Elevator Friday - Hepburn, Saskatchewan

Thank you Dale Redekopp.

Spotted outside Leduc, Alberta

52.6989442, -112.8586680

This is the old Dorenlee, Alberta train station sitting abandoned in a farmer’s field. It was moved from where it stood a few miles east. Whatever there once was in Dorenlee there is little evidence of anything now. At one time there was a general store with a gas pump, two Serle grain elevators, and the train station.

Elevator Friday - Glaslyn, Saskatchewan

Thank you Dale Redekopp.

 

The old Chev post

A thank you to Dale Redekopp who visited me in the hospital, helped me when I got out of the hospital, and took me on a day trip last Sunday to distract me while I am recovering. He is one of many who helped me when I needed it. I must mention his wife Lynn who rescued me from hospital food with baked goods.

It was good to get out. There was some distance travelled and some spots photographed. All in all a good day.

And because I like black and white . . .

It has been ages since I featured Captain Mo

 

The fall guy

I made it over fifteen months without falling. With everything I have been through I was impressed that all the way through my recovery I had not fallen once.

Last night I was at a restaurant. It opened at five and I got there with a friend just before it opened. I got halfway to my table. Wet floor that I did not know about, it was mopped just before opening and no sign. The bottom of my left crutch hit a soapy spot, the crutches immediately went out from under me. I slammed the floor like a ton of bricks. A waiter and customer awkwardly helped me up. I seem to be okay, just a bit of pain.

The food was damn good. 

Elevator Friday - Thorhild, Alberta

Thank you Dale Redekopp.

Fun with cars

Yesterday I had a friend help me out with picking up the car. He picked me up, drove me to the bank to get a bank draft. Off to the dealership to sign the paperwork and hand over the money. I decided I wanted something added to the car so off to the registry to register the car.

I kept my plate from my prior car that was involved in the crash and I would transfer it to the new one. I planned to use a registry just out of town as they are usually not busy. I got there only to find it closed for the day. I found out later it was closed because a bat was in the office and the office was closed until someone could be found to remove it.

Back to my town, used the registry there which was busy. Standing for long periods of time on crutches is not fun. Later in the day I got back to the dealership to pick up the car. Of course you cannot just drive off. The sales guy has to show you how everything works and then get you to sign more paperwork saying he showed you everything and explained everything. Then you get to drive off. I said if I could not figure out some stuff I would be back. 

Out for a two hour drive last night to get comfortable with it. For a base model it has a backup camera and a tilt and telescoping steering wheel. It is the first time I had either of those in a car. I ran into a bit of rain and looked for the wiper controls. Those look like the most complicated wiper controls I have ever seen. I might need a tutorial on those. I have no idea on how to listen to music on my iPod. All in good time. It does what I want it to - get me from A to B - and is a nice enough ride. 

I woke up this morning in a lot of pain and I had to take something for it. Bending my body to get in and out of a car and sitting in a car seat will take some work. I am still a ways off from getting my flexibility back and twisting my body to move around is not fun. It will get better with time. 

The car arrived earlier than expected

New car. 2025 Mazda CX-30.

Elevator Friday - On a farm northeast of Edmonton

Thank you to Dale Redekopp.

53.13444, -114.47722

I managed to get out last Friday and do a bit of actual exploring thanks to Dale Redekopp. It felt good. I did not take enough photos for this post as I am out of practice. I was on crutches walking through this cemetery and was paying too much attention to my walking and not enough on material.

About one thousand Black American settlers from Oklahoma, from about 1908 to about 1912, came to Alberta. Amber Valley is the most well known settlement in Alberta. Some settled in Keystone, now Breton, Alberta. It did not last long. After WWI many moved to other places and other opportunities. This area would have been very isolated back then.

This cemetery is a short distance off the highway beside a township road. I have literally driven by this on the highway dozens of times without ever seeing it before. There are only three marked graves, two of them from the 1980's. The plaque lists the original settlers.

"In memory of Molly

Beloved wife of

W. M. Hayes

Born 1865

Died May 24, 1928"

She is listed on the plaque. This is the only settler marked grave with a headstone.

The grave below has no headstone. The small rectangular stone on top has the initials M H on one side. I suspect the stone might belong to the Mollie Hayes grave. There are no other names on the plaque that would have these initials. You can see the outline of several graves in this small cemetery. Their markers are lost to time.

