For those of you who don't follow me on Facebook, I figured I would give you an update on my status and why I haven't written much in the past 2 weeks. For those of you that do follow me on Facebook this might be a little repetitive and for that I apologize. However, you might find out a little more here since space is sort of limited on Facebook as to what I can post.
Anyhow, July 3rd, I decided to buy a scooter as a mode of transportation to get to and from different events. I figured this would give me a little more independence and give my parents some slack in running me around. But as usual if it wasn't for bad luck I wouldn't have any luck, and no matter how much planning I seem to do to accomplish a task, something inevitably goes wrong every time. So I shouldn't be at all surprised that as soon as I paid for the thing disaster was poised to strike. Now, you must keep in mind that my father was against me getting this thing from the very beginning and as such has been almost unbearable to live with because of the "I told you so's" and "You never listen to anything I have to say".
Now, not even 10 minutes after I paid for the darn thing, I decided to take a spin around the block just to check it out, I was turning around in a little apartment complex and was sitting at the stop sign waiting to turn right. Just as I was beginning to go I felt a jolt from behind and the scooter went out of control and started heading for the ditch on the opposite side of the street. The bad thing is as it was heading toward the ditch, it tipped to the left and I was pinned underneath it as it slid across the pavement. Needless to say I have lacerations and cuts from top of my head to my foot along the whole left side of my body. I also broke my ankle in this endeavor. Before I knew what was happening I flagged down a car and asked them to help me, I knew my head was bleeding but I didn't think I was hurt very badly. As a matter of fact I kept insisting I was fine as they were trying to strap me down to a backboard. Now, 2 officers responded to the scene and an ambulance and fire truck, and within minutes I was whisked away to the hospital.
After what seemed like forever, I was examined by the doctor and taken off the backboard, and laid on the bed to get more comfortable. Now, you all know me and I am a crazy person, I do things that are risky all the time but this wasn't something that I thought was a risk at all. I was wrong, if you want to know more about that look at my blog entry on "Advice Freely Given". All I can say at this point is I am glad I am alive and I wasn't hurt more than I was. Because I just had surgery on June 18th and I had staples from my breast bone to my groin, and honestly I had no business driving let alone being on a scooter. All that being said, the staples were examined and removed on Friday the 6th of July and everything was fine until Sunday morning. When I woke up I felt a sharp pain and itching sensation in my abdomen and when I looked 3 sutures had worked their way to the surface of my incision line. I went to the surgeon today and found out that they are there because when he operated on me he had to cut the muscles and tissue to remove scar tissue and adhesion's that had formed from all my previous surgeries and these sutures are to hold the muscle and tissue in place so they heal properly.
The ends were very sharp and that is what was cutting and scratching my skin and causing me some discomfort. The bad news was he was unable to remove the sutures because it is still too early and the healing isn't complete. He told me that the knots had to stay in for at least another month. He also told me to not be alarmed if they broke through the incision and came to the surface over time. He was able however to cut the ends off the knots so that they would no longer irritate my skin and tissue and with that being done, I should start to feel better soon. Directly after leaving the surgeon's office, I went to the orthopedic surgeons office to have my ankle evaluated and was delighted to find out that the actual break wasn't as bad as I had first thought.
I was able to have a walking cast put on, and told that it should only have to stay in place for 4 weeks which is another great piece of news because originally I was told I would be off my foot entirely for the next 12 weeks. I am probably going to have a lot of scaring because of the abrasions I sustained in the accident but overall I things are definitely looking better than first thought. Now I am hoping that tomorrow when I go to see the scooter and the damage from the accident the same will be true there as well. I know my parents are totally against me getting the thing fixed and riding it, and I am not sure I would be brave enough to get back on it right away. But like anything else in my life, I am not going to let it get me down and hold me back. So regardless of what they have to say, my intention is to get it repaired and fixed up the way I want it. From that point if I want to sell it or keep it the choice is mine. See, I set myself on this course and the end result is still the same. Even though they are mad and think I have wasted the money I have. The fact of the matter is I made the choice now, I have to live with it. From my point of view when you are handed lemons, make lemon aide, further I refuse to look at this as a negative, I find it easier to deal with the turmoils in my life when I can find the positive in the events that have taken place.
I wish everyone could do that and not dwell on the "I told you so's" and "why don't you listen" and "I was right and you were wrong" because frankly that just causes hard feelings and doesn't really accomplish anything. As with all things in my life I will get over it and I have learned something along the way. I find that humans learn better by failing and getting hurt than by not trying at all. Pain gives us the impetus to keep from making the same mistake twice, and trust me I now know what I am doing and will be on guard against it from happening again. Plus, it is ridiculous to think that an accident is something that was ordained. It wasn't planned hence calling it an accident, and guess what I am still alive and the material possession can be fixed or replaced. How could I have possibly have known that I was going to get hit by someone and that all of this would have transpired? I couldn't and even if I had a crystal ball and divine guidance I probably only would have seen probable futures, because until the events actually unfold many different variables come into play.
Like I said I will not let this get me down or defeat me, and no matter how my parents treat me because of this situation I am still going to do what I think is best. I keep in mind that everyone makes mistakes and my favorite analogy springs to mind "Shit Happens". It is time to keep my head up and keep moving forward, because as my best friend would say "So What, Who Cares, Get over it!"
For some other good news, I spent the day in Orlando yesterday with the VA. Met with the infectious disease doctor, and my HIV viral load is back to undetectable and my CD4 count is 298 and climbing. Further, there have been no complications to the Hep C, and it looks like the treatment is going to eradicate the disease from my body totally without permanent damage. In other words, even though my surgery didn't go quite as expected, my body has begun fighting for itself and is doing a great job of putting everything in check. They have also down graded my renal disease from stage 4 to stage 2 and it is steadily improving, there is only going to be a slight impairment. My damaged kidney has somehow found new life and is responding well to drinking of water and the new medications I have been given. Maybe by September they will have fixed the kidneys sufficiently to say that the renal disease is in remission.
Now keep in mind that all of this is being accomplished because so many people out there are praying for my recovery, and I know that God is answering those prayers, and I am thankful beyond all understanding for that. When I came to Florida, I had come home to die, and now it looks like things are finally starting to turn around and I will be granted more time. I know I can't hope for 10 more years, but 3 to 5 sounds good too me.
Anyhow, sorry I haven't been writing as much, just been in a lot of pain and under the influence of some pretty hefty drugs. I do plan on getting back to working on my blog daily starting tomorrow. I hope you all will keep on reading. You never know what you are going to find here. I live a very exciting life and I can promise you my days are far from boring.
As always my hopes and dreams are with you.
Uncle B
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