How life can change in a fraction of an instant

[FLYBOYJ]

Keep the faith Dave, sounds like you're pluggin along...

 

[Njaco]

I'll see if I can get some Anchor Steam sent to you!!!!
You deserve at least One.

Jeez, you don't want to kill him with that swill. Case of Guinness headed out to Redding, CA!

 

[Gnomey]

Hang in there Dave!

To be perfectly honest, not overly surprised there is some complications relating to nerve damage around your L5 and I think I asked you some questions about it earlier on. The impact its had and the shearing forces it underwent means there was always a likelihood of some neuropathy down the line. Hopefully its not too serious and the doctors get to the bottom of it quickly. It certainly is uncomfortable that's for sure.

 

[vikingBerserker]

Very cool, what other website has their own Flight Surgeon?????

________________

Dave, as soon as the Docs give you the green light, there will be a very nice bottle of Scotch or Bourbon heading your way!

 

[Matt308]

None like Dr. Gnomey!

 

[GrauGeist]

Well, past the 3 month mark and there's some progress as far as the healing. Just seen the Doc about my broken talus and he's pleased with the way it's healing. He also teased me a little bit about it and said that the type of break I experienced occurs mostly in high-speed vehicle impacts and airplane crashes and asked me which one I was in...I said, well, my Scion has a wing on it, does that qualify?

Collar bone, not so good...Doc said it's not mending properly and we suspect that the back-brace I'm wearing is pushing the collarbone up and away from the shoulder area, where it should be "touching". He offered two choices: we can either leave it and see what happens, or he can go in, spread the ribcage apart, grind the ends of the bone until they bleed, attach them and put a plate in...after a moment of silence, I said "ok then, we'll go ahead and wait and see..."

L5 is still painful, but the related numbness, tingling and related no longer plague me, but the lower back sure hurts like a b***h...also the ribcage is still tender, but nothing like it was.

It all takes time and I am not known for my awesome patience. I will say that since they screwed up my prescription (in other words, cut me off...long story) I've been without pain meds for several weeks now. No problem, beer or a good wine fixes that!

A couple more photos here of the incident, first one of course is my Scion and the other is the Woman's car. It'll show you how much of a fight my Scion put up against the bigger Buick.

 

[vikingBerserker]

Holy <bleep>! Dam dude, I am amazed that either of you are even still with us!

The hell with after the healing, if you would like a nice bottle of bourbon now let me know!

 

[Matt308]

Holy sheep ****... that is tragic pics.

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Amazing that you both survived it.

 

[A4K]

With Chris... not much left of those cars.

So glad to hear you're improving Dave, though it sounds like a long process given the injuries. God speed man!

 

[N4521U]

Don't you wish the drivers side was on the Curb side of the car?

Man, you need a supply of Panadol as well.

 

[Vic Balshaw]

What a mess and it is a wonder your still with us. Sad to hear your not mending so well, it can be a long old road to recovery, but the body is a marvellous machine and you'll get there in the end, you'll see!

 

[michaelmaltby]

You are a very, very lucky man, my friend ... Great post.

MM

 

[Wayne Little]

Friggin' amazing....glad you are still here to talk about it man...

 

[Gnomey]

Pretty horrifying pictures of the wreck, amazing that you both got out alive.

Glad to hear the healing is progressing. Shame about the collar bone though.

You should be able to get some more pain meds. Probably trying to reduce the load of opiates / avoid dependency on them.

 

[GrauGeist]

Well...it's been two years since the wreck. How time flies, right?

To give a quick summary, here's what's transpired since then:
I've pretty much healed up, although the collarbone never mended and is still giving me trouble. The lower back is still pretty dang weak, so I can't sit for long periods of time. The right foot has healed well enough, so I can walk, but it really give me trouble if I stand for any length of time or walk for any real distance. And the best part is that I am a freakin' human barometer and know when the weather is changing by what part of my carcass hurts and can tell just how soon stormy weather will be here by how bad afore-mentioned body parts hurt.

As it turns out, I was let go from my job because of the length of time it took me to get back on my feet - however, no one else will hire me because of my physical limitations. But, Social Security insists that I am 100% able to go back to work. So thus begins the endless loop...

As far as my car goes, the insurance company doesn't recognize the limited edition special ordered high-performance equipment that was installed by Toyota in Japan and only would go for a fraction of the car's actual value. It took me two years, but I finally settled on an amount that was about 1/3 of the Scion's actual worth - but I keep the wreckage...
And herein lies a life-lesson I will share with all of you: if you have a car that has factory/dealer installed options, get your car appraised and insured to reflect that!! I cannot stress this enough. Otherwise, if you get in a wreck, you will play the same losing game I did. An appraisal does not cost much, but is worth every penny if an accident does occur.

So yes, I am glad I survived the wreck, so I can continue to annoy people, but the quality of life has taken a direct hit. I honestly hate not being able to get up in the morning and go to work and do stuff and have a structured day like I have known for decades. People say "Oh, that's great, you can relax all day and do nothing!" to which I think (but don't say) "eff you...this is hell" since I can't actually do anything. However, (while lying through my teeth) I smile at them and say "yeah, it's nice to be able to sleep in".

Anyway, here's a few photos of my Scion after I moved it from the attorney's warehouse to my own storage (until I figure out what to do with it)...

Here's a shot of the interior, you can see it held up pretty well during the impact.

Here's an interesting shot of the dashboard. If you look closely, you'll see three marks to the left of the instrument cluster. That's actually skin left by my hand as it was torn from the steering wheel and struck the dash, breaking the instrument fascia and the air conditioner duct...

Here's a good photo that shows how my Scion was crushed on the driver's side. It is about 3 feet (1 meter) shorter on the driver's side, the front wheel resting against the door hinge.

In this shot, notice the white square about left of center? That is what remains of my batter that use to sit between the headlight housing and the wheel-well. The orange reflector was part of the headlight housing and now sit all the way back towards the door.

Here's a good shot that illustrates just how much the body torqued during the impact

A side-note here:
Just shortly before the wreck, I had stopped in to pick up a bottle of wine to go with dinner. I spotted a nice Chardonnay and put it in the front seat and headed home. Within minutes, my world was rocked.

Almost a year later (January 2014), I was able to visit my Scion for the first time since the wreck, and discovered the bottle of wine had survived the impact!

So I put the bottle in a cool dark place to perhaps open as a celebration at a later date. A few friends teased me and said the wine had probably turned to vinegar in the year that had passed, since it had been sitting in the wreckage. I remained optimistic.

A few days ago, on April 7th (the two year anniversary) I popped the cork and much to my surprise, it was absolutely amazing! One of the best aged Chardonnays I have ever had!

So these past two years have been a strange journey to say the least. I will admit I feel a little bit discouraged when I look at the wreckage of my car. However, I prefer to remember my Scion as it was:

 

[Marcel]

Glad you're still with us, Dave. Unfortunate about working, though. Hope you'll find work soon enough. I fully understand you annoyance of being at home, I would feel the same. Anyway, here's to good health and improved fortunes

 

[Shinpachi]

My instant idea to read your post, Dave, is that the fact you are still in this world is enough for me and I do appreciate the miracle given by God.
You are doing good job post by post

 

[Wayne Little]

2 years hey....bummer that things aren't going as you hope Dave, but breathing is better than the alternative, and your forum Brothers are glad you are here with us mate!

Chin up and take care!

 

[Capt. Vick]

Continue to heal Dave. Glad you're still with us.