New Hardware

On Tuesday the 5th I was hit by a car.  I was attempting to make a left hand turn from the center lane across two oncoming traffic lanes,  who were stopped at a red light. I was signalling & the vehicle in the left lane was allowing to me to enter their lane to proceed and check the oncoming right hand lane. A vehicle did not see as I was moving forward to look around and plowed into my front tire. My weight was on the front, so the impact spun the bike 180 degrees, I landed on the hood of the Jeep, they stopped suddenly and I was thrown. I saw my right leg snap with the sky behind it. Landed, rolled into the gutter. My leg heel was also fractured, road rash and bruising. My helmet protected my head and my tiger backpack protected my torso. I believe the two young college kids who were in the Jeep were distracted while driving. Texting and driving is a huge problem here. I just don't see how they could have failed to notice the stopped break in the traffic ahead of them, could have failed to see what of me was visible... they couldn't bring themselves to speak to me as I lay there in the road. Bone fragments from my tibia were lost in the road. 

 I was brought to the hospital, surgery to clean the wound was performed, I rested for a day and underwent a 2nd 4 hour surgery to insert a nail through my tibia and a wire through my fibula. The old hard ware from the previous ankle break in 2015 was in the way of the new, so they took it out and gave it back to me. Hex head self tapping screws and a plate: titanium. Look away if the photos below will make you queazy. 

The narcotic pain medication is powerful and horrible. It is an effective painkiller, but it makes me incredibly paranoid, anxious, and irritable, which I just have to keep admitting, and remembering that I have two broken legs. 6 days after the wreck and I have stopped taking it, in favor of a few Advil for days when I am just laying still. I know about the pain of broken bones and the soreness and muscle bruising. If I need the strong stuff for days when I have to move okay, and when the script runs out I will thank GAWD.  I am terrified of this drug. The addiction of hydrocodone is a hell that I know all too well from childhood, and I will be very glad when the meds run out, even if I have to lay in pain. I don't think there is a family in this country that hasn't been touched by opioid addiction, and this experience with the drug is heart-breakingly close to bad memories from the last break and from growing up.

 There was enough bone loss that there is a question if there is enough bone to bone contact for healing to occur. If not it will require a bone graft in about 6 weeks. If I do heal on my own it will be 6 months before I can walk. I worked four jobs: a handy ma'am, with the local stage hand union, running my business, Pedal Promotion, and as a model. I will be able to continue 2 of the 4. It would be really fantastic if more clients hire my business because not only would it keep some income coming in for me personally, but also pay the people who work for me $15 an hour. I am so deeply thankful that I built my house, so that even when horrible things like this happen I know I can reply on the stability of my housing. I have recovered from one major injury there, and in that case I didn't have the use of my upper body strength, and my home wasn't nearly so complete. Also, having stabilized the cost of my living expenses means that I can buy higher quality food to rebuild my body with.

Here's the hard ware from when I fell off Contentment Falls in 2015, all shiny and ready for some new purpose.

Here's a pretty cool video about how the body repairs shattered bones:

Discovery Channel: Body Story: Episode 2: Breaking Down

Here's an animation of the tibia nailing surgery in case..... 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQTHIPdGRig

& my GF made me some adorable little x-mas themed toe warmers to go on top pf my bandages!