Just another day at the office

[Knuckles 904]

Well had to fix a base radio antenna for a customer. Just go up 150 feet and replace antenna...simple job...maybe take 2-3 hours

 

 

If you look at the very top of the pic you can just barely see me (co-worker doesn't take the best pics ) And next photo is a close-up of me and my big butt at top.

 

 

Everything was going fine until I went to shift position at the top. I was trying to move to another tower leg to get a better angle at the mounting clamps for the antenna. Unfortunately it had rained for a bit that morning and everything was still wet. As I moved, I lost my footing and started to fall. Now I should say that I was wearing a fall protection harness like this.

 

 

Notice the lanyard the arrow is pointed to. It is designed to play out about 3 foot while falling. So instead of a sudden stop when slack is gone, this will slowly arrest your descent. So there was absolutely no chance I was going to fall off the tower. I really was in no danger at all. But instinct took over as soon I started slipping, I reached and tried to grab anything I could. I ended up getting my hand wedged between 2 cross-braces. So instead of the lanyard absorbing my weight, my wrist did

 

 

And now the fun began. My wrist immediately started swelling and I could hardly move fingers. I'm up 150 feet and have 1 good hand to get down. Fire department won't be much help as tallest ladder truck is 100 feet. So they would have to climb up and get me in a harness and lower me down. I didn't feel like waiting for all that so I used the crook of my elbow to hold on tower and got down that way.

 

Got it checked out and I fractured my wrist in a few spots. May also have ligament/tendon damage but they want swelling to go down before running more tests

 

Yup just another typical day at the office

[gogoblender 3,070]

If that's just a typical day, I don't want to see a bad one!

I'm glad you made it back home, and hoping your wrist gets better soon

Will you have to take time off at work for it to heal? I would imagine the pain and swelling to be enormous

 

 

gogo

[Knuckles 904]

Nah no time off.....got soo much work to do....I'm usually the 'field tech' since I would rather be on the road than behind a desk. But our 'bench' tech recently left so I'm doing that now too. On top of that I have a new hire to train so got plenty of things to keep me occupied.

 

Won't be doing any heavy work for a bit but that is what the new hire is for The swelling is pretty bad...got worse after the pic...looks like a Pillsbury Dough Boy hand. That should go away after a few day I hope. And they were going to give me meds til I told them the pain medication I'm currently on. What I'm on now is better than what they were going to give me. Doesn't really bother me other than it being uncomfortable, the skin is so tight it itches like crazy

[SX255 630]

Are all the fingers still working?

 

MUST KNOW: if you just have to go nr2 while up there, what do you do?

[Knuckles 904]

lol @ SX255

 

Hmm how can I say this without being disgusting....most climbers do everything in their power to 'empty' themselves before climbing, especially if you're doing a long job. Doesn't always work and accidents have happened I can think of one particularly funny story but could never post in here. Even #1's are a problem....wind patterns at the top of the tower are not the same at the bottom. You stand a good chance of hitting the crew on the ground, your vehicles, your equipment etc. It is highly frowned upon.

 

I'd say the biggest danger climbing for me is wasps at lower heights and ospreys/hawks/peregrines at higher ones. The ospreys like to dive bomb on ya especially if they have a nest with young ones in it. Wasps like to build nests inside the support tubing, getting access via drain holes. Real easy to have a swarm come at ya.

 

And fingers sort of work...so swollen can't really move them. Lucky for me I type with 2 hands but only 1 finger on each

[gogoblender 3,070]

And fingers sort of work...so swollen can't really move them. Lucky for me I type with 2 hands but only 1 finger on each

Just found this on sale?

 

 

Get better soon Robb

 

 

gogo

[chattius 2,526]

Ouch. I was 15 and in a fast healing age when I had something similiar ... it took half a year to use the hand in a useful way again.

Being goalie at soccer, jumping for a ball which was as it turned out hitting the cross point of vertical and horizontal pole. I was underrun by my own defender and my elbow and wrist was trapped in the net and then gravity wanted the rest of my body to come down. The elbow went free but not the wrist. One year later I would have been big enough to get my feet on the ground when the wrist would be trapped.

Carpal tunnel syndrom did occure 2+ decades later and had its origine in the injury. As soon as trackballs were invented I started using them and not a mouse.

 

I had rope rescue and swift water rescue classes as firefighter because we have to use them 3-4 times a year. car falling from a highway bridge is the usual rope rescue scenario. And our 1 metre wide stream can turn into a monster at snow melting. But I have not the classes to rescue a person from a high mast. Each district has a special team for that.

