Day 146 - Flower Power

We went to Jan's floral class final on Wednesday, which is actually just a party where the classes made the floral arrangements. It was at a house downtown known as the Greer House. It was built in 1906. We took the grand tour. It is a very interesting home. The folks that live there are very interested in preserving the history of the house.

I finally got tired of waiting for Bilkmore to call me back and called earlier in the week. I spoke to the same patient advocate, which won't really amount to much, but it makes me feel better. Cheaper than therapy. Plus, as long as I'm disputing things, I'm not going to pay them, especially for such shoddy service and poor care.

It is still a few weeks before the plastic surgeon would want to look at Jan's forehead. I'm hoping something like laser resurfacing can be done as an outpatient procedure. I'm not sure that will fill in the divots or not, though.

The doctor had gloves on when he removed the halo with his assistant but the nurse never had gloves on any time she tightened the halo. No wonder Jan's pins became infected, which have made the scars I've posted in earlier posts. Most people only have scars the size of pencil tips but Jan's are deep and the size of pencil erasers.

Day 143 - Wii Work Out

I had some reward dollars from one of the big chain stores that were expiring. After last Friday's PT sessions, we went to the store and bought a Wii Fit. It is supposed to help with balance and strength, two things Jan needs to work on. I'm going to count it as a Mother's Day present!

So far, the whole family has played with it. My Wii age started at 51, then went to 55, 45, 38 and then 32. I'm not sure of the value of the Wii age but it is a yardstick to compare results by.

Jan is really good at the hula hoop, initially beating Tessa's high score. The game does require specific activities that raise your heart rate. Time will tell but preliminary results are encouraging.

Late last Sunday, but well before dark, Jan drove to the grocery store with me and back. She says it still pulls and causes some slight pain to look left and right but she is trying. The bad news is the PT guy says she should not drive. I respect his opinion but by the same token, she needs short trips to build her confidence back. Heck, she still has more neck mobility than half the old folks driving today! The doctor just told her not to drive with the collar.

Day 140 - The Road Less Traveled

Twenty weeks ago today, it all went wrong. My curiosity got the best of me and I rode over to the accident location on my motorcycle last weekend. I had to look around, to help me understand. The GPS coordinates are N37 17.239 W86 19.229 if you are the least bit curious.

Jan has expressed no interest and even stated she doesn't want to revisit the site. I can't blame her.

This is the view of the road right before the infamous curve. There is a long straight before the curve. It appears we made it part of the way through the curve before it got out of shape.

The mailboxes in the upper right, just to the left of the tree, is where the gravel in the road came from. Click on any of the pictures to see the enlarged version.

We were only four miles away from my Dad's house, even less as the crow flies.

This is the same place but from the other side of the road at the intersection of Highway 238 and W. Vincent Road.

The next picture is of the road and the driveway. The late hour, similar to the lighting on a late fall evening, casts shadows where the gravel is on the road. It hasn't rained for several days and there is still gravel in the road. From the dispersal pattern, it may be pushed onto the road when vehicles exit the driveway.

We had already started the skid before the "School Bus" sign but had not left the road. We never touched the sign but I can't even remember it. We never even got close to the outside guard rail. I doubt we even crossed the center line except when the skid started.

I learned early on in my driving career, before the advent of ABS brakes, that if you are skidding, you have to ease off the brakes to regain control. I doubt even ABS brakes work well once the vehicle has turned sideways.

Last, we have the final resting place of the little red Mazda Miata. There is now a limb from the ice storm in pretty much the exact spot the car came to rest. The grass has grown up, hiding the ditch but it nicely defines the drive that leads off into the woods.

Heading back to Bowling Green, I drove this road very carefully. Even so, I did not feel the least bit afraid of this particular strip of blacktop. I am not superstitious and don't believe in fate.

As Jan has noted more than once when she expresses her trepidations about returning behind the wheel, I crashed the Miata and then had to drive an hour to Nashville. Then, a mere 15 hours later and with no sleep to speak of, had to drive her home in the halo.

People keep telling her she was lucky. I would have to disagree. Lucky would have been to have never had the accident. A bit less lucky would have been to have damaged the car and walked away, as I did. Lucky would have been getting an all-clear diagnosis at the first hospital. Lucky would have been getting a good doctor at Bilkmore. Lucky would have been getting a sympathetic and effective nurse practitioner. Luck had nothing to do with it. Sure, it could have been worse but it could have gone so much better. I think this accident is the antithesis of luck.

Oh, Bilkmore still hasn't called back from the Day 126 report. Anyone surprised? They do send bills, though. No luck there!

However, the drier is fixed and so quiet we can hardly tell it is running if there are no buttons pinging around in the drum.