Emergency plan

[minister man]

So how many of you really have a plan for how you would get your homesteading work done incase of an emergency?


I have my animals and birds all set up and it works pretty good for me, most of the time........... then last week, I feel and broke my leg...... I have to keep it elevated until Thursday so they can do surgery. Estimating a fairly long recovery plan. All the sudden things that seemed doable for me all this time, seems too hard for the kids to do. There is that water bowl that was leaking and I never got to....... arranging for hay, that I usally haul myself........

Have you ever considered what you would do if you got hurt. or is it only me that doesn't think things like that will happen.

[goatlady]

Yeppers, BTDT, got the bum knee to prove it! Thank goodness for my riding mower - got me out to the barn and even inside it, so the milking wasn't too difficult, gathering the eggs was a hoot though. THe right knee was frozen straight, no bend at all for 6 months.

[Rustaholic]

Throwing up sick and a raging staph infection in my right leg with orders to stay off it and keep it elevated or lose it. Great time for the well pump to go bad. Hobble out to the shed, go inside and open the trap door in the floor, go down the ladder grabbing the tools and the light.
Pull off the pump and set it up there, crawl out and lug it into the house.
Hurt a LOT but had to be done. 2-stage deep well jet.
I tore it apart to see what I needed and it was most of it.
online sears parts order and take every cooler and jug we had three times a week to the doctor and fill them up. Am I staying off it and keeping it elevated? Sure I say. I still have my scarred up leg and I rebuilt the pump with all new seals and impellers and installed a new motor.
It was miserable but through it all we persevere.
Or get er done.

[YounGrey]

Here's to a speedy recovery MM! Part of your problem is pride and not wanting to let others help. Don't be afraid to ask, most people I'm this world are godsent a and will help their fellow man


Homesteading Recipes:

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From my farm to yours...

[farmerj]

tossed my back out last week.


And still fixed the truck, made sauerkraut and heaven knows how many other things in-between.

[minister man]

So it would seem that the key is to do what needs done, not what the doctor says?

I tried that already. I broke it on Thursday and spent the weekend at the poultry show. I didn't tell the specialist that today, when he was telling me about the surgery I now need and how much damage there is to the leg. He told me to keep it elevated for the next 48 hours or he may not be able to do the surgery.

[Awnry Abe]

I've also adjusted my lifestyle to keep injuries down. I gave up playing softball, which I dearly love playing, because life and death for livestock was at stake if I got injured. I've been dinged up pretty bad over the years, and I would rather it happen in the corral than goofing off.

[opportunity]

We have tried to make things easy and as automatic as possible. We had to be gone a lot after my husband was diagnosed with brain cancer we went to treatment out of state and people feed all the animals for us, most people will help if there is a true need. We have a bale feed truck that unrolls rounds so it was about 30 min a day for all our chores. Auto waters and heaters also decrease the difficulty

[calliemoonbeam]

I had a bad injury to my leg and ankle years ago and didn't keep off it and keep it elevated like the doctor said. My stepdad died and I had to fly home and help my mom arrange for the funeral, pack up the house and move her to Texas - it had to be done, and I was the only one who could do it. But I suffered permanent damage and chronic pain in the leg because of it.

Now I'm suffering even worse problems that are compounded by the previous damage. So I say DO what the doctor says and pray you have no lasting permanent damage! You could end up with permanent loss of function, chronic pain or even amputation now or sometime down the road if you don't take care of it like you're supposed to.

I also fell down the stairs the day after I moved out here to the country. I broke my right (dominant) arm and shoulder, strained my neck and back and sprained my right ankle, all on top of my gimpy left leg. I was a mess, lol!

I had no family or friends to help and hadn't even met the neighbors yet. I hired out what I could afford to and just postponed the rest until I recovered enough to get to it myself. Then I waited and stewed about the rest, but there was no help for it. I did everything the doctor said and was still left with less than full function, strength and range of motion in the arm. I now manage my 5 acres myself, with a bad arm and a bad leg (on opposite sides of my body, lol) and chronic pain. It's not something I would wish on anyone.

