My autumn
Tuesday, May 6, 2008 | | |My autumn - The story of a bicycle injury and recovery
I would like to express my gratitude to my sister, my brother and his wife, my close friend, and doctors and nurses who helped me through this crisis.
On March 15, 2002, while riding my bike in the early afternoon, I suffered the worst fall of my life. I think it would be honest and straight-forward for me to tell my fall and how I recovered from it.
Since I began communicating over the Internet in 1997, I met a lot of skepticism because I claimed a few drops of more than 100000 miles of biking. I had three falls during the years 1965 to 1968, and got another three falls during the years 1987 and 1988. With two of the fall, I have the skin of the palm of my hands, I with a strained a rib (lifting has been painful, but nothing else just me), and with the other three, I almost suffered no injury.
I also dropped a number of times the bike is not moving, that I never counted with others. The damage was minimal, except for my pride. I can not remember everything falls on my bicycle as a child, even if I had two wounds to the head before I had my bike which probably contributed to making me a child cautious. Throughout childhood, I was wounded twice more just that I remember: a broken arm in 1960 when nearly 15, and scratches wrist a year later.
I never thought it would be impossible for me to have another accident on my bike, but I feel I will not repeat any of my old mistakes, and that the fall would be unlikely. I considered my biggest risk losing control in an emergency, like a car running out of me the road.
The place and the conditions under which I had my fall most serious were not at all what I have or could have foreseen. Much the opposite: if someone has described my fall in advance, I would say that it could not happen, and the only evidence that they have my memory and the events and consequences that followed .
The bicycle is an ATV that I bought for $ 50. It was a strange mountain bike with a short wheelbase and dropped handlebars, and it was not as stable as the bicycle touring, I'm used to riding. Someone has mounted the brakes too far forward, on the curve drops. The left (before) aero-style brake does not work very well, probably due to coerce the cables under the handlebar tape. The motorcycle was also extremely wide tires (2.2 inches) with aggressive working capital. I bought the bike, because it seems to be a very good case and because I was curious about riding another type of bicycle. I did not intend to use the bike to ride around town, but the road that climbs My mountain had taken its pavement removed in preparation for resurfacing, and I had the axle on my bike touring. Before the day of the accident, I had the mountain bike ridden nearly 150 miles, including three times in the city. On the way to the city on the fourth trip, stops at the local grocery store, the bike fell over, and handlebars bent sideways. I recover, but I did not immediately tighten, considering them not too loose.
When my accident, I was riding a bicycle north to a right turn from my bank on a three-way. Along the roadside were the norm and curb gutter, the gutter with a little deeper than normal because of a purge that I had just adopted. I looked back to see if anyone was behind me in preparation for a right turn (no one, it was). When I looked straight ahead, I was already in the gutter. This shocked me because I must have drifted two feet or more to the right while looking back, without noticing the fact. Then I had a choice to stop immediately in the gutter or driving out of him, climbing on a pavement edge at an angle that seems to be far less than one inch. The judgement in the gutter does not seem too desirable for me, both because I would be in the wrong position on the road and because I have quite a scope far ahead to reach the brakes, including a term work. Although I knew that crossing a road edge at an angle would tend to launch me, the danger appears to be minor because it was a slight lip and because I had these big tires.
However, when I started to cross the road at lips, cycling me violently off at an angle of 90 degrees in the lane. My body landed on the roadway horizontal to the ground, with all my weight landing on the side of my left hip. In striking the ground, I immediately felt great pain, and I found myself almost paralyzed the left side. With great difficulty, I managed to crawl off the road and, at this stage, a paramedic arrived, began to support my legs, and called for an ambulance on his phone. Within minutes, I was put in the ambulance and transported to the hospital, receiving intravenous needle en route. My doctor has arrived almost immediately, I have been X-ray, revealing a hip fracture, and he planned to operate the same day, but had then switch to the next morning due to another operation. I told him to give me more details, as I am easily disturbed by such things, and he told me that my bone was broken in three places, and that he would use a pin and a plaque to link together . The pin and plaque would be stainless steel, which is never a need to remove them.
Later, I have gradually come to recognize that the injury was to my upper femur, just below where he climbed into the hip socket, and not the pool itself. My doctor told me what is called a hip fracture by tradition. Although the interruption of certain aspects is not a problem that a broken leg, the location makes it impossible to splint and a necessary operation. As I saw it on the X-ray taken more than a month later, a fairly large rod follows the bones of the hip at any one outlet plate slows down my leg, which is held in place by four screws in the bone. I am pleased that he did not tell me all this at the time, as it would have been upsetting for me.
As I lay, I wondered what had caused my accident. Several times, when I had injured myself in the past, everything seemed to act in slow motion, but in this case, everything happened so quickly that I had hardly been able to record everything , Much less analyze. My first theory is that the handlebars must had been too vague, so I turn into the gutter and causing me to be launched when I tried to climb. However, I found myself rejecting this notion in a day or two. There is no way that the handlebars could have turned without a lot of my immediate recognition of the fact. Indeed, months later when I rode the bike again, I did not tighten the handlebars or have problems with them as a result. No, the only explanation was the bike itself. The short wheelbase caused to react differently when I looked behind. When I look back, sometimes the bike I'm riding move left or right, and short wheelbase of this bike must have caused to go beyond what I expected. What about climbing lightly lips? I made a very quick decision based on the experience zero that the escalation lips at an angle on these big tires would be less dangerous than my usual, much smaller tires. However, the opposite has proved true, and large tires had just seemed to provide much more energy to get back.
Another important question is why did I have such a serious injury? There are three answers to this question. Firstly, I am 56. Although my doctor confirmed that my bones were strong, but one gets older the chances of a fracture more. However, a cyclist wrote and told me he had fractured hip to 22. Secondly, the way I landed on the ground threw all the weight of my body in my hip socket. Indeed, I did not have a bruise, nothing, or another sign of injuries elsewhere on my body. If my body had been turned to the left or right or if I landed on my feet or arms first, the hip injury would not have happened. Hip injury while cycling are fairly rare since my accident, I learned of five other cyclists with the same injury. Thirdly, despite the requirement of surgery and hospital stay, my hip fracture is a simple bone fracture, only the result of this situation is more serious than normal broken a leg or arm .
One of the nurses present when I was caught up in my room and said, "I'll never ride a bicycle." Well, this is certainly the latter reaction, I want people to have. I have never denied that there is an element of risk in cycling. Although I've never been concerned by a simple fall, I had to make emergency maneuvers to avoid being hit by automobiles on a number of occasions, so I realized that the threat of injury or death there. For me the blessings conferred upon my life while cycling - the vast experience, improving health, and economic independence - all outweigh the risks involved. Admittedly, my this accident, while creating a need for a few months of recovery and which cause heavy expenditure, is far from being sufficiently serious to me, I wish had remained dependent car. There has been some indirect recognition of the benefits of cycling by the hospital staff and my doctor while I was there, as they can not help but notice that my body was lean, strong and healthy.
