Well… its been almost a year since my neck injury and the recovery has been an adventure I know i have been tremendously lucky and not just with this particular incident. Apparently I fractured it several times before without realizing how close I was to being in a real bad situation. This injury was no different. Thankfully I had the right people at the right time to make it better however, it wasn't without challenge.
First the right people; In 1996 I gave a presentation to a group of educators and one of the teachers asked if I would be willing to mentor a young man on career day. He was interested in every and anything space related. I agreed and we spent the day together talking about space exploration and philosophy. I don't know how much I helped him but he sure left an impression on me. He was one of the most respectful, thoughtful and intelligent young people I have ever met. He proudly told me about his father with such detail and respect that I remember the details of his fathers education and achievements still to this day. Several weeks later I received a copy of the paper he submitted for his project and as promised I included it into the reference archive at work. Well time passed and we lost contact but I always wondered if he followed his dreams.
Now the right time; Well if you have ever uttered the phrase "what goes around comes around" then you can appreciate this part of the story. So…. there I was with a busted up neck and in need of some serious skills to make it right again. The insurance folks called and gave me a list of specialists to choose from and I see a curious name, it was the young man's father. Two days later I am sitting in his office and he gives me the news. Surgery or disfunction. Knowing who I have on the team I say go for it. I then told him about the connection to his son from so many years ago and how that knowledge gave me the confidence to take the risk of the surgery. Doc and I reminisced about the "mentoring day" and I told him how impressed I was with his son. He was truly surprised when I produced a copy of his sons report which I took the liberty to bring with me.
Now the challenge; The trip home on Christmas Eve was the second trip home with the new neck. About a week earlier I went in for the surgery which went quite well at least initially. 48 Hours later I was released and sent home to mend. So, exhausted and happy to be home I settled in for some rest. After a while I woke up with tremendous discomfort and pressure in my neck. When I looked in the mirror I realized there was extreme swelling in my throat (my neck was bigger than my head) and something was seriously wrong. I was trying to make some phone calls to the nurse to get suggestions when the pressure got so bad I couldn't speak. I realized that it wouldn't be long before I wouldn't be able to breathe so I grabbed my tactical trauma kit complete with necessary items to perform a tracheotomy, packed frozen vegetables around my neck (great pre-packaged ice packs) and raced to the ER about 25 minutes away. If figured I would drive as far as I could until I my breathing became desperate and then I would pull over and do the tracheotomy if need be. Well I made it to the hospital in the nick of time just before the pressure subsided in my throat and moved further into my chest. They loaded me into a critical care transport ambulance and sent me back to the main hospital about an hour away where i was rushed into emergency surgery for internal bleeding. After everything was said and done, Doc told me that if I waited another 10 mins we probably wouldn't be having the conversation. Apparently a vein ruptured around my esophagus and there was a whole lot of the ol' red stuff pumping into the wrong place. All is well that ends well and thankfully we got it all fixed up. So Christmas eve I was heading home with some uber cool titanium bits in my spine and things were on the mend. Five weeks later I was riding my motorcycle.
What goes around did actually come around and because of that, I have been able log over 16 thousand clicks on the Sidetrak'n odo since 1 February 2012.!
Well… Thats just the beginning of how the neck injury led to a Sidetrak'n story. Join us again for Part 2 of Sidetrak'n with a bionic neck
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