If you have people, swallow your pride and ask for help. If you have money, hire what you can. The rest can just wait. It's tough to let things go, but you can't replace limbs or the function of them once you lose it. You might be one of the lucky ones and have no problems, but do you want to take that chance? I'll pray for you, for a full, uncomplicated recovery. Good luck! (Sorry this is so long)

[wyld thang]

I'm sorry of this sounds mean, but "seems too hard for the kids to do"--if they are old enough to try they are old enough to DO. This will be a "character building" experience for them. Kids are more capable than we think.

Maybe get the movie "Story of the Weeping Camel" to rent and watch with your kids while convalescing. The young Mongolian boy will blow you away and frankly put your kids to shame in a good way and hopefully give them some confidence.

Course I have no idea how old your kids are ha!

This is where being part of a community "pays off". The neighbor threads here at HT always give me a chuckle, because when things get hard, then you realize the true value of a tight knit caring community. "Self sufficiency" can be misleading in portraying/perpetuating the fortress on the hill image--we think we have to do it all ourselves and be able to keep it running all ourselves. A gabillion years of evolution did not set up the human species to survive that way. Neither did Jesus.

[am1too]

I'd probably think darn the luck and start calling people I know and see who would or could help. I did chase a brother in the field while on crutches with a broke leg.

[TnAndy]

Yep....THIS is when good neighbors and friends are important.

[wyld thang]

I was blessed to live in a place where neighbors cared and gave. I had a neighbor that always helped other with firewood and fix it etc, gave and gave and gave. When he got cancer and was dying his closest neighbor took him and his hospital bed into her 500 square foot home and cared for him till he died so he would not die in a nursing home and could die on the mountain that he loved so much. Other neighbors helped with care and resources.

Yup, that sort of world is possible. What goes around comes around.

[blue gecko]

One of the things we are doing as we plan is to think about how we could make things work in the easiest/quickest way possible. We imagine that its only one of us and we have to do the work on crutches. Its not perfect but it certainly helps us think through our plans. Right now we've got our chores down to 30 minutes max and going in with the animals isn't necessary. That's a real help when we need to ask someone else to do the chores. I think the ideal farm would have a round barn with pie shaped pastures, on a hill like Andy's so manure would run down hill into the compost with the gardens beyond that

[FCLady]

My husband had a stroke and ended up with a diabetic foot ulcer. He was unable to lift, had limited walking for over a year. Boy did I learn quickly to accept help when offered. I tried very hard to do it all myself. But when someone offered to lend a hand I said, don't offer that again unless you really mean it because I will give you something to do! My "real" friends and neighbors helped alot! The 88 year old neighbor took the truck to the feed mill and picked up feed, all I had to do was unload it. The feed mill packaged bags in 30# bags until I got strong enough to lift 50# bags. (i'm a female over 50.) We slowly, selectively, reduced the quantity of animals because I knew this was long term. I learned quickly how to use a log splitter. I accepted every meal that was offered. Usually we are pretty particular what we eat; but sometimes I was happy for one less thing to do!
It's six months since his foot is healed but we are looking at surgeries again. Our priorities have changed. We start firewood earlier in the season. We have been remodeling our house and we look at things a little differently. Make the doorways a little wider to accommodate a wheel chair etc. We set up automatic watering systems etc. We now have smaller weed eaters, rototiller etc. so at any point I can pick up the slack again.

[bluebird2o2]

I have a friend that lives close by that loves my salsa.she will do chores.my son can do most chores.

[emdeengee]

Our emergency plan has always included six months worth of cash to pay for basic expenses and six months worth of cash to pay for help - an employee in other words. You can depend (impose) on family, friends and neighbours for a brief period of time (in our case is has always been reciprocal) but if your emergency involves anything that lasts for more than a weeks duration you should be able to pay your way.

[Maura]

Sometimes you have to bite the bullet and hire someone to do what needs to be done. I had hernia surgery three weeks ago and wasn't able to bend over since the hernia happened, or after the surgery. My DH will pick up my chores, but there aren't a lot of them. Better to call a plumber, hire a cleaning woman, pay a neighbor to do your chores rather than risk loosing the use of your leg or worse. DH's b'day party is Sunday and I am still looking for someone to come in and help with the cleaning.

You may be able to call a local church and see if they can send someone over to help with chores.