I was not depressed by my injury. I have maintained a positive state of mind from the time paramedics arrived until I returned to Scottsboro seven weeks later. Although the accident was not desirable, I made my mind to focus on better rather than on the consequences of whatever ill-attended. It is true that when I watched some stupid television show that suddenly emotions that the tears were quickly and easily. All my emotions were stronger and closer to the surface.
Having lived in the area off and Scottsboro since 1978, I was aware that many people in the community have a poor opinion of their hospital. Having spent time with my parents while they were in more than a half-dozen hospitals in three cities, I can say that care at the hospital Scottsboro was good or better than care elsewhere. It is true that nobody came a few occasions when I buzzed for help (I buzzed only when necessary), and there were a couple of nurses who were obviously indifferent, but most nurses were willing to help and extremely cooperative, often in the course of their way to be helpful. I considered one of them to be my angel, because it solve so many problems for me.
What do you do when you're in bed almost unable to move? Well, I called friends and family on the phone to let them know what happened, and I used my laptop (I had carried with me in the ambulance rather than leaving them on cycling) during the night. I did not use my laptop to a large extent for writing 1) lying flat on his back is not the best position to write and 2) I was not exactly in my writing more productive mood . It was four days after my accident, I said that before the e-mails, and I did not my son sent by e-mail and newslists about what happened to me after I left the hospital, mainly because I needed to gather my courage. Although I usually do not watch television, I watched a good blow to the hospital. I was in a good mood to watch passively entertainment. It was also a regular flow of nurses check my pulse and blood pressure, taking blood samples, I breathe, food, removing the tray, get water, emptying my urinal, and moving around me. Every couple of hours, I would like to make what I could exercises while in bed, using a guide therapists had given me. As a result of all these activities, the days passed fairly quickly.
My most notable physical problem, which is true both before and after the merger was that the muscles in the left thigh injured were all in full mode cramps. The position of my leg can be adjusted very slowly without pain or problem, but any attempt to move at normal speed would cause me to cry. I was at home lying in bed flat on my back with my legs apart, but any change of position has created pain. At the beginning, I felt a little good pain all the time and took morpheme, but after a few days, my pain has fallen to a level unless my leg was moved too quickly, then it was off the scale. Since morpheme was not necessary for the first pain or useful to the second, I asked them to stop it. Towards the end of the week, I stopped collecting cramps in my leg that pain, and that shortly afterwards, leaving my leg cramps. Also, paradoxically, much of the pain during these days was felt in my lower leg and foot, who were not injured. My foot was more sensitive to touch or be moved from my thigh. As cramps have disappeared, as well as muscles. I am firmly thigh muscles melted, and a roll of fat appeared in the leg. I found I had to develop new muscles, and I had to learn to use them again, as if I had never before market.
The first three days involved only minor modifications. During the first day I had the opportunity to relax my leg in a folded position to a position and make myself comfortable. I was able to move my left foot very well. My operation was on the morning of the second day, and I asked to be placed during sleep, so my neighbor is the memory of my brother and his wife to come see me, but I was too sleepy to answer . My doctor said I spoke to him after my operation and I was in good spirits, but the memory evaporated without trace. I think I slept most of the third day. During this initial period, my leg was extremely sensitive and nurses made me scream when they came for me to go to sleep partly on my side.
I believe that it is on the fourth morning that the doctor asked for me to sit in a chair for most of the day. Fortunately, a nurse who came to help me to sit down was the most understanding, and I was able to lead them then I'm on the chaise with a minimum of pain. However, before an hour, I was so unfortunate that I tried to get on the pot by myself, and I was even more uncomfortable. Finally, the nurses came and helped me get back to bed, where I was finally comfortable. That night, I was relaxed enough to answer some questions by e-mail on the site for the first time.
The fifth morning, when I had to rise, a student and his instructor helped me. The student had a similar injury and was cautious. The instructor accidentally stepped on my foot. This should have been me cry a day or two earlier, but my sensibility is decreasing. That day, two therapists are in the afternoon and gave me some exercises I could do in bed. It also gave me some instructions about getting and out of bed, and I got out of bed with less pain than ever before.
The next morning, I was helped by an indifferent nurse, who felt that pain was good for me, and another which I would describe as unempathetic. I tried to go to pot again and they were not much help. At one point, they left my left leg unsupported when I shouted. Finally, I had a nurse to support the foot, in order to be able to relax and gradually lower himself to the ground. In the afternoon, despite my being exhausted by close of the morning, therapists are new. This time, with their suggestions, I realized that I could block my two legs at the same time whenever they had to be moved. Therefore, moving me was not a problem - after all locked my legs and instructed nurses to manage than the right leg. I also made my first step on this day. It was not much, I just lifted my foot just swing my leg forward on the walker, but I was crying with joy to walk a bit (I had been before moving, but making Slide the foot rather than by lifting).
On the seventh day I was moving more traumatic, as I kept my legs locked. I even learned to myself on the bed. With therapists, I could make three steps real (I moved further than that, but it remains to drag my foot).
I remember just the eighth day. In the morning, the doctor told me that I could probably leave the next day, so most of my attention was directed towards getting ready. I walked a little in the afternoon, but I could not make it as far as the door.
My last day to trauma in the morning, as I had become quite constipated and has not been able to use either the pot or bed pan (at this time, I was in able to get in and out of bed by myself). My doctor (a surgeon) had to give their permission to be able to give me something to soften the stool and allow me the last few relief. A good friend had made trips to my house to round things that I wanted to take with me, and he finished this task in the morning, and my brother and his wife arrived in the afternoon to take me to their homes . For me in the car was not as difficult as I thought, and travel by car did not bother. Leave the car at home, I am surprised by "walking" twenty feet inside, but I stayed at the bottom of the first night because I was afraid of stairs.
In the morning, I walked around some and then I was able to get up the stairs by meeting and the lifting of my background with my right foot while my brother slowly lifted my left foot at the same time. That night, while in the bed, I was able to lift my knee for the first time. As was similar to all my other relearning process, let me explain more about how it happened. Although I kept trying to lift the knee (he was one of my exercises I tried to do after a few hours), the muscles have refused to work. But this time, after I lifted his leg in his hand while trying the first time, he lifted without my assistance the second time, and from that moment, I could lift my knees whenever I wanted (lifting my leg, however, was the future weeks). In all cases, relearning seems to be to try to move while using my hand to make the motion. Once I could perform the function with the muscles of my leg alone, I've never forgotten the case, although I had to spend some time strengthening these muscles.
Initially, the plan was for me to spend a week with my brother and his wife, but they were keeping me almost two weeks before sending me on an airplane to see my sister, presumably to give my leg more time to heal before the trip. I will not continue to try to chart my progress from day to day as the outline of my day of activities has remained roughly the same.
