Ongoing Recovery

• by COBradyBunch
• 2011-05-18 12:05:11
• Exercise & Sports
• 1582 views
• 5 comments

As many of you here know when I got my pacer just about 2 years ago I set a goal for completing a bicycle ride here in Colorado called the Triple Bypass (appropriate don’t you think?). I had done it in the past but it had been 5 years since I had last completed it and I hadn’t been riding nearly as much as I should of due to changes in my job and such. It is a tough ride, some say one of the toughest done by recreational riders in the country (http://www.teamevergreen.org/triple). 120 miles, 3 mountain passes and over 10,000 feet of climbing in one day, and most of it done above 8,000 feet in elevation where the air is shall we say, a little thinner. 10 days before I was supposed to do it last year, and I was in great shape and ready for it, I took a short, unscheduled flight courtesy of SUV Airways.

The accident left me with a broken leg, messed up knee, broken/cracked ribs, messed up shoulders and bruises that looked like something you would have seen in a psychedelic movie in the late 60s. My pacer survived the accident in good working order so my goal was once again set, to get not just my heart, but the rest of me back into shape to do the Triple THIS YEAR. I started riding again on the trainer 4 weeks after the accident and ventured outside 6 weeks later. Road until October when my doc told me my leg was not healing and he wanted me to take a few weeks off all activity to see if the bone would finally mend. Alas it did not and had surgery implanting a plate, 5 screws and a pin in my left leg (yes I am lots of fun for airport security now). That was December and right after the surgery I was suffering numbness in my left foot, couldn’t lift my left big toe and had pain and weakness down the outside of the leg from mid calf to the top of my foot. Turns out I have what is called a Peroneal Nerve Entrapment Syndrome, likely from the surgery because it was not there before the surgery. Also my knee was still hurting and they had decided not to deal with that until after the bone had a chance to heal to make sure it wasn’t being caused simply by walking weird due to the bad bone. It looked like my dream was once again slipping away as both the neuro docs and the ortho doc who plated my leg started talking about surgery.

Yesterday saw my new ortho who specializes in athletes and more complex issues than just the trauma guy who fixed the bone and well it goes like this:

Bad News: They have to open up my leg again for sure or else the nerve damage will never get better and I will likely have to end up in an ankle brace for day to day activity. Also the knee probably has torn cartilage from the accident that needs to be surgically repaired. Rehab for an indeterminate amount of time depending upon how much work has to be done. I probably lose the rest of the summer for riding, hiking or doing a lot of outdoor activities after surgery.

Good News: They are going to do the knee and nerve at the same time which means one surgery instead of two, one recovery instead of two. The doc hopes to get most of the strength back so I will be able to hike, bike and hopefully run again without the pain I was experiencing and without feeling like I am going to turn my ankle all the time. BUT THE BEST NEWS I can do the Triple Bypass, doctor said there is no reason to rush and he will do the surgery mid July, a week or two weeks after my ride.

Now some of my other friends read this and say... BUMMER. But I know a lot of the folks here, who have struggled through so many things will understand how BIG this is for me. To be able to reach that goal, to be able to say I can do something like this ride after having the pacer put in at the ripe young age of 50 (IMHO) is something that will help me recover from both of the traumas I had suffered in the past two years.

So for some of you out there, especially our newer members, who are struggling with getting a pacer, wondering how much it will change your life and wondering if you will ever be your old self I remind you that YES YOU CAN. Yes you will likely always be a person with a pacemaker but you also don’t have to let it rule your life.

I have 7 more weeks to continue with my training and get ready for the Triple. I will be sure to post the picture they take of me going over Loveland Pass on the site when I get it.

And you know what everyone here... THANKS for the last two years... You have made it a lot easier...