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painful but grateful to be alive. address here is helen simpson rehab room 289,4300 Londonderry Rd, Harrisburg, PA 17109 c/o dawn temple
painful first day of rehab, but learning alot and meeting some amazing people. still grateful to be alive, but i cannot imagine not riding again. the support u all have given, truely provides much strength to deal with the pain. thank you all;) dawn
Hi Dawn. So sorry to hear about your accident. I was also hit by an SUV commuting to work, now almost seven years ago. My pelivs, hip and sacrum and L5 vertebrae were broken. I now have a twisted hip and 3 cm leg length disrepancy (LLD). I still ride, but it changed the way I ride forever. I ride much more defensively, and have 'rules' about when, where, and how I ride. What I can tell you is that its a process. Right now your goal is recovery. I started back on a stationary bike in a gym, and then a car free bike path. It took time, and then I had to work through the physical issues of the LLD and I finally resolved it with a custom crank set that compensates. The hardest was being able to ride through the intersection I was hit in. Even harder, was starting to enjoy my commute again (which took probably 6-7 YEARS). PM me when you are ready to talk about any of this. But right now, focus on getting well. I firmly believe the adage 'what doesn't kill us makes us stronger.' Learn about yourself and grow from this. Try to see the silver lining. -eileen
Yeah, with you on that one GeonzQuote:
Originally Posted by Geonz
And who cares if this person is 80 (age is often a reason here for lighter penalties) we are talking about complete upheaval of not just IW's life and wellness, but also her entire family. Her friends will also be affected and all of us that are following her progress... how many of us that have read how this happened will assume ANY kind of safety on a green light/pedestrian crossing?
This needs to be well-publicised, this person should lose their right to drive. A speeding ticket is an insult and a callous disregard for the well-being of those entitled to use the road. What would have been the result if it had been a 5yr old on the way to school?
I trust by you saying, IW, that your attorny is taking care of you, that your attorny is following up more compensation (haha, that seems a ridiculous concept, how can money give back to you what was taken??) than a speeding ticket - getting this person to pay all medical costs, transport costs, insurance costs...
Wishing you speedy healing and each day with less pain in it...
since the driver was cited, the costs of IW's care (and pain and suffering, etc, etc) will go to the driver's insurance. There is a max; above which will then go to the driver's homeowner's insurance or even a lien on their real personal property.
This person won't be driving again. I highly doubt it.
Not to sound like a nasty wet rag, but do not discount the power of the AARP in keeping senior citizens driving. My XH was a paramedic in a predominately retirement community (Sun City, AZ) and ooohhh the stories he would tell about accidents and the total lack of penalties.Quote:
Originally Posted by mimitabby
So will be up to Dawn's attorney to force the issue of compensation and penalties. Or at least compensation. There's civil law and criminal law. I agree, this should be criminal. It's criminal to beat someone to a pulp but often only civil to run them down (unless there's intent).
Must get back to that %#&* report I'm supposed to be writing.
Hope you get to feeling better Dawn. Gentle hugs to you!
Righto.
First... sending healing thoughts your way...
Second, though... the elderly driver who killed Jan Briese here in Illinois (her picture is on the IDOT bicycling maps) didn't even know he'd hit anything... and got *no* consequences. There was, I believe, a verbal agreement that he wouldn't drive again. Nothing binding... and, welp, no consequences. Farnsworth, the guy should at least have to do community service. Go out and pick up litter by the side of the road or something. THINK ABOUT THE CARNAGE YOU CAUSED!!!!
And *maybe* he is... and if so, he own't *mind* doing community service.
And our fearless girl who killed Matt Wilhelm because she was too busy downloading ringtones... probation, fine for "wrong use of lane," and she had already gotten enough tickets to lose her license... *IF* the 'system' hadn't somehow lost track of her assorted red-light-running and speeding habits...
And... and... and... but no, the current attitude is that driving is something we all NEED to do. However, there was a time when people honestly felt like we should all be allowed to drink a bit as long as we found our way home. Change can happen.
