My husband said that to me many many times. He’s also very very careful so I never thought anything would ever happen to him, no matter how many times he’d say it. Then he’d tell me about reading on facebook that so or so had a crash. Noooo, that’ll never happen to him.

Also, I had told him many times that the bike stuff scares me, so I knew he was being careful, because, Pre forbid, something happened to him on the bike, I’ll never be ok with it again…. he was extra careful.

Come Tuesday morning, August 19th, when I get woken up at 6 am “I just crashed my bike. I have to go to the hospital. I am fucked up“.

Earlier that day, around 5:30 am, a waimaraner off-leash, coming from a bend, got right in front of his bike. He only had the one second to spot him and hit the brakes because another Ironman was staring at it in horror and at Juan back and forth and that’s how Juan had that extra second to brake. Still, at 25 mph, it’s hard to stop a cervelo so he flew off the bike. As soon as he hit the road, the Ironman was there, our friend Cara, and a police car who was sitting on Juan’s back for a few miles (hoping he’d push the max speed? No Way!)

The policemen were ready to call him an ambulance. Cara was ready to call me or take his bike. He would have none of that. His thinking was that if he didn’t see me and someone told me he had an accident I’d freak the efff out (true!) so he asked for help to get up (which is when he noticed he was all messed up as he couldn’t grab anyone’s hand) and swore (lied!) that he was ok and rode the bike back home, knowing his shoulder was broken. He then brought the bike up four floors and sat in the couch hoping it’s all go away. It wasn’t going away and had the genius idea to wake me up to go the hospital, he was afraid he’d pass out and I’d have to find him unconscious on the floor.

He wakes me up, I  freak out and 10 minutes later we were at Mount Sinai. We run into another friend there, nurse Kat, in the middle of her shift. Luckily, the ER was empty and we got attention in minutes.

They did xrays and stuff. First they said his right shoulder was dislocated and they’d sedate him to get him loose and they’d put it back where it was (he then made me swear I wouldn’t let them put him to sleep for that “I gotta take all the pain, it’s just gonna make me stronger!” ugh). Then more xrays, right clavicle: broken. I asked if they could check his left hand, it was swelling fast. Broken too. In a minute they had put a sling so he couldn’t bend his left hand… ugh.

We wait, we wait. percocet is starting kick in but he’s in major pain… I had broken a clavicle before (plus all sorts of bones) and I know it’s no biggie, it barely hurts. He’s in some major pain though. Crazy, because he can take pain. He loves pain. He lives with me after all!!! But this is different… I had a tough time seeing him suffer, he never ever suffers or complains. So weird.

At about 1 pm we go home, and he’s a bit useless. He can’t move anything in the right side, everything hurts, and he can’t use the left hand other than the tips of his fingers, so getting a shirt in or out is so hard and painful. Eating is challenging, pizza everyday people!!!  Worst part is, he needs to stay put!! And for someone like him, who never rests, with an insane amount of energy, that’s almost impossible to comprehend! how do I get him to stay put??? the drugs are not doing much to numb the pain or make him sleepy!!!! UGH

He also couldn’t talk or laugh much as his ribs hurt a lot. He bruised them badly and the area around it. This turned QUITE purple a few days after.

That shoulder pain was crazy!! I had broken a clavicle and barely felt it, why is he in so much pain??? I couldn’t figure it out. He got so sick of the pain that two days later we saw a sports orthopedist. Well, here’s the kick, he broke the clavicle in two places, so they whole shoulder was pretty much hanging. The bit broken in the middle was a bit lifted and so far that it would be quite hard for it to heal on its own, so the Dr. gave us the choice: wait 4-6 months and see how it heals, or do the surgery now and make sure it heals properly. If we waited and it didn’t heal properly, they’d have to go in, break the bone, fix it and wait for it to heal again. I told him it was his decision. He was all drugged up so we made the decision together to get the surgery. ASAP.

ASAP was a week later, so we had to wait a whole week for him to get any pain relief. He had a good day, Monday morning, and he felt he could go to the office. I wasn’t going to fight him on that. But I really wanted to. And I was going bunker all the time he wasn’t home. He can barely stay up at home or say a full sentence and now he’s around!??!??! Crazy man!!! After 4 hours he started to get really tired and the sling was making him hurt so he went back home, phew.

Tuesday was double the pain, for some reason. Wednesday: surgery time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! As nervous as any surgery makes me, I was happy he was going to be put back together and hopefully start healing! No food or drugs past midnight on Tuesday so he was in major pain Wednesday morning. Ugh, this needs to stop!

They told us to get there at 9:30 am, they took us in at 10:00 by 10:40 they put him in the stretcher, there was still someone ahead… I heard nothing until 1:30 pm, when the doctor came out with these pictures and made me a little drawing to explain how loose and up and twisted the little loose piece was. Surgery took two hours. He said it was quite probable not going to heal well if we didn’t have the surgery as the loose bit of bone was quite twisted and out of place. One more hour till he’d wake up.

Seven screws!! Apparently, it was tough to get it all in place!!! now he has a huuuuuge bumpy bandage thing on the shoulder (I was barely able to put his shirt on one side to get him in a cab!!) and MORE MORE pain. When he woke up he told the nurse to shut up and get him food, hahahahahaaaaaa! crazy man.

As he hadn’t eaten all day, I wanted to make sure he had energy to go up all 4 flights of stairs… Nurse said no food until he was home… Emmm, how am I gonna get him home, he needs food!!! When I was changing him, I sneaked a few spoonfuls of nutella!!! yey! Instantly he felt better!

Now we wait until the bones seal up in place, and then hopefully the mega pain stops. He had so much pain he didn’t sleep a second last night 😦 but hoping it all gets better soon.

And, yes, of course he’s gonna get back on that bike as soon as he can. Hopefully, he’ll be back in 2 to 4 months… we’re more concerned about his swimming but I expect he’ll be ok and have all sort of movement from what the doctor said… YEY.

—–

Now, I left him alone very little in the last week, mostly for grocery shopping, to get pizza or for my run. Usually because I am overwhelming him!! Last Saturday I attempted my first long run in a while and I had a GREAT run!!! wohoooo. It was SO fast, for my standards that I’ve gone back to look at it a few times. Blaise and Patricia, literally made my feet bleed into the ground!!! Last mile was 7:32, whaaaaaat?