My Motorcycle Injuries

Over time I have been able to resume some of the physical work that I was accustomed to doing before the accident. When I first married over three decades ago I didn’t know a thing about home repairs or construction. I owned a few hand tools, but they all looked brand new because of a lack of use. While working my way through Bible College and living the married life I took a job that required me to learn different areas of work such as gas, electric, plumbing, and carpentry. I gradually started to work on projects around the house and became more knowledgeable in the do-it-yourself realm. I’ve also grown accustomed to working on our vehicles as long as the repair involves a simpler part out/ in process. The old saying “jack of all trades, master of none” pretty much applies to me. I’ve always enjoyed working with my hands and throughout my years in the ministry I have worked on many different maintenance projects at the church property.  This aspect of my life has changed since th...

I have been working at home quite a bit over the past few years because of my physical restrictions. Pain and fatigue set in throughout any given day’s schedule and it has made it more difficult for me to be at the office for extended periods of time. It has actually worked well over time because I have been able to take whatever is needed for studying and other duties from my office at the church in order to get things done at home. This has allowed me to work on exercising and such at home with the ability to rest whenever necessary. Also, going to the office on a daily basis has become less of a demand because I am unable to do some of the maintenance work that I did before the accident. Back then I was more of a Monday through Friday and work all day type of presence at the church property, but some of that time was spent doing work around the property with upkeep and repairs. I honestly prefer being at the church property over being at home all day, but life’s a constant adjustmen...

One of the strange things for me regarding the concept of not riding a motorcycle again is the “I do care/I don’t care” dichotomy of it all. I was never really a motorcycle guy, as such, but rather a guy who happened to ride a motorcycle. I never really adhered to the so-called motorcycle or biker culture, and I never gave much thought to riding beyond having it as an available means of transportation. I would often see groups of people riding on the weekends while wearing their motorcycle garb and I would wonder where they could possibly be going on their bikes. That type of lifestyle just wasn’t me. I used my bike for work and errands. That’s not to say that I didn’t enjoy riding; I did. But riding a motorcycle was not a very big part of my life at all. Consequently, any issue for me now regarding the fact that I will probably never ride again involves the idea that I can’t do something because life has deemed it so. It’s sort of like the issue of voting. Here in the U.S. we don’t of...

  I have always known that one of the essential keys toward a successful battle against my injuries has been the ability to maintain a strong mental attitude. I’ve had to fight against a damaged body by looking past the circumstances and determining to take each day as it comes without allowing myself to wallow in self-pity or fall to carnal weakness. It is odd to think of how normal a damaged body can seem to me after so long a period of time, but the truth remains that the personal ability to adapt and endure has been essential for a successful recovery. I have found that the term “recovery” often involves the ability to live life while enjoying every day as a gift beyond challenges and hardships, but it doesn’t necessarily define the full extent of my physical condition. There is a bit of a strategy that I have used against my mind when fighting this battle toward physical wellness. When I first came home from the hospital certain doctors expressed a degree of concern regarding ...

  I went to my endocrinologist today for a quarterly appointment. He likes to check my blood for a host of things in order to make certain that my diabetes is under control. There are so many things that diabetes can hurt within my body that he checks my blood in seemingly countless ways. The blood test report is always three pages long. He also checks my feet with a tuning fork to see if I can feel the vibration. My blood pressure, pulse, and blood glucose levels were all great. I have had trouble sleeping since the accident and he offered to prescribe a sleep apnea test for me. I declined because my wife tells me that I don’t snore and I also don’t toss around in my sleep. He asked me if I’ve been worried or stressed lately, and I assured him that I’m a pretty mellow guy.  Prayer and faith allow for me what the Bible calls a peace “which passeth all understanding”. The truth is that I haven’t slept well since my time in the hospital. I understood the trouble with sleeping at...

  I've been told that I was thrown off of my motorcycle and that I landed partially on the windshield of the car that caused the accident. I have a few pale scars on my arm that help to back up that story. It’s odd but I never really noticed them until a while back ago when my niece pointed them out to me. A few months after the accident the cast was taken off of my arm and I began to work on making it functional again. One night as I lay in bed for the evening I felt something strange on my elbow that was both annoying and a little painful. I picked at it a little thinking that perhaps it was just some hardened skin, but instead I loosened a small object and held it between my thumb and index finger. To my surprise it felt like a grain of sand. When I examined it with the light turned on I discovered that it was a small piece of glass, no doubt from the windshield. I showed it to my wife and we were both a little amazed that something like that could have been lodged so deeply and...