Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Rock formations east of Shoshonie, Wyoming on way to Casper.
Tuesday afternoon my wife and I headed to Casper where yesterday morning I got to go to the surgery center at the Bone Doctors offfice where I was put out for about 10 minutes while they pulled out the hardware in my heel and then into a boot cast which is actually heavier than the cast I had on but it is removable. And that is a plus while sleeping. The fun part will be monday when I start physical therapy. I was given a prescription for pain pills but so far-knock on wood-I haven't needed them. I hear I will for the therapy sessions.
Our trip to Casper was uneventful but the return yesterday afternoon was not fun. A good old fashioned Wyoming blizzard hit and it was 200 miles of wind driven snow and temperatures falling to the single digits. It was 35-40MPH of white nuckle driving for my wife. Needless to say it was a long trip.
A side story:
JonRobinett, husband of Deb Robinett who does the amazing wildlife photography in our gallery,who is the ranch manager of a ranch NW of Dubois was relating my heel problem with an old rancher in southern Wyoming near where he was working at the time. It seems this fellow had an injury not unlike mine but thought that cast was hindering him from doing his ranch work so with a hammer and chisel he got the cast off only to discover the pins that stuck out from his heel in various directions. Now this really hindered him and he set off trying to remove them. When Jon came by he asked Jon if he would with the vise grips pull those suckers out as everytime this old timer tried it he would faint. Jon set out to explain to him that they were actually screwed into his bone and no way would they come out by pulling them. I don't think the Doc was too happy with our "hero" cowboy. Can you imagine?

6 comments:

Unknown said...

OMG!!! I can imagine he was chompin' on a leather strap after taking a swig of whiskey before he tried to pull those pins out. What a story!

I'm glad you and your wife made it through the storm okay and that you are on the road to a full recovery.

Watercolors by Susan Roper said...

Gary...don't even attempt this rancher's attempt at self-healing! Even with a bite block it wouldn't work without a lot of pain and even more long recovery. I am glad you are progressing to this point and look forward to even more of your wonderful paintings. You have done more in your recovery phase than I imagined possible!

Teresa said...

I wish you well in your physical therapy!

When I read of your neighbor's attempt at a "home remedy" I cringed. OUCH, OUCH, OUCH!!!

Maria Kovalenko Leysens said...

Wow, as usual, love the stories, and thankful you have the time to share you work and observations. Hope that physical therapy goes well. Happy belated Thanksgiving to you!

Gary Keimig said...

thanks all. I'm hoping by Christmas I will be walking, running, jumping and all those good things I so took for granted. Thought folks would get a kick out of that story. Jon has told me other stories of this fellow and I have known some old ranchers and cowboys that could easily fit this fellow. They can be hardy independant old guys but carry some things a little too far.

debwardart said...

Glad to hear you are healing well and good luck with therapy. I can commiserate with your wife on that drive home! Love the story of the hardy cowboy. And just read your Thanksgiving entry to learn you are a cancer survivor - congratulations on that, and best of health far into the future.
As always, love the photos and paintings - keep them coming!