BARFer, Ozymandias thrown off Folsom St exit, lands on Clementina/1st. Get well soon!

[Gixxergirl1000]

Oh my GOD!!!!!!!!!!!! I've never felt so good in my life! I made it all the way to posers and back!

The ride out was definitely a slower pace but I was able to wick it up a little on the way home. Definitely no GP type pace by any means but certainly faster than I thought I would be able to pull so quickly.

I'm kind of paying for it now. The separated shoulder is telling me "dumbass!" but... It was worth it!

There are a few pictures I'll post later when I get a chance to rest. I just wanted to post to make sure everyone knew that the first ride was a complete success and I was even able to put more miles on me than I thought I would.

WOO HOO!!!!!
Awesome!!!! :applause
Oh- and it would've been worth the ride up to participate!

Yeah, I had a bit of a time kicking the leg over either direction. I had to grab the pant leg to pull it back over when I was getting off the bike.

You wanna know the real freaky thing? Today I've been able to walk around the house a little WITHOUT support. No cane, no holding onto walls, nothing. Granted, it's still massive limping, but I'm able to do it without having to hold myself up.

I.... I'm kinda floored by that. :wow

Just a dose of the right kind of medicine, I'm guessing... :ride

 

[rodr]

Hey Paul, so cool to hear about you getting out of that chair, not to mention riding again! Will there be any permanent damage? How's that kidney?

 

[Ozymandias]

Hey Paul, so cool to hear about you getting out of that chair, not to mention riding again! Will there be any permanent damage? How's that kidney?

I really don't know how it is as this point. I'm hopeful for at least a partial recovery. I know I won't get all of it back, but there is a possibility that some of the clot that was killing it cleared and some of it came back. I have been curious about it and I might request another renal scan in another month or so to see how much of it has come back.

For now I'm happy with how things are going and that's really a minor concern. However from the way things feel after yesterday, I really think that's going to be the only permanent damage from the accident.

The separated shoulder gave me a little grief yesterday and I'm afraid that I might actually have to have surgery on that. With a shoulder, they won't mess with it unless it's something like a 5cm separation which is where mine is actually at. They opted not to do anything with it due to the rest of my injuries. They didn't want to make me completely immobile since they knew I was going to need my arms. They were also hoping that my muscles and all that would start to pull things back up but it's looking like that might not be the case.

I guess that means I'll have 2 more surgeries. 1 where they remove the filter (outpatient) and the other on my shoulder, but other than that and the kidney it really does look like a full recovery. It's going to still be awhile before I'm really strong but I'm building that strength surprisingly quick. I'm really interested to see just how much rehab makes that strength grow as well.

 

[Idontdotrix]

trackday? :teeth

 

[Ozymandias]

trackday? :teeth

Verily soon! I was just talking with Greg last night. I think in 2 months I'll be able to do one. WAY sooner than I originally thought.

 

[Ezekiel]

Paul, it was great to see you on Saturday, you were looking good and glad to read that your ride went so well also! As you said, your body is doing it's thing, but I most definitely think your positive outlook has had a great impact as well. Great news all around, I'm stoked for you!

 

[planegray]

Hey Paul, great to see you, Thank you for being such an inspiration....whether intended or not !

 

[Ratters]

Thanks so much for coming out to the wedding Paul, it was awesome to see you walk over for the picture!!!

 

[Ozymandias]

Thanks so much for coming out to the wedding Paul, it was awesome to see you walk over for the picture!!!

No, thanks for inviting me. :teeth I couldn't think of a better time to play with my newly released body. It felt great but took a LOT more out of me than I thought it would. It was totally worth it though! :thumbup

 

[motogirlie]

Sweet jesus, man. Some links should come with a mandatory box of Kleenex.

yeah. Have a shitload of work to do and spent the entire day reading this instead

So happy you're feeling better Oz.

 

[Ozymandias]

Things are getting MUCH better. I was able to actually climb a flight of stairs the other day (I paid for that one when I got to the top though) and I can drive a little. I wouldn't trust myself on the freeway yet due to diminished feel in my right foot makes my braking not feel right, but I'm sure I'll get used to it about the time the feeling completely returns to my foot.

I had my appointment with a podiatrist yesterday to look at my foot and ankle and he thinks the pain I have in my ankle is just nerves and atrophy and gave me a few things to try when it starts hurting. Problem is the ankle only hurts when I'm sitting in a car and bouncing around a little. Which is why he thinks it's just nerves.

On the upside all the doctors I've talked to have said that there doesn't appear to be any permanent nerve damage but it will take some time for the feeling to return. With the research I've done and talking with a few professionals it could take up to 7 years! Nerves can take a very long time to regenerate.

I'm not ready to come off the pain meds completely yet. I still use my 72 hour patch and that seems to be enough with an occasional tylenol dose for any rough spots. There also doesn't appear to be any addiction which is "unlikely" to happen when using the pain meds the way I am unless I take them for more than 6 months which I have no intention of doing. The fact that I'm not taking the percocets any longer make me a happy guy!

So that's where I am. Today I'm actually going to take my first solo trip to the store. I'm going to buy myself a new phone! So a double exciting day! :thumbup

 

[Ozymandias]

As an update, I'm going in to get this IVC filter removed tomorrow. HOPEFULLY everything goes well. If there's a clot in it or there's a clot in my pelvis, it will stay in. Otherwise, as long as the doc can take it out... it's GONE!

After that there's just the shoulder reconstruction and I'm done.

We took some of the pictures off of Taffie's camera and phone the other day. The one that gets me more than anything is the one of my back. You can see just how bad I had swollen up and the bruising was DEEP, black and covering well over 30% of my back. I still get a little bruising that works its way to the surface but it's normal colored bruising most of the time now.

I'm getting stronger every day. But I do still have a really weak right side and the nerves on that side are still a bit of an issue. The strength continues to build up on the right leg though. It's still kind of freaky to look at my legs and see the right one is only ~60% the size of the left one but at least I'm starting to feel muscle tone building up under the skin finally.

Anyway, that's another update for ya. I'll probably stop posting to this thread unless there is a desire to read more. I will continue to update the web log that I've been doing (most of the time) if anyone wants to keep up and I'm not posting to this thread any longer.

 

[Blind_Io]

Glad to hear that the recovery is moving forward!

I'll have to bookmark your blog.

 

[Ozymandias]

http://ozy.webnexus.net/content/blogcategory/21/19/

:thumbup

I don't know yet, Jenn. It's coming but I need to be in better shape before I can manage it. I have a feeling it's going to have to wait until after I resolve my shoulder issues. That's the one thing that's really causing me problems now.

 

[Cyclesuzy]

Paul, I'm so pleased to read that your recovery is progressing so well. Keep it up! :thumbup

 

[Removed 4]

Wait, is that Doctor House?

So very cool in every way.

 

[budman]

Yes it is... love the smile!

:thumbup

:smoking