Elevator Friday - Poe, Alberta

Thank you Dale Redekopp.

Random late night notes

Another few days of pain. Things are better today. Last Sunday whenever I stood, or did some walking on crutches, I felt knives of pain radiating up my legs from the bottom of my feet to my thighs. Monday and Tuesday the pain progressively got better. Today I was almost feeling normal. I have no idea what triggered this. I thank whoever invented painkillers.

A friend texted me a day ago asking if I am able to go on a motorcycle ride. Months ago I thought I would be able to hop on the bike in May of this year. Wishful thinking. I am convinced I will be back on the motorcycle, it will just take longer. 

Elevator Friday - Shonts, Alberta

Thank you to Dale Redekopp.

Apparently I made a sales guy happy

I put a deposit on a new 2025 Mazda CX-30 GX. I wanted red because I want to stand out on the road. My last vehicle was a 2013 KIA Soul that I got from my mother when she was no longer able to drive which was in near mint condition. That car was a dark gray. The excuse that the guy gave the RCMP when he hit me - and turned my car into scrap metal - was that he did not see me. A few weeks after the accident when I was in the hospital, and no longer had a mouth full of tubes, and I was able to make phone calls, I phoned mom and said “About your former car that you so dearly loved . . .”

I cannot get a red one for about two to two and one half weeks. Red is just not readily available. No matter, I am in no severe rush. My sales guy is somewhere around my age and I am pushing sixty. He is doing a career change and is new at car sales. I happened to be his first sale so I made someone happy. I have mixed feelings. My ancestors were Scots and I hate spending money. My wallet screams when I open it like any good Scot. With luck this one will last me for years without someone trying again to prematurely end my existence.

Testing it out

Today I took a car for a test drive. It has been a few days short of fifteen months since I last drove a car. My local Mazda dealer picked me up at my residence and let me try out a 2025 Mazda CX-30 GX. I like it. There are a number of features that I will likely never use and not bother learning them. I do not feel the need to instal an app on my phone to start my car. Unfortunately extra things are all standard these days.

I do not want to buy a car just yet. I might have to buy one. I still get around with crutches for walking and I wanted to have better mobility before getting a car. The problem is my mother fell on Saturday and fractured her hip. It was a minor fracture and she will be in the hospital for a few days. What makes this worse is that she is deteriorating. She needs more care than what she can get in her current place and they are starting the process to find another place for her. She no longer remembers things like how old she is or her birthday. To get to see her I have had to rely on other people, now I feel I have to speed things up and get a car so I can spend more time visiting her. I would have preferred more time before getting a car.

The salesman wanted to negotiate right after the test drive. That is understandable since they are in the business of selling cars. I never buy anything right away. I also dislike the process of buying a car and wading through the markups and garbage fees they try to tack on. For what the used market is like I might as well buy new. I told them all I am interested in is the base model but they still try to upsell you. That is how the game is played. If I buy it, it would only be the second new car I have ever owned. I always saved money before by buying used.

To hell with it. After all I have been through I am buying a new car. 

Bales in the Hills

A shot from this past fall in the Cypress Hills.

Bales...gotta love 'em!

Michael Truman

Past Presence Website

Elevator Friday - near Jarvie, Alberta

Thank you Dale Redekopp.

About the walking . . .

A relative was kind enough to pick me up last Tuesday and take me to Drayton Valley to visit mom. My mother is in a retirement home. Before the accident I used to visit once or twice a week. My sister has been great filling in with visits even though she lives much further away. The first thing when we got there is I had my driver stop at the local Dairy Queen so I could bring mom a hot fudge sundae. There are reasons why I am the favourite.

My driver is my father’s brother’s daughter’s daughter. Or my first cousin’s daughter. Whatever other term there is for this family relationship escapes me. I will refer to her as Kay. This is the third time she has done this for me since I got out of the hospital last September. I make a point to spring for lunch and overpay for gas for the day.

Mom is eighty three and looks healthy while also managing to look older than her years. Her memory is shot, she does not remember her birthday nor does she remember Kay. I am glad she is in a place that takes good care of her.

I spent the day on crutches. For longer excursions I had been using the walker but I use crutches exclusively these days. I have become a wee bit more flexible as I have noticed I can get in and out of a vehicle just a bit easier. You do not notice some of the everyday hazards for handicapped people until you become one. My accountant’s office had a weird step rise to get in the door. Sidewalks can have high height stepping from the road onto the sidewalk. You have to be so damn careful.

