Travels With Cleo and Gunner Aftermath
This is continued directly off of the last post in this series, available here.
When I assessed the situation in the first instant after the arrow fell out, I knew I was in trouble.
The right side of my T Shirt was soaked with fluid that obviously came out of my eye. I was probably 50 yards from the house and the safety of my mother. I carefully picked up the bow and arrow and walked to the house.
You see, this wasn’t my first crisis situation and I am that guy that really performs well when the shit hits the fan. I may collapse in a fetal ball when everything sorts out, but in the situation I keep my cool pretty well.
So I walked to the house, hung the crossbow on the rifle rack on the back porch, and turned right into the bathroom. I made a cool, wet compress with a washcloth and went to tell mom. I told her that we needed to go to town as soon as possible, that I had a very serious injury. She was ironing in the kitchen when I went in.
We had a small argument almost right away. I hadn’t looked at my eye (I was afraid I’d lose it if I did and knew I still had a part to play.) Mom wanted to see, and I didn’t want her to. I finally gave in, pulled the compress and she near fainted. Had to sit immediately. I made sure she was OK and told her I was going to get my car out for the trip.
When I had the car parked in the ready position right outside the door I went back in and mom was still behind the ironing board. She couldn’t decide what to do first. I told her to get her purse and I’d get Harry (my baby brother age 4) up from his nap and ready.
Then came the second moment of panic. Mom realized, and I didn’t know, that my special needs sister was on the school bus alone. We missed the window for calling the school and having her stay. So we had to drive the bus route in reverse to be able to get her off the bus. No possible way she could handle being home alone. None.
Then I told mom she had to drive. Normally she loved driving my car (my Dad had their Buick someplace that afternoon) but couldn’t remember how to work the clutch. She was barely with us, but I needed her to get to town. My vision was not good.
We did get my sister and got to town. It was probably an hour total time until I saw a doctor. My family doctor. He took one look and ordered up the ambulance to take me to Spokane. Then he came back in and cleaned me up a little and started the morphine. When the ambulance got there (it was a volunteer fire department and you never knew who was going to be the crew) I was glad to see my barber driving and a friend as tech.
It turns out I would be the last passenger in that ‘62 Caddy ambulance. I’m here to tell you that the suspension left something on the 75 mile trip to the hospital. It took an hour and a half. Hopp (the tech) gave me another shot of morphine on the way.
When we got to the doctor’s office in Spokane the gurney wouldn’t go in the door. The drill was that the surgeon’s partner was going to examine me and report to the surgeon who had left to eat supper and prep for surgery when he heard the report from my GP. I ended up walking into the office.
The partner took a quick look while I was standing then set me down on the floor of the now closed office. He looked and poked a little but very carefully. I had two shots of morphine and brutal vision and told him I was going to hurl. He said “Two minutes and we’ll have you on the way to the OR.” About one minute later I barfed on what turned out to be the first Armani suit I’d ever seen.
Source
My luck was changing already. Turns out, the surgeon was one of the top three eye surgeons in the US. He would put my eye back together and give me the optimum chance to see normally again. It didn’t work, there were a couple of pieces missing, but he gave me the chance. I barely remember getting to the hospital, and really don’t have any recall until the next morning.
I don’t remember my Dad getting there, but it turns out that he’d been on the route to the hospital taking care of some farm business in the County seat. He was there to make the necessary decisions that would mold much of my future.
I’m sorry for the bluntness of this post, but there is just no soft way to tell this story. I promise that the next one will be better.
All photos in this post are properly sourced and liscensed.
All words in this post are mine. For better or worse
You want some real motorcycle travel? Check out Velimir. That’s some kind of motorcycle writing.
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Oooooch! I read that with my face in my hands. A nasty experience. That moment when you know you're seriously injured, but you have to hold it all together for a while... you don't even mention the pain! It reminds me of when I fell on my face while walking on a mountain at 3000 feet last year, and lost several teeth. I felt no pain, as my nerves were instantly numbed, but I knew I had to get help, and while everyone else was panicking, I had to be as calm as possible. I kind of knew that any kind of drama would make things worse.
That's a very vivid description that had me on the edge of my seat! Looking forward to the next episode :)
Wow. That's a story. It is surprising what you can do when the choices are really limited, isn't it?
I didn't have much pain for quite a while. By the time I hit the hospital (call it 2.5 hours) I had God's own headache, but otherwise not so bad. Amazingly.
Thanks for stopping by.
