Bike Accident :-(

[emily_in_nc]

All,

Thanks so much for your kind and encouraging words. Sheila, your experience especially gave me hope that I might get out of this without jaw surgery, so thank you for sharing it. I have done some research, and it does appear that jaw surgery from trauma, not for cosmetic reasons, is likely to be covered by health insurance. That would be great if the need arises.

No, no brain trauma. I'm just the same me. No headaches or confusion, etc. once the initial heavy-duty painkillers (which I was every so thankful for) wore off. Thank the gods for this. No neck or back pain either. Again, very grateful.

My bike is also fine! It's tougher than me.

The sheriff came, and we told him what happened, but we did not file a police report. I would not try to make the kid's parents pay for this; it's just not in my nature. It was an accident, and I am afraid if we tried to prove fault, I would have to swear that I was not exceeding the 10 mph speed limit in the campground. I can't swear to that. I honestly don't know what my speed was.

We paid $100 to take a cab from the hospital back to the campground, as we don't have a tow'd vehicle, and it was quite a ways out. No telling what the overall hospital bill will be, but we do have a good ACA plan (thank you Obamacare!!!!!), and supposedly the max out of pocket in one year per person is $4500. That would not be fun but is doable for us, thankfully. I am so relieved that I had my DH change out my bike gearing recently at a cost of < $100, instead of buying the new bike I would have loved. This would have been much more traumatic in that case!

We do try to avoid riding where we know there will be children, just like you do, Crankin. They are indeed unpredictable. We never rode the Florida bike paths on Saturdays and only very rarely on a Sunday morning. This was just a cool-down after a nice ride outside the campground, on the road.

I appreciate everyone's support!

[Catrin]

OMG, I just read this! So sorry this happened to you, glad you're feeling a bit better, and I do hope that you don't hit that max out of pocket!

While my own face plant 2 years ago at work (that lead to the knee surgery) broke my nose somehow I avoiding doing any damage to teeth of jaw and looking back am unsure how I was that fortunate. Even my broken nose wasn't traumatic - though my face looked really bad for a bit.

Hopefully the child's parents will look after her more in the future and pay close attention to your neck for a bit. My mtb crash induced significant neck injury took several days to so any symptoms (ok, there were other hurting bits taking my attention away from my neck), but if you've not had any by now then you've hopefully missed that bullet as well. Relax, take care of yourself, and keep us posted.

[shootingstar]

This is quite difficult for you Emily! Hopefully you'll have that whole jaw area and teeth looked after for normality, without huge costs beyond what you predict.
Were you conscious when the impact occurred? I am wondering if you had a small concussion also. The impact seems enough. What did the neurological assessments provide for you by doctor?
Keep us posted!

(When another adult cyclist crashed into me on a bike path, I was actually unconscious for several hrs....even though my eyes were wide open, I walked abit and was talking/repeating myself. My partner didn't realize I was "unconscious" until I was transported by ambulance to hospital. So I temporarily lost my short-term memory for a few hrs.. I have no memory of the actual collision, ambulance transport, CT body scan.... In a way, I'm glad I have no traumatic injury flashbacks..)

[emily_in_nc]

I never lost consciousness, shootingstar. I remember everything about the crash, before, during, and after; the people helping at the campground (good folks), the ambulance ride (endless and painful!) and my time in the ER. They did ask me some questions to assess that I knew where I was, who I was, what day it was, stuff like that. I guess they decided my brain was okay. And since then I haven't noticed any weirdness in my thinking, confusion, etc. Just some depression, but I expect that comes with the territory. I was having such a good cycling year, over 1600 miles already, and my bike was finally dialed in. I was really looking forward to lots of riding this year and a great trip out west in our motorhome. Now we may be stuck close to doctors for some time. We just don't know yet, and that uncertainty is also a bit frustrating. I am a planner, and in this situation, I have to try to live more day-to-day. The healing process takes time, and I am not the most patient person!

I have an appointment with my PCP a week from today and will go from there. Have already researched a good oral surgeon should my jaw not line back up once the swelling is down. A lot of the swelling is already gone, but certainly not all.

[Crankin]

I understand how you feel. I am struggling to be inactive, even with all that is going on with my back. I am a bit better, but like you, I am a planner, and all I can think about are the cycling obligations I have, along with the fact I have hardly any riding under my belt and my trip is in 8 weeks. I can easily give up the gym stuff, as per my doctor, until I find out what is going on, but I can imagine how you feel, with your summer trip all planned. At least you will be with a familiar doctor.
It sounds like Murienn's experience was pretty positive in the end, for a similar injury. I'd say try to focus on healing, enjoy your time with your mom, and don't predict the worst. Our brains are programmed to do that, so it is a fight.

[Pax]

They did ask me some questions to assess that I knew where I was, who I was, what day it was, stuff like that...

Alway hated having to assess my mental health clients for their level of orientation, half the time I don't know what day it is, rarely know where I am, and NEVER know what time it is.

[Crankin]

It feels intrusive to do it, with someone who is obviously with it, and coming to counseling for depression, trauma, or anxiety. I understand the necessity when someone may be having psychosis, is delusional, paranoid, etc, but I have only had one person not know what day it was in the past 8 years, and that was in my internship, with a different population.

[ny biker]

Alway hated having to assess my mental health clients for their level of orientation, half the time I don't know what day it is, rarely know where I am, and NEVER know what time it is.

+1

But I still know every note of the songs I listened to in the 1970s...

I'm glad the swelling is already subsiding, Emily. That's a good sign.

[Pax]

+1

But I still know every note of the songs I listened to in the 1970s...

Ditto. I amazes my wife that I am so out of synch with the construct of time; I have a built in GPS and can tell you which way is north no matter where I am, but time/date is hard. For example, in my head right now, it's an afternoon in October, it's been October for a long time now, ifI follow my usual pattern it will be July soon and for the next few months. I love my head!