There goes that eff word again! The one that I said shouldn't be over used, but that at times is the only word with enough oomph. Today was one of those days.
Let me set the stage for you. I was riding my bike in the basement when my cell phone rang. I was still only in my warm up, so I decided to have a look, and lo and behold it was the doctors office. One of the things I appreciate the most about my GP is that he communicates. Of course he never phones himself, but the staff does a great job in followup to his instructions. Just 2 days ago they called to tell me that my cortisol levels were fine, since that was something I had specifically asked him to check. I didn't however expect to hear from them again, since the only other test that was still outstanding was my chest x-ray, which by the way was at his request, not mine. I also know why he wanted it, even though he didn't say as much. He got spooked by my ongoing cough combined with all my other symptoms, and combined with my cancer history. I knew he was out to lunch, but I suppose he still he had to check. And before I go any further please know that the call was indeed about my chest x-ray, and please know that one more time I was right! Lungs are perfectly clear!
So now I got you wondering eh? And again before I go any further, please know that there is nothing else wrong with me either.
Nope! All is good!
And yet!
They made a very interesting discovery.
And while I didn't actually say "you've got to be fucking kidding me" to the nice lady on the phone, that's exactly what I was thinking. She wanted to know if I was interested in getting a bone density check done?
Why you say?
Yes. "Why", I said!
"Well because you have a healed over compression fracture in your upper back!!!"
"You've got to be fucking kidding me!"
Nope! No kidding. My T1 vertebra (T is for thoracic) has at some point. probably in the past year or two, suffered a distinct compression fracture. T1 is the upper thoracic vertebra just below the neck.
The lady asked me if I had suffered any falls or been in an accident within that time frame.
The funny thing is it took a few seconds for it to sink in. My very first reaction was that nothing like that has ever happened to me.
Then it hit me like the proverbial ton of bricks.
On august 18th of 2013, I fell off my bike in Mont Tremblant, Quebec, and broke my freakin back!!
It all makes perfect sense. The way I landed on my head and shoulders would indeed have put tremendous pressure on my spine. It hurts all over again just thinking about it.
I am in awe!
I remember being so annoyed when the ambulance people strapped me to that board since I knew better than them. Maybe not eh?
And I have since learned from Cory that I probably wasn't in any real danger based on the particular bone that was broken, and the fact that it was a compression fracture. Where my good fortune came in is that it was not one of the cervical vertebrae, the ones immediately above T1. Apparently breaking one of those means you come home in a box, or in a wheel chair!! Phew!!
So the whole thing has made for a surreal kind of day. It initially scared me a little bit knowing how close I was to a serious injury, but once I got over that I was more grateful than scared. I'm actually glad that I didn't know at the time, because it would probably have made me a little gun shy. Even from the perspective of managing the rest of that day in Tremblant, it was good not to know. I would probably have been stuck in the hospital for at least that night, while Roo would have been stuck with the grandchildren and the RV. Just as importantly we would probably have come straight home when we could, instead of having a wonderful vacation on PEI.
And this may seem like a stretch, but I'm also glad I didn't have an excuse to get more of those oxy-contins they gave me. Believe me, I would have used it!!
And the broken back also brings to mind another issue that now seems more than coincidental. I'm suddenly sure that the bike problem that surfaced just a couple of months ago was as result of the same crash. Based on where the carbon fibre finally gave way, it makes as much sense as my back injury. Isn't it a wonderful thing that unlike carbon fibre, the human skeleton can repair itself? Without that amazing biological feature, my head might well have fallen off by now.
Of course that would make me more aerodynamic, and less of an idiot!
So that's it! Too much eh? I'm counting my blessings today!