In principle, each day, I would like to try to walk as much on the walker as possible. I could walk a long distance in the house of the room at the other end and back. Of course, at the beginning, I put almost no weight on my left foot but the support was myself with my hands and with the other foot. Feeling tired or feeling pain in my leg was a sign for me to do less; feeling strong and energetic signs of trying. Sitting on a chair to cause pain after a while, so I spent most of my time in bed. After I was there a few days, my brother's wife, a nurse, removed the staples in my leg. Initially, I was not able to get in the shower because I could not get my leg over the threshold, so I washed down the drain, but after I finally managed to get in the shower I would sometimes go in and soak my leg or foot when they are painful. I also learned how to put a sock on his left foot. If my brother, I could not increase or decrease my left leg by cradling except in the right leg (they share mattresses for me to be able to get in bed at all), and I still could not lift my left heel out of bed, with the exception of my hands. Shortly before my departure, my brother is interested in seeing if I could use a cane or a crutch instead of the walker, to enter the plane easier, but it was too difficult. I thought a crude way to measure the strength of my leg by pressing down on the scale with my left foot. During my first attempt, I could press 40 pounds for a few seconds before my departure, 45 pounds. Two days before my departure, I am too much and was in great pain, so I did very little walking the day before my trip.
My trip to my sister on March 7, has not been very difficult, as skycaps pushed me in a wheelchair to the aircraft and on an electric trolley to my people on the other side. There was a misunderstanding when I planned to walk on the plane, a task that is impossible for me.
At the beginning, my sister at home in New Jersey, I have not been able to get up the stairs. At the bottom were a bedroom, den, bathroom and small, without bath or shower, so I went back to sponge baths. As the distances were short at the bottom, I had planned to do most of my walks outside. During my first trip, I was able to make it as far as the stop sign closest two houses, but I was exhausted and had to rest before starting back. Fortunately, a neighbor has arrived just in time to keep my sister occupied. I was very pleased that the next day when I was able to walk as much as other other stop sign, at least four times further. After setting up for a few days, I walk up to three times a day, mostly by myself. My soon extended walks around the block, which would take 40 minutes, and I also made some long walks during the visit of stores with my sister. One of these walks is a killer, as we traveled the entire length of the mall and back, but I was tired than ever, even when you travel further. My speed on the walker increased in proportion to the distance I could travel. Between walks, I rest on the couch, and very often I fell asleep.
Whenever I was able to master a new skill, I called myself "Superman" or "bionic man", but finally I arrived with my own moniker: "hamper-Along," pronounced "plaque-a-long" or "long-plates. "
After ten days to my sister, I have done up the stairs by hanging on the railing and make it by sitting down and hit a step at a time. The floor, I could take a shower, and I could also check to see my strength on the ladder. He had reached 75 pounds at the time, and have continued to increase by five pounds, then ten pounds per day. At the 20th, I could reduce the scale of 120 pounds for one or two seconds, and I walked outside until one hour and 45 minutes per day. At the same time, I began to be able to lift my leg in bed instead of having to pick it up. I could not even lift my leg when lying on the floor. At that time, I made several stays of up and down stairs all day, pushing my walker in front of me and walk more bumping.
After briefly managed to bring down the extent of 140 pounds, I could not use use the scale to chart my progress. The problem is that I myself had to balance, and which has put all my weight on my leg impossible. After the abandonment of this method of measurement, I came with another: instead depress the scale briefly, I would like to see how much pressure I could continue indefinitely. The weight began 90 pounds and quickly and erratically rose to 135 pounds, after which I could not increase it because of my need to balance. At that time, I felt ready to abandon the walker. Indeed, I was doing three trips of 40 minutes or more each day, a few days to reach three hours a day. As I had swelling in my leg, I kept it propped whenever possible. I had a dream in which the doctor asked me what I was doing about the swelling, and I told him that I walked 13 hours a day!
I started to use two canes on March 25. For some time I have had experiences with the help of one, but a cane was not enough. Two canes worked well, the left provide strong support and help the right balance. Once I started to use them, I used the walker only once or twice more. Walking up and down stairs has become easy with canes, but walking around the block has been more difficult. I basically had to start all over again, making it as far as the stop sign closest and so forth. In the other week and a half, I've never been back a few places that I had reached on the walker, but I did build up to walking that included several blocks. Before leaving, I realized that I could walk a short distance without using any cane, but I flapped my arms as if I was about to take off. I told my sister that I did not know if the problem was the strength, balance, or fear. I hoped that I would be able to walk on a cane while switching back on the plane, but that did not quite true.
The return journey is easier than the trip. I had the skycaps to carry me at the airport, however, because the march would never have taken. My brother to me, and the next morning my mother gave me the car to drive. I found I had no problem driving, and I am back in Scottsboro, stopping to get food and my mail before stopping at my doctor's office.
However, disaster to be done. My X-ray considered good, but after seeing the swelling in my leg and foot, the doctor wanted me to have an ultra sound scan at the hospital. The discovery of mass digitization of blood clots, which put me on a wheelchair, wheeled to a bed, and connected to a bottle of blood thinner. The danger is that a blood clot to travel to my lungs, causing pain and permanent damage. Caillots blood are often fatal. In addition to being depressed to be back in the hospital (I cried for the first time when I said that I had blood clots), I became very sick and nausea, although blood tests never determined the cause. After four days, my blood was quite thin, and I was allowed to leave. J'étais tellement faible que je presque évanoui dans le magasin, alors j'ai vérifié moi-même dans un motel au lieu de retourner à la maison.
Le lendemain, j'ai pris plus de l'accueil de jour pour aller chercher, que je n'ai pas pu préparer à la maison, du fait d'avoir à utiliser deux cannes pour se déplacer. Sur le chemin, je me suis arrêté chez un ami de la ferme, où la marche est difficile. À la maison, j'ai trouvé mon chemin vers la cabine pour être trop difficile, et j'ai dû trouver un autre itinéraire. Il va de soi, je mis trop de pression sur mon épaule droite, et il mal très mal cette nuit-là. Le lendemain, j'ai dû quitter la cabine, passer la journée en ville, et de retour ce soir-là, que je ne pouvais pas encore préparer des repas ou obtenir de l'eau de mon printemps. La deuxième nuit, la douleur était terrible, et je me demandais si j'avais un caillot de sang dans mes poumons. J'ai été rassuré par le fait qu'il n'y avait pas de douleur aussi longtemps que je gisait à plat sur mon dos, la seule position sans douleur.
