The broken bones are quite enough, I'm sure. Intestinal problems are just piling on.
Keep yer pecker up. It will all seem like a bad memory someday...
The broken bones are quite enough, I'm sure. Intestinal problems are just piling on.
Keep yer pecker up. It will all seem like a bad memory someday...
Good vibes inbound. From my house.
Man that makes you think about things a little. Your wrist looks like something from Nightmare before Christmas. Glad you're recovering and hope the rest goes well.
Damn.... Hang in there man! Hopefully things will get better for you real soon!
I'm always nervous driving a race car on the street. I see them as an all or nothing proposition and it seems like the equipment that keeps you safe when you're in a fire suit and helmet and neck restraint become a hazard when you're not wearing those things. Do you think that having a HANS and helmet would have helped your injuries?
And my thoughts are with you in your recovery; sorry to hear about the continued intestinal issues. Ugh.
Best wishes for sure. Hope to see you at the Challenge.
Thanks for the positive thoughts guys. Stuff like this gives you tons of perspective and reason to think about your path, goals, long term outlook, etc. I could start a whole thread on that. I am not a quitter and have absolutely 0 interest in being on disability but conversely wonder what company would hire someone who has the issues that I have. I don't consider myself disabled, never have, but there are things I physically can't (or shouldn't) do.
When I broke my neck when I was 16 it was my fault. I chose to dive into a creek. I had to own that decision and live with it. I had youth on my side and although I was paralyzed totally for about 3 months I got VERY lucky and got most of everything back. No triceps, no pect majors and I walk funny, deal with it. I still raced catamarans, rode motorcycles, wrenched on and raced cars and mowed my own lawn, dammit.
This situation has been entirely different. A distracted driver ran a light at an intersection 200 yards from my house that I drive through every day. I've thought about doing an accident analysis thread to show just how screwed up the situation was. I was second car through turn, the sight lines to the lane she came from is obscured enough by the road design (turn lanes, slight rise, etc.) that you can only see a car in that lane briefly before the stop line and if they're doing 50mph, good luck. If you are following a car through the turn you have to shift your eyes through the turn to see if a car is not stopping in that lane and that is NOT something I normally do. didn't think I had to. I do it now. Every time.
The short of any analysis would be that this was an accident. I can blame her, I can blame traffic engineers for constantly switching up the light patterns which screws people habits. I can blame myself for some of my injuries for driving a modified car on the street with airbags removed, etc. E36 M3 happens. It saddens me that the other driver, knowing that she was in the wrong, never reached out to ask how I was doing or to apologize. I'm frustrated that the off duty officer who witnessed the accident 2 cars behind me couldn't make it to her court appearance so her ticket was thrown out for no witness by her lawyer. I'm frustrated that the ticketing officer didn't get other witnesses to attend her court date to give their reports. I'm frustrated that although FL law has a no texting and driving (no clue if this is what she was doing) statute it is only investigated if there is a fatality in the crash. I can't believe she didn't even have to go to court and could have her lawyer show up and get her out of a a $186 ticket. And now I get to deal with a collection firm who, by law and contracted by my health care provider, can come after the bodily injury money paid out by her policy. It seemingly never ends. All I want to do is be able to eat spinach again and wrench on my cars and have a beer now and then.
In reply to dculberson:
I have thought about this a great deal. If I had been in a full suit (I was wearing workout shorts and a t-shirt as I was on my way home from the gym) with a HANS device, helmet and my full harness on I do think I would have survived with fewer issues. I was only wearing my lap belt (of a 6 point harness) and not at "race" tightness. I only had to drive 2 miles from the gym and I actually had thought about what would happen in a crash if I was wearing shoulder harnesses without neck protection. As this was pretty much a head on I truly believe I would have broken my neck if I had been fully strapped in as the only thing that would have absorbed the impact would have been my neck with 25lb bowling ball on top. As it was my abdomen and back took the brunt of the impact with a little help from my wrist. I need to post some more pictures of the car so you can see how it was built. Good cage (passed Chump/Tech with high marks), FIA seat bolted to floor with runners (for adjustment) and good adjustable back brace, removable steering wheel, etc. Some of the lacerations on my knee and calves and my broken left knee (x2) and right foot (x2) may have been avoided with under dash airbags but otherwise not. The wrist break is classic steering wheel injury and the abdominal damage and back breaks (L 1-4 transverse process shear off and L5 burst fracture) areclas sic older school lap belt injuries. I even have two permanent scars below both hips from my 3" wide lap belt.
