Out of work - 6 weeks :(

I did it up good this time. Last Thursday was our anniversary. I was picking up a pretty good load of scrap out of town that day.

Normally, I would pull into the worksite, sort everything there and then head to the yard. Well since it was my anniversary I didn't have time for that. Had to get home that evening.



So, I just had one of the guys bring the tractor over and just scoop everything up in one big pile and throw it on my trailer. Then I can head home, spread out a tarp on the ground, and dump the load for sorting.

Perfect. Made it home in time to have a nice anniversary dinner with the wife, a bottle of our favorite wine, and maybe a little fun in bed that night lol. (Fun part never happened- too tired)

So the next day (last Friday) I started sorting and disassembling stuff having a good time, filling some nice buckets.

So yesterday (Monday) I went out to finish up, clean up the garbage, throw my buckets on the trailer. Everything is looking good. Got the place all cleaned up. The only thing left is about 250-300lbs of dirt on my tarp that got scooped up with the scrap and dumped into my trailer.

So I ran over the tarp and dirt with a magnet about 5-6 times just to make sure there were no nails in the dirt. Then I had the brilliant idea to drag this tarp and 300lbs of dirt over to a low spot in the yard that always collects water right in front of the door of my pickup.

So I'm walking backwards and pulling this tarp and it takes everything I've got to pull it over to the low spot in the yard. I'm almost there and I step on a fist sized rock, twist the crap out of my ankle.

I laid there for about 10 minutes writhing in pain and wondering if I can get up. I finally did get up and thought this is good, maybe just a sprain. Well I put a little weight on it and it felt like my ankle was on a swivel.

Ended up with 2 fractures, a boot on my leg, and 6 weeks out of work. That's what they tell me anyway, no weight on it for 6 weeks.

Moral of the story: one stupid decision has me laid up and bored out of my mind. Be careful out there because this sucks!

P.S. I have an AFLAC disability policy. I'll let everyone here know how that pays out once it's all said and done.

My mom has aflac said they pay quick...get well soon buddy

Sorry to hear about your accident and heal up soon, This might be a good time to build your self an old farts scooter. One that you can kneel on with the bad leg and propel with the good leg. I have several different designs and they seem well built. Build one out of scrap, use it for six weeks, and then sell it on CL for more than scrap value.

With the profits buy two bottles of your favorite wine and then have a lot of fun in bed. Good luck to you.

Dang Dude.. Sorry to hear about that. As we get older it's always the little things that get ya isn't it? My wife broke her Leg at her ankle roller skating with the kiddos at a school "Skate Party" Now she has plates and pins in there- My Bionic Woman!
Get mended up soon my man!

Just an update. Not intending to be a whiner or anything, things are going quite well actually.

So this ankle twisting happened on Friday the 14th of March. When I went in to the Surgical Center, the lady who saw me was just a P.A. She put the boot on me and sent me home instructing that I stay off it for 6 weeks.

Monday when the actual surgeon looked at my x-rays I got a call that I needed to come back in. He took some more x-rays, and told me I needed surgery. Besides the 2 fractures, I tore the ligament that runs from the ankle to the knee. I Ended up getting cut open and 2 screws in the ankle.

Well, after 2 weeks of sitting in my lazy-boy trippin' on Oxycodone and ********, I'm back at it.

In this 2 week period I had 2 clients call needing their scrap cleaned up. Fortunately, the yard owner (who happens to be my cousin) let me borrow one of his employees to do all the grunt work. I just sit in my lawn chair and give directions LOL. Good to have friends in high places. Bonus is he knows his metals, so I don't have to do much coaching as to what goes where.

So my new updated instructions are no weight on it for the next 3 weeks. Then I go in and he uses the same incision and takes the screws out, then a walking boot for 2 weeks.

You better believe I'm going to get those screws from him too, I'm a scrapper!

Edit: Forum wouldn't let me type T R A M A D O L

Not to worry Jimi!

I took my narcotics as prescribed, and they are all gone and I don't want any more. My sister got addicted to that crap. Frankly, I don't see the attraction. Good pain killers.. yes. Mostly though they just made me tired and depressed.

Right now it's an Alleve and a bag of ice... maybe a beer or three.

Originally Posted by hobo finds

did your Aflac kick in yet?

Hey Hobo. It turns out I DON'T have AFLAC disability. I have an AFLAC Accident Policy. My wife called and spoke to a rep. and the rep. told her a broken ankle would be a minimum of $1500 payout. That was before we knew about the ligament damage and surgery and screws and whatnot.

The wife has dealt with AFLAC before and she told me to wait until everything is said and done, then submit the whole shebang. I'm hoping for $2500. That would cover my deductible. I'll let you know.

I went to get some beer today.

It looked like this:

It's been a long journey but, FINALLY got this all wrapped up

Here's a pic of the screws and plate they put in my ankle:



Had the screws taken out June 16th. I heeled up well, and have excellent range of motion. Still some swelling and pain if I am on it all day. The Doc tells me that's normal just push through the pain. I guess I wouldn't even call it pain. More like discomfort and stiffness.

And here is my check from AFLAC:



My out of pocket after BCBS was about $3200. So the whole thing cost me about $300. As Mikeinreco said, AFLAC does pay fast. I think it was less than 2 weeks. What took the longest was getting all the paperwork from 3 different healthcare facilities.

I learned that I have to slow down and think about my next move. Scrapping can be dangerous work. Lots of power tools, sharp edges, heavy lifting etc.

I also recommend AFLAC for scrappers. Covered most of my out of pocket expenses.