The beginning of a new week

Today was the first time since the accident that I was home-alone. No I didn't try to set the house on fire or set a bunch of traps around the house, instead I tried to have a day as close as possible to normal, normal meaning not a work day since I started by not going to work. Then I realized that a normal non-working day is a day that I spent a long time on the bike, which Norma took care of by almost making me promise her that I wouldn't go riding, so scratch that.

In the end I settled for a nice day at home without biking. I had a normal breakfast for the first time since the accident; egg whites with mushrooms and hash browns. I was able to chew almost all of it. Then I had some coffee and orange juice, both at room temperature.

Then Norma went to work and I didn't know what to do. I surfed the net, chatted with some family and friends, responded to some e-mails then I read about the Worlds Cyclocross Championship this past weekend in Belgium with a US rider taking silver for a first time...ever, then I was bored.
The doctor had told me not to take a shower until at least 48 hours from the time I got release from the Hospital, in the meantime I've been doing "cowboy showers" if you know what I mean... but today I had the clearence for a full shower and that's what I did. I also shaved part of my face because I didn't want to get too close to the stiches.
Then I put on some clothes, like actual clothes as if I was going out instead of sweat pants and t-shirts like what I've been wearing the previous days. That made me feel better, so that was the highlight of my day. I truly hope everyone else had a more exciting day than I did.

The rest of the day was back to the routine of eating through a straw (I can chew but it hurts and takes me forever), taking a nap, watching TV and taking my antibiotics.

By the way, I have one pain killer left, so I better be pain free tomorrow...well see!

Racing Update...my next race will be the 24 Hours at the Old Pueblo in Tucson and just today they announced that registration is closed which means it's going to be sold out event. Can't wait to race against the nation's best this February.

Pura Vida!

Jeff

It's Sunday...third day of recovey

Today I woke up with a less swollen face. The pain continues but because I know it's going to take a few more days, we reduced the dose in half, that way I'll have enough pain killers until my next follow up appointment on Tuesday.

Today's diet was pretty similar. Milk and oat meal (blended), Ensure y blended soups. I was also able to eat a yoplait yougurt, the whips kind. It was the Dulce de Leche flavor and even though I had to take it out of the refrigerator for a few minutes so it wouldn't hurt my teeth, it was delicious. Not to mention it took me almost half hour to eat it, but it was the first thing I ate with a spoon (as opposed to through a straw).

Sunday's afternoon was really long. I watched TV for a while, surfed the internet looking for the race results from Saturday but were not posted, then sat to read a book that Norma gave me for Christmas "Lance Armstrong's War" but for some reason I was very crabby and didn't want to do any of those things, I even tried listening to some music but it didn't work....the solution...take a nap!ZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Three hours later I woke up with a much better sense of humor and hungry. As you can imagine, I am tired of blended meals and since I had tried to chew on some potatoes from the soup earlier, before blending it; we decided a was ready for something different. Bring on the Mac n Cheese. It says to boil the pasta for 8-10 minutes, Norma boiled it for 20 to make it softer, and even though I spent more than an hour chewing two maybe three shells at the time, I was able to eat one whole bowl.

I also got a treat today, since I ate Mac n Cheese, I rewarded myself with a Coca Cola. I usually don't drink soda but for some reason I was craving the carbonated taste.

So that's how today went. Small steps but it's all getting better.

Later,

Jeff

Day Two of Recovery

There have been very few changes from the day before. Pain comes and goes almost at the same rate as I take my painkillers...unfortunately I only have enough for three days.
The diet continues to be liquid.
Here is a picture of todays menu:

Some Oat meal with milk (blended) for breakfast.
Gerber Bananas for mid morning.
Vanilla Ensure before painkiller (it makes me sick if I don't have food)
Campbell's Chicken Noodle soup for lunch (Blended)
Chocolate Ensure before another painkiller in the afternoon.
Tomato soup for dinner (Not blended, yeay...oh it's the same)
Notice the glass with a straw, all of the above were consumed through a straw, even the oatmeal, yeah, it's tasty!

The major improvement of the day was that I was finally able to open my mouth just enough to "brush" my teeth. I actually was barely able to move the toothbrush inside my mouth but at the end, I felt a little cleaner, something that's been hard to achieve thus far.
I also had a jolt of energy and some curiosity so I started to clean my bike. Mostly I was looking for any breaks, but thankfully nothing major. The derrailour hanger is bent but that's won't be too expensive, I hope.


Norma talked to almost all my family and several of my friends. I only sit next to her and listen to the phone conversation. I could say a few things but it have to mumble a lot, so far Norma is the only one that can barely hear me assisted by signs and gestures, so I don't think it will be the same over the phone.
Hopefully I'll be able to talk in a couple of days.

Take care,

Jeff