Crappy roads continued...

I didn't get a chance Friday to mention any of the good things about my bike wreck. Yeah, kind of funny to use good in the same sentence as the phrase "bike wreck".

Anyway, when I fell, many people were kind enough to stop and help. One guy kind of tried to block the road with his car until they dragged me off the tarmac. Another, older guy, was nice enough to find a phone and call 999. However, because I was bundled up against the cold, he couldn't actually see my face, and he apparently judged from the string of expletives that spewed forth immediately after my impact that I was a 25 year old male. At the time, I didn't understand the funny look he gave me when he came back and I'd gotten off my helmet, glasses and coat. :-) One lady felt bad that she couldn't wait with me to see the paramedics or even Ray get to me, because she had to catch the train I was trying to get to. The guy that blocked the road did stay until the paramedics arrived and tried to keep me as comfortable as possible, keep me from going into shock and all of those other things that are taught as emergency medical responses for folks who are first to see a victim of an accident. (Am I the victim of the accident if I am also the cause of the accident?) Also, there is a kid that we see around here a lot that rides a BMX bike. He was trying to fold up my bike and make sure it wasn't damaged and stuff. It was really cool - a lot of people stopped to make sure everything was okay. But, then again, this is the suburbs. I was kind of surprised, but maybe that is unfair of me to the folks around here.

Also, I must say that my first encounter with NHS was better than I'd expected. Granted, arriving in an ambulance probably gets you a higher priority. But, the paramedics and the EMTs (sorry - I can't remember their British titles) were competent and helpful. They were also friendly and reassuring, which can't be easy in that kind of job. The staff in the hospital was pretty good, even if kind of slow for it being empty other than a guy with a compound fracture in his tibia. Then again, I am sure that 8AM on a Friday morning is not going to be a time when you typically schedule an abundance of staff. All in all, it only took no longer for all of that than it did for my hospital visits in the US for dislocated shoulders (both mine and Ray's) or broken ribs (Ray's). Though, I don't think Naproxen Sodium is dispensed here at all. Which kind of sucks, because it works so much better than ibuprofen.

Last, I have to say, I am so glad I had a good helmet. I looked at it last night and there was a nice, big dent in the front where I hit. Plus several other dents, scrapes and chunks of stuff missing from where I rolled. Ray is going to try to find this cycling store that is, I think, in Epsom, to get me a new noggin protector.

Surprisingly, I am recovering very quickly. The guy at the hospital said I probably wouldn't be able to walk on it for at least a week, and I would have to use crutches, etc... I dumped the right crutch after an hour because of right wrist hurting. By the end of Friday, I'd given up on the other one because it requires more coordination than what I have. Yesterday, I woke up hungry and actually got myself down the stairs and got food. (Just bread because my wrist really wasn't up to me trying to cook.) This morning, I am able to bend each leg the same amount - both seem to be sore in the same spot on the outside of each leg, which I think it a ligament. But the torn up left knee is actually moving. I can almost make a fist with my right hand, and I can now straighten it completely. The rest of the pain is just bruises. I have a pretty high tolerance for pain, and I guess that has helped. But I think that the secret is ice. Keep the joint cold, keep the swelling down and *poof* it heals a lot quicker.