My Motorcycle Injuries

Overcoming physical trauma is a tough job. Those of us who are fortunate enough to recieve 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...

  My mother in-law injured herself two days ago. She broke a couple of bones in her foot and has wound up staying in my house as a result until she gets (much) better. I'm in my early sixties, so you can only imagine her age, since a gentleman never says. We set her up with a lot of things here at my house with all sorts of accomodations because she cannot walk very well on her own. One of the things that we have supplied is a walker, although she's having a very hard time getting around with it. That walker is the one that I used way back, when I wasn't allowed to put any weight on my broken leg. I haven't really touched it much in the garage over the years, except for times when I've moved it off of the christmas tree storage bags in order to get them into the house every year. My mother in-law is a pretty tough lady and has always remained active regardless of her age, but this injury has left her pretty helpless. As I watch her trying to use the walker without m...

I went to my audiologist this morning for my annual exam. I have really bad hearing and I wear hearing aids. It's not necessarily an old guy thing. I've worn hearing aids since my thirties, and I had an audiologist then who told me that the type of hearing loss that I have is something that I was born with. He said that it would get worse with time, but he also told me that it's something that I've had all of my life but only noticed as an adult. Anyhoo, my insurance company requires that I see an ENT along with my audiologist, but they work together in the same office so it's easy to do. They both told me that I've had no further hearing loss within the past year (unusual, but yay for me), so everyone was happy. However, as the ENT guy was checking me out he noticed a scar on the corner of my mouth. It's from work that was done on me when I went into respiratory arrest while being treated at the hospital after the motorcycle accident. I personally don't...

This is one of the years in which the day and the date of my motorcycle accident match the day and date in 2013. It was November 29th, the Friday after Thanksgiving. Early on I would attempt to commemorate the event each year by doing something unique such as attempting to donate blood. After a few years I determined to celebrate the anniversary of the accident by just living my life and having a normal day. The best proof of victory involves living well, yes? So, today I attempted to live well by doing what I ordinarily would do. I started by cleaning a little around the house and then taking care of a little bit of banking business. I then spent some time visiting a church member who is in the hospital. Next, I headed to the church property in order to get some work done within the church building for the services on Sunday. I spent the remainder of the day at a family event that involved eating, football, and playing various games. Nothing exciting or innovative, just...a normal and...

I returned from my trip to Israel/Jordan a few days ago. Everything went well with the things that needed to be done and I was able to visit a bunch of nifty historic sights besides. We had no issues concerning any need to deal with guns or bombs, so...bonus. The ankle on my accident damaged leg swole up in a big way over the course of time, but it didn't involve any pain. Aside from the ankle, my body did alright with all of the walking and step climbing. None of the things related to my motorcycle accident injuries was a hindrance at all throughout the trip. I was really tired at the end of each day, but my body held up well and I was able to handle all of the things required of me physically with a good sense of ease. Uh huh. The irony of it all? When we left for the trip I had been dealing with some congestion in my head for about a week. It was getting better as the trip approached, and it improved during the first week in Israel. Nice, right? Well...the last two days I began ...

I'm leaving on a trip this coming Saturday morning. It involves a long journey as I travel from the home base airport  to Atlanta, then to DC, then to Istanbul, and finally to Amman. I'll be spending a few days in Jordan and the better part of two weeks in Israel. Yeah, I know it's dangerous these days but hey, think of the skymiles I'll earn if I live! I've had to shuffle a lot of things in my life to make this trip a reality, but tomorrow I'll finish packing and Saturday at 4 in the morning I'll leave for the airport. It's a good thing that I don't ordinarily sleep much, right?  This trip involves touring with a missionary and helping with a few things from day to day. I know that God's hand is in it, so off I go. (Well, off we go because my lovely wife will be joining me). My body is as ready as it will be, and I must admit that I really don't fear any trouble with my knee, leg, or hip. I'll probably need to walk about seven miles a d...

 I had an appointment with my cardiologist today. He said that I don't age and that I'm in great shape. The man was completely happy with my health. Nice, right? The appointment went well and the doctor really made me feel good about myself, but then...I asked him about me taking statins. My endocrinologist has been talking to me about taking a statin for years, so I asked the cardiologist what he thought about this because I have an appointment with endo-boy early next week. My cardiologist said that it's a good idea for me to take a statin because of the diabetes. You know, higher risk of a stroke or a heart attack and all. So next week I'll finally submit myself to taking another pill daily, which will make my endocrinologist as happy as someone who's patient will live long enough to continue to support his lavish lifestyle. Yay for him. So I get to add another pill to my daily routine thanks to the accident injuries. I'm waiting for something good to come of...