This happened this morning … I’ve got time on my hands, as will show. The fall from the ladder resulted not only in a gash in my shin, not right on the bone but beside it, but also in what appears to be a bruised bone, aka contusion, that is very painful and limits mobility. Ergo, I’ve been sitting a lot in my recliner, applying ice, and reading that recovery time could be 3-6 months depending on severity. All that means is that I have to avoid aggravating it, to let it heal, so that I have to gradually return to activities.
So this morning my wife, who is reading about prehistoric matters, mentioned the Paleolithic period, which, of course, I knew nothing about. I knew the word, had a vague idea, but stuff like that does not stick with me. That led to a discussion of Darwin and evolution, and I expressed the opinion that all the man had managed to do was to demonstrate that species adapt, as finches on different islands in the Galapagos developed different features, longer beaks, shorter or longer wings., etc., in response to their immediate environment. But they never stopped being finches.
This led to evolution in general, and the so-called “missing link”, as there are obvious similarities between apes and humans, yet no one has ever managed to explain the jump from them to us. Gorillas are excellent at surviving, and even enjoying their lives, but never develop any interest in timing sunrises or following wandering planets across the sky. They just eat, excrete, mate and die.
Epicurus, I just recently read, wrote about crocodiles, ugly and dangerous, and suggested that they were a sign that the gods were not benevolent. I totally agree.
Anyway, this conversation evolved to giraffes, and I suggested that there could be no evolutionary reason for them to exist. True, their long necks allow them access to high-hanging fruit, but think of the millions of years it would take for mutations to produce that species (that others within that species would not want to breed with) that built such an animal. Every shorter-necked beast in the process would have had to exist on leaves and fruits much closer to ground without looking up. It makes no sense. I have stood in a Toyota Land Cruiser and photographed giraffes, and my only thought at the time was that they were just put here. No form of slow evolution would have time or reason to make such a freak.
But I don’t know, of course. My wife mentioned the cave art found in France and other places, and those were indeed intelligent beings that did that, but, I said, they were recent. How recent? I didn’t know, and so looked up the Paleolithic period, which the caption on the artwork said it came from. Here’s what I found in Wikipedia:
The Paleolithic (/ˌpeɪlioʊˈlɪθɪk, ˌpæli-/ ⓘ PAY-lee-oh-LITH-ik, PAL-ee-), or Old Stone Age, is a period in human prehistory distinguished by the original development of stone tools. It represents almost the entire period of human prehistoric technology, extending from the earliest known use of stone tools by hominins, c. 3.3 million years ago, to the end of the Pleistocene, c. 11,650 cal BP.[1]
Do you see what I see? A 33 and two 11’s. Is that an indication that geology is junk science?
Of course, this led to other branches of modern science, and I mentioned that Einstein may have indeed been a genius, but that going to the Moon, had that really happened, would have relied on Newton’s, and not Einstein’s physics. I also mentioned that Darwinism had morphed into neo-Darwinism, so that it too was junk science, along with virology. It appears that any science that is not immediately visible enjoys the benefit of not being disprovable, and so thrives on our campuses and in our laboratories.
Which brings me back to my contusion … I am curious if it is that or a fracture. But I am hesitant to find out, as a fracture would probably mean a cast. I’m already immobilized by the pain of the bruise, so I don’t need that. And I’m hesitant. At the urgent care facility where I was stitched up, they pushed hard to get me to take a tetanus, which would also include vaccines against pertussis and diphtheria. I just said no, to their consternation. But my take on that branch of “science” is that deep wounds, like stepping on a nail or having a dog bite you, are very difficult to keep clean, and can result in an anerobic environment where bacteria can get out of hand and become dangerous. But it’s nothing to do with any fictitious virus. The answer is to keep the wound clean, hard when they are deep wounds. Mine is shallow and visible, and I am in no danger of tetanus any more than I am of pertussis and diphtheria.
But I do think I’ll get an X-Ray and say no to a D-TaP, as I am curious about the extent of the bruise and want to be sure it is not a fracture. I practice defensive medicine, which means to a large part defending ourselves from allopathic medicine.