Le jeudi, lors de ma visite du médecin, je me sentais un peu mieux, et le vendredi, avril 12, je commençais à sentir de nouveau normal. Parfois, au cours de cette période, je ne me souviens plus quand, j'ai constaté que je pouvais obtenir autour d'une seule canne, l'utiliser sur mon côté droit, sauf lorsqu'ils se déplaçaient dans les bois. La balance est la seule raison pour l'utiliser, que j'ai trouvé parfaitement équilibre sur le pied droit, et sur le pied gauche et de la canne, mais pas sur le pied gauche seul.
Ma routine pour le reste de la avril était de se lever tôt et le dynamisme du centre-ville (où je pourrais obtenir des repas bon marché) et passer la journée entre la bibliothèque et le parc. J'ai trouvé seulement à pied près d'un demi-mille sans mon poignet et de la main trop mal, mais je voudrais faire le voyage jusqu'à cinq fois par jour. Chaque demi-mille voyage prend environ 20 minutes. Je tiens également à Wal-Mart visite le soir où je pouvais marcher en utilisant le panier d'épicerie. J'avais découvert cette méthode de la marche de retour à New Jersey sur le temps que j'ai commencé à utiliser deux cannes. Dans un premier temps, il a été trop difficile de faire long, mais maintenant, je pouvais marcher autant que je voulais avec la légère l'appui de la charrue. Pour la plupart, cependant, il s'agissait de décourager un mois, que j'ai pu voir aucun progrès de jour en jour. Les pluies fréquentes et le ciel sombre ne pas aider mon humeur, même si la pluie était très nécessaire pour la culture de choses.
En Mai, toutefois, j'ai pu voir beaucoup de changement. J'ai trouvé que je pouvais obtenir à l'intérieur sans l'aide d'une canne, et que j'avais besoin de seulement une canne dans les bois. Cela fait de nombreuses tâches possible ou plus facile, comme l'eau dans le printemps, l'exercice d'épicerie à la maison et la cuisine mon repas, je arrêter de manger tous mes repas centre-ville et a commencé à prendre soin de moi. Au magasin, je n'ai plus le cap sur le panier d'épicerie, mais plutôt un procédé panier. J'ai aussi découvert que je pouvais marcher beaucoup plus loin qu'auparavant, car je n'étais plus afin de mettre beaucoup de pression sur ma main droite. Le 5 Mai, je marchais six milles (5 ½ distinct voyages), et deux jours plus tard, je suis presque aussi loin, mais plus lente cette fois. J'étais incapable de marcher beaucoup le jeudi ou le vendredi, en raison de la météo, mais le vendredi, j'ai eu sur le vélo j'ai eu l'accident et à cheval sur six milles!
Parce que ce vélo est difficile à obtenir sur (j'ai eu à poser sur le sol, à cheval, et tirez-la en vertu de moi - tout le temps en danger de chute) et parce que j'étais un coureur très fragile , je besoin d'une autre nature de vélo, au moins temporairement, qui a été plus facile à obtenir sur. Sur Internet, j'ai reçu des recommandations pour obtenir un trike, un simple Racer, un BikeE, de vélos et vendredi. Tous ces vélos serait plus facile à obtenir sur, mais la plupart n'étaient pas facilement disponibles. J'ai été en mesure de tester une balade facile Racer EZ-1, et j'ai vite découvert que l'équitation, c'était comme apprendre à rouler une fois de plus, pas une tâche facile dans mon état. Par conséquent, j'ai acheté une femme de confort de vélo la semaine prochaine, sur Mai 15, trois mois après ma chute. En gardant le siège bas, j'ai pu rouler cette moto OK, mais j'ai été un peu de mouvement. J'ai vite roulé 12 milles en un jour. Quand j'ai parlé à mon médecin le 17 juillet, il a pensé que j'étais trop loin à pied, mais il a recommandé l'équitation, autant que je le voulais. Dans le mois qui a suivi, je tiens à rouler cette moto quatre ou cinq jours par semaine, en terrain assez plat, généralement de deux ou trois voyages de six milles, avec arrêt au magasin pour prendre un verre au milieu de chaque trajet. Après l'équitation dans un magasin, je pourrais sans entraver autour de ma canne. J'ai appelé ce pingouin à pied, comme tout mon corps se pivotant sur ma hanche droite chaque fois que mon pied était dans l'air, de toute évidence à aider mon équilibre jambe gauche.
Au début du mois de Juin, alors que j'étais déjà la marche et le vélo plus que la moyenne personne, j'étais toujours pas de retour à la normale. J'ai toujours besoin de la canne parce que ma jambe gauche, bien que maigre et musclé, n'ont toujours pas la force musculaire, la flexibilité, de mobilité et la motricité fine. Mon chef de bob côté à l'autre en marchant sans elle, et je voudrais rapidement pneu. Simple des actions tel que se pencher et ramasser un morceau de papier a pris des efforts et de renforcement sur le câble à travers mon entrée sans la canne à sucre est impossible. J'ai également besoin de perdre des graisses de mon ventre. Même si mon montant quotidien moyen de l'exercice a été d'environ 1 ½ heures par jour avant l'accident et a augmenté à 2 ou 3 heures après, j'avais gagné une dizaine de livres, pour la plupart au cours de la troisième et quatrième mois, car l'exercice est devenu moins difficile .
I have not mentioned one important aspect: the cost. Medical costs in the US are a very strange creature. One person has complete medical coverage, another has partial coverage, a third has Medicare, a fourth has Medicaid, and a fifth has no insurance at all, because the cost of individual health care is prohibitive. As a result, their ability to pay varies significantly. In addition, insurance companies often negotiate their fees, and the government pays greatly reduced amounts for Medicare and Medicaid patients. Thus, the amount of money that an individual and/or that the insuring agency pays varies greatly, and the amount that the hospital receives varies as a result. Of course, when the hospital gives a discount or writes off a fee because the person has no money, those costs must be passed on to others. Medical costs are also higher due to malpractice suits and insurance, and also because the users have no choice in their treatment. A person in my condition, having money on hand and no insurance, must accept whatever discount is offered, which varied in my case from 50% to nothing. Nearly 90% of my expense was the hospital bill, which was discounted little, due to my lack of experience with such settlements. My total bill was over $20,000.
Someone could make the argument that bicycling is not worth it due to the high cost for this kind of injury. However, very few cyclists have hip fractures; since my accident I have heard of seven. There's a lot of people in my community who have had hip fractures without ever getting on a bike, and many are having hip and knee replacements due to lack of exercise. Anyway, the money I have saved by riding a bike over the years would cover these costs easily. The average person spends $3700 a year on health care, which I haven't spent because of the good health furnished by cycling. My most expensive illness was due to an allergy problem in the mid-70's, which cost me considerably less than a thousand dollars over two years. One time I was visiting a doctor I hadn't seen in eight years, and she asked me who my regular doctor was. I told her, "You are." In addition, if I had never ridden a bike, I would have the risk of traveling in an automobile for an even greater number of miles plus the health risk from less exercise. Health problems created by lack of exercise can be much more expensive than a hip operation; a neighbor told me that his heart bypass cost $100000
I would like to express my gratitude to my sister, my brother and his wife, my close friend, and doctors and nurses who helped me through this crisis.
