Turns out you don’t need to be directly involved in a traccif incident to have medical issues from the incident.

Thursday, May 12, 2016 – I was riding home, minding my own business, when a car driven by an incompetent idiot swerved and slid sideways and backwards across two lanes of traffic, the center turn lane, and part of the oncoming lane of traffic on west bound Glendale Avenue. The back of this moron’s car swiped two oncoming vehicles, and then the idiot took off. In the men time, the traffic ahead of me went from 40 to zero rather quickly. Even though I had a safe following distance, I still felt it prudent to swerve out from behind the car ahead of me to avoid the car behind me smashing into me. In the process of the avoidance, my left foot touched the ground. I was still doing about 25 miles per hour. The bike stayed up, I came to a full and complete and safe stop in the middle turn lane, and I twisted me left knee. Badly.

At a full stop, I realized my knee hurt a lot. I couldn’t put pressure on my left leg to, say, put down the kickstand. Well, not easily. Despite the beautiful weather, I was sweating bullets by the time I got the kickstand down and I had gotten off the bike. My left leg could not take any weight. My knee was quickly swelling to the size of a softball.

It was determined by all involved (the two vehicles headed east that had been hit turned around to see if the guy had stuck around) that the driver had not had human parents. It was also determined that we were all on our own for insurance reasons. I had to get myself and the bike home. Getting back on wasn’t the problem, I could do an off-side mount (think horse riding). Getting the kickstand up was a pain. Literally. Once I got rolling, I thanked the makers of Yamaha for making the heel-and-toe shifter fairly standard equipment on the V-Star line of bikes.

Once I was home, I got inside the house, let the dogs out, and went out to the garage to bring the bike in. Having to back the bike in, under normal conditions, is no problem. Backing in the bike while not being able to use your left leg for strength, stability, or power makes it a little trickier. Doing all this while your wife is watching from the driver’s seat of her vehicle because she happened to pull in as you were in the middle of this, and trying not to show how hurt you really are, is impossible. I cried, real tears, as I finished backing the bike into place. She parked her car, asked me what happened, and decreed that a visit to the ER was in my immediate future.

I was in no position to argue, as I still hadn’t gotten off the bike.

MEG was dispatched into the master closet, where a pair of crutches had been stored from another knee issue many moons ago. At the ER, it was determined that nothing was broken. I left the VA with a knee immobilizing brace. A few weeks later, the MRI showed that while nothing was broken broken, there were bone chips that were healing nicely where the ACL and the MCL were nearly torn from their anchor points. The MRI also showed bone bruising on the inside of the femur where it struck the outside of the tibia. Told you I twisted it badly. The Ortho specialists determined that a hinged knee brace for four weeks, without the crutches, would be sufficient for healing the knee.

My beautiful bride is of the opinion that four weeks is not enough before I get back on the bik, and has determined that eight weeks would be better. Since I love her more than I love the Ortho specialists, I will acquiesce to her requests. The bike remains parked.

Chat ya later…

Thanks for stopping by, In GOD We Trust, and Wear Red on Fridays!

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