Piece of Mindful 
Tesla was correct when he said, and I paraphrase, science is a bunch of endless formulas. I label all the sciences that can’t be verified by the scientific method pseudoscience. Things like, celestial mechanics, geology, evolution etc.
I go for a annual wellness checkup once a year. The first time I went it ended up, before I put a stop to it, snowballing into six “specialists”. They were very adamant and angry with me for exercising my “patients rights”. Anyway, get well soon!
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I don’t know… everyone’s pain tolerance is different.
You know box-jumps? Great for glutes, knee lift, drive and explosive power. Anyway, as you know, I train to carry that big pack up the mountains – thus the box-jumps (sprints and bike too). Mine is set at 24″ on the most rugged table/tool I could buy. For some very questionable [design] reason, the leading edge is steel alloy – no cushion of foam rubber, or more dense padding of any kind – not sharp, but corner of painted steel.
As is necessary, I was working to fatigue – exhaustion – as might be the case at altitude and long miles. Yessir, I was dead tired and lost coordination – while conducting the repetitious jumps which require a lot of effort. Foot slipped out and I landed on one tibia (the other leg flailing) with the tibialis anterior flexed (slightly raised above the bony surface). Flood of blood filled my shoe almost instantly… more a mess than pain.
So, not a ladder height, but full body weight onto that single exposed bone.
Urgent Care was funny as the muscle was exposed by that open gash. I flexed my foot to show them and they actually jumped back in shock. Pieces of the bone were visible. After my story telling: “Ummm, no Dave, not here, I think x-rays minimum, possible MRI and certain orthopedic evaluation – ER to start”. My casual demeanor under such circumstances is always looked upon as strange, “Come on, a couple of stiches and I’ll be good,” denied.
ER at hospital takes forever – partly due, again, to my entry demeanor. I had been wrapped up, and strolled right in obviously under my pain threshold. HOURS later the triage nurse, not shocked, but also indicating ortho consult might be advised, handed me off to the resident. X-rays, then “Uh yeah Dave, let me clean out these bone chips.” An actual athlete… always good for me. Deeply bruised bone, not fractured; acute and deeply bruised muscle. Nine tight stitches, and then reinforcing nylon super-glued steri-strips. Usual advice about reducing the activating motion for a while. I walked out and headed home. Exercise as allowed by pain – my body saying minimal (not even OTC drugs) with just slight taughtness in the immediate area; carry on.
End of story.
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Interesting, in the Taylor Sheridan-written TV series, most notably Yellowstone and Dutton Ranch, they don’t use doctors, but rather veterinarians for human wounds. I just watched part of YStone last night, time on my hands, and John has collapsed spitting up blood, no time to get him to a doctor, so they bring in the vet, and she gets him on a table and fires up the X-Ray machine and says that he has an ulcer in need to cauterization and cuts open his stomach and does a quick and dirty repair. Interesting writing, I thought, as X-Rays do not show soft tissue.
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Recent severe ortho surgery (rebuilt shoulder, total hip, and spine prosthetics) allowed me much time to interrogate and discuss such things with whomever would speak to me as an intelligent human – rather than a dummass patient – revealed advances in imaging… even better x-rays. On the other hand, I visited urgent care recently for what I knew was an embedded object in a finger. X-rays showed zippo, but I insisted on physical investigation, and told them I’d be conducting home surgery if they did not. Nice Doc proceeded with caution slicing open my clearly infected and swollen digit. “WAIT, hold on… Do you see that?” I had a different viewing angle than the Doc – against the white background of the sterile shields. She carefully worked the gougjng and cutting tools around and said “Yes… Hold on.” She eventually dug out and removed a tiny wire segment (from the rotating wire brush power tools I had been using).
“This is not good Dave… The X-rays SHOULD have shown this – as thin as it is (one mm?).”
“Great… maybe you believe an obviously experienced patient next time?” She nods at me.
Cleaned up, wrapped up and shipped out. She had already ordered and automatically relayed to the drug emporium, some antibiotics. I frowned, said nothing, but declined purchase and consumption. Tons of concerned phone messages and email about my lack of following orders.
End of story.
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