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Thursday, November 19, 2009
I present an update in response to (semi) popular demand!
Broken back
It's still sore. Not so much if I am lying flat on the ground, but rolling over onto my side, standing for longish periods of time and sitting for any amount of time still gives me some pain. I still have to squat if I want to pick something up - no bending at the waist. And no twisting of any kind, so no looking over my shoulder or anything. And I can't drop my chin to my chest or look downwards too quickly; I fell asleep on a plane on Saturday and woke up to screaming pain when my head dropped forward. Ouch!
I get xrays taken every two weeks, and the doctor has said every week that they show no change. That's kind of depressing to hear, but he assures me that 'no change' is good. It looks to me like the cracks have healed, so I think he is talking about the height of the squashed vertebrae. But I thought I remembered hearing or reading that the bones won't return to their original height without surgery? I will have to ask him more about it at our appointment next Wednesday. I guess I will be learning some new Japanese vocab before then!
My left shoulder (which took the force of the truck) is still sore. I have to be careful not to put too much weight on it when I sit up from lying down, and to avoid moving it in certain ways.
Treatment
I am still going to physical therapy - or "rehabili", as they call it here - twice a week. At first, this involved just lying still while my doctor manipulated my back, left shoulder and right hand thumb (the lower joint and surrounding tissue were damaged when it was slammed against my right aerobar extension in the crash). Then I progressed to breathing exercises which aimed to strengthen my abdominals and the small muscles of my back. Then I moved onto isometric, pilates-type exercises for my back. Then crawling on the floor like a baby. Then, to my excitement, the exercise bike!
I have only used the exercise bike three times so far. I rode 10 minutes for the first couple of times. On the third time, I advanced to 15 minutes! I was excited about my stellar progress until my heart rate climbed so high after 10 minutes that the machine shut down and locked me into cool down mode! For a girl who regularly rode up to six or seven hours, this was pretty disheartening. Current fitness = zero.
I take multivitamins, calcium, and L-lysine everyday (I read early on that L-lysine helps your body to absorb more calcium and it also promotes the formation of muscle protein). I also try to eat a balanced diet, drink a lot of water and avoid too much booze and caffeine.
I am also still wearing my very attractive back brace constantly except for when I am sleeping. Aside from being uncomfortable, it also limits the clothes that I can wear because it is too bulky to fit under a lot of my tops. I am resigned to wearing old race shirts most of the time.
Compensation money
Apparently there is a lawyer here retained by the local government for it's employees, or something like that. All I know is that my supervisor told me that this guy will help me for free. Unfortunately he won't see me until my rehabili is finished, and I have no idea when that will be.
I have read in a lot of places that this is the only way to go, because then you'll know the full extent of your injuries before discussing compensation. I know it makes sense, but it is frustrating. I want to start asking some questions. I'm also worried that there are things that I should have been doing this whole time to help my compensation case, but I haven't known to do them because I haven't had advice from a lawyer.
For example, I read online somewhere that you should keep a mileage diary of all the times you have to travel to the hospital or rehabilitation and add this to your claim. So I started a diary. Then I met with my supervisor last week to look over one of the perp's insurance forms, and it had a section for reporting mileage! I would never have known to do that if I hadn't researched traffic collision compensation claims online.
Broken bike
Towards the end of my hospital stay, my supervisor brought me a quote from the bike shop for a replacement bike. I think it was for 420,000 yen or something ($AU 5080). This amount covered the frame, aerobars and wheels. Unfortunately for the perp, the aerobars which I had found on eBay for $US 200 are sold in Japan for $US 1000. The replacement frame and wheels are also more expensive to buy here. I still hadn't seen the bike in person, but figured that I could get a new bike together with that much money so I said it was ok to show the quote to the perp.
The day after being discharged from hospital, I went to check out the bike myself. I found that my left pedal and brake lever were pretty scratched up. The seat was marked, but it was nothing too obvious. I also realised that I should probably include my smashed sunglasses and helmet in the quote, too.