On March 15, 2002, while riding my bike in the early afternoon, I suffered the worst fall of my life. I think it would be honest and straight-forward for me to tell my fall and how I recovered from it.
Since I began communicating over the Internet in 1997, I met a lot of skepticism because I claimed a few drops of more than 100000 miles of biking. I had three falls during the years 1965 to 1968, and got another three falls during the years 1987 and 1988. With two of the fall, I have the skin of the palm of my hands, I with a strained a rib (lifting has been painful, but nothing else just me), and with the other three, I almost suffered no injury.
I also dropped a number of times the bike is not moving, that I never counted with others. The damage was minimal, except for my pride. I can not remember everything falls on my bicycle as a child, even if I had two wounds to the head before I had my bike which probably contributed to making me a child cautious. Throughout childhood, I was wounded twice more just that I remember: a broken arm in 1960 when nearly 15, and scratches wrist a year later.
I never thought it would be impossible for me to have another accident on my bike, but I feel I will not repeat any of my old mistakes, and that the fall would be unlikely. I considered my biggest risk losing control in an emergency, like a car running out of me the road.
The place and the conditions under which I had my fall most serious were not at all what I have or could have foreseen. Much the opposite: if someone has described my fall in advance, I would say that it could not happen, and the only evidence that they have my memory and the events and consequences that followed .
The bicycle is an ATV that I bought for $ 50. It was a strange mountain bike with a short wheelbase and dropped handlebars, and it was not as stable as the bicycle touring, I'm used to riding. Someone has mounted the brakes too far forward, on the curve drops. The left (before) aero-style brake does not work very well, probably due to coerce the cables under the handlebar tape. The motorcycle was also extremely wide tires (2.2 inches) with aggressive working capital. I bought the bike, because it seems to be a very good case and because I was curious about riding another type of bicycle. I did not intend to use the bike to ride around town, but the road that climbs My mountain had taken its pavement removed in preparation for resurfacing, and I had the axle on my bike touring. Before the day of the accident, I had the mountain bike ridden nearly 150 miles, including three times in the city. On the way to the city on the fourth trip, stops at the local grocery store, the bike fell over, and handlebars bent sideways. I recover, but I did not immediately tighten, considering them not too loose.
When my accident, I was riding a bicycle north to a right turn from my bank on a three-way. Along the roadside were the norm and curb gutter, the gutter with a little deeper than normal because of a purge that I had just adopted. I looked back to see if anyone was behind me in preparation for a right turn (no one, it was). When I looked straight ahead, I was already in the gutter. This shocked me because I must have drifted two feet or more to the right while looking back, without noticing the fact. Then I had a choice to stop immediately in the gutter or driving out of him, climbing on a pavement edge at an angle that seems to be far less than one inch. The judgement in the gutter does not seem too desirable for me, both because I would be in the wrong position on the road and because I have quite a scope far ahead to reach the brakes, including a term work. Although I knew that crossing a road edge at an angle would tend to launch me, the danger appears to be minor because it was a slight lip and because I had these big tires.
However, when I started to cross the road at lips, cycling me violently off at an angle of 90 degrees in the lane. My body landed on the roadway horizontal to the ground, with all my weight landing on the side of my left hip. In striking the ground, I immediately felt great pain, and I found myself almost paralyzed the left side. With great difficulty, I managed to crawl off the road and, at this stage, a paramedic arrived, began to support my legs, and called for an ambulance on his phone. Within minutes, I was put in the ambulance and transported to the hospital, receiving intravenous needle en route. My doctor has arrived almost immediately, I have been X-ray, revealing a hip fracture, and he planned to operate the same day, but had then switch to the next morning due to another operation. I told him to give me more details, as I am easily disturbed by such things, and he told me that my bone was broken in three places, and that he would use a pin and a plaque to link together . The pin and plaque would be stainless steel, which is never a need to remove them.
Later, I have gradually come to recognize that the injury was to my upper femur, just below where he climbed into the hip socket, and not the pool itself. My doctor told me what is called a hip fracture by tradition. Although the interruption of certain aspects is not a problem that a broken leg, the location makes it impossible to splint and a necessary operation. As I saw it on the X-ray taken more than a month later, a fairly large rod follows the bones of the hip at any one outlet plate slows down my leg, which is held in place by four screws in the bone. I am pleased that he did not tell me all this at the time, as it would have been upsetting for me.
As I lay, I wondered what had caused my accident. Several times, when I had injured myself in the past, everything seemed to act in slow motion, but in this case, everything happened so quickly that I had hardly been able to record everything , Much less analyze. My first theory is that the handlebars must had been too vague, so I turn into the gutter and causing me to be launched when I tried to climb. However, I found myself rejecting this notion in a day or two. There is no way that the handlebars could have turned without a lot of my immediate recognition of the fact. Indeed, months later when I rode the bike again, I did not tighten the handlebars or have problems with them as a result. No, the only explanation was the bike itself. The short wheelbase caused to react differently when I looked behind. When I look back, sometimes the bike I'm riding move left or right, and short wheelbase of this bike must have caused to go beyond what I expected. What about climbing lightly lips? I made a very quick decision based on the experience zero that the escalation lips at an angle on these big tires would be less dangerous than my usual, much smaller tires. However, the opposite has proved true, and large tires had just seemed to provide much more energy to get back.
Another important question is why did I have such a serious injury? There are three answers to this question. Firstly, I am 56. Although my doctor confirmed that my bones were strong, but one gets older the chances of a fracture more. However, a cyclist wrote and told me he had fractured hip to 22. Secondly, the way I landed on the ground threw all the weight of my body in my hip socket. Indeed, I did not have a bruise, nothing, or another sign of injuries elsewhere on my body. If my body had been turned to the left or right or if I landed on my feet or arms first, the hip injury would not have happened. Hip injury while cycling are fairly rare since my accident, I learned of five other cyclists with the same injury. Thirdly, despite the requirement of surgery and hospital stay, my hip fracture is a simple bone fracture, only the result of this situation is more serious than normal broken a leg or arm .
One of the nurses present when I was caught up in my room and said, "I'll never ride a bicycle." Well, this is certainly the latter reaction, I want people to have. I have never denied that there is an element of risk in cycling. Although I've never been concerned by a simple fall, I had to make emergency maneuvers to avoid being hit by automobiles on a number of occasions, so I realized that the threat of injury or death there. For me the blessings conferred upon my life while cycling - the vast experience, improving health, and economic independence - all outweigh the risks involved. Admittedly, my this accident, while creating a need for a few months of recovery and which cause heavy expenditure, is far from being sufficiently serious to me, I wish had remained dependent car. There has been some indirect recognition of the benefits of cycling by the hospital staff and my doctor while I was there, as they can not help but notice that my body was lean, strong and healthy.
