When We Last Left Our Hero.....

I don't know how many of you watch the TV show heroes( I actually don't either) but there is a character, a cheerleader who's super power is that she can survive almost any physical injury.I'm starting to feel a little like her but also hoping that my body is up to the challenge. My friend and fellow cyclist Art is convinced that I have a least a few thousand kms on a bike still in me- From your lips to God's ear, Art. Pieter was telling me about the 14 surgeries that a soldier wounded in Iraq(a grandson to a couple in our church) has endured to close a 2 inch bullet hole. He thinks it is sometimes helpful to hear of others that are having a tougher time than you...although he mentioned that with me that is getting increasingly harder to find!

I have started the healing process. I am in physio almost every day and will be for at least 6 more weeks. I am off work until then surviving on accident benefits pay( about 55% of my regular income)stressing about the money I should be saving to be off work for 10 weeks for Sea to Sea...praying that God will provide.

Also dealing with a complex concussion that is causing constant headaches, short term memory loss and roller coaster emotions. The docs are still trying to figure this stuff out...what is permanent and what is temporary. It's a waiting game and I must admit at times I wish it had just been a broken bone- those we know how to fix, how to heal and how to recover from.

But on to other things...I didn't get a chance to tell you about Halloween. I love Halloween and all the fun that surrounds the holiday. So when my surgeon Dr. Chess booked that as the day he wanted to remove my stitches I warned him I would be coming in dressed in my costume.

This year my persona was a Corpse Bride- I figure at this point I'll probably be a corpse before I'm a bride so it's appropriate.

I came into reception looking like this. "I have a 9am appointment with Dr. Chess"
"OK...and what are you here for?" I responded "An autopsy." They paused. "Just kidding, stitch removal on my ankle"
So I was taken into the examining room.


I had a little bit of nausea and my blood pressure dropped as the stitches were removed so I had to lie down before I passed out. When the nurse came back to check on me she asked how I was feeling...I said better. She said" Good but it is a little difficult to see if your colour is better!"

SO...on with the recovery, I'm about 2 wks behind with my ankle due to the additional traumas but all my physios are excited to be working toward getting me back on the bike and ready to do Sea To Sea. I've gone from this

To walking with a cane. My goal right now is to get off the cane by the first of December.
There it is. Thanks for all your support and prayers. They are sustaining me through this time and will continue to carry me to and on Sea To Sea.

I've Been Waiting for This Call.....

That was my friend Lindi's first response yesterday when she received the call from the ER. I had been hit by a car and was being assessed. "Are you OK? Ever since you started cycling, I was afraid that I would get this call. You couldn't have been on your bike. What happened?"

Yesterday, was a beautiful fall day. I had a physio appointment at the hospital where I had my surgery. I was standing at the southwest corner of Richmond and Cheapside. The lights at Cheapside were red. Traffic along Richmond was actually fairly light considering that it was just before 3pm on a Friday. I was thinking that if I wasn't on crutches I would have just crossed in my usual downtown jay walk style. But I had plenty of time and so I just pushed the crossing button again.
The light changed, no cars, so I started my trek across the street. I then remember this impact on my left thigh, I looked down to see what it was. I remember looking down seeing the front of a dark car. My head hit the hood, my feet where off the ground and I was air-bourne, landing hard on the pavement.
My first thought was. "oh my gawd-did my leg break? I just had the surgery. I had been very careful and all that work was loss" I was trying to get up, to assess my injuries. A crowd of people trying to hold me down, telling me not to move that an ambulance was on the way. I was hysterical, sobbing.
I was in shock and devastated. Lying there I prayed that Sea To Sea would still be an option. Cursing how unfair this was. Asking the attendants to call my ICE friends so that I didn't feel so alone.
Strapped to a stretcher with a neck brace, I was taken into the ER. Yes I could feel everything. Extreme pain in my thigh that took the impact, my head, my shoulders, my heart my soul. My friend Kristie, a nurse at the hospital was notified to come be with me. All the questions flying at you, where does it hurt(It's a shorter list if I tell you what's not hurting) Physical assessment by the Physician Dr. Richardson. She is kind but direct and I trust her. Every move, every procedure hurts, the staff apologizing with each cry of pain. The pain is actually a good sign and I tell them it's alright-Do what you need to do to make sure I'm OK. Into Xrays for over 1/2 an hour to check every bone and my spine. Kristie arrives and cleans up my make up.
The police come in. I ask if anyone else had been hurt? No. They want a statement, I tell them what I remember. They tell me the driver has been charged, all witnesses say that I was in the right of way and that I was in clear sight. I wonder what caused the accident? Cell phone? distraction? thoughtlessness? I wonder what is going on with the driver?
The doctor comes back. All clear. My body took the impact without breaking. I have an imprint of the grill on my thigh(it's still there this morning), several scrapes and bruises, my coat it torn my glasses are destroyed(actually it looks like they saved my face.)
I am released, Kristie takes me home. We start the phone calls. My friend Margaret comes to stay the night so that I can be in my own space, my own bed.
It's been a restless night. There is just no good position to sit or lie. I feel old.
But I was extremely blessed. I'm walking away traumatized, battered but alive.
My sister, Ivy, says it was our Mom, watching over us still, protecting her beloved children.
I am so blessed to be surrounded by people who love and care and will be here once again to walk with me through the healing. I pray for all those injured or in the hospital who don't have that, who are feeling broken and alone with no one to call and be there with them.
And I pray for the driver. That this was a wake up call on attention and caution, that she will be a better driver. That this all ends in peace.