Recovering from an accident is deeply lonely. In small moments, like being alone when I eat meals on days when I don't feel like getting wheeled out to be with the family. In those times, I'm eating by myself at the table by my hospital bed. In medium moments, like how loved ones still have to work so most of most days, it's just me sitting here, watching TV or scrolling my phone. So for months now, it's mostly me hanging out silently with....me. And in big ways, like how my accident … [Read more...] about The lonely deep
Gotta get a bike and gotta paint it red
Today I'm so pissed. On a normal morning of a day like today, I would have just gotten back from my bike ride. Now I'm not sure I'll ever be able to bike again, nevermind if I will want to. Biking was such an important daily habit for me, a coping mechanism during the pandemic. And by now, I'd have biked at least 650 miles this year. Instead I'm sitting here in a hospital bed, my only experience with the outdoors when someone opens the back door for me to get fresh air. My view static - … [Read more...] about Gotta get a bike and gotta paint it red
My google history
My web searches tell a tale lately. HelloFresh sign up - because I can't go to a store or cook Housekeepers near me - because I can't clean Bicycle accident support group Contractors - do I need to get doorways widened for a wheelchair since mine can't fit in 3 of the bedrooms, the laundry room, or either bathroom Hobbies for bedridden Free online word search - because I'm not working but everyone else is so I'm bored AF Amazon - because I'm in the "shop because I'm bored" … [Read more...] about My google history
So this is how it feels to be newly in a wheelchair
Today is my oldest's 10th birthday. I'm lucky to be around for it this year. For that, I'm grateful to all the surgeons, EMTs, nurses, & medical professionals who fixed me. It's also important that we recognize the sacrifices my kids had to make on account of my accident. We didn't get Easter or Mother's Day together, nor My Better Half's birthday due to COVID visitor restrictions. They had 10 straight weeks of only seeing me through FaceTime. I missed their first day of in-person … [Read more...] about So this is how it feels to be newly in a wheelchair
Repeated bicycle trauma
A couple weeks after I'd been in the hospital, a nurse said "Oh I heard about you on the news." Wait, what? Really? So I was dumb enough to look it up. The day before my accident, a woman was killed in a bicycle accident. Same age. Same city. She was also a mom. Then there was a really awful bike accident in Flagstaff just a few weeks later. People out to promote bike safety were hit by a tow truck. And today several people texted me this story of a deliberate attack on cyclists at a … [Read more...] about Repeated bicycle trauma