Two things, except for the 'overall' story, jump out for me:
Your mother almost collapsing and you, the injured one, having to be the most 'cool' in the whole situation and explaining her what to do when and how. That's truly something and it reminds me of the day I was stitched because I got a stick in my head and my mother came in (she wasn't there when it happened) for support and the doctor had to ask her 'are you okay?', while I was getting needles in my head every other second :')
1,5 hours to get to a hospital :-/ You'd drive out of my country if you were driving for 1,5 hours :')
Gosh Tom, I'm impressed by your story and I'm so glad you shared it <3 It's beautiful in a way that only can be achieved with a sad story.
Late in life Mark Twain wrote some amazing works about being what you are. In his example, some men will go into a burning house to save a puppy while others will watch and think that's the goofiest behavior they have ever seen. Both are right, there is no wrong, just being what they are.
I've always been cool under pressure. I just am.
We really were remote. Probably why I like that so today. There was a 6 room hospital in the little town where I went to school with the two GPs in town as medical staff. But the nearest real facilities were 90 miles away. I found out later that the GP had started the process to fly me to Seattle and University Hospital there when he realized that the best 'eye guy' west of the Mississippi was in Spokane.
And that teeny hospital? Saved my life at least once and maybe 3 times. There's more to the story. I'll get to it.
Thanks Soyrosa. I always appreciate your comments.
Wow, that is crazy! Was calling the ambulance to come out to your house a possibility or is that something that someone with a higher authority had to do? It sounds like it was a crazy scary experience. I'd like to think I could have been as calm in a situation like that, but who knows. Thanks for sharing!
It was a volunteer fire department and ambulance crew at that time so it probably would have taken at least as much time to get to our farm as it did for us to get to town even with all the extras. I knew I wasn't in mortal danger, and not in too much pain. that was still coming. It was just 'ordinary' to get an injured person to town.
Thanks for stopping by.
AH, while the content is not enjoyable, I am absolutely enjoying these stories. I know I always say you should write a post about that, but now, I think you should record these. @morkrock will help you. I can just hear your voice telling these stories and I think it will make an amazing audio book
Hmmmmm. Certainly a thing I'd never considered. I'll certainly think about it. I like the idea.
Thanks for the kind words and ongoing support. I really appreciate it.
i like it too! You have the perfect voice for audio books, I can just hear your accent as I read your stories.
I so agree, you have such an amazing voice, and compiling these in a video with photos and you reading would just be stunning!!
I am so glad you are writing this series. I feel like I am right there with you. I wanted to reach out and grab your mother because I could sense her about to hit the floor. I don't know how calm I could keep in that scenario. I have injured myself lots of times but obviously nothing that severe. I do get the serenity of the moment though. I remember the time I was in a car accident and the initial panic followed by a calmness as I realized that I was no longer in control or the car and just braced myself for whatever impact was about to happen. Great post my friend.
I felt the same!
Yeah. I got her seated, but it was a near thing. I KNEW it was a mistake to look. But how can you argue with your mother? She was rock solid almost all the time, and she got me to town this time (I don't think I'd have made it) but she was completely unhinged by what she saw. She recovered well in what had to be a dismal circumstance.
wow! I just read the previous post as well as this one! I thought it was a work of fiction, but I realise that his is your past! I would love to sit around a camp fire and listen to you tell your stories. You have such an interesting tale to tell! Great posts!
I should light a fire when I'm telling my stories. It is probably where I am most comfortable.
Thanks for all the support.
Your content is absolutely different. I like cat. This cat color is very nice. Thanks sir.
That's not a picture of the actual cat, but it's the closest I've found so far.
Will you think less of me if I say this is a funny story? I am so sorry about your eye but common, this is hilarious :D I am a visual person and I could imagine you bleeding but comforting your mom and being the calmest in the situation and driving around looking for that bus, finding your friends to be the ones to take you to the hospital, doctor eating dinner while you sit on the floor and all that on morphine. I am sorry this happened to you, I really am honey but think about selling the rights to this story to some tv show or something :)
It's an incredibly funny story! If it was on somebody elses' TV I'd laugh my butt off. In fact, I mostly do today. You couldn't get that through Hollywood because it's just not going to happen that way :) And guess what? There is more.
I've told you that I am convinced that life is a cosmic joke and it's my mission in life to find the punch line. It really is!
Well, you got my attention with an awesome car, then held me riveted to the screen with your story!
Wow!!
Ill have to read the previous posts!
Thanks!
That isn't my car. It's a creative commons photo of a '65. Mine was a '64 and had black interior.
Thanks for the kind words. I appreciate it.