Ouchie

[Johnp292]

We had a nice three night trip to the Grand Canyon in our Bounder planned for this weekend. DW, the kids and I were all looking forward to what would have been our longest trip so far in our new-to-us ( about 2 months) rig.

Spent most of the day Friday cleaning and loading. About 15 minutes before we were going to leave, I was getting out of the RV and I guess my right foot caught on the top step. As I was falling, my left foot must have caught between the bottom step and the curb. I hit the sidewalk, but managed not to injure anything...except my ankles. Both of them. Excruciating pain, couldn't stand up. My right ankle swelled up to the size of a baseball.

Tried icing to see if I could at least walk to the car, but no good. Called 911...off to the ER.

The good news...after X-rays, nothing is broken but I have swelling and soft tissue injuries in both feet. I'm walking on crutches now.

Not going to the Canyon now. I can probably drive (DW doesn't drive the RV), but going to the canyon and not being able to walk isn't worth it. We go up there regularly so it's not like we're missing on the trip of a lifetime but we were looking forward to a camping weekend.

The only consolation is the weather up there is cold and cloudy with showers all weekend. If I can walk better tomorrow ( I'm still laid up and in pain today) or Monday, I might take a few extra days off and head up later in the week if we can still get a reservation.

I'm wondering if the cover I put on the steps (one of the Camco ones that secures with springs) slid and caused me to slip. I guess I'll check that when I can hobble out.

[plasma800]

Oh man, that's too bad, keep weight off em for sure. Don't go makin it worse

[Stealth01]

John,
Sorry to hear that... Hope you heal quickly!!

[MSHappyCampers]

John, you're one lucky guy! It could have been so much worse!

[mojoracing]

My 75 year old father was staying with us for a few days and likes the privacy of staying in the driveway in our bounder. He doesn't get around too well so we told him when he wanted to come in the house to just call us from his cell phone and we would come out and help him. Of course he didn't listen and slipped while coming down the stairs. He reached for the grab handle as he fell and got hold of it but spun around as he fell. His foot lodged between the bottom wall of the motorhome and the first step while he continued to the ground head first, whacking his head on propane tank we had hooked up with an extend a stay. My wife heard his cries from the house. When we found him, his foot was still stuck in the upper step and he said he had been laying there for twenty minutes on the snow. How he didn't twist his knee or ankle in half or end up dead or with a concussion, i'll never know. It was all I could do to get his foot out. Thank god he walked away with nary a limp. You can never be too careful when entering or exiting a coach. Hope you heal up fast! If all else fails, do some driveway camping!

[Mr_D]

Originally Posted by mojoracing

You can never be too careful when entering or exiting a coach. Hope you heal up fast! If all else fails, do some driveway camping!

Isn't that the truth!
Our 2000 Dutch Star had the step switch right next to the outside light switch. Yep, turned the steps on rather than turning the porch light off. Wife opened the door and stepped out into nothing. Didn't break anything but her back hurt for months.
When we got the 2002 DSDP we found Newmar had moved the switch to over the passenger side dash!

[sirpurrcival]

Instead of the Grand Canyon, head for a hot spring. A little hydro therapy probably wouldn't hurt provided the swelling has decreased.

[Johnp292]

Originally Posted by sirpurrcival

Instead of the Grand Canyon, head for a hot spring. A little hydro therapy probably wouldn't hurt provided the swelling has decreased.

Darn, I wish I had thought of that yesterday. We have a spa in the backyard. I could have spent some time in there instead of wasting the whole day in front of the TV. Well maybe not, I did still have some swelling. That seems to be gone now and my right foot is a lovely shade of black and blue.

Thanks for all the well wishes, everyone. I'm able to get around this morning without the crutches, but the left foot still hurts. Once the wife and kids are up I may see if we can still get a space up at the canyon for a couple of nights if they want to go. If not I'll fire up the spa later!

[twogypsies]

Sorry for your injury. However, this could have easily happened while you were traveling. Both parties should know how to drive the RV.

[frankdamp]

Twogypsies:

Didn't I wish DW could drive the RV, but at less than 5' tall, there wasn't enough flexibility in seat/wheel/pedal adjustments to make it possible. Since left-over issues from a minor back injury made more than about 150 miles a day difficult for me, we gave up the life and sold the MH.

[jason1029]

Sorry about the ouchie! Get better fast then hit the canyon!

[galeran]

My brother fell out of his motor home and had extensive surgery on his broken arm and shoulder, maybe we should all put in for hazardous duty pay everytime we use our motor homes, Gale

[Ray,IN]

At least you have an interesting story behind your injuries. My wife just stepped off a curb at a truck stop and sprained both ankles when she fell. She had to ride in the back seat of our dually, with her ice-bagged feet propped up on the front console for a week while I drove. Getting her from the truck into our 5er-and back, was quite difficult the first few days.
Had it been me that was injured, she(5'1") can drive too.

[Johnp292]

Originally Posted by MSHappyCampers

John, you're one lucky guy! It could have been so much worse!

Well, not as lucky as we originally thought. After 2 weeks of my left foot not getting any better I went to a specialist last Friday with the X-rays from the ER and he immediately saw a break. More X-rays and an MRI followed, and it turns out there are 4 breaks and tendon damage. Surgery on Tuesday.