I did a time trial today on Portobello Road, it was to give me a baseline for my fitness and to help Geoff to further tailor my training program. James and I decided that the very light wind was from the south so we headed to Broad Bay to come back with the 'tail wind'. Turns out we got it slightly wrong and it was in fact a head wind, albeit a very light one. Nonetheless, it did slow me down, but I was reasonably pleased with my time. I managed 0:21:17 for 12.6km, averaging 35.5 km/hour. Given I've only owned the bike since October and only started serious training on it since about March, I reckon I have got plenty of improvement yet.
Today was also my first lengthy period using new aerobars and I actually enjoyed it. In my post on Sunday I mentioned that the position was bloody uncomfortable, so I took my bike into the guys at the Cycle Surgery to have some adjustments done to the set up. It is amazing what a few millimetres of adjustment in each direction can do. The last thing I expected was that raising my seat would make it more comfortable, but it did. In fact it is now more comfortable to ride in the aero position than upright.
I also decided today that I am going to spoil myself and get that Garmin GPS that I initially said was an absolute luxury (see Gear). Well, it still is but now that my workouts are getting more precise, measuring what I do is quite important and I the gear I have is like using a sundial when you compare it with the Garmin. My current heart rate monitor has been fine, but there is no lap function and at 1 hour the seconds disappear. My $10 bike computer has been fine so far, but in the rain the other day it just stopped working. Besides, I got a nice little royalties cheque the other day so I have decided to splurge out.
My little brother (Chris, the one that did his first half marathon in Wanaka just before Easter) sent me an email the other night made me realise that perhaps I hadn't really appreciated how my accident had impacted on those close to me. I might do a post in the near future on my conversation with Chris, but for now its back to the emergency room to continue the story of that fateful day in 2001.
21 August 2001, about 9:10am
By now I am starting to realise the true gravity of what has happened to me. There is no way that they'd have this many people working this frantically if I wasn't in serious danger, not to mention the fact that the pain is getting worse and I am well in shock by now.
One of things that the ER staff are doing is sticking me with every type of sharp (and not so sharp) object they can find. Like the paramedics, they try and fail to find a vein for an IV (three or four bloody times on each arm!). One needle was good though as they gave me a dose of morphine that sends me even further into a spin and goes some way to dulling the pain. While they are using my arms for darts practice, they are also trying to insert a catheter in order to stabilise my urethra. Now, most of you guys will be crossing your legs by now, but this is worse than you are imagining. You see, when my pelvis was crushed by the wheel of the semi, it flattened it like a coke can. Your prostate is attached to your pelvis and your urethra is attached to prostate (sounds a bit like song that the kids sing) and when you crush your pelvis your urethra and your prostate part company. Yes, that's right I had torn my pee tube in half and when you try to insert a catheter into a tube that's floating around in a pool of broken pelvis it is one of the most excruciating things you can imagine - morphine and all. Once again, they have several goes, just in case! What part of 'F@*&%$#^K!' don't they understand!!??!!
They are also extremely concerned that I have massive internal bleeding as some pretty serious blood vessels travel through the pelvis. I hear them mention that they are going to have to tourniquet it. I think "how on earth are they going to do that?", but I know I am about to find out. Someone explains to me that they are going to lift my pelvis off the gurney and slide a strap underneath my hips - "That's gonna hurt". They do so and I almost pass out from the pain. Moments later two nurses/doctors are on either side of the gurney holding each end of the strap after having tied a loose knot and they pull. I am beyond pain - in a place that no one should ever have to go. Then SNAP, the tourniquet breaks and everything goes limp. I think I can hear one of them yell "F*$k!" and someone quickly reassures me and they start the whole process over.
I am very hazy now. The pain is too much and I am not completely sure what is going on. I think someone is now on the gurney standing above my pelvis to tie the new tourniquet off, but I can't be sure. They get it done and the pain subsides, just a little. I am sure, however, about what happens next. I remember it very clearly.
The only way they can know for certain that the bleeding has stopped is to make an incision large enough to have a look inside. They warn me that the local anaesthesia is going in just below my navel and aside from the usual prick it is no big deal (hell, it pales into insignificance when compared with the other things that are going on). They wait a few minutes and do the usual touch test to check that there was no feeling. "Nup, no feeling there Doc... Wait, NO, STOP, I can feel you cutting!" Yeah, that's not good. More local and another test and this time I can't feel the cutting... "Wait, NO, I CAN FEEL YOU POKING AROUND INSIDE THERE... STOP... STOP!!!" Thank God the bleeding has stopped and they sew me back up.
A police officer comes into vision from above my head and I hear Carleen's voice...
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