Walking with crutches I could navigate the height getting onto a sidewalk from a parking space. I could not do the reverse, I had to walk to where there was a ramp built into the sidewalk at the handicapped parking spot so I could get down. Starting yesterday I can finally step off a sidewalk without searching for a ramp. The problem was I previously did not have enough strength in my knees. This is welcome progress.

At home I have tried to do the flamingo thing. I can stand unassisted and have done that for months. I cannot stand unassisted on one leg. I feel I can get to that point. I have not fallen when I was in rehab or since I have been home. I have been scared of falling a few times. I no longer have that fear. I am confident that if I do fall I can manage to get back up. I did not have that feeling before. Onward.

I got asked how the medical system is working for me

In Canada healthcare is free. Of course nothing is truly ever free, we pay a lot in taxes to support it.

I really have no complaints. I live in Alberta so I do not know what it is like in other provinces. When the accident happened I received good care in a timely manner. I have had no problems booking follow up appointments with my surgeon. Anytime I had a follow up with the surgeon I had to check in, then go for x-rays, then back to wait for the surgeon to see me to discuss my progress. Every time I arrived early and they started the process right away. I never had to wait long.

Everyone I have dealt with as a patient seemed to be competent. Practically all were pleasant. I am sure there are true horror stories that people had with the system. I am grateful for what they did for me.

Recently I had to book an appointment with a doctor to get disability forms filled out. I do not have a family doctor and getting a family doctor these days is difficult, there is almost zero availability. In the past I rarely went to a doctor unless I was really sick or something happened that demanded medical attention. So I never had a family doctor in the first place. I never went for a checkup or physical. To get my forms filled out I booked an appointment at a walk-in clinic, talked to a doctor and suggested I leave the forms and pick them up in a few days. The office phoned me later that day to say they were done. When I picked them up it cost me $85.00 which I had no issue paying. That cost is minor considering everything else.

Truth be known I have had more issues with insurance companies during this ordeal than with the medical system. 

Elevator Friday - Primate, Saskatchewan

Thank you to Dale Redekopp.

If you die in a horrific accident you get to avoid all the subsequent paperwork

The insurance company that is paying me disability payments wants proof that I am still damaged goods. That was part of the reason to visit my surgeon on April 9. The next day on the tenth I received a package with a bunch of forms from them asking for even more information. That irritated me because I could have had those filled out when I met my surgeon and that they never told me they wanted all this additional stuff. He is fairly accommodating when it comes to paperwork.

Before the accident I rarely if ever went to the doctor. I do not have a family physician and these days it can be damn hard to get one. I lucked out when I phoned around and I found a walk-in clinic that will give me the once over and fill out my forms, for a fee of course. The fee is worth it to get this done.

I have to forward some forms to my disability insurer and the remainder to the government. My disability insurer wants me to apply for the government disability program. They want to get me partially or completely off the books I guess. I did some research and apparently this is routine. According to the government’s own forms it can take up to four months to rule on an application. I have to order another medical report to submit with one of these reports. After reading through the forms several times and filling out over twenty pages in my questionable handwriting I think I have this figured out. I know I am nowhere close to going back to work, unfortunately I have to gather a bunch of documents to prove it.

That was not fun

I am not sure if physiotherapy is helping me or hurting me lately.

About a week ago I hurt myself. My body told me it had enough. For close to the last week I have had pain practically all over. I have tried to get some exercise in but I get a little bit done and I have to quit due to the pain. I have had to take painkillers to make it through the week.

I made a friend in the hospital and we kept in touch. He got a leg amputated due to diabetes and is staring retirement in the face and is wondering what to do with his life. When in the hospital I suggested he get a motorcycle and he got hooked on the idea of getting a Can Am Spyder. Stable and easy to ride if you have one leg. He wanted to go to the motorcycle show as he is hooked on the idea so I went with him on April 12. I used my walker due to all the walking I would have to do. All the walking I did that day I must have ended up being over a mile. The entrance was on one side and of course the show was on the opposite end. Handicapped parking was a bit of a walk as well. My body started experiencing pain that evening. I did prove to myself I can get on a Can Am Ryker with ease.

I went to two physiotherapy appointments this past week even though I was in pain. That may or may not have been a good move. I have been known to be stupidly stubborn. I did too much and the pain was damn unpleasant.

