2010 was going pretty well, I mean, I had successfully posted *16* Dailies in a row! My fiancee Kate and I had just returned from an auction in East Greenwhich, RI where I had acquired this gem for $15:
And just as I started to find a spot for it, I was informed that my cat Wesker (shown here):
had somehow gotten himself stuck in a tree in the backyard.
Now, I’ve had Wesker for several years (the photo above is from 2003 and is being used in an attempt to make him out to be a more sympathetic character for this story) and he has definitely proven to be a tree climber, but I live in New Hampshire and the trees in the backyard are really, really tall pine trees. And in all the time I have owned cats (25 years), I have never known one to attempt to climb something so tall. I have to assume that something sent him up there. Either losing track of how high he was while consumed by the thrill of the the chase as our yard is inhabited by all sorts of birds and squirrels or, perhaps, he was fleeing from something like that stupid dog that shows up in the yard every-so-often and eats out of the garbage cans.
Either way, I didn’t feel like this was a job for the fire department. Especially not at 7:00 on a Sunday night when the precipitation was beginning to fall. I figured, get the 30′ ladder, carefully climb up check the scene out, maybe lure him down and come down easily. As long as I’m careful about how I choose my steps, everything should be fine. I’ve been climbing trees since I was a kid, granted not with the same frequency as when I was a kid, but… regardless.
Kate’s uncle and I hoisted the ladder into place and, as the darkness of night engulfed the scene I began to climb.
With Kate and her uncle shining the way with flashlights from the ground below I made my way to the top of the ladder. The closer I got, the louder Wesker wailed. Once I got to the top I was dismayed to find that he was actually stuck higher than the reach of the ladder (the 30′ ladder). With great trepidation, I left the security of the ladder and ventured up into the mass of braches.
Once I got to Wesker’s position, I became VERY concerned. At the time, under the increasingly stormy and dark conditions, he looked like he was impaled. His legs were hanging limply below him and he had that crazy “help me” look in his eyes. Call me a sucker, I couldn’t just climb down and call the fire department. I was confident about my footing and my hold on the branches, I grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and pulled him toward me.
Of course, once he was within arms reach, he latched onto me pretty tightly and I started to think “maybe he’s not hurt after all.” Regardless, I figured I was just a few steps from the ladder and we’d be down soon enough.
Well, I was right about that last part.
With Wesker latched onto my chest I set my left foot on what I THOUGHT was a pretty sturdy branch. I made sure I had my foot as close to the trunk of the tree so as to prevent any flexing of the branch so that it WOULDN’T break. I reached out to the ladder with my right foot and that’s when everything went into slow motion.
I heard the snap of the branch, and felt it, and then I felt the sensation of falling. From here on, I totally lost track of Wesker. I know he made the trip down with me, I just down know where or how he landed.
It was a really weird sensation, the fall that is. As I had been standing upright, I instinctively reached out with my feet knowing the ground was on it’s way toward me. But the sensation was strange because the ground just wasn’t there. And it seemed like forever before my feet actually made contact with something.
Kate’s uncle would describe my landing similar to that of someone who had parachuted. I landed on my feet, but instinctively collapsed into a sort of crouch to absorb the impact and then kind of bounced back up a bit before finally settling on the ground lying face down.
Of course, I knew I was hurt. My first thought was paralysis. I knew enough about a fall like that and the way I landed to be concerned about damaged to my spine. Not to mention the pain that I was having in my lower back. As Kate dialed 911 I lay on the ground moving my fingers and toes as much as possible if for no other reason that to reassure myself that the damage wasn’t too bad, yet. I still had feeling and movement in all of my extremities and, even though my left arm was becoming numb (because I was laying on it) I knew that I had already dodged a pretty substantial bullet (and a bunch of rocks, tree branches, pieces of metal, a small brick wall and other things lying on the ground around the base of the tree).
The paramedics showed up, strapped me to a board and took me to the hospital. I was definitely in shock as I only have a vague recollection of the querstions they asked me on the way. I definitely had a tough time answering them although, to be fair, it was January 17th and if you had asked me what year it was BEFORE the fall I probably would have hesitated a bit.
The next 8 hours or so were a blur. I completely lost track of time and faded in and out of awareness. I was definitely in shock. The only thing I could think about the whole time was: “how much has my life changed? I know I can move my fingers and toes… but am I going to be able to walk? Am I going to be in a wheelchair for the rest of my life? I’m fine with not playing basketball, but am I going to be able to sit at my desk and draw? If I have to use a cane, will Kate let me have one with a sword in it?”
After things settled down at the hospital and there was a quiet moment with the Doc, I was informed that I was being transferred to a hospital in Boston with a much better spinal trauma team (that’s GOOD news… right?). They were fairly certain that I wasn’t going to need surgery, but better to be in the hands of the best spinal trauma team available, just to be sure.
So what’d I break? Take a look at this photo:
The spine has three main sections of vertebrae. Your neck is comprised of the 7 cervical vertebrae, your ribcage/upper back is the 12 thoracic vertebrae and the lower back is the 5 lumbar vertebrae. For me, L1 and L2 were both compression fractured. One of them had a regular vertical hairline running up the side of the bone and the other was described as an “explosive” fracture. That’s good, right?
An explosive fracture is exactly what you think it is. Instead of the bone fracturing lengthwise… it fractured outwardly. Using a pillow and a Sharpie (which I’m sure they’re charging me for) the doctor illustrated what the trauma to my spine looked like and explained that the explosive fracture meant that a piece of the vertebrae had actually broken off from the bone itself and entered the soft, chewy center of the spinal cavity… you know… the one where your spinal cord sits.
Luckily (and I can’t stress that enough) it had not made contact with the cord itself. Otherwise… I don’t know, I’d probably still be in the hospital. Amazingly, I was told that I wouldn’t need surgery because my body was going to do all the work. The piece that broke off from my vertebrae would be reabsorbed back onto the bone and in 6-8 weeks the whole thing should be healed up just fine. All of the treatment was going to be outpatient.
Spinal trauma, explosive fracture, compression fracture, catheter… these are all words that I hoped to never have associated with parts of my body. I am unbelievably thankful that this injury didn’t turn out worse than it could have. On Tuesday, January 19 I was fitted for a back brace and on Wednesday, January 20 I was sent home to begin my recovery. Seriously, 3 days after fracturing 2 vertebrae I was back at home in my own bed.
I want to make sure I thank everyone who has sent positive vibes my way and helped me out. You know who you are.
So that’s where we are right now. Every day a little more range of movement, a little more time upright instead of lying down. The soreness lessens as the strength increases. It’s going to be a few weeks before I can drive a car again, but I should be back at the drawing desk with the next 7 days or so. While I haven’t been able to draw these last 3 weeks, I have been able to write, so there’s plenty of Stick-Man material on the way and I’ll be dealing with this real life episode within the story because if anyone is going to make jokes about me looking like a stormtrooper or having no backbone or failing Superhero Class 101: ‘Cat in tree’… it’s going to be me.
See you soon!