[Knuckles 904]

Why is it every time I look at the pic of my hand, it looks more like the fabled and very rare hairless 4-toed sloth's foot than my wrist?

[gogoblender 3,070]

hey...what about my idea for that nose thing...

c'mon it's on sale!

 

gogo

[Knuckles 904]

I think you need to buy and review it...post a vid on youtube about it...get some subscribers to buy it and vouch for you and then I might get it

 

only to be worn in the privacy of my bedroom with the blinds closed

[gogoblender 3,070]

hajahhah

oh, okay

 

 

gogo

[Ysne58 236]

I hope it heals well and quickly.

[Knuckles 904]

Thanks Cath

 

Been climbing for 20+ years and first real injury I've gotten doing tower work...just got a little complacent in what I was doing and it bit me.

 

Edit: Actually I had a pair of lineman's pliers hit me on the forearm from about 200 feet up several years ago...man that hurt worse than this

[SX255 630]

Why is it every time I look at the pic of my hand, it looks more like the fabled and very rare hairless 4-toed sloth's foot than my wrist?

Because its your left hand, but the photo makes it looks like your right.

[Delta! 987]

Good luck Robb, hope the recovery is complete and swift.

I don't have that kind of danger in my workplace, but we do have have danger of burning from hot pots/pans, handles, plates, trays from the oven, pass burners. And cutting or being stabbed by an annoyed colleague.

Hope the person you are training will be able to do what needs to be done?

 

Delta!

[Dragon Brother 619]

Ouch Knuckles!! That is one fat wrist... Make sure to let it heal properly before you start using it again!

[chattius 2,526]

Do you need heparin injections against a thrombosis?

Does your insurance (health or accident) pays for a good physiotherapist who trains the hand as soon as possible? The wife of our left forward was one and I think it was my luck as a goalie and all the damages to wrist,hand and fingers.

[Ysne58 236]

Most insurances will cover hand therapy after something like this.

[Knuckles 904]

In Massachusetts you have to have health insurance or you will be fined. The one we got is pretty good, most doctors take it and co-pays are pretty low. Plus, since it occurred on the job, worker's compensation will pay for everything. So no out-of-pocket expenses for me at all.

I'm sure I could get a couple weeks off if I chose, but I'm kind of a workaholic, and I have a lot of work I can do even with a bad hand.

 

The new hire has expressed a willingness to climb but need to send him out to get certified first. What I really want is to groom him as a technician. Someone able to maintain and repair the multitude of communications systems out there. But that is probably a 1-2 year learning curve. Be nice to have another capable of repairing those systems - so maybe I can actually take a vacation

 

No mention of clots yet...sure in a couple days I'll find out...swelling is starting to go down..pretty sure I can almost see my knuckle on my pinkie finger if I look at it in the correct light. Too bad I'm left-handed though.

 

Do appreciate all the kind words. The more I think on it it was my fault. Official reason was the tower being wet, but I have climbed much higher and in worse conditions. Do something often enough and long enough and it's easy to become complacent. It can be very subtle, you don't even realize you're doing it. One of the biggest reasons why pilots are required to go thru a check list before every flight even though they know the procedure by heart.

[gogoblender 3,070]

In Massachusetts you have to have health insurance or you will be fined. The one we got is pretty good, most doctors take it and co-pays are pretty low. Plus, since it occurred on the job, worker's compensation will pay for everything. So no out-of-pocket expenses for me at all.

That's amazing... no deductable at all?

here in quebec, govt plan covers 80 percent, but you still have to pay the 20 for drugs and extras etc, and there's a max per year before it's all free.

my own plan from work is actually considered "decent" I only have to pay ten percent, with the plan covering all the rest

 

 

gogo

[Knuckles 904]

I would have a deductible if non-work related but co-pays are pretty cheap and once I spend 1500 during the fiscal year, anything above that is paid 100%

[Timotheus 416]

That looks gnarly Knuckles... Have a speedy recovery!

[Ysne58 236]

If you have any hobbies that involve fine motor skills, like whittling, pottery, knitting, crochet -- once you have the cast off start doing that. That kind of things works far better than the exercises the PT will have for you. It's the reason I have almost complete range of motion in my left wrist. I had a tumor in 1999 and was in a cast for 3 months after the doc removed 98% of the distal bone and replaced with bone substitute of some kind.

[Knuckles 904]

Does playing computer games count ?

[Ysne58 236]

Probably. Not sure how much though.