The 2^nd Time I Broke My Back

November is a great time to visit Phoenix as the average temperature is 76 degrees Fahrenheit.   With 2 total rainy days, 83% Sunshine and 18 completely sunny days.

I had been living in the Phoenix area for over 8 years.  I was living alone in a nice little rental and my RV was parked in the back yard.  It was a typical November Day in Phoenix with some occasional rain and some sunshine.  The day prior had rained and I had a leaky roof vent on my RV due to it drying out and cracking in the desert sun.  I decided that I had better replace that roof vent.

The RV was parked next to a tree so when I went to repair the roof vent I noticed that there were wet leaves on top.  After I made one repair, I went to climb back down and you can guess what happened next.   I lost my footing and fell to the ground.

If you have ever been in Phoenix or the surrounding suburbs, one of the things you may have noticed is that everyone has block concrete walls around their yards.  I also had a concrete privacy fence and was now laying between it and the RV.

I remember falling but I don’t remember hitting the ground.  I woke up THE NEXT DAY, laying on the ground in pain!  All I could think of is where is my cell phone. I reached in my pocket and there it was, so I dialed 911.  I was barely coherent but the emergency crew was able to locate me within a few minutes in my back yard.

I had landed on my shoulder and ended up fracturing my thoracic 7 vertebrae, breaking my clavicle (collar) bone, fracturing my scapular bone (shoulder blade), and had a slight neck sprain.  The hospital doctors could only give me a neck brace, an arm sling, a prescription for physical therapy, and a prescription for Percocet’s.

The next few weeks were miserable.  I was completely laid up, could not sleep, and was loopy on Percocet’s. I could barely make it to the bathroom.  I called a couple of friends to bring groceries to me and would talk to my family on occasion for moral support.

After several weeks of this, my brother finally came down to help me.  We shipped a few things to Michigan where he lived, put some things in storage, sold the RV and headed back to Southeast Michigan.  That was a miserable trip.  Every bump hurt and it took us several days!

The recovery process was extremely slow.  I had to start by lifting soup cans to gain the strength back.  It sucked but I did it!  I was finally able to go back to work after about 9 months.

I am extremely thankful for my family that helped me out.  I don’t like asking anyone for help, but I am grateful that they did.

It got me thinking about a lot of things.  I think we take our families for granted when we are working at building our own little families and advancing our careers.  Now I work hard to maintain my family relationships and build meaningful relationships.  I try to reach out to someone every day.  I try to encourage someone every day. I try to be mindful and respectful of other people’s needs and do my part to help them.  Respectful Living.

JT

Read about the first time I broke my back HERE.

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