Hang in there~~~ day two is tomorrow and we're with you...Quote:
Originally Posted by invsblwmn
Community General is good people :). They did Mom's hip replacement, and their rehab people were great for her. You've got good doctors and nurses, and that will help.
*thinking good thoughts for you*
here, good people, no, the best! i work professionally with the hospital system associated with this rehab. these people were my friends, now are my family.
painful three hours today. who thought that squeezing your buttocks was exercise, i thought it was just for preventing embarrassing scents in a meeting.:D
i never coud stay in bed more than 6 hours a nite, now close to 20 hours seems like not enough. my roomie is an beautiful 81 croatian immigrant whom stroked a week ago. her storiies of wwII take my mind off of the pain and on the gratitude for love and support of my drs, nurses, n therapists.
tired from typing 1 handed, but must give u updates. U all cannot begin to see the strength u give me, laughter is always food 4 me. Triskeliongirl-we will talk, if u are open, i need ur wisdom. by the way, cookies, esp chocolate chip, have healing powers :) Take care, d
Yikes! How awful for you! Big Hugs and positive heal-y thoughts!
Of course I am open. For now, just rest, and get your strength back. Its a PROCESS....... The silver lining is that living through something like this can have other things in your life suddenly take on increased meaning, the people in your life, your health, all kinds of things. Hang tough, you will heal, and no matter what you will come back even stronger!Quote:
Originally Posted by invsblwmn
[QUOTE=Triskeliongirl;250396 The silver lining is that living through something like this can have other things in your life suddenly take on increased meaning, the people in your life, your health, all kinds of things.[/QUOTE]
So true! My passion now is photography. I was brought to it by breaking my humerus in a bike crash, losing my dog to cancer, being shunned by people we thought were friends, developing a not-quite-explainable illness, etc, over the last 9 years.....Each difficult situation has developed my spirit and its connection to my camera more acutely. You will grow from this, but it may take years before you really see how. In the meantime, take the time you need to fully recover, and look for the joy that can be found everywhere - if not in every moment, at least in every day.
Still surrounding you in butterflies,
Hugs,
~T~
(((((Dawn)))))) (((((((Dawn's Sweetie))))))
I have patients who I *know* shouldn't be driving, but there's nothing I can do legally to stop them. Just today I was thinking about "what happens when I get older and more ding-batty and shouldn't drive?". I'm hoping someone can stop me, and that I'll have the sense to stick to my bike, the bus, and taxis.
Hang in there, Dawn!
And I'm so glad you have a lawyer!
When my grandmother was in her '80s, she hit and killed a highway construction worker. It wasn't entirely her fault, because he was standing with no orange vest on, in the shadow of a piece of road equipment with the setting sun behind him. She was not charged.
She eventually went back to driving herself to church after she recovered from the sorrow of it. But eventually it became clear she shouldn't drive anymore. It was very difficult for my aunt and dad to convince her that she shouldn't drive. What they did is "enable" her car to be "beyond repair". It seemed like lying to her to me, but they said this is how they found out how bad her memory was getting. She was too easily convinced that the car was broken because she didn't remember it being "broken" the same way the last time. Very hard on her kids, and especially my aunt, who became her transportation for all the running around she loved to do.
I'm taking that as a lesson, and I hope to still be riding a bike when I get that old. I hope to convey to my kids the way I would want them to handle it before I can't remember where I was headed to when I leave the house.
Karen
I found solace and creativity in my camera too. I've always taken pictures, but after my accident in 2004 my camera became my constant companion. At first I think I was using it as an excuse to myself about why I wasn't walking further or faster - even though I knew I was walking as much as my physical condition allowed. But the camera helped me, it really did...Quote:
Originally Posted by LBTC
I think we all (can) find strength in ourselves as we fight through things in life, and as we work to recover from nasty accidents like Dawn's.
And Dawn - one thing that helped me (besides playing with my camera and pushing in my normal fashion to return to normal) was to write about my experience. I wrote in a journal posted on crazyguyonabike, but a blog would work just as well. Getting my thoughts and frustrations out helped a lot.
I'm still sending healing thoughts, and I hope that you have (or can find) something to help keep your spirits up as you go through the (often too long) healing process.
--- Denise