Major Bummer, Dude!

I was scheduled to start with Prime on Monday, the 14th. Here is the email I just sent to Tabatha, my recruiter:

Hi Tabatha,

It is 10:30 PM here in Truckee so I don't expect you to see this until in the AM on Friday, April 11th. I am in a bit of a quandary and I need you advice. I might have mentioned before that I am (was) the head usher at my church. This involves what we call organizing and scheduling the ushers on Sunday morning. It is a physical job because our church (Calvary Chapel of Truckee) does not have its own building ; we rent the local high school cafeteria area as our place of worship on Sunday mornings. It is (was) my responsibility to drive the truck we use to store and transport the stuff we bring each Sunday to supplement the seats and other stuff we utilize that is already at the cafeteria. Most of the equipment is sound & projection type stuff and some signage. One of the signs is a sandwich board that advertises our presence out on the road in front of the high school. This past Sunday - a warn and dry spring morning for a change - while unloading the sandwich board, I slipped on the step and fell about three feet to the pavement, striking my right elbow on the pavement. I laid there for a couple of minutes taking stock of the situation and praying I hadn't broken anything. It appeared I hadn't and I got up from the ground and continued my duties for the last time before I was scheduled to come to Springfield. By the end of church, my elbow was sore but I was able to use my right arm pretty much like usual. That night, I noticed it was hard to get comfortable in bed in order to sleep. Monday & Tuesday were spent in Reno obtaining my DOT physical card which involved two trips as I failed the vision test and had to purchase glasses, which allowed me to pass the test and get my DOT card. On wednesday evening I attended the mid-week study (we meet at a separate church for this) and while in line at the pot-luck dinner, I was accidently struck in the same elbow rather harshly. For the rest of the evening, my arm was in such pain that I became alarmed. When I arrived at home I soaked my elbow in hot water and epsom salts hoping against hope to restore my arm's function but it didn't help. About midnight, I was experiencing such pain that I became alarmed and went to the local emergency room. They took x-rays that showed no fracture in the elbow just an extreme contusion to the bone. They put a splint on the arm, wrapped in ace bandages and gave me some samples of "Norco" which is an effective pain killer. I went home and slept the rest of the night. Upon waking this AM the pain was pretty much gone and I had high hopes that this would not interrupt my plans to travel Sunday to Springfield. I went to bed this evening about 7:00 PM (having not received a good night's rest last night) and I just awoke. The pain has returned and the swelling is considerable, after I removed the ace bandages and splint.

Here is my quandary. I am afraid that delaying my departure to Springfield will jeopardize my training opportunity with Prime and I do not want to do so. I am more concerned that the swelling and pain in the elbow will inhibit my performance and result in my dismissal. Neither outcome is acceptable. So, my question to you is what should I do? Without the splint, I can use my right arm but doing so results in some very intense pain. With the splint, I cannot use my right arm effectively. What is your advice? When I purchased the airline ticket, I paid the extra charge to be able to postpone my flight if necessary so I will not lose out on the purchase price. That is a concern, but not my main concern. I do not want to jeopardize my status with Prime but it seems I am between a rock and a hard place. Please advise.

Stephen E. Birch

My question is: am I jeopardizing my ultimate goals by postponing my start date? Prime already postponed my start date once due to the backlog of new drivers needing training because of the bad winter weather these past few months. I already turned down Central and Stevens Transport because I decided to go with Prime. Am I screwed??

Jopa

No, you're not screwed. You're fine...except:

and gave me some samples of "Norco" which is an effective pain killer.

Is that going to show up on a drug test? Being given "samples" means you didn't get a prescription for it I'm assuming. Obviously anything that shows up on a drug test without a prescription or proof otherwise that you took it legally will be bad news. That's something you need to look into.

Hang in there brother. First thing I thought of was the whole pain killer thing. You know you'll need to get that verifiable. As far as the company goes, I'll be curious to see what your recruiter suggests. You'll have your time with Prime, you might just need to postpone. I'll be thinking of you Jopa. Sorry for what happened.

you are to legit to quit ! just do another postpone again and heal .speedy recovery and keep us informed ass i to would like to good with prime

Thanks for the encouragement . . . yes, I thought of the pain killer thing, too. The hospital sent me home with an instruction sheet that makes reference to the drug so I will make sure it is documented that it wasn't self-medication. I spoke to the recruiter this AM and she said no big deal, she'll schedule me in when my arm is healed. Geez, what a drag. Oh well, gotta go with the flow, ya know?

Jopa

Man I hate to hear that you got hurt and will miss out on PSD again but just take it easy on your arm and give it a chance heal. You'll need that right arm in good shape for all the gear shifting we're going to be doing in the truck. I'm set to leave for the 21st session and am going to get my NC permit today...Good Luck and Get Well

And now I can add to the list of reasons why it's not a good idea to attend church functions.

You might fall and hurt your elbow.

You think God might have stepped in and caught you before ya hit the ground.

But seriously though get your arm 100% healed before school. Doing repetitive actions like shifting could cause future problems if it's not totally healed.