Whatever happened it is subsiding and hopefully I can get back to trying to get better. 

Elevator Friday - near Skiff, Alberta

Thank you Dale Redekopp.

Bought two of these last Monday

I have been thinking I should be able to try using these.

I thought if I can do crutches I should be able to use these. Today I gave it a shot. Using both I managed to ungainly walk about two hundred feet. It is scary and I was sweating from the effort. I have yet to fall.

No guts no glory.

Time for an update

A few weeks ago my long term disability insurer wanted medical update on me. I got an email asking me to set up an appointment for a phone call and I had a missed call. I phoned back and got her voicemail saying she would be on vacation for a week and back on March 31. I said phone me any time and left it at that. I do not hear from them in months and then I am the last call of the day before heading out the door for time off. They can chase me.

When I finally did a call I got asked for a medical update. I asked with who and what kind. I also got asked about a possible return to work. As boring as it is being home and walking the halls I am nowhere close to being able to return. Turns out they wanted me to see my original surgeon. I phoned his office fully expecting it to take weeks before getting an appointment. I got one five days later on April 9.

My last operation on my legs was February 26, 2024. I have had follow up appointments on May 15, 2024, June 26, 2024, July 30, 2024, September 11, 2024, and December 4, 2024. I am getting full value from the Canadian health system. I was at one of the many buildings at the University of Alberta Hospital area. Arrive, go to the second floor, check in, down to the basement for multiple x-rays on both legs, back to the second floor to meet the doctor to review, then home.

They are efficient. Any time I have been there I have arrived about thirty minutes early and the process gets started with minimal waiting. I took a cab there and used a walker. I use crutches now but for the longer distances I needed the walker. Prior appointments I needed help getting on the x-ray table. I can do it with no problem now. I can even twist myself into the various positions so the can get different x-rays of the doctor’s work. With all the walking and movement I was not used to doing I was in pain and had to take some painkillers when I got home. 

The verdict is I am looking at about a two year recovery from the date of the accident. Possibly longer. He is confident that I will eventually be able to walk independently. There is less bone in my left femur but it is well supported by the metal. My left leg is a bit weaker than the right. This should get better in time. The doctor was even good enough to fill out my paperwork to claim a disability credit on my tax return.

I am feeling good overall and looking forward to getting better. Progress will be slow but there will be progress. 

Spotted today at my doctor’s office

Elevator Friday - Formerly Valentine, Alberta

The UGG grain elevator that used to be in Valentine is now on a farm north of Ryley, Alberta. Valentine doesn’t exist anymore. Contributed by Dale Redekopp.

Progress . . .

Got a little more flexible and a little stronger. 

Doing two hundred stairs in a day just over a week ago was perhaps dumb. At the time I felt so damn good and. I did not hurt the next few days but my body was damn tired out. I felt some muscle strain but very little pain. I did not have much energy for days. At the moment my legs are in some pain.

I was doing stairs with holding the railing with one hand and using a crutch in the other. Then a couple of days ago tried and succeeded using both crutches to get up stairs. Yesterday I tried something a little different, I can just make it up four steps with one hand on the railing and no support on my other hand. Today I used one crutch (just one) for the first time in my right hand and managed to walk (badly) ten feet. Every time I do something a little new I am ravenous and exhausted later.

Toying with the idea of putting things on hiatus for a while. Exercising has been wearing me out lately.

Elevator Friday - on a farm near Grande Prairie, Alberta

Thank you Dale Redekopp.

Hallways and stairs

I largely spend my days walking the halls on crutches and going up stairs on crutches. Stairs seem to be really helping my legs. Last Friday I did one hundred sixty-eight stairs. I took Saturday off and gave myself a rest. Today I increased my stair count to two hundred eight. Not bad. 

Elevator Friday - near Rosemary, Alberta

Thank you Dale Redekopp.

Not bad

I live in an apartment style condo on the second floor. Lately I have been walking to the stairwell, up sixteen stairs to the next floor, down the hall, take the elevator down to my floor and down the hall back to my place. All on crutches. A few times I did two flights of stairs instead of one. Today was my personal best, one hundred twenty-eight stairs and about one thousand feet of walking on crutches. We will see how I feel in the morning.

Cpt Mo makes an appearance

 

Tales of my father

Actually a photo of dad. I was cleaning up some stuff and found some old photos. No idea when this was taken or how old he was. I do not know what the vehicle was. Dad was born June 26, 1942. He grew up poor on a farm in Alberta. Photos would have been a luxury and very few exist.

