Frozen to Death

[j44ke]

I grew up with a very adventurous dad (he still is - right now he is birdwatching from a ship off the Falklands & Antarctica at 78 years of age) who occasionally required some guidance, so I was well practiced by 12. I also don't freak out when stuff goes sideways. Everything slows down and I can see what needs to be done. I knew he would be alright. I just had to get him to get himself out of that hole.

Some day I'll write a book about him, but right now he'd just get embarrassed and insist that none of it was true.

Good video btw. That's almost exactly what my dad did to get out of the hole.

Addendum: Just got a call from my dad's wife that there was an accident on the ship, and my dad fell and broke his leg. Now with a cast above and below the knee, he is being off-loaded from the ship at a nearby port and then flown to Santiago > Bogota > Newark NJ > Norfolk VA. So my adventurous dad is going to have quite an adventure over the next 24 hours. Ugh.

[Britishbane]

Addendum: Just got a call from my dad's wife that there was an accident on the ship, and my dad fell and broke his leg. Now with a cast above and below the knee, he is being off-loaded from the ship at a nearby port and then flown to Santiago > Bogota > Newark NJ > Norfolk VA. So my adventurous dad is going to have quite an adventure over the next 24 hours. Ugh.

Consider dvt prophylaxis

[j44ke]

Yes, he's going straight to the ER when he gets home for DVT check, and we are working on upgrading his seats to business or first class if possible to allow him to move around and stretch out if possible. I am not sure how ambulatory he is - it is a double bone break in his lower leg and the cast to immobilize it runs ankle to thigh. He also has meniscus tear in the other knee (previous but recent injury and probably contributed to the fall.) But I guess he'll have to do what he can to move his limbs and keep things going.

[AngryScientist]

these are the critical hours, but make sure once he's out of the woods he follows up on every bit of physical therapy they can prescribe him. it happens time and time again, a major broken bone in someone that age can be the delineation between a very active, healthy senior and a downward spiral.

dont mean to sound negative, but i've gone through it with family, and have read all about how it happens to folks a lot.

this is an interesting article, that is not entirely relevant, but worth reading...

Fate Worse Than Death? A Broken Hip

[j44ke]

these are the critical hours, but make sure once he's out of the woods he follows up on every bit of physical therapy they can prescribe him. it happens time and time again, a major broken bone in someone that age can be the delineation between a very active, healthy senior and a downward spiral.

dont mean to sound negative, but i've gone through it with family, and have read all about how it happens to folks a lot.

this is an interesting article, that is not entirely relevant, but worth reading...

Fate Worse Than Death? A Broken Hip

I know. We've had an instance of this in our family history that started with a broken pelvis from a fall on stairs. Good to be reminded though. I've already started pricing indoor cycles. Most recent update from his wife says the bones are not set, just immobilized (which suggests to my limited knowledge that the breaks perhaps not displaced dramatically) so he's going to have to get the cast removed and the bones set along with the rest of it once he gets home.