conscious during the surgury. He told me I really didn't want to to that, but that he's fire off a couple shots for me.