One year ago today.....................

........... I was the passenger in an awful car accident. We were driving along 231, heading back home from a day at PC when a little old lady in her BIG old Cadillac decided to shoot across the street to the median from a side road. Unfortunately, she could not see us because we were in the inside lane.... long story short, the driver expertly swerved to avoid t-boning this lady - which saved her life -and we went for a little joy ride. We went airborne for what seemed like eternity, but in reality was only seconds. We landed on the concrete and the sound of the crunching metal will never leave me, it was awesomely horrific. We proceeded to flip three times and stopped facing oncoming traffic on the opposite side of the road. It sounds like I am talking about a story I heard on the news, not something I lived through. It is surreal. The driver and I are blessed to be alive and with our families, all in one piece.

I will not go into detail about the rest of that awful day because I do not like to relive it. Although there is one memory that always stands out in my head. I am strapped to a stretcher laying in the median and there is a girl holding my hand. She was in the car right behind us and saw the whole thing. We are waiting for the police to use the JAWS to get the driver out, her door was crushed shut. (did you know they actually tape your head down to the stretcher?)Anyway, the girl says to me "Man, you guys were in the air for a LONG TIME." Yeah, we were....

So, here I am in the picture below in my traction unit. What is wrong with me? From that experience I walked away with two bulging discs in my neck and WHIPLASH. I have been in physical therapy this whole year. I have had acupuncture, craniosacrial massage, therapeutic massage and chiropractic care. As of June 1st, they suspended it for two months, to see how I would do.

I learned ..

• You have neck muscles that go all the way to the middle of your back. when I say "my neck hurts", I mean all the muscles starting at my shoulder blades and up to my neck, all the muscles on the top of my shoulders and all the muscles in my chest, down to my "tata's". It is awfully painful.
• what referred pain is. When they work on my muscles, I have pain in other parts of my body.... referred pain... nice.
• whiplash is a real injury. It is an unseen one, so you really get no sympathy. Kinda like a paper cut, it really hurts, but nobody feels sorry for you. I am in pain everyday of my life in one of the many muscles that surround my neck, but because it is not "visible" my family does not really understand. Now, if I had sling or a cast... then that would be something.
• It is very easy to re-injure yourself after you get injured. Two or three times I have gotten better only to over-do-it a little and be back in ultimate pain again. Then I have to up my physical therapy to three times a week.... it totally sucks.
• I learned how to sit, stand, drive and hold my baby. When you have an injury, your body changes to fit that injury. So I have to constantly think about how I sit, stand and lay. Basically, posture. If I dont sit a certain way, I start to ache after ten minutes. When I go to bed, I sleep on my side with a pillow between my legs and a pillow under my arm. That is all to keep my neck and shoulders in line. When I don't I wake up in the night in terrible pain. I mean, it is a constant thing to think about your alignment, trying to "retrain" your body to adjust itself. But it has become a way of life for me.............

How am I really doing now? Not so good. I am doing therapy at home, that is basically all that happened when they suspended it, cause I am still in pain everyday. Of course, it is nothing like the pain I was in for the first six months after the accident - nowhere near that level. I just HURT in some of those muscles at some point every day. I have three things I can do to relieve it

1. I use "wet heat". Apparently it is not good to use heating pads.. something I learned in therapy. I have the kind of pad you heat up in the microwave, and it is cloth, so you wet it.
2. I take a hot shower. That is a quick fix, it really only relaxes my muscles. They tighten up to the point that I just cry sometimes. So, a quick hop in the shower will help.
3. I get Alysha to massage it. She has become an expert at massaging out the knots. That is my biggest problem and causes all my pain. The KNOTS. Alysha has gotten really good at massaging them out - unfortunately she thinks it is gross. My muscles get so many that it tightens up to the point that I cannot handle the pain. Which is what my therapist always took care of it.
4. When all else fails, I get in a hot bath. That will relax them even more. But I only do that once a week, it takes to much work.

That is me sitting in the traction unit. It is supposed to pull my neck up so that my discs will pop back in place.