July 15th, 2021, it was a bright sunny and calm Thursday afternoon. I was feeling rather over-confident that day, too confident really once I climbed onto my bicycle for a spin down a trail I have traveled down and back quite a few times. It was on my regular route through a nice neighborhood in West Plano. It’s about 90% cement bike trails along a scenic route of creeks and bayou lakes. About a 16.5 mile round trip journey, quite scenic and great for my i-phone playlist. I remember my music switching to a really good song and I was rocking out to it with a smile on my face when suddenly up ahead I was going to be required to make a quick decision – I had to navigate a steep curve to the left that goes under an underpass but the problem was I approached that curve at way too fast a speed. So [in my innate wisdom] I decided to apply the front brake first, a terrible mistake! The next thing I knew my head was flying toward the cement and some very large jagged rocks that lined the water’s edge while my bike decided on a different route, it went out from under me into the damp air to taste those same rocks firsthand. I landed on my left side and slid across the wet cement with my left arm stretched out. The duckbill of my helmet had slammed down hard on my left inside wrist @ impact before I reached a full stop after descending around 12-13 mph. One huge ouch!

I got up after a long kiss with the cement to find that I was still in one piece but scraped up bad in several places with little grains of sand and tiny rocks stuck inside the blood now caking down my left arm. I thought I was seeing all the damage up and down my left side until I got home. I had no idea how bad a fall it was, but now I understood why that couple who were stopped at the same stoplight [on the trek home] were staring and pointing at me through their car windows. They saw the backside of my left arm covered in blood which I didn’t know about that yet, I just remember my whole left side was beginning to sting badly. But my hands were okay, or at least I thought they were.

Somehow my face missed those rocks too, though I truly do not know how. I have summed it up to divine intervention. How did I see my face flying right toward those rocks and yet not get there? Sort of blacking out for a moment. That will go unexplained. Thank you God as it would have certainly changed my appearance for good. Finally, sitting up and shaking out the fog of what had just happened I looked over to find my bike upside down on top of those very large jagged rocks.

A few weeks later I had my bike checked out at the bike shop. It was fine they said, except for a little plastic piece which broke off, just a gear indicator. This will serve as a forever reminder to me to never be too over-confident again riding a bike over a cement trail. A couple more weeks went by and I made an appointment to be checked by my orthopedic guy, he explained that there was nothing broken and that the swelling in my wrist would eventually subside and eventually I would get the feeling back in that lower arm area. It was totally numb for weeks, even months afterward.

Fast forward to probably 7 or 8 months later and all was forgotten until I had to write a check one day, just to pay a bill. I don’t write checks very often or even find myself signing my name much these days. Seems like I’m either typing on a laptop or texting on my phone. For the first time, it honestly hurt to write that check, I looked at my left hand and thought, what the hell? This hurts! Since then I noticed that anytime I was required to sign anything it is also painful. Finally, last week I visited an ortho guy, a hand specialist this time just to look at it. He comes back into the room and places x-rays on a screen and says, you have a joint at the base of that thumb that is effectively dislocated or hyper-extended. Basically, it’s in a place it’s not supposed to be, and we’re going to have to get it set back where it belongs, that’s the reason you are experiencing pain. I asked him how did this happen? He replied [in cases like this] it always originates from an injury, that’s what I see.

Now I’m looking at 4 weeks in a cast to get this thumb on its way to resetting. Doc is prescribing a total of 10 weeks with no use of that thumb, including 4 weeks in a cast but that’s only if we’re making progress. Once the 4 weeks is completed successfully, I’ll switch to wearing a brace on that hand for 4 more weeks, then he’s adding 2 more weeks just for good measure. 10 weeks, have you ever tried going without a thumb and hand for 10 weeks? I’m getting ready to find out what it’s like.

Once this treatment begins (later this month) if I can still type articles on my blog during this time I will certainly do so. If however, should I have any trouble editing new opinions on here, then my volume of new thoughts in text will certainly slow, in which case at least you’ll know why? Injury comes with the territory out there, and I guess us bloaks will continue to be bloaks! 🙂