A Tale of Two Crashes

Just over two months ago, on the first Friday of June, Wisconsin was in the middle of a most un-June-like heat wave. I had spent the morning and early afternoon editing photos for a blog post, but knocked off to take a short ride before dinner. Near the end of the ride, on the outskirts of town, a dog jumped out from someone's yard. It ran next to the bike for a second or two, barking, then turned and ran into my front wheel, taking the bike down hard and me with it. The bike and I bounced and skidded into the opposite lane, and I got pretty banged up in the process. (The dog was fine. It trotted around in the road for a bit, then headed homewards.)

A friendly sheriff who was parked just up the road kindly called an ambulance for me, and notified Mr. M of the accident. I spent the evening in the ER getting cleaned up and stitched, talking cycling and bike-fitting with the doctor and nurse. X-rays showed no broken bones, according to the ER doctor. But a few painful weeks later, when I still couldn't walk without crutches, I visited a sports medicine doctor who diagnosed a broken pelvis. An MRI a couple of weeks after that showed that I actually had three fractures: two pelvic and one vertebral.

Now, nine weeks out, I've finally started walking without a crutch. My first solo efforts resembled those of a tipsy penguin, but my gait is slowly improving. The last of my bruises have faded, and much of the swelling is gone. I've just been cleared for physical therapy, and the doctor says I should be back on the bike by fall.

That is the tale of Crash Number One.

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A few days after my bike accident, Mr. M ran some updates on my computer, whereupon it too crashed. After many valiant but futile efforts to access the data, he removed the hard drive and took it to a repair shop, where the technician was able to recover some of my files and photos.

I now have a new hard drive and a new operating system, but my computer is set up to be used  standing, so (thanks to Crash Number One) I can't use it comfortably for more than ten or fifteen minutes at a time. Over the last week, with Mr. M's help, I've begun re-loading programs onto it; when that's done, I'll start digging through the files that were saved from the wreck.

The most important files, like my patterns and book manuscript, were safely backed up elsewhere before the crash. Unfortunately, the drawing program I used for charts and illustrations was a legacy program that can't be recovered, and is no longer available for download, so none of my saved drawing files are accessible. This means I have a long road ahead of learning a new drawing program and reconstructing all my crochet symbol and in-progress chart files. On the bright side, it will be good exercise for my brain. :|

That is the tale of Crash Number Two.

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In the middle of all this, my dad was hospitalized, and upon release, was enrolled in hospice. He has two terminal conditions, one of which is extremely painful and virtually untreatable. Please keep him in your prayers.

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Gosh, this seems like a depressing post, but I don't mean it to be. I can't say I enjoyed being on crutches for two months, but being temporarily helpless has made me realize afresh what a great privilege it is to be healthy: to have the freedom and strength to walk around, or step outside whenever I want; to use the bathroom without help; to make a cup of tea and be able to carry it to the next room; to walk on my own without wobbling or hurting; to ride a bike. Some of those things I have regained, some are a work in progress, and some are still in the future, but I am so grateful for the hope of recovery.

I'm grateful too for decent (if sometimes fallible) medical care; for bones that knit and rebuild themselves; for the sure and certain hope of a new life and new body for my dad when his current body finally fails; for a computer capable of doing things that would have seemed miraculous a few decades ago; for a loving husband to help me through the good and bad times. And, not least, for good friends around the world.

Oh, and for the flowers in my yard, and a camera to capture their beauty:

I can't get to any wildflowers just yet, so am photographing the blossoms I can reach. :)

How are you? I hope the last two months have been kind to you.

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