Rumors Of Demise
To (mis) quote Mark Twain the rumors of my death were greatly exaggerated. I am indeed still among the living but have not visited, nor posted to this blog in quite some time. It has been a chaotic couple years with the whole covid pandemic, the unexpected death of my mother in 2021 and my subsequent accident of last year. The world tried to end me twice but I managed to survive both the auto/bike collision in October and neurosurgery in December.
No need to dwell upon covid as everyone is familiar with the uncertainty, anxiety and frustrations of the pandemic. Despite the signs of aging the death of my mother in August 2021 was a shock. I had spent my birthday (July 31) with her doing my usual Saturday yard work on the farm and she seemed so good that day. Needless to say the call the following morning that she suffered a massive stroke was surreal. As the executor dealing with her estate during covid was frustrating at best. The process took far too long to be resolved, especially as it overlapped with my injuries and the cognitive and physical limitations I was experiencing. Thankfully my sister was a co-executor and she was able to do much of the later communications and paperwork.
October 21 2021 was just another usual Thursday. Perfect weather for a bike commute to work that turned tragic when a truck failed to yield at a stop sign. I suffered from accident amnesia and have no memory of the collision. One moment I was cycling down a quiet residential street and my next memory was becoming conscious in the ER about five hours later. Suffering (another) traumatic brain injury and substantial soft tissue damage I somehow avoided breaking any bones that was confirmed by x rays of my right side. I remember the ER doctor telling me I was going to hurt for quite some time. I basically sprained both ankles, knees, right wrist and right shoulder. Whiplash from the impact upon the ground. Some road rash and a laceration of my right shin. Within days I was swollen, twisted and bruised purple and eventually developed a large hematoma upon my buttocks.
The injury patterns suggest I was struck on the right side by the vehicle and thrown ragdoll style across the street ending up in someone's front yard. My glasses were recovered later after my daughter went to the house and asked if they found them. The homeowners son found my glasses in the front yard on his way to school. The back of my helmet was crushed and the bruising and hematoma on my buttocks seem to indicate my backside hit the ground first then my head followed suit. Similar to a football quarterback being tackled and driven backwards to the turf. The difference being it was a Ford F150 and not a linebacker that sacked me. My sister remarked that I must be "tougher than a boiled owl" having escaped without more serious injury to a senior. According to my spouse the ER doctor told her that my level of physical fitness probably contributed to less damage. Guess all that cycling, ball hockey, strength training and helmet paid dividends.
Cycling helmets may not prevent all injury but they prevent more serious injury, especially brain trauma. My Bell compressed and shattered and not my skull. Without it I doubt I would be writing this post. My yolk got scrambled but the shell remained intact.
Over the course of the next two months, I began the process of healing. Sought out physiotherapy to deal with my soft tissue damage and continued with my chiropractic treatments to deal with my structural issues. What complicated the process was my lack of a family doctor. Three days after my accident I went to the clinic I have been going too for 35 years (as a walk-in patient) to have a follow up examination only to learn they no longer took walk-ins. Despite me being a patient of the clinic for decades they refused to see me because I did not have one of the staff doctors listed as my family MD. I had no medical follow up. I had questions about my post-concussion symptoms and had insurance claim documents that required completion that remained in limbo. Both just compounded my frustrations and anxiety until things became worse in December.
I started experiencing balance issues and some trouble with depth perception. By mid-December I was dealing with some vertigo and began dragging my left foot. My gait seemed off and I was showing signs of drop foot. While concerned I was still able to function normally and attributed my symptoms with my physical injuries and post-concussion syndrome. I had decided to seek medical attention after the holidays as I just didn't feel right. Even if it meant going back to Emergency and queuing up for hours in a department already bursting at the seams due to the covid pandemic. On boxing day I invited my son over to watch some football and eat turkey leftovers. I recall nothing after that Sunday afternoon nor all of Monday. My wife came home Monday night after working to find me in bed. She was concerned since I was apparently acting odd that day, was not answering my phone and had been physically ill in the bathroom. Upon waking me it was soon obvious I was in crisis. Confused, slurring my speech and unable to stand. An ambulance was called and back to emergency I was taken. A cat scan revealed a large subdural hematoma and in the early hours of Dec 28 I was rushed into neurosurgery.
I awoke a second time in just over two months in the hospital on the morning of Dec 28th also with no memory of what had occurred. Spent the rest of the holidays and New Years in the neurosurgery ward and was released with conditions on January 4th. Failed my initial cognitive exam by the OT so had to remain in the hospital until another was rescheduled in the new year. It was good to go home but I must say the staff of the neurosurgery department were consummate professionals despite being overworked and understaffed due to the pandemic. Word has it that the doctor in the ER, upon viewing my cat scan, told my spouse she probably saved my life by waking me on the 27th. The bleed was literally pushing my right hemisphere to the left putting my entire brain under extreme pressure. A stroke was only a matter of time. At my follow-up with the neurosurgeon in March of 2022 we discussed my case. She was certain that the "insignificant" acute subdural hematoma, the result of the accident in October, probably continued to slow bleed and became chronic. She was surprised that I had not suffered from debilitating headaches which is usually the primary symptom of a chronic subdural hematoma. I was doing better by the time of the reassessment, so she allowed me to drive again and start back at the gym, albeit with limitations. She did stress quite vehemently that I need to avoid any further head trauma, so cycling is now over for me. I have spent my life upon a bicycle, but it was now time to stop. After being struck twice by vehicles within ten years I'm not sure I would possess the courage to get back on a bike. I miss the joy cycling offers but I sure don't miss the stress associated with cycling the mean streets of HRM.
As for ball hockey I was advised to wait until the Fall before resuming play. As a ball hockey goalie, I wear full ice hockey gear. Since we use a Mylec ball and play a non (intentional) contact game I was more concerned with how my body would respond to movement; the side to side and ups and downs of playing the position. I am definitely less flexible post-accident and still struggle with some continued stiffness, but my physiotherapist, chiropractor and masseuse have done a great job in getting me back close to my pre accident condition. I am so thankful that I was able to return to the game. I had to adjust the way I play goal by adapting a more stand-up style but at least I am back playing.
I am contemplating a new activity now that cycling is in my rear view. A paddleboard may be in my future to take advantage of the abundant lakes and waterways hereabouts. In the meantime, I am back at the gym with a fresh approach incorporating more compound movements better suited to senior fitness, foam rolling and the use of kettlebells. Working on my conditioning and lost flexibility in regard to ball hockey performance while monitoring my blood pressure through exercise and diet. My blood pressure was collateral damage after the accident as my lack of exercise combined with weigh gain and a sedentary recovery inflated my numbers.
It's all a continuing work in progress towards Geo 2.0
Comments