I was not depressed by my injury. I have maintained a positive state of mind from the time paramedics arrived until I returned to Scottsboro seven weeks later. Although the accident was not desirable, I made my mind to focus on better rather than on the consequences of whatever ill-attended. It is true that when I watched some stupid television show that suddenly emotions that the tears were quickly and easily. All my emotions were stronger and closer to the surface.
Having lived in the area off and Scottsboro since 1978, I was aware that many people in the community have a poor opinion of their hospital. Having spent time with my parents while they were in more than a half-dozen hospitals in three cities, I can say that care at the hospital Scottsboro was good or better than care elsewhere. It is true that nobody came a few occasions when I buzzed for help (I buzzed only when necessary), and there were a couple of nurses who were obviously indifferent, but most nurses were willing to help and extremely cooperative, often in the course of their way to be helpful. I considered one of them to be my angel, because it solve so many problems for me.
What do you do when you're in bed almost unable to move? Well, I called friends and family on the phone to let them know what happened, and I used my laptop (I had carried with me in the ambulance rather than leaving them on cycling) during the night. I did not use my laptop to a large extent for writing 1) lying flat on his back is not the best position to write and 2) I was not exactly in my writing more productive mood . It was four days after my accident, I said that before the e-mails, and I did not my son sent by e-mail and newslists about what happened to me after I left the hospital, mainly because I needed to gather my courage. Although I usually do not watch television, I watched a good blow to the hospital. I was in a good mood to watch passively entertainment. It was also a regular flow of nurses check my pulse and blood pressure, taking blood samples, I breathe, food, removing the tray, get water, emptying my urinal, and moving around me. Every couple of hours, I would like to make what I could exercises while in bed, using a guide therapists had given me. As a result of all these activities, the days passed fairly quickly.
My most notable physical problem, which is true both before and after the merger was that the muscles in the left thigh injured were all in full mode cramps. The position of my leg can be adjusted very slowly without pain or problem, but any attempt to move at normal speed would cause me to cry. I was at home lying in bed flat on my back with my legs apart, but any change of position has created pain. At the beginning, I felt a little good pain all the time and took morpheme, but after a few days, my pain has fallen to a level unless my leg was moved too quickly, then it was off the scale. Since morpheme was not necessary for the first pain or useful to the second, I asked them to stop it. Towards the end of the week, I stopped collecting cramps in my leg that pain, and that shortly afterwards, leaving my leg cramps. Also, paradoxically, much of the pain during these days was felt in my lower leg and foot, who were not injured. My foot was more sensitive to touch or be moved from my thigh. As cramps have disappeared, as well as muscles. I am firmly thigh muscles melted, and a roll of fat appeared in the leg. I found I had to develop new muscles, and I had to learn to use them again, as if I had never before market.
The first three days involved only minor modifications. During the first day I had the opportunity to relax my leg in a folded position to a position and make myself comfortable. I was able to move my left foot very well. My operation was on the morning of the second day, and I asked to be placed during sleep, so my neighbor is the memory of my brother and his wife to come see me, but I was too sleepy to answer . My doctor said I spoke to him after my operation and I was in good spirits, but the memory evaporated without trace. I think I slept most of the third day. During this initial period, my leg was extremely sensitive and nurses made me scream when they came for me to go to sleep partly on my side.
I believe that it is on the fourth morning that the doctor asked for me to sit in a chair for most of the day. Fortunately, a nurse who came to help me to sit down was the most understanding, and I was able to lead them then I'm on the chaise with a minimum of pain. However, before an hour, I was so unfortunate that I tried to get on the pot by myself, and I was even more uncomfortable. Finally, the nurses came and helped me get back to bed, where I was finally comfortable. That night, I was relaxed enough to answer some questions by e-mail on the site for the first time.
The fifth morning, when I had to rise, a student and his instructor helped me. The student had a similar injury and was cautious. The instructor accidentally stepped on my foot. This should have been me cry a day or two earlier, but my sensibility is decreasing. That day, two therapists are in the afternoon and gave me some exercises I could do in bed. It also gave me some instructions about getting and out of bed, and I got out of bed with less pain than ever before.
The next morning, I was helped by an indifferent nurse, who felt that pain was good for me, and another which I would describe as unempathetic. I tried to go to pot again and they were not much help. At one point, they left my left leg unsupported when I shouted. Finally, I had a nurse to support the foot, in order to be able to relax and gradually lower himself to the ground. In the afternoon, despite my being exhausted by close of the morning, therapists are new. This time, with their suggestions, I realized that I could block my two legs at the same time whenever they had to be moved. Therefore, moving me was not a problem - after all locked my legs and instructed nurses to manage than the right leg. I also made my first step on this day. It was not much, I just lifted my foot just swing my leg forward on the walker, but I was crying with joy to walk a bit (I had been before moving, but making Slide the foot rather than by lifting).
On the seventh day I was moving more traumatic, as I kept my legs locked. I even learned to myself on the bed. With therapists, I could make three steps real (I moved further than that, but it remains to drag my foot).
I remember just the eighth day. In the morning, the doctor told me that I could probably leave the next day, so most of my attention was directed towards getting ready. I walked a little in the afternoon, but I could not make it as far as the door.
My last day to trauma in the morning, as I had become quite constipated and has not been able to use either the pot or bed pan (at this time, I was in able to get in and out of bed by myself). My doctor (a surgeon) had to give their permission to be able to give me something to soften the stool and allow me the last few relief. A good friend had made trips to my house to round things that I wanted to take with me, and he finished this task in the morning, and my brother and his wife arrived in the afternoon to take me to their homes . For me in the car was not as difficult as I thought, and travel by car did not bother. Leave the car at home, I am surprised by "walking" twenty feet inside, but I stayed at the bottom of the first night because I was afraid of stairs.
In the morning, I walked around some and then I was able to get up the stairs by meeting and the lifting of my background with my right foot while my brother slowly lifted my left foot at the same time. That night, while in the bed, I was able to lift my knee for the first time. As was similar to all my other relearning process, let me explain more about how it happened. Although I kept trying to lift the knee (he was one of my exercises I tried to do after a few hours), the muscles have refused to work. But this time, after I lifted his leg in his hand while trying the first time, he lifted without my assistance the second time, and from that moment, I could lift my knees whenever I wanted (lifting my leg, however, was the future weeks). In all cases, relearning seems to be to try to move while using my hand to make the motion. Once I could perform the function with the muscles of my leg alone, I've never forgotten the case, although I had to spend some time strengthening these muscles.
Initially, the plan was for me to spend a week with my brother and his wife, but they were keeping me almost two weeks before sending me on an airplane to see my sister, presumably to give my leg more time to heal before the trip. I will not continue to try to chart my progress from day to day as the outline of my day of activities has remained roughly the same.
