hi everyone, a lot of people have been asking so I reckon it is time to share the story. So if you don't want to read, well you know where the delete key is, and absolutely this has nothing to do with Bookshare. Well it does cause I have more time to scan books.
On August 14, as I was leaving a customer/client's house, and attempted to step onto some narrow concrete stairs with no railing I fell and broke my ankle. Well, let me make that a bit more clearly, i walked off into space and fell. There was a big cat laying at the top of the stairs, and guinevere was concerned with the cat, not with her um job, and well.... Guinevere did the cardinal sin of guide dogs, that is not let the owner walk off or into a drop off. I stepped onto the stairs with my left foot and stepped into air with the right and down I went. Not knowing how far I was going to fall, I attempted to brace myself, bad idea, and broke the ankle.
It is in a "air cast" meaning I can take it off to get showers and to sleep, thank goodness, but must keep it on other times of the day. It is soar sometimes, actually this week in particularly not quite sure why.
But I have been using a walker and a cane now four about four weeks, as of last Friday, yep i count the days. My next check up is the "six week" one and is on September 30th.
Guinevere, along with this "mistake" has been a challenge for me for the last year or so. She is a shredder of paper, cloth, and tissue, a resource guarder when it comes to toys snapping at customer's dogs, scavenger, garbage can dog, and well, this was kind of the last straw, oh, she loves cats and pet birds.
So Guinevere is retired, and lives in Seagertown, a place about a hour away. She lives with a lady who is retired, and absolutely loves her as a pet.
So, I am waiting, for the ankle to heal, for my ability to walk to redevelop, and I will be going back to get a new guide dog, and hopefully can trust them, I have a feeling we are going to be doing a lot of stairs while in training, smile, I have a feeling, I am going to be finding stairs to do, smile.
But in the mean time, I can sit and scan. My dad is retrieving my books from the library, a favorite walking trip and I will do it as soon as I can, smile, and well i scan them.
So not the callorber I was, but still keeping it up and busy.But that is what has happened to me. I got workman's compensation because it happened on the job, in the field, and I have been now back to work for two weeks. Only office work, though which means I am going crazy, smile, I mean how much paperwork can you do really! But soon as the doc says I can i will be back out in the trenches seeing my customers who have been so patient with me, smile. I did get to keep my sick leave, so will be using that for Guide Dog training.
But that is what is happening to me. Shelley L. Rhodes, M.A., VRT And Guinevere: retired Guide Dog guidinggolden@xxxxxxxxx Guide Dogs for the Blind Alumni Association www.guidedogs.comAmerica has been called a melting pot, but it seems better to call it a mosaic, for in it each nation, people or race which has come to its shores has been privileged to keep its individuality, contributing at the same time its share to the unified pattern of a new nation. -King Baudouin of Belgium (1930-1993) To unsubscribe from this list, send a blank Email to bookshare-discuss-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Put the word 'unsubscribe' by itself in the Subject line. To get a list of available commands, put the word 'help' by itself in the subject line.
