My Motorcycle Injuries

  Years ago I was told by my original orthopedic surgeon that I should call him when my knee hurt. A year later a different surgeon told me that what the other surgeon meant was that I would eventually develop arthritis in my knee and would require a knee replacement. I have no frame of reference to know what arthritis actually feels like, but I don't believe that I have developed it yet. Eleven or twelve years later I really don't think that I have any issues with arthritic pain. Instead, I'm feeling sharp pains and instability. My knee gets around well enough most of the time, but there are moments when it feels as though my knee is being stabbed while at other times it feels as though my leg is going to separate into two pieces at the knee. Also, there are times as though it's too weak to hold me up when I'm standing.and too weak to lift me up when I'm sitting. It's nothing that I can describe as arthritic pain, but rather pain and weakness that feels as ...

My motorcycle accident caused the femur in my left leg to break into two pieces near the center. It's the strongest bone in the human body but yeah, it broke in half. That's a picture of it above👆. I went to see an orthopedic surgeon a year after the accident because I was feeling pain in the center of my thigh and I thought that perhaps the bone was still broken. He took an x-ray of my leg and informed me that the pain in my thigh was due to the fact that a piece of the bone had grown into the muscle while healing and that any kind of surgery was not practical. The pain in my thigh is usually infrequent and weak. The past few days have been an exception. I have been limping a little because of a pain in my thigh that doesn't want to go away yet. It feels as though I'm being stabbed with a very blunt instrument. Nothing like a knife, but rather like a wooden rod with a filed end. I had a little bit of trouble sleeping last night because I couldn't find a comfortabl...

Today is the 12th anniversary of my motorcycle accident. Ayup, right about now they were trying to figure out what to do with me in order to preserve my mortal existence. I have written before on this blog about my desire to donate blood because of the amount of blood that was required to keep me alive in the hospital so many years ago. Between a low iron count, thin veins, and slow flowing blood, I have only been able to donate blood one time over the years since the accident. I have tried countless times, but it has almost always ended in disappointment. Not today. For some reason it was set in my heart that I would try to donate blood today on the anniversary of the accident. I ate food rich in iron this morning and I went to the bloodbank after running a couple of errands early in the morning. My iron was really low on the first test, but they warmed up my thumb and I registered two points above the required number on the second test. When they set me up to actually donate it was n...

I've griped before on this blog about recurring pains and hinderances that come and go with my motorcycle accident injuries. It has all become a part of my "regular" life over the past years. I've been very much active physically these past several months and the things that I do are not hindered in such a big way by the things that my body has been making me feel. However, I do clearly notice that the pains and the soreness are becoming more consistent and pronounced with time. As much as I despise the thought of going to see a surgeon about it, there's a persistently nagging feeling in the back of my mind that tells me that a visit to a surgeon within the future is possible. My knee is getting worse and I'm not quite sure as to when it'll be bad enough to finally see someone concerning the need for a full replacement. There are negatives and positives in doing so, you know? It's sometimes difficult enough to deal with life's regular and recurring...

I went to my cardiologist yesterday for an annual checkup visit. He did the usual things with an EKG and a stethoscope. I like the guy enough, but I really see these visits as a waste of time and money...really. The reason that I'm obligated to go is that I have a stent in my aorta placed very close to the heart. It's due to an impact rupture from the motorcycle accident. Still, the visit was filled with questions about how I'm doing and feeling, so hey, it makes me feel as though I'm an important person. He scheduled me for a stress test because I've never taken one. He tried to do so several years ago but my insurance company denied the request. I have a different insurance company now, so we'll see if it actually happens in a few weeks. Otherwise, he says that I'm totally healthy. But, if I'm the epitome of great health and fitness, why the stress test? The world may never know. In the process of being set up for a stress test, I asked him if it invol...

 I've established a routine during weekday mornings in which I get some things ready for my wife and my daughter while they prepare to leave for work. It's just simple things, but it helps to make their mornings a little smoother. Yesterday morning I was getting things ready for them when I stepped on a very small amount of water on the floor in my kitchen. My "accident leg" isn't strong enough to handle things like that when I'm slipping in just the right way, and I went down faster than a dork on a first date. My hands were full so my hip took the full brunt of the landing. The pain was so intense that I initially thought that I had broken it. After a few minutes I stood up and deternined to go on with the morning's duties despite some very severe pain. I cleaned the floor, packed the car, drove my wife to work, did some yardwork at the church property, and got dressed at home in order to speak at a graveside funeral service for a church member who died ...