Quote
ArizonaRamFan
First off, I take back all of the vicious things I said about each of you in private. (A joke! There will be plenty more) You gentlemen (and dear ladies) are class acts. Your prayers and good thoughts were answered, and my recovery has seemed to accelerate faster than even my doctors, therapists and my wife can believe.
But first the stuff that Sag was too polite to post.
I had 2 serious injuries: an occipital condyle fracture, which fortunately was just hairline but held me in a neck brace for over 5 weeks. Very very dangerous when it's a clean break: it has ended many lives when not properly stabilized. The other injury was also dangerous, if perhaps not as deadly, and has had a huge impact on my life: it's called Diffuse Axonal Injury, or DAI, a "severe" one. I also suffered from multiple beatings on my legs and shoulders, which are healing steadily. I got wiped out hard by a car that was moving perhaps 40 miles per hour. Could have been worse. MUCH worse.
So, to be blunt, my brain was an absolute mess! Even more than certain users on the Herd thought it was! I still have absolutely no memory until day 9 after the accident, because my memory encoding wasn't functioning properly (or at all). However, the first memory I had is when Saguaro put his hand on my shoulder and said "It is good to have you back, Mike". An excellent memory to have! I did give correct dates but also often incorrect dates, such as 1959 and 1964. I did not know where I lived, and gave a location from 15 years ago. I failed to remember one of my children existed on 1 or more occasions, and was suspicious and delusionally paranoid toward the excellent staff who cared for me. I watched "How to Train Your Dragon" with the boys, and apparently thought I was in a "Dragon Hospital". Still though, as even brain injuries do, I steadily healed.
I don't remember much from the first several of those "lucid days", but everything changed 4-5 days later when I made the conscious decision to quit fighting everybody. I asked what it would take to go home, and my nurse bluntly said "You are SO impulsive". She meant that every time I felt like doing something, I did it. Ripping off my neck brace (SO dangerous!), lurching out of bed and into the hallway (instead of being helped to my wheelchair), and so on and so on. My wife was a wreck just keeping me safe! At that moment, I spoke to my wife and promised I was done fighting, and that she and my nurses were NOT brain damaged, and I WAS brain damaged, so they were right and I was wrong. (Don't think I'll make any of you the same promise, LOL!)
My testing and therapy improved, my attitude improved, and just 6 days later I was released from the rehab hospital on May 5th and I went home. It was like seeing the world through new eyes. It still is. I can't describe a brain injury, except that most things are gloriously new for me. I can't wait to see the Rams play again! I've continued to heal up, and instead of being forgetful as at the start, I've gotten more sharp and thoughtful each day. AND NOW. TODAY. TODAY, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, CELEBRATE WITH ME. I met with the neurosurgeon for the first time.
This neurosurgeon was one of the rare sources of early unbridled optimism in my wife's life. He was certain I'd recover, from the first results and neurostorming after the accident--and I have. And I got to meet him. I asked about some things, like my meds: you bet I want to be off of them soon, and so we're entering a "weaning process". And the neck brace: GONE! Condyle fracture is entirely healed and "looks like I never broke it". No hemorrhages or continued problems in my brain: it looks normal now! YES! What about running? YES! As soon as I've completed physical therapy. I can run a half marathon in October! How about driving? NO REASON WHY NOT! Right after I get off my prescriptions.
I'm still in awe. I'm amazed. I was in horrible shape in recent memory and my OWN memory even! Writing a missive like this would have been impossible just 2 weeks ago! And then I get this checkup that shows everything is happening right on schedule, or ahead of schedule. Being inside my brain is still weird, I'm still frustrated with some cognitive tasks, but I've largely recovered, especially considering how far I've come. Today is a good day, waking up from a terrible, terrible dream.
Above all else, I'm thankful. To my family, to my nurses and doctors, to my beloved herders and others who spared thoughts for a guy they didn't even know... and most of all, to God.