I have since had my supervisor come to the bike shop and agree to have those things added to the quote. I recently remembered that I was charged 20,000 yen for service when the mechanic put my bike together for me. There's no reason why the shop should have to build the replacement bike out of charity, so I think this amount should be added to the quote too. I haven't talked to my supervisor about that yet though. I guess that will make the final quote close to 500,000 yen ($AU 6050). He picked the wrong bike to crash into!
Because I can't speak to a lawyer yet, there is no saying when I will get this money for a new bike. I am keen to ask whether I could get the bike money before the rest of the compensation money. If that's not possible, my options are to either buy a new bike myself and wait to be reimbursed, or to fix up a couple of things on my old bike and ride that until the money comes through.
Training
In short, there is no training to speak of. My doctor has told me for three consecutive visits that I should be able to start swimming in two weeks. Then I see him for the next appointment and he postpones it.
The main trouble with swimming, which is the first sport that I will be able to return to, is that it requires you to twist your back so that you can breathe. I wore a snorkel in the pool once to get around that problem but the pool staff told me off. I have also tried backstroke to eliminate the whole breathing problem, but it was tough on my shoulder.
I have been walking in the pool for 30 minutes three times a week for about a month now. It's not exactly thrilling exercise, but it was good to break up the monotony of lying on my floor all day, and to feel like I was doing something active to help my recovery.
As of last week, the doctor said I could try walking outside for exercise. He suggested starting at 20 minutes twice a week and increasing that if there were no problems. My first 20-minute walk was fine, so I walked for 25 minutes the second time, and then 30 minutes the next time. I've only walked three times so far.
Weight
I have only technically put on one kilogram since I was admitted to hospital. That's pretty good going considering that I spent two solid months lying on my back and eating the delicious contents of care packages. But while the scale shows a difference of just one kilo, my body shape tells a different story. Fat is lighter than muscle, so my theory is that I've lost basically all of my hard-earned muscle and replaced it with way more than 1kg of fat.
There is unfortunately not much that I can do about the dismal lack of muscle at the moment, but I can probably stop any further weight gain by reigning in what I eat. I started tracking my calories in Calorie King again on Monday (I used Calorie King for a year to help me lose the 28kg that I have been slowly putting back on).
Work
My doctor told me two and a half weeks ago that I could return to work this Monday. I forgot to confirm that with him at our appointment last Tuesday but I decided to sack up and give it a go.
I had four classes on Monday, which were a combination of regular classes and judging skit contests. So a mix of standing and sitting in classes, and then a lot of sitting in the staffroom when I wasn't busy. The sitting was actually worst because I guess that when you're standing, your legs hold a heap of weight - there would be less pressure on the spine, I think. Plus the school chairs are terrible. I ended up being so sore at the end of my classes.
I left school at about 2:30pm and went home and cried hysterically to Stuart. I had it in my head that returning to school was a milestone, that it meant I was getting better. But I felt so terrible afterwards that it was all a bit letdown. I wailed to Stuart that I was so sick of it all, and wondered how long it would be until I could sit in a chair without having to think about 10 different variables first!
I had a rehabili appointment that afternoon at 4:30pm and really didn't want to go. But I gave myself a stern talking to, deciding that treatment is probably most necessary when the injury is so sore. So off I went to the appointment... and embarrassingly started crying part way through the session! I had pretty much recovered and was rushing to leave the clinic when a friend who happened to be in the waiting room called my name. As soon as I saw him, I burst into tears again and he had to calm me down. Then I was almost ok and was again leaving the clinic when I bumped into a lady from the Board of Education and I started crying all over again. Argh!
Tuesday was better. I left school at lunch time and came home to rest. But yesterday morning I was sore when I woke up. It wasn't a crippling pain but I knew I'd be in pain by mid-morning after sitting in the dodgy chairs, so I took the day off. I spent most of the day lying on the futon with my cat and willing my back to be less painful. I also called my supervisor and said that I'd like to just do half days until my back adjusts to all of the extra action.
I felt good this morning and came to work, ready to face my four classes. So far, three of four have been cancelled. That has meant A LOT of time sitting at my desk in this crappy chair. Plus there is an English presentation from 2pm, so I'll be here for the whole day today.
My teacher from tomorrow's school emailed me and said that the school will be closed because half of the students have the flu! Poor kids. But it's good news for me because I get to stay home and rest, and maybe do some water walking in the pool. Exciting stuff.
