Table of Contents: The Big Bike Accident - September 1, 2004

Finally, the CT scan machine was available. They wheeled me into the room, and a very friendly chirpy woman took over. She was much more comforting than she needed to be, given how I was feeling. Having a scan didn't bother me. I knew it was what I needed to get out of here, so I wanted it to happen.

I had the strange sensation while my head was inside the machine of wishing that it was a time machine. I wanted to go back in time, and change what I had done that night so that I wouldn't be laying here right now. I knew it was silly, but the machine was so strange that it was easy to imagine that it was anything I wanted it to be.

This process did not take very long, and I was wheeled back into my bay. We still had to wait some more for the results. That wasn't very much fun - it was just more of the same. And every time I went off to do something like get x-rays or a CT scan, at least I had a little mental stimulation. Ian, on the other hand, just got to wait. Some more.

Eventually, the doctor came in and said that my brain looked great. I asked him whether he would tell that to my boss so I could get a raise. He laughed. However, he became more serious when he told me that my helmet had either saved my life, or kept me from a life in a wheel chair. This sobered me up. I had known that I had gotten off light, but hearing these words really brought home how lucky I was.

I knew that it was not the case that I had "almost died". I always wear my helmet on my road rides, so there was never even a chance that I would have had an accident without my helmet to protect me. I knew that a helmet is no guarantee that one cannot be killed in a bike accident, but in the case of the head hitting the pavement, it can be the difference between life and death or disablement. Nevertheless, I had to really think about this. I had already been thinking about whether or not I would resume road biking, and had thought that I probably would not. This news gave me further food for thought.

It wasn't long before the doctor had filled out my discharge papers and gotten Ian to sign them. I walked out of the E.R., since nothing was wrong with the rest of my body. I think that by the time we were preparing for bed, it was 4 a.m. We had been there for eight hours.

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Table of Contents: The Big Bike Accident - September 1, 2004