Wow, it has been long. It is approaching 8 weeks since my accident, which I initially thought would be over in a short time, well, it turned out to be way worse than I thought. I am still recovering and had just started hand therapy this week.
Wait as she did but no one came to meet her and invite her to the fitting studio.
It was such a nice day, temperature was about mid 50s, sun was shining, it was a day when there could be no excuse to not ride. I decided it should be a casual easy ride to the store so I just wore casual clothes but put one my riding shoes since the pedals on the bike was clipless. I decided to wear my helmet, which I sometimes did not wear especially when my wife was not in town – a desperate hope to blend in with the young and hip college bike riders.
Not a minute from my home along the bike path, I laid face down on the ground, my body half turned. I did not feel much pain if any but noticed the lost of my front teeth. I was gasping from the sudden change and yelled out two “Help”. I could not quite move but wanted to turn my body so I can lie on my back and take a break to catch my breath. I heard a lady voice from a distance; probably from the sidewalk about 100 feet away, asking if I was okay. I saw my right arm and tried to move it but it did not obey. I tried harder and this time it moved but it flopped to the side and hit the ground. I could not feel any pain from my arm hitting the ground. Now with my torso pretty much lying on my back, I tried to turn my hip and legs as well so I can really lie down, but again, my legs were just kind of flopped. I was finally lying down. I thought, ok, just rest, give it 15 minutes and I will get up.
About this time, a gentleman stopped by to check in on me and let me know an ambulance was called. I asked this gentleman to call in to Lees and inform of my mishap but I forgot to ask someone to fetch Judy from outside the store.
A runner stopped by who happened to be an EMT asked me a few questions and helped the other EMTs who arrived on an ambulance. I was strapped onto a board with my head secured and loaded into the ambulance. They were very concerned if I had broken my neck, but I kind of knew my neck did not break because I moved it quite some and there was no pain at all and I can feel it too. However, I never thought of what was really injured.
In the ER, I received quite some attention and went through x-ray, cat scan, and finally MRI. My upper lip was cut through and required 6 stitches. It was 4 weeks later that my dentist found a fragment of my broken front tooth embedded on my upper lip on the inside that was never checked in the ER. It took another small procedure to take it out since the 4 weeks of healing had took that in as part of the new me.
About 7 hours after the accident, a technician finally came and let us know what the doctor found was injured after seeing the MRI results. They injected a steroid through my IV to help fix the injury. After some research since I got home, it was revealed that if the steroid had been injected earlier, maybe the healing would have been faster and more complete. At this point they finally informed me and my wife, who just arrived from Utah (she was on a business trip there), that I have to stay in the hospital for a couple of nights. No one in the ER thought I would have to stay, but also, none of them thought my extremely numb and tingly arms and hands would last so long either. So, we spent another 2 days in the hospital and were sent home after that.
Our neurosurgeon visited the next day and told us that I had a form of spinal cord injury - spinal cord contusion. It was swelling and bruising of the spinal cord, and it happened on my neck region (cervical), which controlled pretty much all the functions from the neck down. I regained all leg movements and normal sensory in the ER, but not my arms and hands. Doctor said we should just let it heal but it would take some time. He asked us to visit him again in 4 weeks. I was a little shocked that it would take so long but somehow their positive attitude seem to indicate I would be completely back to normal in about 3 weeks.
During the first 3 weeks, anything that graces or touches my hands would cause me much discomfort and so I did not do anything at all, just sitting around or sleeping. But sleeping usually only last 2 – 3 hours each session as any body movement causes discomfort and woke me up. I gradually improved along this time and we visited the neurosurgeon who further explained my condition and the fact that I have a genetically narrow spinal canal, which makes this kind of injury a higher occurrence. I also got a taste of what it is like without hands and how life changes under the circumstances. In fact I was quite close to becoming a quadriplegic and I guess I had a glimpse of what it was like during the first couple of minutes after the crash.
In the last few weeks I have been able to do more by myself with various ways of coping and avoiding the sensitive areas. I am not sure if my hands will be completely back to the way they were, but I am hopeful that my hand therapy will complete the loop.
Totaling all the losses, I had missed my first trip home (Hong Kong) after 6 years, 2 very nice pieces of cycling garment were cut up in the ER, the shoulder trap of my messenger bag, my cracked helmet, the front wheel of the bike was toasted, as was the front fork and the fender, but most importantly, 8 weeks + of my productive life, and of course all the medical bills that are arriving. I have medical coverage through my wife’s employer, but there are all sorts of deductibles, overages and uncovered expenses.
I have to thank all the fine folk who helped at the scene, especially the EMTs, the nurses at the ER, friends from Lee’s who stopped by and called during my recovery, friends and neighbors who helped to take care of Lucky and offered words of encouragement along the way and of course my wife. She had gone through much hardship to dealing with a husband without hands for this period while holding down a full time job.
I should be gradually getting back to building frames and fitting riders soon.