Life in general
One upside to having two months of forced inactivity is that it gave me a lot of time to think. My job here finishes next July, so Stuart and I will be packing up our cat and our house full of stuff and returning to Melbourne. When we arrive, we won't have a house. I won't have a job or a car. And until recently, I had given this situation a disturbingly small amount of consideration.
I have been using the last few weeks of time spent flat on my back to think about it all, and have come up with the following:
- I want to do a graduate diploma when I get back so that I can continue teaching.
- I don't think I like teenagers enough to want to teach them full-time, so primary teaching would be a better choice for me.
- I need to save some cash to prepare us for this move, and so that I have the money to pay for the said diploma in cash.
- Rent is extortionate in Melbourne. If monthly rent costs almost as much as a mortgage payment does, I'd rather be paying off our own house.
- We're not in a position to buy a house right now, but we might be once I have finished my studies and started in a steady teaching position.
- That will only be two or three years away, so I need to start thinking more seriously about getting a decent house deposit together.
That's all I've got so far.
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Tuesday, October 13, 2009
I had been meaning to write about my new bike for months. Seriously. It was even on my 'to do' list for the day I crashed. Sadly the post has to be about my dead new bike now, but it's still a post I feel compelled to write.
When I bought my first road bike in June of 2007, I wasn't after anything fancy. I didn't even really know what a fancy bike entailed. I just wanted a cheap bike that I could use to train for, and compete in, the following year's Strongman triathlon. One doubtful friend even encouraged me to buy a mountain bike or a hybrid, since I might find that I didn't like the idea of triathlons after all.
Haha.
HA HA HA.
I ended up doing nine triathlons and around 6000km on that bike in the two years that I rode it.
I had the feeling that I was outgrowing my $600 bike before this year's Strongman, but I didn't for a second entertain the thought of buying a new one. My plan was always to sell or give away this bike before leaving Japan, and to buy a new one when home in Melbourne. That way I wouldn't have to pay to ship a bike home. Plus I could make sure that I was definitely committed to continuing the sport in Australia before spending a fortune on a fancy bike. Well that was the plan until May or so, post-Strongman.
I had such a torturous ride in the race this year. I cried, for God's sake! I think most of it can be put down to the strong winds, the fact that I had only three hours sleep the night before, and the bad case of the flu I had suffered through a few weeks before the race. I was also 4kg heavier this year, which wouldn't have helped. But I kept thinking that surely, surely, my heavy aluminium bike wasn't helping my cause.
Once I started thinking about it, I came up with a heap of reasons why it would be better to buy a bike while still in Japan.
- I have more disposable income here than I'll probably ever have in Australia.
- I could use the bike for the Tokunoshima triathlon in late June.
- I would be able to ride the bike for a full year before leaving. And I really didn't want to have to ride my current bike for another year.
- I could do the 2010 Strongman on it.
- A new bike would motivate me to ride like nothing else could.
It started to seem stupid to not buy a bike here.
I had remarked to Stuart some time ago that if I ever did buy a fancy triathlon bike, I'd be tempted to get a Ceepo. This was surely because I was brainwashed by their tent at the Strongman expo; I'd never done any actual research into triathlon bikes and didn't know shit about them. But Ceepo seemed like a good place to start looking.
Just a few clicks into my internet search, I came across the Ceepo Vixen.
My, oh my.
I know, right? It was love at first sight.
I hadn't given myself a definite price range for the new bike, but I thought I could probably get something that would suit me for $1500 - $2000. Well, I read that the Vixen was around $3000 but that didn't stop me from obsessing over it. I decided to visit the local bike shop to ask a few questions.
Bad news #1: Vixen was a limited edition and was sold out in Japan.
Bad news #2: Umm, yeah. That $3000 price tag was for the frame only.
For some strange reason, I wasn't deterred. Love will make you do strange things.
I emailed the Ceepo dealer in Melbourne to ask whether he had one of the frames. He said he didn't have one in stock, but could have one within ten days if I placed an order. I deliberated for a week or so. It was kind of terrifying to commit to buying such an expensive frame, and knowing that the expense wouldn't end there - I'd have to buy thousands of dollars worth of parts for it before I'd have a usable bike. Eventually swayed by the idea of having a new bike for the Tokunoshima triathlon in late June, I placed an order.
