eja_ bottecchia

Thoughts and prayers for a full and speedy recovery. Thank you for sharing your story.

BTW, the fact that you have retained your sense of humor is a very good sign indeed!

con

What a wonderful post. There are many life experiences that can bring a person to this level of understanding. It is a shame some are soooooooooooooo painful.

For the OP, keep healing and may you enjoy every minute of every day from this point on.

BTW, my two addictions in life, motorcycles and bicycles

Conrad

Daspydyr 

My mom is a retired ER nurse. Add small planes and you have her complete lecture list of things to avoid. Those and well, she had some stories about people who bite too hard in the throes of passion. Those women made her list. Stay healthy Conrad and the rest of 50+. Learn from my mom!

con

I teach motorcycling, have for many years. It is amazing how many ER nurses, men and women, take our motorcycle class. As for small planes, NO WAY! They scare the poop outta me.

bruce19

Back in the'80's I became an MSF Instructor and taught here for the State of CT. Haven't done that in many years though. But, the old "don't remove the helmet" mantra may have saved me from more damage and/or death.

Gave up on my Audi and rented an Elantra from Enterprise for a week. Was so impressed that I went out and bought one.

bruce19

Which brings me to another question. This car is not going to hold both our road bikes easily. So I'm looking for a bike rack. My GF does not want a roof rack because getting bikes up and down will be too hard for her. Wondering about the merits of the hitch mount and trunk mount versions. Bearing in mind this is a hatchback and doesn't really have a trunk.

otg 

Bruce, my friend has a hitch mounted rack with the smaller diameter reciever, 1 inch I think. It is OK but wobbles some due to the plastic insert to make it the 2 inch standard size, If you get one, I'd suggest getting one with a 2 inch reciever to match the one on the Elantra.Should be more stable.

Wogster

Most trunk mount racks, use the trunk lid to hold them on, with a bunch of straps and buckles and assorted mechanisms. We had one for a year or so, and it was so complex to put it on, that we never did use it. Hitch mount racks are better in this regard, just slide it into the receiver and insert the pin. You want to make sure that the rack and receiver are the same size.

I resolved this by getting a van big enough that I can toss the bikes in the back.....

bruce19

Now that my Audi Avant is toast my gf has been using an old Yakima aluminum trunk rack on the back of her Mini. What a PITA! It mounts OK to the car but trying to get the rubber straps over the bike tubes and secured is such a hassle I really want to just throw it away. So I guess some research into the hitch mount type is in order.

FWIW this whole healing process is moving more slowing than I anticipated. I am getting better but more slowly than I imagined. Sleeping in shifts of 2-5 hrs. happens at all times of the day and night and eating is difficult thanks to sutures in my lip and a chipped tooth. All in all I would not recommend others do what I have done. Still down 15 lbs but with little energy. Patience, never my strong suit, is what I need to learn.

aRoudy1

It will get easier--not immediately, but one day you'll wake up after sleeping through the night and you'll know you're on track. Hang in there!

Gnosis

Bruce19, best wishes for a speedy and full recovery.

David Bierbaum

Small planes are fine. It's the PILOTS of small planes that are the formative cause of the "Depends Moment"...

Hang in there, even when the "getting better" involves "feeling worse".

digibud

My accident and recovery included serious problems with Oxycontin. I did NOT want to use it. On several occasions I was fooled into thinking I was healed more than I was and I pushed things too hard. Then I backed off the Oxy, thinking I was OK without it and I paid greatly for that. I did that several times. Getting back to nearly pain free was a painful experience. The lack of sleep and the inability to sleep lying down was bad physically and psychologically. I hope that your injury will eventually allow you to get back to normal or near normal. Keep that vision in your mind. While some injuries do of course result in long term changes, hopefully you will be able to cope and adjust to your circumstances. I was depressed at the thought of coming back to the bike and having lost all of my fitness but that didn't turn out to be true. After two months my first day on the bike was a 32mi ride (and I'm a clyde...) so there is some optimism to be found there too. Be careful of the depression that may accompany your injury and try to "know" that it will get better and you will learn to cope with whatever has come your way one way or another. Best of luck.

bruce19

Healing has been more of a challenge than I expected. And yesterday I found part of the reason. Apparently, post-op someone neglected to remove one of the small staples that was put in my scalp just above my right temple. I was having these little sharp spasms of pain in that area. I went to a walk-in clinic locally and they removed it. The MD told me there was no infection but that my body was trying to fight this foreign object in my scalp. Since then no more spasms of pain and I'm generally feeling better.

otg 

I see your sleep pattern is a bit messed up! I work second shift, so I get in at around 3:15 AM. Ususally check out a few forums and have a snack before bed. Glad that staple is out of there.

tsappenfield

I too wish you a speedy recovery and hope you are back on the bike soon. Just a thought. Your experience is one of the reasons why I am a solo rider for the most part.

TSAPP

Bikey Mikey

Keep on healing.

missjean

Such a horrible crash! It made me cringe reading about it. I am so glad to see that your injuries are not permanent and you are getting better.


I can sympathize with your gf. When my husband was recovering from bypass surgery, he let me know that my hovering was getting on his nerves - but it was almost like feeling that I could absorb some of his pain & discomfort if I stayed close to him as much as possible.

ModeratedUser150120149

Reminds me of my post-op experience. I had a real sensitive place on a lower leg that bothered me. I peeled back the coverings to find some open wounds. They looked like partial thickness burns?? The staff told me I had not been properly grounded and every time the electric knife was used I sparked. Would have been funny had it not nurt.

qcpmsame 

Glad that the healing is going better now, Bruce, your choice of a new car is a good one. The quality of their cars is remarkable, Consumers Reports rates them very highly.

Bill

billydonn

Hitch mount. And glad you're healing.... get well. soon.

bruce19

Went to the ER this morning because I had this bruise on my inner leg that wouldn't go away. I was a little concerned that it was a blood clot. As I was sitting in the exam room in comes Dr. Goldstein. And he says, "Remember me? I was the one who saw you when you came in here after the accident. I saw your name on the chart and said 'I know him. I've got to go see him.'" He than went on to say that I looked really good and that I had done well because "you were in really good shape." (a little plug for cyclings' health benefits) He then described how hard it is for the 'normal' 67 year old to get through the surgery I had had. I told him that he and others had saved my life and gave me back my chance for a normal healthy life and I was deeply grateful. He said he was happy to have helped. Then he sent me for an ultrasound. That proved to be reassuring since there was no blood clot and treatment amounted to Alleve and hot compresses. While I was waiting to be discharged Dr. Winchester came in to give me an update and instructions for home care. He remarked that Dr. Goldstein had told him about me and my original injury. Then he said, "Dr. Goldstein said he was very proud of you."

Tomorrow I go to see the neurosurgeon who did the operation and I'm hopeful that he will let me lose this neck brace and get back to activity.

Number400

Miami-J by chance? I feel for you!

Biker395 

Love it!

bruce19

I have no idea. But, it just hurts my neck muscles and I'm hot to get rid of it. Other than that I have no pain.