2025, education, Health, State Fair

Summer Learning

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Nobody said “don’t go to the fair”.  Nobody said “it will be very rough on your knee”.  Not the urgent care doctor, not the orthopedist, not the physical therapist.  To be fair, none of these people knew me.  None of them heard “will I be able to go to the fair” and translated that to “will I be able to go to the fair six times, 8-9 hours each time and go from one end to the other and back”. 

So technically you could say it’s my fault.  If I had been clear what “go to the fair” really meant, maybe they would have given me different advice.  But if they had, I wouldn’t be able to tell you how excellent the emergency service of the Minnesota State Fair truly are.

Thursday was fine – although I got blisters, probably from walking funny due to the big brace on one knee.  Saturday was ok; I wore sneakers to avoid the funny walking blisters.  I was slow but at a crowded fair, that’s not actually a handicap.  On Monday I did half a day and then went back for the grandstand show.  17,000 steps.  Sore city.  On Wednesday, I was really sore but it was Golden Retriever Day so I soldiered on.  On Friday, both knees were sore, so I wore the brace AND a compression sleeve on the other knee.  Then about noon, over near the Caribe Café, my “good knee” gave out suddenly.  No fall, no trip, no getting knocked around by the crowds; just suddenly there was absolutely no walking on that leg. 

First the police came, parked on the street near where I had managed to get to a bench.  He ran the lights so the EMTs would know where to find me.  EMTs came, took my blood pressure (yowzer…), asked me a ton of questions and then made me sign a form, telling me it was to verify that they weren’t kidnapping me (his exact words).  Then another set of guys got me into a “gator” and we headed, extremely slowly due to the crowds, to the Emergency Room.

It was kind of quiet when I was there – in addition to an intake area, they actually have a little hospital in the back.  YA mentioned that it looked like all the beds, table and chairs were donated by a bunch of different medical centers – nothing matched.  But it was clean and I was the only patient.  Oscar was my “attending” EMT.  More blood pressure (much lower), more questions.  Another form.  Then they found a very nice volunteer who drove us to the Park `n Ride so that YA could get me home. 

I’m much better now, although not exactly super mobile yet.  I believe the orthopedist is a little sorry he didn’t suggest I take it a little easier or maybe try a wheelchair a couple of the days, but he won’t admit that; he’s “glad I’m out living my life”.  And now I know all about how the emergency services at the fair works!

Have you learned anything new this summer?

28 thoughts on “Summer Learning”

  1. Well how about that! Congrats on learning stuff you didn’t know you needed to know.
    Sorry about the knee. Glad it’s getting better.
    Has anyone said what really happen in the joint?

    I learned about the rifle shell nail gun, and I’m still learning about pouring concrete.

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      1. Apparently, they’re very common in people of a certain age. Sigh. Apparently, when the meniscus starts to tear, which is also very common as you age, “knee” liquid leaks out and creates these cysts. The orthopedist did not know why they’re called Baker cysts. I assume after the person who “discovered “ them

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        1. Or else it’s an occupational disease like nun’s knee, tennis elbow, and mad hatter’s disease.
          (I got these examples from Wikipedia. I have no idea what nun’s knee entails.)

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  3. Rise and Shine, Baboons,

    I learned that I still recover well from surgery. I am glad for that since I have needed alot of it! But it restored my ability to enjoy walking, including at the Fair. I learned a lot about gardening and plants, especially about using the proper soil in pots and raised beds. And I learned that my heart can still be broken by an adorable little dog who was too sick to sustain life. This was painful. It affected my friends, family and neighbors, too. People came to say good-bye, the neighbors brought us cookies and bread, and the kids at the end of the block are compiling videos of Phoebe. She was so loved.

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      1. This would apply to pots as well as raised beds. You want a soil that is well-balanced acid/alkali, as well as one that will hold some water and not drain too quickly. This was my first year with an all raised beds and pots on the deck garden. Because the preparation season is when I had my hip replacement I did not get to choose my own soils. Some of the soil my helpers chose was not productive and rich enough. There are some bags now labelled “Raised Bed” soil. I tried it and it was pretty good.

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        1. Thanks! Our neighbor has raised beds and his Roma tomatoes always get blossom end rot. I know it is a calcium uptake issue, but I wondered if the soil he used had something to do with it.

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        2. A few years ago, I changed my fertilizer and I ended up with bottom rot for three years. Everyone I spoke to said it was inconsistent watering, which I just couldn’t accept after so many years of successful bale gardening. And it did turn out to be the calcium as you said. Too much nitrogen was leeching out the calcium. So I went back to my original fertilizer and I supplement heavily with crushed egg shells and an organic tomato fertilizer called Tomato-Tone. No bottom rot since then.

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      1. Used to be house near us 20 years ago that has raised beds that were set in the middle of metal bed frames painted in bright colors. It fit with the cottage type house and the picket fence.

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  4. Sandra update: she rallied a bit so still quite alive. However hospice has put her in what amounts to death watch, not their term. In last three days she has eaten three spoons of food and drunk three glasses of liquid. Her room is jam packed with her people. She talks about them, not to them. Don’t think she knows me this morning, which does not bother me. She is off all drugs but pain drugs. Now we just wait.

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    1. Clyde, the waiting was always the worst for me. You know the process though, and I know you’ll manage as best you can. Ask for help as needed.
      A peaceful journal for Sandra.

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  5. OT. Blevins reminder

    Sunday, September 14
    2 p.m.
    Minnehaha Falls (near the restaurant)

    After You’re Gone by Maggie O’Farrell

    Coming Home Crazy by Bill Holm

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  8. It sounds painful and upsetting, VS. I’m sorry that happened to you when you were enjoying being in your happy place! I’m glad they were able to help you quickly.

    I’ve learned that I’m not as physically capable as I used to be. I haven’t kept myself in shape, and I’m getting older. My neck, lower back, and knees have arthritis. I’ve had the experience of my knee giving out on me and falling, but I haven’t had bakers’ cysts. I’ve heard that they can break on their own, and that some people have actually broken them intentionally by striking them with something. (Ow. I don’t recommend this.)

    I also learned that I have too much stuff.

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