Even though the car had a cage I'm not sure if it did anything as this was basically a head on (right front headlamp impact point). The crash/crumple zones on the Celica did exactly what they were supposed to do and although I never got to see the car again 
it looks to me from the pictures that the engine went down, probably by design. The car only had windshield glass so there was nothing else to shatter. In another post I'll relate the emergency crews response to the car. Some good stuff there.
Some pre-accident photos of the car. I took all these with plans for an update build thread. Cest La Vie.
Rolling into shop to get a new heart.
Something is missing
"New" motor from an MR2
Swapping parts, harness, etc. from old motor
Ready to go in
Well, hung.
First outing.
Perfect place for a coffee cup for the morning commute.
About 5 weeks ago I had a CT scan of my small intestine which showed a section with wall thickening and constriction. There was a great deal of distention ahead of this constricted area so my gastroenterologist suggested I have a surgeon do a laparoscopic procedure to check it out. I had this done Friday at 9 AM and fully expected to wake up with a re-sectioned intestine. Mmm, not so much.
Surgeon said my intestine is all pink and beautiful with seemingly no issues. While he was in my gut he decided to take out my appendix, you know, just because. Kinda like ab un-exploded dirty bomb in your basement. Might as well remove it before it potentially reeks havoc.
So here I sit recovering with a supposedly good intestinal track but no explanation for why the CT film showed an issues and why I often feel like crap after eating. My gastro guy is out for the week so I can't wait to follow up with him when he gets back. Hopefully we can figure this out.
Many flying berks. Good luck
Holy crap. 
To still be in the hospital 8 months after the crash. Berk. Hopefully the woman's insurance isn't causing problems.
jOHN WHAT you doing with that Yamaha 40 
Trade you something sweet ?
In reply to Ian F: Not still in hospital. Been out since middle of November. Just dealing with lingering issues, aka small intestine damage (if you want to read more on lower back and intestinal trauma caused by seat belt use) and possible meniscus damage in my left knee which may require surgery. I'm working full time and drinking lots of ensure to try and keep weight on and energy up. Not being able to digest anything remotely fibrous (think Crohns/Colitis symptoms) is a serious PITA!
In reply to Karl La Follette:
Not mine. Sorry.
Either way ask Owner see whats shaking with motor rebuilding pontoon boats for Manatee touring
In reply to Karl La Follette:
Punctuation Karl. It really is an amazing thing. You should try it. 
Manatee tours sound fun!
Crazy story. You have (had?) my phone number and I'm right down the street if you want to get together or if you need something!
In reply to Enyar:
I do. The last few weeks have been pretty bad with the gut stuff, surgery, etc. I'm starting to get more protein in me so I feel better and more active. Monday I have an MRI for my knee followed by another abdominal CT (I will be glowing with excitement). Then Tuesday I meet with another surgeon to see if he'll do the ileum re-section based on new data. If not I'll be heading to the Mayo clinic. It's just a really weird issue that most Dr's have never seen, don't understand and don't want to touch. Plus there are only 3 hospitals that carry a scope long enough to actually put "eyes" on the issue non-surgically. Otherwise they are just relying on film.
I now know far more about my abdomen than I ever cared to.
In reply to hobiercr:
Having dealt with Crohns for years, I feel for you. I have been really unimpressed by the gastros I have seen. They have no idea what to do for Crohns, much less something they have no idea what's causing it.
In reply to spitfirebill:
I wouldn't know what to do if I had Crohns. The way this makes me feel, being bloated in my abdomen, food obviously moving slowly through my gut, having to be extremely careful about fiber content, etc. is just taxing. I hand it to anyone living daily with Crohns. You are some tough MFrs.
hobiercr wrote: Plus there are only 3 hospitals that carry a scope long enough to actually put "eyes" on the issue non-surgically.
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