Ten days came and went. Then fifteen. Apparently the frame had been sent from America without a shipping number. Aargh! When it had been about 20 days, I was told that the bike had finally cleared customs. Surely it couldn't be much longer? Well actually, it could. Because the bike was sent to Melbourne via Sydney and then Brisbane!
Days later, the frame still hadn't turned up in Melbourne. It had become clear that I wouldn't have the bike in time for my race, and I was pissed off enough with the whole situation to cancel my order and get a refund.
I started thinking that maybe I had dodged a bullet. Did I really need a $5000 bike? Probably not. And choosing all of the parts myself was sure to be a pain in the arse. Maybe it had worked out for the best. I had pretty much talked myself out of buying such an expensive bike but that soon changed when I had an opportunity to actually ride a Ceepo for the first time.
I had organised a sprint triathlon for my 30th birthday in late June and invited a few Strongman friends along. Emiko turned up on a shiny yellow Stinger that I didn't even know she owned, and kindly obliged when I asked to try it out. I couldn't believe how light it was - kind of like riding a kids' bike. And so smooth! Coming from my heavy old road bike, it was like riding on air! Here's a photo of me pretending that it's mine:
A week later, I went on to use my old bike for Tokunoshima triathlon. I cursed its weight on each of the many hills on the 75km bike course.
You know what really sucked though? Looking over Stu's photos of random athletes after the race and coming across this woman who seemed to be loving life on her CEEPO VIXEN.
Bitch.
I kept wishing that I had seen the Vixen in person and maybe even had the chance to con this stranger into letting me ride her bike. Oh well. With no more races on the agenda for a while, I could take my time looking for a bike. The Vixen always stayed in my mind but I looked at a heap of other bikes, too.
I was pretty sold on the Felt B12 for a while. It seemed like a great value bike, and all of the reviews were good. Plus I liked the idea of buying a complete bike rather than dicking around with choosing and finding all of the parts myself. But unfortunately for the B12, it looked kind of boring.
Another frontrunner was a second-hand white Ceepo TT Killer that I found on Yahoo Auctions here in Japan. The frame was in my size, had only done 60km and was being sold complete with CKT aerobars and full Dura-Ace components. It seemed perfect except that the asking price was a bit too high for me. I tried bartering with the seller over the course of a few weeks but they didn't really seem to grasp the concept of bargaining. My offer went up, his price stayed the same. Then my offer went up again, his price stayed the same.
I realised at some point that if my offer went much higher, I'd be pretty much paying the price of a Vixen frame plus all the parts I would need. Would it be dumb to buy a second-hand bike for the cost of a new one, even if the second-hand bike had better components?
I spent countless hours reading reviews, comparing photos, and laying awake at night thinking about it all. Crippled by indecision, quickly running out of friends and family who could tolerate my whining, I did the only thing I could do: made a list of pros and cons.
My chart was fantastic. I gave each of my three top bikes scores out of ten for many variables. I emailed it to Stuart for further input. I spent hours staring at it. Unfortunately, it didn't help at all.
One day, soon after arriving home from school, I just snapped. How long had this bullshit been going on?! I had the money; I knew I was going to buy a bike - I just had to make a damn decision! Or better yet, have someone else make one for me! I grabbed my laptop and drove up to the bike shop. Poor Watanabe didn't know what had hit him when I set up my laptop on the counter and began talking him through the pros and cons list with the visual aid of the many Firefox tabs I had open.
When I asked for his opinion about it all, he was pretty convinced that I should go for the Vixen. He said the B12 is a great bike - so great that it was close to being sold out in Japan - but worried that my predilection for neon pink bikes might leave me a bit bored with a silver and black frame.
He thought the TT Killer sounded like a good deal but was worried about buying a second-hand carbon bike. If it had been in a crash, even an insignificant one which didn't leave a scratch on it, there was a chance that the frame could be damaged and weakened. We had no way of knowing that the seller was being honest about it's condition. I can't help but think that his reasoning was influenced by the general skepticism that the Japanese seem to have for second-hand goods, but had to agree that he had a point.