Truck on a Stump

On my way from one place to another I passed through Neilburg, Saskatchewan where I caught sight of this old truck.   

All that's left of Bob's Corner Gas & Cafe is the sign, an old gas pump and a truck on a stump. 

Michael Truman

Past Presence Website

Going downstairs is much scarier than going upstairs

I managed going downstairs, well, only eight stairs, yesterday. I was damn nervous.

I did it and proved I can do it. I had a little video taken and wanted to post it but I cannot get it to work.

In the meantime I have done a flight of stairs going up twice more.

That was scary

Last Thursday I was out at physio and while I was there I received an email that the elevator was out. I live on the second floor. After physio I needed to do something because I could not go home until I knew it was fixed, using the stairs might be insurmountable. So I went to a local watering hole, sat in the lounge, and had a late lunch. After some time I got an email that the elevator was back in service. I was concerned I might have had to get a hotel for the night if the elevator was not fixed. I could probably make it up two flights of stairs to get to my home but it would be a hell of a struggle.

Today being Saturday I thought I need to try the stairs. I did it months ago in rehab up five stairs. I have not done it since. 

I walked with crutches to the stairwell. Up eight stairs, hit the landing, up the next eight to the next floor. Easier than I thought. I took the elevator back to my floor. I need to try going down some stairs next. I am a little too nervous to try that right now. 

Elevator Friday - Near Lamont, Alberta

Thank you to Dale Redekopp.

How about an update?

As I mentioned I am transitioning to using crutches from the walker. Last Thursday I managed one thousand two hundred feet over the course of the day. I beat my personal best by four hundred feet.

Last Friday I had a physio appointment, a quick trip to the grocery store, and after that a trip to the podiatrist. For all that I used the walker. I have someone that drives me to my appointments. I did not have my usual therapist and this one manoeuvred my legs, hips, and knees into some different positions. Then onto the exercise bike.

I had not been in a grocery store for over a year. I have someone shopping for me. It is good to get out and do some mundane things.

I have suffered from ingrown toenails on my two big toes since childhood. I remember three separate times when I was in elementary school going to a doctor, having my toe frozen, and cutters jammed into my toe, cutting, then pulling out a chunk of nail. Then spending time soaking my foot is salt water and walking gingerly until it healed. I have had ingrown toenails where the toe got so sensitive a bit of air blown across would cause pain. Over the years I have largely kept the problem at bay. 

During my hospital stay no one trims your nails. When I was just beginning to relearn how to walk I was having issues with my toes. I asked nurses to clip the corners and they would not do it. They were not allowed. I could not do it. Due to my injuries I could not bend enough to touch my toes. I finally found out you could book the hospital podiatrist or the foot care nurse who took the foot care course. I booked both. The reason I booked both is either of them might not be around for weeks at a time. At different times I experienced their handiwork. Both were butchers.

I am currently having a bit of swelling in my feet which causes a bit of a problem in my toes. Sometimes I do not have full sensation in my toes but I knew I had nails that were starting to get ingrown. I was waiting in the patient room on the exam table and getting pain in my legs due to the backrest being at an odd angle and the table was hard as a rock. When he started to address my toe issue I yelped a few times as it was worse than I thought. Immediate relief when he was done. All four corners of the nails needed to be clipped.

When I got home I was in pain and needed medication. Having a therapist manipulate me, a lot of walking, and getting my feet done on an unforgiving table was too much. I gave myself time to recover Saturday and will get back at the crutches Sunday.

Elevator Friday - Pennant, Saskatchewan

Courtesy Dale Redekopp.

The secret of a long life is you try not to shorten it.

One year. 

One year since the accident.

This anniversary is a little depressing in that I have a ways to go to recover. However I remind myself to get my head out of my ass and be grateful I am alive.

I have been doing some work on the stationary bike and that is going better. The only drawback is that I am suffering pain later in my knees and left hip. Getting everything to loosen up has taken some work. Every bit of progression involves pain. It is what it is.

I can bend my knees at a ninety degree angle and I might not get much more range than that. My goal is to see if I can get on the motorcycle this May. It likely will not happen but never say die.

Thank you all for the comments during the prior months.

Elevator Friday - Paradise Hill, Saskatchewan

Courtesy of Dale Redekopp.