3038 close calls "1 strike"

Life goes on……It really does. The sun came up and my dogs still lick my face.
So far… most days start about 5 hours after I fall asleep. So the key is staying up as late as possible. What is great is that I fall asleep pretty easy and sleep pretty darn sound till about the 5 hour mark.

I saw a Neuro-Surgeon this week and he pointed out that I am pretty darn lucky.….But it could be so much worse. All signs at the moment are pointing to a full recovery. April 5th is “D-day”
I can take the TLSO brace off at 12 weeks.

The first few days I was all smiles and jokes. I have to say I was probably trying to cover up how scared I was. I was a few millimeters away from some damage to my spinal cord that would have been hard to repair. I cried several times the first week mainly out of fear. I got a great card from some climbing friends back east. Inside it just said “congrats we heard you can get an errection.” Thinking of you, Adam and Angie…
Sometimes it is the small things that make the difference.
So far I don’t miss training on the bike or riding the snowboard. I really miss running with my dogs and spooning my wife at night. Those are the 2 things I would certainly miss the most if this was permanent.
Yesterday while out walking it really hit me that for 30 years I have always bounced back up after every fall. This time I couldn’t say the words “wow that was close” so I think I was given a 2nd chance or sorts. Really this is about my 3038th chance if you ad up all the close calls. But unlike the other times I will remember this one for a long time. If all goes well I will back in some way or another by summer. I don’t see me catching big air or diving into a corner at full speed for awhile. 3038 chances so far and I am not in a hurry to see what 3039 will be.

L1 Burst Fracture Pictures CAT SCAN

AGAIN all is well. Nights are brutal! At the moment I am not taking anything for the discomfort. The days are just great I wish they never ended. Here are some images of my spine. Dr. Blair has really put my mind at ease that I will be just fine in 12 weeks. I can walk and that makes all the difference in the world. 30 days ago I was racing at Cyclocross nationals.... that is hard to believe. Enjoy the pictures I wish they were of me doing something cool and not hurt.

Burst Fracture Compression Fracture L1

Scared is about the only word I can use to describe how I feel. "Mortal" has crossed the my mind a few times in the past few days. Thursday I landed hard on my right side while out snowboarding at Grand Targhee. Last run of the day I hit the last jump in the terrain park with a bit to much speed and landed with a solid thud and compressed a vertebrae in my lower back. The bone burst and sent a few pieces of debris into my spinal cord column but nothing that my doctor is worried about.
I am wearing a pretty serious brace for the next 12 weeks 24/7. I am stable and Tuesday we will do a few more x-rays to make sure we are on track. Surgery in my case is a last resort. They would come through the front and remove the vertebrae and fuse a chunk of bone in the place where it was. Sounds pretty ugly so we are going a different route that has better results.