Thursday, July 31, 2008

I Have to Try



It’s now four weeks and a day since I had my accident. At exactly six weeks I’m going to try again. I have to. I know it won’t work next summer and therefore may never work again. Prior to last week, I thought the ride was over, never to be completed. Then last Wednesday morning I woke up feeling quite good. It occurred to me there is a window of opportunity to complete the ride yet this summer and early fall. I woke Mary up and told her my desire, hoping that she was still willing. Other than being overwhelmed with my sudden idea and informing her first thing in the morning, she was and is fully willing to try again. She wanted to know that my physician would approve, and I wanted my boss, Scott’s full support. Yesterday my physician gave his approval. Last week Scott new what I was thinking and was supportive, but he didn’t know I had medical approval. So even though he’s on vacation this week, yesterday I called him. I had to know what he thought. He’s fully supportive! Thanks Scott!

Physically, my bones will be barely healed. I’ll probably have some and maybe quite a bit of pain. Fortunately, my physician decided that I won’t be on a blood thinner this time. Because I’ll be exercising so much, I can manage my blood clotting disorder with just an aspirin. This means I’ll be able to take ibuprofen for pain management. According to my physician, if I can tolerate the pain at the beginning of the ride, it should lesson significantly over the first few weeks. This also means I’ll have to start with some shorter days. I’ll try a few small rides over the next two weeks and I’ll spend some time on my resistance trainer, but I can’t train very hard as my bones are still healing and I don’t want to over stress them.

In spite of the accident, other than scraping and breaking the plastic covers of my shift levers, tearing the handle bar tape and my saddle, my bike’s in great shape. Marty my bike mechanic can’t believe there wasn’t more damage to it. I picked it up yesterday and went for a four block ride. I was worried the riding position would cause a stabbing pain in one of my broken bones. Thankfully it felt very comfortable. I think this just might work!
Last Saturday we were visiting our friends Larry and Linda. Larry’s also a physician. He knew my desire and that I was waiting for final approval from my personal physician. He was very concerned, worrying that I’m not waiting long enough and that I won’t have healed enough. After greeting us at the door, while still in the foyer, the first thing he did was examine my clavicle, pressing on it, gauging how much pain I could tolerate. It really didn’t hurt and he did stop after he made it shift. Because he cares and is concerned he tried to talk me into waiting 8 weeks instead of 6. As I told Larry, I would like to, but that means I would still on the rode in mid October and by then the days are getting shorter. Yesterday he called just to tell me he changed his opinion and he too thinks I should try it according to my plan. Thanks Larry!


When I was riding previously, I would often think
“Blessed Be the Name of the Lord.” At the time it was “when the sun’s shining down on me and world’s all as it should be.” Now I’m signing “Blessed be Your name, on the road marked with suffering, when there’s pain in the offering, blessed be your name."

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