In principle, each day, I would like to try to walk as much on the walker as possible. I could walk a long distance in the house of the room at the other end and back. Of course, at the beginning, I put almost no weight on my left foot but the support was myself with my hands and with the other foot. Feeling tired or feeling pain in my leg was a sign for me to do less; feeling strong and energetic signs of trying. Sitting on a chair to cause pain after a while, so I spent most of my time in bed. After I was there a few days, my brother's wife, a nurse, removed the staples in my leg. Initially, I was not able to get in the shower because I could not get my leg over the threshold, so I washed down the drain, but after I finally managed to get in the shower I would sometimes go in and soak my leg or foot when they are painful. I also learned how to put a sock on his left foot. If my brother, I could not increase or decrease my left leg by cradling except in the right leg (they share mattresses for me to be able to get in bed at all), and I still could not lift my left heel out of bed, with the exception of my hands. Shortly before my departure, my brother is interested in seeing if I could use a cane or a crutch instead of the walker, to enter the plane easier, but it was too difficult. I thought a crude way to measure the strength of my leg by pressing down on the scale with my left foot. During my first attempt, I could press 40 pounds for a few seconds before my departure, 45 pounds. Two days before my departure, I am too much and was in great pain, so I did very little walking the day before my trip.
My trip to my sister on March 7, has not been very difficult, as skycaps pushed me in a wheelchair to the aircraft and on an electric trolley to my people on the other side. There was a misunderstanding when I planned to walk on the plane, a task that is impossible for me.
At the beginning, my sister at home in New Jersey, I have not been able to get up the stairs. At the bottom were a bedroom, den, bathroom and small, without bath or shower, so I went back to sponge baths. As the distances were short at the bottom, I had planned to do most of my walks outside. During my first trip, I was able to make it as far as the stop sign closest two houses, but I was exhausted and had to rest before starting back. Fortunately, a neighbor has arrived just in time to keep my sister occupied. I was very pleased that the next day when I was able to walk as much as other other stop sign, at least four times further. After setting up for a few days, I walk up to three times a day, mostly by myself. My soon extended walks around the block, which would take 40 minutes, and I also made some long walks during the visit of stores with my sister. One of these walks is a killer, as we traveled the entire length of the mall and back, but I was tired than ever, even when you travel further. My speed on the walker increased in proportion to the distance I could travel. Between walks, I rest on the couch, and very often I fell asleep.
Whenever I was able to master a new skill, I called myself "Superman" or "bionic man", but finally I arrived with my own moniker: "hamper-Along," pronounced "plaque-a-long" or "long-plates. "
After ten days to my sister, I have done up the stairs by hanging on the railing and make it by sitting down and hit a step at a time. The floor, I could take a shower, and I could also check to see my strength on the ladder. He had reached 75 pounds at the time, and have continued to increase by five pounds, then ten pounds per day. At the 20th, I could reduce the scale of 120 pounds for one or two seconds, and I walked outside until one hour and 45 minutes per day. At the same time, I began to be able to lift my leg in bed instead of having to pick it up. I could not even lift my leg when lying on the floor. At that time, I made several stays of up and down stairs all day, pushing my walker in front of me and walk more bumping.
After briefly managed to bring down the extent of 140 pounds, I could not use use the scale to chart my progress. The problem is that I myself had to balance, and which has put all my weight on my leg impossible. After the abandonment of this method of measurement, I came with another: instead depress the scale briefly, I would like to see how much pressure I could continue indefinitely. The weight began 90 pounds and quickly and erratically rose to 135 pounds, after which I could not increase it because of my need to balance. At that time, I felt ready to abandon the walker. Indeed, I was doing three trips of 40 minutes or more each day, a few days to reach three hours a day. As I had swelling in my leg, I kept it propped whenever possible. I had a dream in which the doctor asked me what I was doing about the swelling, and I told him that I walked 13 hours a day!
I started to use two canes on March 25. For some time I have had experiences with the help of one, but a cane was not enough. Two canes worked well, the left provide strong support and help the right balance. Once I started to use them, I used the walker only once or twice more. Walking up and down stairs has become easy with canes, but walking around the block has been more difficult. I basically had to start all over again, making it as far as the stop sign closest and so forth. In the other week and a half, I've never been back a few places that I had reached on the walker, but I did build up to walking that included several blocks. Before leaving, I realized that I could walk a short distance without using any cane, but I flapped my arms as if I was about to take off. I told my sister that I did not know if the problem was the strength, balance, or fear. I hoped that I would be able to walk on a cane while switching back on the plane, but that did not quite true.
The return journey is easier than the trip. I had the skycaps to carry me at the airport, however, because the march would never have taken. My brother to me, and the next morning my mother gave me the car to drive. I found I had no problem driving, and I am back in Scottsboro, stopping to get food and my mail before stopping at my doctor's office.
However, disaster to be done. My X-ray considered good, but after seeing the swelling in my leg and foot, the doctor wanted me to have an ultra sound scan at the hospital. The discovery of mass digitization of blood clots, which put me on a wheelchair, wheeled to a bed, and connected to a bottle of blood thinner. The danger is that a blood clot to travel to my lungs, causing pain and permanent damage. Caillots blood are often fatal. In addition to being depressed to be back in the hospital (I cried for the first time when I said that I had blood clots), I became very sick and nausea, although blood tests never determined the cause. After four days, my blood was quite thin, and I was allowed to leave. J'étais tellement faible que je presque évanoui dans le magasin, alors j'ai vérifié moi-même dans un motel au lieu de retourner à la maison.
Le lendemain, j'ai pris plus de l'accueil de jour pour aller chercher, que je n'ai pas pu préparer à la maison, du fait d'avoir à utiliser deux cannes pour se déplacer. Sur le chemin, je me suis arrêté chez un ami de la ferme, où la marche est difficile. À la maison, j'ai trouvé mon chemin vers la cabine pour être trop difficile, et j'ai dû trouver un autre itinéraire. Il va de soi, je mis trop de pression sur mon épaule droite, et il mal très mal cette nuit-là. Le lendemain, j'ai dû quitter la cabine, passer la journée en ville, et de retour ce soir-là, que je ne pouvais pas encore préparer des repas ou obtenir de l'eau de mon printemps. La deuxième nuit, la douleur était terrible, et je me demandais si j'avais un caillot de sang dans mes poumons. J'ai été rassuré par le fait qu'il n'y avait pas de douleur aussi longtemps que je gisait à plat sur mon dos, la seule position sans douleur.
Le jeudi, lors de ma visite du médecin, je me sentais un peu mieux, et le vendredi, avril 12, je commençais à sentir de nouveau normal. Parfois, au cours de cette période, je ne me souviens plus quand, j'ai constaté que je pouvais obtenir autour d'une seule canne, l'utiliser sur mon côté droit, sauf lorsqu'ils se déplaçaient dans les bois. La balance est la seule raison pour l'utiliser, que j'ai trouvé parfaitement équilibre sur le pied droit, et sur le pied gauche et de la canne, mais pas sur le pied gauche seul.
