I guess I shouldn't be calling this an update until after I tell what happened. Here's the scoop:
On Thursday, November 28th ~ Thanksgiving Day I was home putting in the turkey and making preparations for a nice big family dinner.
My Dear Hubby ~ Slim, and our son Sam, son in law Paul and family friend Gary (visiting from Texas, first time in the North Woods) decided to go out to the Federal Forest to scout out some places to go beaver trapping.
My adventurous guys spent the night before laying out their plan. There was a flowage that they knew of way out in the sticks that they were sure would be home to beavers. It was about eight miles off the highway ... on roads that are cut in called fire lanes, and trails that are used by hikers. Some of these roads connect up and others dead end. They were going into the woods another half mile or so beyond the roads and marked trails to find this beaver house. They would be cross country hiking into no man's land setting out on their own trail.
I really wasn't concerned about it because this is what my guys do ... they hunt, they trap and they go where any "normal" person would think twice venturing off the main trail. They are rugged outdoors men and know their way around in it. Plus this was territory that my son in law and son have hunted bear in for years and they knew the lay of the land and where they were.
Then it happened.
They had reached their destination crawling through tag elder brush, crossing creeks, up and down some big hills and valleys, making their trail to the icy frozen flowage. They saw the beaver house that they were sure was going to be there.
They were walking across the ice when all of a sudden Slim's feet shot out from under him, his feet to the sky and he slammed down onto the ice. When he fell, Paul said he heard a LOUD crack! He thought for sure that Slim had broke through the 4 inches of ice; but he didn't. The ice wasn't cracked at all ... what he heard was Slim's ribs break (but they didn't know it was his ribs at the time) They just knew something broke and it wasn't good.
Slim had the wind knocked out of him and he couldn't move or catch his breath. When he finally did start to breathe he was in so much pain and couldn't move. He was gasping for air and holding his chest. The guys didn't know if he had broken his back or neck or was having a heart attack or what! They just knew he needed medical attention and he needed it now. They were afraid to move him thinking that he had possibly punctured a lung or some other internal organ.
Luckily, Gary had phone service on his cell and they dialed 911. Unluckily, the ambulance service didn't know how to find them. Paul and Sam headed for the main road to intercept them and show them how to get to Slim. Before doing so, they took off their jackets and heavy bib pants and packed them around Slim to try to keep him warm. The temps were only in the low 20's that day. Gary stayed with Slim while the guys took off for help.
To make a long story short ...
The accident happened at 11:00 a.m.
Slim laid on the ice for 1 hour and 45 minutes before the EMT's got there.
They had to haul him out on a rescue board strapped to an ATV six-wheeler.
They did not get back to the hospital with him until 3:00 p.m.
He was treated for hypothermia, 1 broken rib, 3 cracked ribs, and a bruised heart. Because of the impact and bruising to his heart it went into Afib. They then had to transfer him to the Marshfield hospital 3 hours away. They had called for a helicopter rescue flight in the field; but the weather conditions and landing area prevented it from coming.
He spent two nights in the Marshfield hospital. After tons of tests and tons of meds, his heart rhythm returned to normal and it seemed that his pain was getting under control.
I bought him home only to have him in unmanageable pain the next day. I took him into the emergency room at our hospital.
Long story short again ...
His bruised and swollen heart was back in Afib.
His liver is enlarged.
He needed to have four nerve blocks performed on his ribs to ease his pain ... and once that was done his heart finally settled down into normal rhythm again.
His lungs had started to collapse.
AND he has developed pneumonia in both lungs ... so he's on a big course of antibiotics to try and clear that up.
I don't know when he'll be coming home. They were able to move him today from the Intensive Care Unit on to the main floor ... so that was a good sign.
All from a fall on the ice.
This was a Thanksgiving that won't be forgotten.
Until next time ...
So it goes in my neck of the woods.
~mel
