My Motorcycle Injuries

Overcoming physical trauma is a tough job. Those of us who are fortunate enough to receive medical attention are given great help toward survival and recovery. Those of us fortunate enough to take part in physical and/or occupational rehabilitation are doubly blessed. Unfortunately, these resources don't often last forever. Such was the case with my recovery from the motorcycle accident. I was basically expelled from the hospital when they realized that I didn't have a lot of financial resources to cover the medical care. I then received rehabilitation help for a couple of months before the insurance coverage ran out. What was left of me was someone who had made a good deal of progress in my recovery, but not nearly in a position to function normally or freely. I couldn't walk well yet, and my overall mobility and physical function was very much limited.  One of the things that I learned when I wound up alone at home for the bulk of each workday was that I had to take charg...

I’ve noticed something a little weird about lifting weights recently. I usually do my routine in ten sets of ten repetitions. Lately I’ve been using the weights for upper body strength by working with a set of dumbbells for the sake of biceps, triceps, and shoulders. I’ve been working hard on getting past a problem with my one arm that seemed to originate at the point of injury where my bone was broken near the wrist in the accident. The strange thing that I have noticed is that I don’t have trouble with the last set of ten repetitions, but rather with the very first set. One would think that the last set should be the one that causes me to struggle with exhaustion, but it’s actually the first set that I strain with the most. After the first set it almost feels as though I’m the Tinman in The Wizard of Oz after Dorothy applies oil to all of his joints. Suddenly I’m free to move and work again. I have no problem with the remainder of the workout as long as I get through that first set. ...