My Motorcycle Injuries

OK, so it's October already. Didn't we just say "happy new year" to each other? Wasn't it just Easter Sunday? Anyway, this month promises to be a bit busy. There are a few challenges that I have to deal with in the ministry, I have a lot of things to balance between work and home, and oh, I'm supposed to leave for a trip to Israel and Jordan in a couple of weeks. I'm doing some missions related work, and the trip has yet to be cancelled. What's a few bombs, right? It'll be like the fireworks at Disney World, only without the background music and a castle. When I return, I'll have to settle a few things in the ministry and get some things ready at home for the upcoming holidays. We're planning on having roughly eighteen people at our home for Thanksgiving, so yeah... pray for me. Anyhoo, this month is going to be a long one and I really feel like going hermit instead. I'm sitting here now typing this blog entry and I feel so worn out aft...

Things have been a little demanding lately between taking care of my niece (4 years old, happy, energetic, and of the belief that I am able and willing to do anything imaginable), maintaining my house, and my regular duties within the ministry. Additionally, the folks who ordinarily do a lot of the maintenance work on the church property haven’t been well, so I’ve been covering things such as cleaning the main building and some of the landscaping work. There are days when I feel so beat up that I just want to sit and stare. The parts of my body affected by the motorcycle accident keep me feeling as though I’m wearing down like an overused gear that’s slowly running out of grease. My hand takes a few minutes to operate normally when I first wake up, while the rest of the day is spent with the need to tolerate everything else that my hand feels like, well, feeling. My leg is constantly in need of “warming up” for the sake of walking when I first stand after having been seated for more th...

I went to sleep last night at 11 o'clock. Not too early, not too late. I woke up at 2 o'clock in the morning. I remained in bed, wide awake, until 4 a.m. I then got up to watch a little tv until about 5 a.m., and then I went back to bed and stayed there until about 6:30. I then got up for the day and started to work on everything that needed to be ready for my niece's arrival later in the morning. It's all a little brutal, but it's part of the price paid for riding my bike to get a haircut nine years ago. I was in the hospital from late November until mid-January. I couldn't sleep in the hospital at all, and I really didn't do any better after I finally made it back home. My thought back then was that I would eventually resume a normal sleep pattern after my leg healed and I could lay in bed more normally. Sadly, time has proven me wrong. Every 2-4 weeks my body breaks down and I sleep better hours for one or two nights in a row, but my normal pattern invo...

I get so tired of being tired. I woke up about four times last night. I haven't slept right since the accident, and last night was super annoying because I kept falling back asleep (lightly) and then waking up after just a little while. I got out of bed this morning and went through my exercise routine. It only took about forty-five minutes. Next up was breakfast, a ton of typing for my job, and working on some online Christmas shopping. I then had lunch, followed by some gardening work out in the front yard of my house. When I was finished I came inside to do some more online browsing. Sounds mundane, yes? Why then do I feel as though I've been hiking in the Andes for a week with no food or shelter? I hate the thought of going to bed tonight because I can't stand the torment involved in "sorta" sleeping. I feel so sore and burned out physically that it's starting to effect my mental aptitude. In other words, I'm feeling as though my mental state just isn...

I’ve been pretty much tired since the accident seven years ago. Sleep deprivation and physical “whatever” has me tired all of the time. I haven’t slept in any way that can be considered as normal since my stay in the hospital so long ago. I slept like clockwork before the accident but now nothing about my sleep pattern is regular or even gratifying. I’m thinking of getting one of those tranquilizer rifles with the darts that can put down a lion. My wife will need to practice her aim. My body continues to function pretty well, all things considered, but my energy levels have never been the same since the injuries from the accident. I don’t really know what it is about my body that is doing this. Oddly, the fatigue occurs in different levels of intensity. I know a guy who placed things in a better perspective for me a few days ago. He said that a car is never the same after an accident. You can get it repaired, but there’s always a noise or a shake or a grind that remains and it serves...

So yeah, today marks the beginning of a new month. Consequently, it also marks the end of a long January that was filled with medical stuff; things that involved blood samples, big machines, exams, and doctors who barely know me but control a lot of things in my life that include pills and money. Sounds like a cheesy made-for-tv movie, yes? The end result for all of my January adventures involves good health, happy doctors, and nothing changed within my mortal existence. I get tired by midday often, and my leg is feeling brittle at the knee, but overall I’m in pretty good shape…you know, despite the whole aches and pains thing. Strange, but lately I think about riding from time to time when I see someone on a motorcycle. I know (intellectually) that I really have no desire or need to ride at this stage in life, but my mind takes me back to the point that something was taken away from me through the carelessness of another driver six years ago. I feel so stupid when I think this way, bu...