Ma routine pour le reste de la avril était de se lever tôt et le dynamisme du centre-ville (où je pourrais obtenir des repas bon marché) et passer la journée entre la bibliothèque et le parc. J'ai trouvé seulement à pied près d'un demi-mille sans mon poignet et de la main trop mal, mais je voudrais faire le voyage jusqu'à cinq fois par jour. Chaque demi-mille voyage prend environ 20 minutes. Je tiens également à Wal-Mart visite le soir où je pouvais marcher en utilisant le panier d'épicerie. J'avais découvert cette méthode de la marche de retour à New Jersey sur le temps que j'ai commencé à utiliser deux cannes. Dans un premier temps, il a été trop difficile de faire long, mais maintenant, je pouvais marcher autant que je voulais avec la légère l'appui de la charrue. Pour la plupart, cependant, il s'agissait de décourager un mois, que j'ai pu voir aucun progrès de jour en jour. Les pluies fréquentes et le ciel sombre ne pas aider mon humeur, même si la pluie était très nécessaire pour la culture de choses.
En Mai, toutefois, j'ai pu voir beaucoup de changement. J'ai trouvé que je pouvais obtenir à l'intérieur sans l'aide d'une canne, et que j'avais besoin de seulement une canne dans les bois. Cela fait de nombreuses tâches possible ou plus facile, comme l'eau dans le printemps, l'exercice d'épicerie à la maison et la cuisine mon repas, je arrêter de manger tous mes repas centre-ville et a commencé à prendre soin de moi. Au magasin, je n'ai plus le cap sur le panier d'épicerie, mais plutôt un procédé panier. J'ai aussi découvert que je pouvais marcher beaucoup plus loin qu'auparavant, car je n'étais plus afin de mettre beaucoup de pression sur ma main droite. Le 5 Mai, je marchais six milles (5 ½ distinct voyages), et deux jours plus tard, je suis presque aussi loin, mais plus lente cette fois. J'étais incapable de marcher beaucoup le jeudi ou le vendredi, en raison de la météo, mais le vendredi, j'ai eu sur le vélo j'ai eu l'accident et à cheval sur six milles!
Parce que ce vélo est difficile à obtenir sur (j'ai eu à poser sur le sol, à cheval, et tirez-la en vertu de moi - tout le temps en danger de chute) et parce que j'étais un coureur très fragile , je besoin d'une autre nature de vélo, au moins temporairement, qui a été plus facile à obtenir sur. Sur Internet, j'ai reçu des recommandations pour obtenir un trike, un simple Racer, un BikeE, de vélos et vendredi. Tous ces vélos serait plus facile à obtenir sur, mais la plupart n'étaient pas facilement disponibles. J'ai été en mesure de tester une balade facile Racer EZ-1, et j'ai vite découvert que l'équitation, c'était comme apprendre à rouler une fois de plus, pas une tâche facile dans mon état. Par conséquent, j'ai acheté une femme de confort de vélo la semaine prochaine, sur Mai 15, trois mois après ma chute. En gardant le siège bas, j'ai pu rouler cette moto OK, mais j'ai été un peu de mouvement. J'ai vite roulé 12 milles en un jour. Quand j'ai parlé à mon médecin le 17 juillet, il a pensé que j'étais trop loin à pied, mais il a recommandé l'équitation, autant que je le voulais. Dans le mois qui a suivi, je tiens à rouler cette moto quatre ou cinq jours par semaine, en terrain assez plat, généralement de deux ou trois voyages de six milles, avec arrêt au magasin pour prendre un verre au milieu de chaque trajet. Après l'équitation dans un magasin, je pourrais sans entraver autour de ma canne. J'ai appelé ce pingouin à pied, comme tout mon corps se pivotant sur ma hanche droite chaque fois que mon pied était dans l'air, de toute évidence à aider mon équilibre jambe gauche.
Au début du mois de Juin, alors que j'étais déjà la marche et le vélo plus que la moyenne personne, j'étais toujours pas de retour à la normale. J'ai toujours besoin de la canne parce que ma jambe gauche, bien que maigre et musclé, n'ont toujours pas la force musculaire, la flexibilité, de mobilité et la motricité fine. Mon chef de bob côté à l'autre en marchant sans elle, et je voudrais rapidement pneu. Simple des actions tel que se pencher et ramasser un morceau de papier a pris des efforts et de renforcement sur le câble à travers mon entrée sans la canne à sucre est impossible. J'ai également besoin de perdre des graisses de mon ventre. Même si mon montant quotidien moyen de l'exercice a été d'environ 1 ½ heures par jour avant l'accident et a augmenté à 2 ou 3 heures après, j'avais gagné une dizaine de livres, pour la plupart au cours de la troisième et quatrième mois, car l'exercice est devenu moins difficile .
I have not mentioned one important aspect: the cost. Medical costs in the US are a very strange creature. One person has complete medical coverage, another has partial coverage, a third has Medicare, a fourth has Medicaid, and a fifth has no insurance at all, because the cost of individual health care is prohibitive. As a result, their ability to pay varies significantly. In addition, insurance companies often negotiate their fees, and the government pays greatly reduced amounts for Medicare and Medicaid patients. Thus, the amount of money that an individual and/or that the insuring agency pays varies greatly, and the amount that the hospital receives varies as a result. Of course, when the hospital gives a discount or writes off a fee because the person has no money, those costs must be passed on to others. Medical costs are also higher due to malpractice suits and insurance, and also because the users have no choice in their treatment. A person in my condition, having money on hand and no insurance, must accept whatever discount is offered, which varied in my case from 50% to nothing. Nearly 90% of my expense was the hospital bill, which was discounted little, due to my lack of experience with such settlements. My total bill was over $20,000.
Someone could make the argument that bicycling is not worth it due to the high cost for this kind of injury. However, very few cyclists have hip fractures; since my accident I have heard of seven. There's a lot of people in my community who have had hip fractures without ever getting on a bike, and many are having hip and knee replacements due to lack of exercise. Anyway, the money I have saved by riding a bike over the years would cover these costs easily. The average person spends $3700 a year on health care, which I haven't spent because of the good health furnished by cycling. My most expensive illness was due to an allergy problem in the mid-70's, which cost me considerably less than a thousand dollars over two years. One time I was visiting a doctor I hadn't seen in eight years, and she asked me who my regular doctor was. I told her, "You are." In addition, if I had never ridden a bike, I would have the risk of traveling in an automobile for an even greater number of miles plus the health risk from less exercise. Health problems created by lack of exercise can be much more expensive than a hip operation; a neighbor told me that his heart bypass cost $100000
