well, its bin almost a year now since I got home. I just thought I would give you guys a bit of an update.
Im STILL in rehab. I go 3 days a week. All of the bones are back together now, but there are still a couple of issues that need to be sorted out, these being my TBI (doctor speak for traumatic Brain Injury), and my pain management.
TBI (traumatic brain injury): When the noggin went into the tree it gave me a couple of bleeds on the brain. These bleeds and the trauma that caused them led to the doctors keeping me in a coma for the first week. Once I was out in the rehab hospital, they tested me for brain damage and found that while everything was working, I was was having problems with the speed of at which I process information..... ie too slowly. The good news is that they reckon I should get back to normal, but it will take some time.
Apparently, when ya brain hits something hard it reverberates and rattles about a bit inside your skull. This leads to lots of connections being 'shaken loose'. This leads to lots of disfunction, some subtle, some not. My particular problems are sensitivity to noise, I dont like being in crowds, I sometimes get thoughts stuck in my head, and they just go round and round, I have memory and concentration issues, I find myself having problems describing things, communication problems (I stutter a bit and I talk pretty slowly) particularly when Im tired and in the late afternoon. Oh yeah, I have some issues with depression too, but Im told thats normal in TBI cases too.
But at least the toaster has stopped talking to me, and I dont think Im moses anymore B)
Pain management: all up I had 9 fractures in my spine between C1 in my neck, and L4 in my lower back. The 6 ribs sternum and collar bone are no longer an issue, but unfortunately the back still is.
I get chronic pain in my back between my shoulder blades (C7, T1) where I had the rods and plates installed and I get pain in my lower back when I sit in a car for more than an hour. I also get numbness in the last 2 fingers in my left hand when my neck plays up.
I had a great run on the cloonies(endone, take 3 and you think your george cloony), and oxycontin, but they took these off of me in october :( and I now take jurnista (hydromorphone). The Jurnista is good for me as I only have to take 1 16mg tablet, once a day and it gives me most of the pain relief I need. The pain is still there, and I still have my bad days/nights, but I muddle through. Im also going to a pain management course which is helping me sort out how to do the things I want to do without the pain being too much of an issue.
As for riding, for the time being Im back on the road legally. I say for the time being because a week and a half after I got the licence back (legally), I got sprung on the snowy ride weekend coming out of a 75 advisory corner at 143 in a 100 zone..... eeerrrr oops, so when they eventually catch up with me, I can look forward to a 3 month break from riding, in addition to the 5 points and $710 my foolishness has already cost me.
Anyways, back to rehab. I am starting to get myself ready to get back to work. I am working on a couple of imaginary projects that I am documenting just like I did in the days before my accident, but because of my concentration issues, I can only do 1 hour on, 1 off, then another on, then another off, then one more hour, and take the rest of the day off. Hardly the 10 hour days I was working before, but at least its a start.
So, thats whats going on with me. Its been a long time coming, but Im starting to see a bit of light at the end of the tunnel. Realistically, Im looking at having a chat with the TAC's return to work co-ordinator probably feb-march next year, so finally I can get back to financing my motorcycle addition again
Thanks again to everyone here. Knowing you guys were thinking of me helped me through some pretty tough times.
I will stop bending your ear now
OZ
So many toys to buy...... so little time and money
Cars?..... I dont like cars, they have too many wheels and go round corners funny!