the second head hit in two months

I was tipped by the rear wheel of a trailer being pulled by a pickup last
tuesday and ended up unconscious, in the ER with a subdural hematoma, a 9 inch gash on my left forearm, a partially dislocated collar bone and probably broken ribs.
after a night in the neruology department of Hermann Memorial hospital for sanity checks every two hours, and another ct scan showing that the hematoma was going down, I am home crusing on good pain med and feeling fuzzy and slightly confused. The first blow, two months ago , when I went off the road for some unexplained reason actually felt like a worse injury- I was much more out of it, ended up with two black eyes and a 4 inch gash in my forehead but recovered fairly quickly both physically ahd mentally.

I guess this one was more dramatic because it was a hit and run,done by someone else and not just the vagaries of the road, the driver of the trailer never stopped, he probably wasn't even aware that he had hit me and knocked me into a ditch, thank goodness there were other drivers around who stopped, called the amublance, dragged my bike out of the road etc. I have had broken ribs before four years ago, but somehow this one just feels so lousy- I hurt and I can't stop feelling scared and ssorry for myself. Everyone is going on and on about brain damage and all Iwant to do is feel better and ride my bike again. I need a pep talk!

In the meantime, I will take time away from the trainer and the gym until I can move without hurting and will continue to sing the praises of officer chip olive from the Texas State highway patrol who picked up my bike, kept it safe for two days and then delivered it personally to my home and try to talk myself into being able to feel easy about riding again.

Thank you for letting me vent- I am ok, I will heal and ride again although it may be a while bfore I ride solo, and the drivers here in Texas, especially all of those driving ford F 150 pickups- are still crazy but there are some awfully good and nice one out there as well.

marni

Sorry to hear that, Marni!! Just sucks. Did anyone get a license plate?

I'm glad you're mending. Glad there were folks nearby to help.

Karen

wow. Glad it wasn't worse.

Ah, Marni. I'm sorry. It will get better. But I'm just really sorry.

Aaaww, you poor thing! :( Good healing to you, and hooray for officer Chip Olive! (Is that really a name?? :D)

Owieee :( I'm sorry to hear you've had to deal with another accident so soon.

When you're feeling better & do get back on your bike, are there any side roads you can wander around on? Side roads are soooo much fun & great to learn a sense of direction on :o

Take care & don't try to get back on the bike too soon.

:eek: Marni!
Hope you get to feeling better soon! Take care on those Texas roads, once you actually get back on your bike. And get a new helmet.

Ouch! Take your time. I had a bad cycling accident (my own fault, no car involved) and had to be airlifted to a trauma center. I started riding a month later, and on my first commute to work, I was tapped by a car while crossing the street in a crosswalk with the walk signal. I decided that I could get freaked or that I could live as fully as possible, which for me meant riding my bike. I decided on the latter, although I'm super careful and ALWAYS wear my helmet, even if I just go around the block.

Take the time you need, and do what feels best to you. Get another helmet before you ride, though.

thank you to each of you for your sympathetic comments regarding my accident. I am still cruising on vicodin but starting to feel enough better to be impatient with the fuzziness and inactivity. I am trying to do some stretching and gentle core exercises but stop the minute I feel even a twitch. My collar bone has reseated itself but my shoulder muscles are still very sore and as for the tibs, I can sit stand our lie down but not much else inbetween. At least the muscles have stopped spasming and I am trying to wean off of the pain pills.

My husband/favorite SAG guy has this friday off so he will drive me to the doctor to get the stitches out of my arm. I am also hoping to talk him into taking my bike to the bike shop to get the frame and derailleur and everything else checked out, and to get a new helmet.

Somebody mentioned riding on side roads- I was on one deliberately chosen for lack of traffic so so much for that idea. Houston is just not one of the safer places to riide. Fortunately there is a womens group that I can ride with 3 x a week when I am ready so I won't have to start off doing solo distances which is what I used to prefer. Now I'm not at all sure. I think the big thing will just be to get back on the bike at all. I am at a loss as to why this is throwing me so much--- Maybe I can talkk myself out of it by focusing on the good rides I've had instead of obsessing about the most recent ride. Or maybe it's the drugs talking.

Alors, I am healing slowly.

marni

After getting hit by a trailer of yard equipment pulled by a pickup on January 26 I am happy to say that I am off of the vicodin and darvocet. I still have some light headedness if my head changes planes to quickly and an occasional low grade headache which doesn't last long. My shoulder which I apparently jammed pretty badly is still a bit sore and stiff and the ribs which may be either cracked or broken are down to pressure tenderness and some stiffness. I am feeling so much better that I started back to the gym yesterday doing an hour of reasonably brisk walk. I will work myself up by baby steps until I either a) get cleared by another ct scan and neurologist to ride again , b) until I fill fit enough to start back with the trainer and c) get another helmet- two helmets in two months gets expensive.

Thank you one and all for sympathetic comments and helpful suggestions.

I begin to feel normal once again and I hope to be riding again soon. Fortunately, right now the weather is cold, windy and rainy so I am not too tempted.

marni

Glad to hear you're feeling better. I'm sure you've figured out the elbow-on-the-wall trick while showering, especially when you tilt your head back to rinse the suds out of your hair. I still have to do that after all these years.

Healing is a fustratingly slow process, especially with head injuries. Be good to yourself. :)

OMGoodness, I am glad to hear that you are ok. The best thing is that you are going to get back out there. I haven't yet had a run in with a motor vehicle all my crashes have been self inflicted. Take care of yourself and heal 100%!

Wow! I'm so glad you are okay. This is of course one of my fears in riding on the road. It's so much fun, but it's so unfortunate that people don't pay attention and act as respectfully as they should. You're very brave for getting on the bike again after your first accident. I think you should get back on it again when you're feeling better. I'm a nurse on a Trauma/Med/Surg/Neuro Intensive Care unit so I know too well all the pesky neuro checks we torture our patients with! And I'm so glad that your head injury wasn't more severe - we see some pretty devastating stuff here! Sometimes knowing too much makes me more fearful of what could happen on the bike. I wish you the best in your recovery though, it sounds like you're doing very well, and I think it'll keep getting better as you heal. Hang in there.

-Jessica

Marni you are a very lucky lady. That sounds like it could have been so much worse. Of course you are going to have to recuperate emotionally from a blow like that. You are probably having a bit of PTS so don't be too hard on yourself. Give it some time and take care of yourself.