Little drama in Cairns

Margaret Port · 02-05-2003, 11:12 AM

On January 26th last, we had a heavy storm. Not unusual for Cairns normally but Australia is in the grip of a nasty drought and Cairns has had no wet season for two years running. Anyway, my sewing room got flooded by a leak in the roof and my husband climbed up on to the roof to repair the leak, which he did satisfactorily. Came time to climb down and guess who didn't call me to hold the ladder, and guess what happened next.

I saw one foot appear, I got up to go outside and then the other foot appeared and then he was falling. I can't get the image out of my mind. 2 metres, straight onto a rock wall on his face. He hit his face coming down, and then he landed on his left arm and smashed the humerus and the elbow joint and somehow the ladder ended up under his hip so he has a bruise on his left hip from the hipbone almost to his knee.

It took two ambulance teams over two hours to extricate him and then he had a four hours op to repair the elbow and a week in hospital.

My artist training came in handy to observe the changed profile and diagnose a broken cheek bone and insist on xrays to confirm that injury.

On Feb 3rd, he had another op to repair the cheek bone with another overnight stay in hospital. He now looks like an extra from "One flew over the cuckoo's nest"

Now I've got him home and it looks like he will be out of action and off works for weeks. Fortunately he manages a business so he doesn't depend on the use of his arm. If he does enough physio he should get most movement back in his elbow, hopefully.

It staggers me to think how quickly your life can get turned upside down. Here we were saving madly for a holiday in March and now this accident will cost us about $8000 and him many mopnths of pain and inconvenience. A plumber would have charged us a couple of hundred dollars to do the job.

Anyway, I've managed to visit this site a few times just to distract myself but I can't concentrate on painting at the moment.

All very frustrating.

Michael Georges · 02-05-2003, 11:39 AM

Gad Margaret, how unfortunate! Our best to your husband. I hope the best for his full recovery.

This sort of thing is quite hard for us artist types as usually all we have is catastrophic-level insurance - get hit by a bus and you are fine, get the flu and you just have to suffer or pay our your substantial deductible. It is a heck of a way to live sometimes.

H · 02-05-2003, 03:46 PM

Dear Margaret,

I wish you and your husband lots of luck and good health. Thank god he survived!

Indeed your liFe can get upside down very fast. My father died of an heart attack, three years ago. He was gone in a few minites. He haD never been sick his entire life! You never realize how delicate liFe is, till something happens.

Anyway, I hope everything will turn out right for you and your husband. Must have been pretty scary to see him fall like that.

Take good care,
H

Leslie Ficcaglia · 02-07-2003, 09:18 AM

Margaret, how awful! No wonder you can't focus on painting. You may find that it becomes a much-needed escape, though, as your husband convalesces. Doesn't Australia have the sort of public health insurance that England offers? It's hard to be hit by double devastation: a fractured husband and a fractured bank account at the same time. At least he doesn't need to be mobile to function at work, although I suspect you'll need to provide at least moral support!

I'm just rereading "A Town Like Alice" and your mention of Cairns struck me. I've never been to Australia but have always loved Nevil Shute's books, where he often deals with Australian places and culture. Sorry you can't be enjoying it at the moment. Here's hoping your husband (and your bank account) have a quick recovery.

Lisa Strachan · 02-07-2003, 05:57 PM

From another Queenslander here, I wish your husband a quick recovery, and strength for the both of you in this time. He IS lucky that things were not worse, which they could have been falling 2 meters onto a rock wall. And to top it all off, Cyclone Benie! Hope the roof is fixed before that.

Enzie Shahmiri · 02-08-2003, 02:32 AM

Dear Margaret,

I wish a quick recovery for your husband as well. I would also suggest taking a sketch pad with you when you sit next to his bed or watch him do his therapy. Doodle around and before you know it you might draw him.

I don't want to sound insensitive, but rather then worry yourself with what just happened and wondering how to get through it all, use the sketching time to loose yourself in the act of creation. It will give your mind a chance to just clear itself. A clear mind will help you to make better decisions when you are under stress.

Best of luck to you.

Karin Wells · 02-22-2003, 01:16 AM

Margaret, I just read this thread and am so sorry to hear about your husband's accident. It has been awhile since the accident and I am wondering how both of you are doing now. Can you give us an update?

Margaret Port · 02-22-2003, 09:48 AM

Thanks everyone for your good wishes.

It's a month tomorrow since my husband's accident and we are making headway slowly. He has been a remarkably model patient and has been very stoical throughout the ordeal but he is starting to get a bit like "I'm over all this now and I just want to get on with my life."

Unfortunately, hard as we tried, we didn't manage to avoid an infection in the elbow so that has set things back somewhat. You can't begin to imagine how difficult it is to do things when the elbow is bent at 45 degrees, won't bend or flex very much and is painful as well. He can't put on his glasses (or push them up when they slide) can't hold a phone and make notes, can't sweep a floor, hold a drink and take tablets, untangle a garden hose, cut up food, lots of things.

I've tried painting a few times and have done six different coloured backgrounds on the same painting with no idea what I am trying to accomplish. (It is almost 3D). Still just the process of applying paint is theraputic, as are my brief visits here.

I am still being the left arm and chauffeur. We have gone back to work for a few hours a day and he has to go to the physiotherapist twice a week so I don't have a lot of spare time at the moment. The first two weeks my eldest daughter was visiting but now she has gone home and I sometimes can coerce my 21 year old son to help?

but mostly we are on our own. Much fun, certainly not something one would choose.

I can't understand people who deliberately do things that risk life and limb.

Anyway I'll post another update when we see the doctor for his six week visit. Hopefully we will see lots of new bone on the xrays.