His final advice was that since I'd loved the Vixen since I first saw it, and had always had it in the back of my mind, I would probably regret not buying it at some point if I went with another bike. He thought the hassle of researching and buying the parts would be worth it if I ended up with a bike that I loved. I agreed. I went home and emailed Matt, the Australian Ceepo dealer, with my order for one Vixen frame. (!)
I organised for my Mum to collect the frame and bring it to Japan when she visited me in early August. Next came all the research about wheels, seats, handlebars, components. I had next to know knowledge about any of it, and the only thing guiding me was that I wanted the complete bike to look as much like the bike in this picture as possible:
I already knew that I wanted Shimano Ultegra SL components. The grey colour is cool and I thought it would look best with the frame. I considered ordering the components in Australia but found out that they were cheaper in Japan, so I ordered them with Watanabe. Except for the rear derailleur, which was apparently "out of stock in Japan". I thought that I would have to consider buying one on eBay and paying import taxes on the part, but I actually found one right away in a Japanese online bike store. I was thrilled when I received the part in the mail - the very first piece of my bike!
Next was the saddle. If my saddle had been perfect on my old bike, I would have just pulled it off and used it on the Vixen (henceforth referred to as the name I came to know it by: Pinky). But sadly, it was far from perfect. It used to leave me very sore after long rides until I had the brainwave to point the nose downward. Now I've read plenty of times that pointing the nose downward is not a good move, and I could definitely feel my quads having to work harder with it in that position, but it was better than the alternative.
I had read stories online about people who spent thousands of dollars in their search for the perfect saddle, and I was determined not to become one of them. So I trawled websites and forums and did a lot of Google searches based on variations of the phrase " the best triathlon saddle for women". My research turned up a lot of options but one of them stood out as the clear winner: Cobb Cycling's V-Flow Plus.
Here's why:
- I wanted a white saddle so my bike would look like the one in the picture.
- I read rave reviews about a lot of seats, but this was the only contender that I couldn't find a negative review for. Well, a couple of people commented that it was too padded for them, but that's more an issue of preference rather than a problem with the design of the seat.
- There was a lot of positive feedback about the company's customer service.
- They have a 180-day comfort guarantee (full refund with no questions asked)
- They send you a free tool kit and seat installation DVD.
(For the record, I love this seat. There was no breaking in period - it was just comfortable from the start. Anyone who has had trouble with 'soft tissue discomfort' should definitely consider trying one of the three Cobb Cycling saddles. Their customer service was also outstanding.)
I was still committed to making my bike look like the one in the picture, but I was also realistic. No Zipp wheels for me. I knew I wanted something with a deep rim though, and rims without any red deacals on them (couldn't have them clashing with the pink paintwork). I figured that I could get some decent 30 or 40mm wheels for around $600, so I started the hunt online.
Same story as the seat; I read about a million reviews. I'd say the feedback about wheels was even more confusing than the seats though - a negative review for every positive one. I had kind of decided on getting some Easton wheels from within Japan, but then I made a snap decision which ended up working out very well for me.
I saw some FSA RD-400 wheels listed by a bike shop on Ebay Australia. These retail for about $850 or something in Australia I think, but the starting bid was $500 including two nice tyres and tubes. I had been checking Australian eBay regularly, thinking that I could ask my mum to bring over any bargains which turned up. Buying these wheels seemed a bit risky though - the auction finished the morning before my mum would fly out of Australia, and they were also in a city which was a few hours' drive from Melbourne.
I checked out courier schedules and prices, but none of them looked like they could get the wheels to Melbourne before the flight. Oh well. I decided that I would place a bid and hope for the best. I figured that if Mum couldn't get the wheels in time, I could always have someone else post them to me. It would still work out cheaper than the equivalent wheels here in Japan.
Very hungover, I checked my mail the following morning. Oh shit. I'd won the wheels! Aargh!
I got chatting to Mum online and she called the bike shop for me. It was my lucky day because they said they had a supplier from Melbourne scheduled to visit the store that afternoon, and he could take the wheels back to Melbourne with him!