And after I got off the phone with the doctors office, I managed to get a decent workout in, and despite the distraction, never fell off my bike once! Yippee!
computrainer 90 mins, 60 mins at 160 watts
"Good health and good sense are two of life's greatest blessings."---Publilius Syrus
Love
Peter
Let me set the stage for you. I was riding my bike in the basement when my cell phone rang. I was still only in my warm up, so I decided to have a look, and lo and behold it was the doctors office. One of the things I appreciate the most about my GP is that he communicates. Of course he never phones himself, but the staff does a great job in followup to his instructions. Just 2 days ago they called to tell me that my cortisol levels were fine, since that was something I had specifically asked him to check. I didn't however expect to hear from them again, since the only other test that was still outstanding was my chest x-ray, which by the way was at his request, not mine. I also know why he wanted it, even though he didn't say as much. He got spooked by my ongoing cough combined with all my other symptoms, and combined with my cancer history. I knew he was out to lunch, but I suppose he still he had to check. And before I go any further please know that the call was indeed about my chest x-ray, and please know that one more time I was right! Lungs are perfectly clear!
So now I got you wondering eh? And again before I go any further, please know that there is nothing else wrong with me either.
Nope! All is good!
And yet!
They made a very interesting discovery.
And while I didn't actually say "you've got to be fucking kidding me" to the nice lady on the phone, that's exactly what I was thinking. She wanted to know if I was interested in getting a bone density check done?
Why you say?
Yes. "Why", I said!
"Well because you have a healed over compression fracture in your upper back!!!"
"You've got to be fucking kidding me!"
Nope! No kidding. My T1 vertebra (T is for thoracic) has at some point. probably in the past year or two, suffered a distinct compression fracture. T1 is the upper thoracic vertebra just below the neck.
The lady asked me if I had suffered any falls or been in an accident within that time frame.
The funny thing is it took a few seconds for it to sink in. My very first reaction was that nothing like that has ever happened to me.
Then it hit me like the proverbial ton of bricks.
On august 18th of 2013, I fell off my bike in Mont Tremblant, Quebec, and broke my freakin back!!
It all makes perfect sense. The way I landed on my head and shoulders would indeed have put tremendous pressure on my spine. It hurts all over again just thinking about it.
I am in awe!
I remember being so annoyed when the ambulance people strapped me to that board since I knew better than them. Maybe not eh?
And I have since learned from Cory that I probably wasn't in any real danger based on the particular bone that was broken, and the fact that it was a compression fracture. Where my good fortune came in is that it was not one of the cervical vertebrae, the ones immediately above T1. Apparently breaking one of those means you come home in a box, or in a wheel chair!! Phew!!
So the whole thing has made for a surreal kind of day. It initially scared me a little bit knowing how close I was to a serious injury, but once I got over that I was more grateful than scared. I'm actually glad that I didn't know at the time, because it would probably have made me a little gun shy. Even from the perspective of managing the rest of that day in Tremblant, it was good not to know. I would probably have been stuck in the hospital for at least that night, while Roo would have been stuck with the grandchildren and the RV. Just as importantly we would probably have come straight home when we could, instead of having a wonderful vacation on PEI.
And this may seem like a stretch, but I'm also glad I didn't have an excuse to get more of those oxy-contins they gave me. Believe me, I would have used it!!
And the broken back also brings to mind another issue that now seems more than coincidental. I'm suddenly sure that the bike problem that surfaced just a couple of months ago was as result of the same crash. Based on where the carbon fibre finally gave way, it makes as much sense as my back injury. Isn't it a wonderful thing that unlike carbon fibre, the human skeleton can repair itself? Without that amazing biological feature, my head might well have fallen off by now.
Of course that would make me more aerodynamic, and less of an idiot!
So that's it! Too much eh? I'm counting my blessings today!
And after I got off the phone with the doctors office, I managed to get a decent workout in, and despite the distraction, never fell off my bike once! Yippee!
computrainer 90 mins, 60 mins at 160 watts
"Good health and good sense are two of life's greatest blessings."---Publilius Syrus
Love
Peter
Sounds like a good day to me! Chest x-ray all clear... and you can feel good about being right and not the doc!! :P And I'm glad you have something very tangible to be grateful for in terms of health news. I'm also often amazed at the healing power of the body - even just scraping my arm or something, when I see how it's healing and building new tissue and stuff - mind blown.
ReplyDeleteLove,
Michael
Glad to hear you're healthy. I should look into a density scan myself...
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear you're healthy. I should look into a density scan myself...
ReplyDelete