Where to begin “my story”…
Well that is an interesting one.
On Sept. 26, 2013 I apparently went to work first and was
on my way to the shipyard on my motorcycle.
Let me first put out this disclaimer:
I DO NOT REMEMBER ANYTHING FROM THAT DAY, REALLY UNTIL ABOUT THE
SUPERBOWL OF 2013. The only reason I
remember that is because it was the first “major event” for me, but I
digress. From that point in time for a while I
was completely unconscious. I didn’t
know there were different levels of consciousness at that point, but apparently
you can have your eyes open and be talking to someone and still be unconscious.
It seems like many of you would ask a lot of questions at this
point, but I never did. All I knew is
that I was in a hospital and had a wheelchair.
I never asked really where or why I was there, I just accepted the fact
that I was there. It wouldn’t have made
sense to me why I was there anyways, but I later found out that I was indeed
hit by a car. Turns out my right knee
was broken along with 8 ribs, and a various amount of other damage that was and
could be done to the human body.
Basically, if it was a bad thing that could happen, it did. I
found out later that I was in the ICU for 6 weeks at home (here in Norfolk, VA)
before I was transferred to Atlanta.
Luckily thanks to my beautiful wife Danielle, she fought for me to go to
The Shepard Center in Atlanta.
It is interesting because you never know where they get this
data from, but this is supposed to be one of the best brain rehabilitation
clinics in the world. So the first thing I remember was waking up in the morning, sliding to the edge of my bed, and
sliding my butt on to my wheelchair.
From there I wheeled myself out the door and down the hall to a big dry
erase marker board where I could see what classes I had that day, and what I was
scheduled to do. Right down the hall
from that was the cafeteria. This is
where I went to have breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Typically during the day I would go to my
classes and meet my therapists, and then I’d go to lunch and eventually take a nap. Sometimes this “nap” would last all evening
so really I was going to sleep for the night.
Then I would repeat the next day.
During the initial evaluation of me they put a fixator in
my right leg so I wouldn’t bend it, and combined with a few screws they let it heal naturally. I had that fixator in for about 6 weeks.
As far as I know they did nothing to repair the broken ribs,
they just let those heal naturally. That
said, I have never heard of casting or fixing a broken rib. Most people typically just let them heal naturally. I believe as a result of all that my left
shoulder was broken or popped out of socket and never was "fixed" over time. They had too many things to worry about that were more important, and as a result there is a bump on my left
shoulder that was never there before.
During all this I had a pulmonary embolism. Apparently during all that time frame, one of
my lungs had a major blood clot. In
addition to the millions of pain killers I had at my disposal, they also put me
on Coumadin. It was basically a blood
thinner used to help prevent a clot from ever happening again.
All the things you assume are “normal” activities, I
basically had to relearn to do. I had to
relearn how to walk, tie my shoes, and brush my teeth. It was around this point that I sort of “came
to” and realized who I was and where I was.
I never could understand why my right leg didn’t bend a certain way or
a certain amount, but then again I was unconscious for most of it. I don’t remember much of anything, but I do
think that was a good thing. I am
curious as to how I reacted or how the woman hit me with her car. That said, I’m pretty glad I don’t remember
any of it. It was kind of like going to
sleep, and waking up in a different state, different place, and surrounded by
different people. I didn’t really believe
I had a traumatic brain injury at first, because as serious as it is you can’t see a
brain injury. I just thought it was
weird that everyone around me admittedly had one and knew it, but “I didn’t have one.”
I have no clue honestly what this sort of thing would’ve
cost me financially. My wife was prepared to sell
the house and I could have lived with my parents for the rest of my life. I didn’t know what had happened to me, actually happened. I always assumed worst case scenario while
riding a motorcycle was I broke a leg or a few bones. I was in the hospital for about 6 months, and
then graduated to Pathways. Pathways was
an extension of the hospital where people with brain injuries can go to get reacquainted
with how to live life. The place I stayed in at Pathways is near the hospital in Atlanta. My room was on the second floor and there was an elevator to take
you up to and down. I started walking
again on my own towards the end of my stay at the hospital, and it was at
Pathways that I was approved to walk on my own.
At that point, I no longer needed a walker or the wheelchair.
It was there that the therapies continued, and when I
finally got home I continued speech therapy, occupational therapy, and of
course physical therapy. Long story
short on Sept. 11th, 2014 I finally had surgery on my right
knee. It was an all-day surgery and the
doctor luckily is an amazing one who repaired my ACL, MCL, and PCL along with
cartilage and skin grafts. There was
basically no ligaments or cartilage in my right knee after the accident. Initially the doctors weren’t sure if I’d
ever even walk again, so they just sewed the skin up and were like “see us when
you are better and we’ll deal with it”.
Because of the brain injury, I initially had to relearn how
to do very simple and basic things like brushing my teeth or putting my shoes
on. Luckily all of that was a brief
period of time and doesn’t still apply.
I am starting physical therapy again since I am now post-surgery, and we
found a really good speech therapist around here who is also really good. I don’t have too many issues since or because
of the incident except my short term memory is pretty bad. Hopefully a few more
weeks with this speech therapist and I’ll be done with that and all my other
therapies. I will have physical therapy
for at least a year as they work on my right leg post-surgery, but considering
I’ve already “graduated” from occupational therapy and speech therapy
(different person/location) I am doing well.
After hearing the stories about me from that time, I am more
convinced than ever that God is the only reason I am alive and doing so
well. Nothing against modern medicine or
scientific advancements as I wouldn’t be here and alive without them. The amazing thing about it is how I’ve been
able to see God work through it all and as a result, I am now closer to God
than I ever have been. As a result of all
these things, I am doing well and in many ways I am better than I ever have
been. There have been people in my
church praying for me as well a ton of people in my parent’s church. (My dad is
an administrative pastor at a church in Chapin, SC outside of Columbia).
Thank you all for your time and patience. I will try to get back to this blog as much as I can.