Mum and Paul drove over to the guy's place later that evening, the night before her flight, and picked up the wheels. They stuck with family tradition and gave him a few steaks for his trouble.
A couple of days later, I had my bike frame! And my wheels!
 Stuart and I had met up with Mum and Paul in Naha for some sightseeing. I was very eager to get back home to Miyako so I could deliver everything to Watanabe. Not long until I would have a bike! Oh shit: no aerobars yet.
Out of all of the parts, I had probably done the most research on aerobars. But the more I read, the more confused I was. It had been impossible for me to make a decision! Suddenly, I didn't care how confused I was. I decided I would check eBay and buy the first affordable integrated carbon bars that I could find.
Again, luck was on my side. An American bike shop was selling BBB integrated carbon bars for $300 or best offer. I offered $200 and hoped for the best. They accepted! And a week or so later, the final part for my bike arrived in the mail.
 (By the way, I recently found out that these bars retail for over $1000 in Japan!).
Watanabe was busy putting together another bike for about a week after we returned to Miyako. When he eventually got started on mine, I visited the shop around a million times with questions and to check my position on the bike.
 I could hardly believe it was true, but one rainy Saturday night in late August (about four months after I decided that I wanted it), I FINALLY GOT MY BIKE! PINKY!
I went on a group ride with Watanabe and some other bike shop customers the following morning at 7am. Yes, I was keen. We rode 40km and it was awesome.
Here's the only photo I have of Pinky out on the road:
 During summer, it was too hot to ride unless I left very early in the morning. So yeah, that didn't happen much. But when September rolled around and school started again, I decided that I would take advantage of the cooler weather (and lose some of the summer pounds) by riding to school a few times a week.
And...yep. You know the rest. Got hit by a car and Pinky was destroyed.
We only ever got to ride 160km together.
And Vixen frames are sold out everywhere now.
It fucking sux.
Tuesday, October 06, 2009
I know, I know: first things first.
I'm not getting ahead of myself. I'm not rushing my recovery. I am still laying down for about 22 hours a day. But I did pick up an application for next year's Strongman after my rehabilitation session yesterday.
I figure that the applications are due by the end of next month, but the final confirmation and payment isn't until late December or maybe even early January.
I'll apply now, just in case. And I'll make the real decision (based on my condition) in December.
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Thursday, October 01, 2009
I am thankfully out of the hospital and relaxing in the privacy of my own home!
Here's a group mail I sent around the night before I was discharged. I thought I would post it here for anyone I forgot or whose mail addresses I didn't know.
Hi everyone,
I just thought I would send an update around since this is MY FINAL NIGHT IN HOSPITAL!
I have been walking for almost a week now. I started by walking very short distances with a walking frame, but I haven't used the frame recently. And I'm walking longer distances each day. I have done two days of rehabilitation sessions and none of it was too stressful for my back. I even got to ride an exercise bike!
I have been recovering faster than the doctors expected, maybe thanks to all of the triathlon training. I think it must help that my back muscles are in good condition from regular riding and running before the crash. So I guess if there was ever a good time to get hit by a car, this was it.
I am going home sometime tomorrow. The doctor hasn't been to see me yet, so I'm not sure when it will be exactly. I am looking forward to choosing what I want to eat, and when. And sharing a room with one husband rather than the five grandmas who have been my roommates for two weeks. I can't wait to have a beer (just one! or two). I will miss my remote-controlled bed though.
Thanks everyone for your emails, calls, care packages, online chats and comments on my blog and Flickr page. And I want to say a special thank you to everyone in Miyako who came to see me in the hospital. Visitors were really something to look forward to, especially during the early days when I couldn't get out of bed or even sit up.
This is definitely a time when I appreciated having so many friends and family around me, even if they are not so close geographically. I felt so bad for the people in my room who weren't getting visitors or phone calls during their stay - I would have been so upset without everyone's efforts to keep my spirits up.
The broken back drama is not over yet. I will have to spend a while longer laying in bed at home, and also going to rehabilitation sessions. I need to sort out a replacement bike. And then I will need to think about returning to work in two week's time. I guess I will be driving to school for a while instead of riding.
Thanks again,
Janine
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Wednesday, September 30, 2009
I am being discharged from hospital in 35 minutes!
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