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Last Update: 01-02-07 4:30pm
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01-02-07 4:30pm
Well, it is almost 2 years out from my “Landing D-day”, and
I am still here! Since it has been over a year when I did the last
one, and since the “story” is going to be on the website
for the upcoming triathlon web site sign-up page, it is time for an update!
I am doing well physically and mentally, but I need to get in shape
for the YMCA triathlon that is going to be in January. Having just
had ankle fusion surgery on the right ankle 12 weeks ago makes that
tough for several reasons. First, during the bone-fusion healing
time, I could not walk or bear weight on that ankle and the Dr. would
not let me swim, even with my “boot”. Therefore, getting
cardio was tough. On top of that, I could not do stairs, so not
getting to the upstairs weight room at the Y made the whole body go
to pot.
I can now slowly walk, (although I look like “Chester” in
the old TV show, GUNSMOKE) but since the one ankle is fused, and the
other will probably need to be fused in the next year or so, running
or jumping at any future time is probably not going to happen unless
I can invent some spongy “roller” shoes since fused ankles
do not bend. That sort of limits me to biking and swimming for
cardio, and weight work for muscular exercise. The bottom fronts of
my feet are still fairly numb from the nerve damage, and at this
point, will most likely be that way permanently as the Dr. said you
get all you are ever going to get at the “1-year out”
period. I suppose the left side of my face is maxed out on nerve
regrowth as well, but I feel like it has advanced some in the last
year. I think they said it could take 2 years to “max-out”
on the facial nerve recovery, so if it does, I am about at the end of
the trail there as well. I still can’t smile, whistle or chew
normally, but at least I don’t bite my mouth or drool anymore!
The broken arm and back function seem relatively normal. I get a
little back pain late in the day, but 1 aspirin handles that. That is
all I take for the ankle pain as well, although if I walk a really
long way, I sometimes have to take 2 aspirins. The pain should go
away permanently eventually on the fused ankle. As for brain status,
I took some extensive tests twice this year and the Neurologist says
that my brain damage was limited to my short-term cognitive memory
and after the last test in August, the Psychologist says I scored
“excellent” in that area and should be OK (not too hard; I
learned how to cheat on that part of the test!). That said, he has
not written the report for that yet for the FAA and I have not pushed
him since I could not fly from a physical standpoint, but once that
is done, I should be able to get my flight physical restored and
should be able to fly after the first of the year. As long as I
don’t have over two glasses of wine in an evening, I can
actually remember what I heard today the next day as well! Of course,
you may say that is normal, but it does affect me now when it did not before.
I appreciate everyone sticking by me, encouraging me, and my biking
bud Jamie putting up with me since “I am a drag”. I think
the speed and endurance will pick up, but it will take some time.
Once I get the next ankle fused, I should be able to eventually walk
a lot faster. The best thanks go to my great wife, Deanna, for still
hanging in there with me. I would have left me had I been her!!
Thanks to everyone for all the support and I look forward to seeing
everyone at the January 2007 2nd annual St. Johns/YMCA Jeff Myers
Challenge Indoor triathlon on January 19th and 20th at the
“Y”! See the website for an entry form or come out and
volunteer to help out and root the contestants! We need you there on
one side of the line or the other!! www.aritulsa.com/jeff
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11-08-05 3:45pm
Due to the AAPL Landman magazine having an article about my accident
and due to the fact that it has been quite a while since my last
update, even though I said there would be no need for another, here
is the latest on my situation.
Since the last report, I have had two ankle surgeries, one on each. I
had the oversized temporary left ankle plate removed in July and
another ankle plate removed from my right ankle in September. I have
also had my left eye lid snipped opened a little. Although I have
regained some left facial nerve use, I am still a little nerve
damaged there to the extent that I really can’t “raise my
eyebrow” or eat normally (chew) yet on the left side of my
mouth. The good news is it slows me down eating and keeps the weight
off! The eye doctor thinks that if my facial nerve re-growth
continues, which he thinks it will, he may be able to open my left
eyelid all of the way on my next visit to him in December. Right now,
I have to make it a point to “blink”, which most people
never think about, to keep it hydrated, so that is why he
“narrowed” it down after the eye straightening surgery back
in April.
I am slowly walking, most of the time without any assistance or cane,
but since I am trying to not take any pain pills, aspirin, ibuprofen,
etc., some days I don’t do as well as others. I am biking and
exercising a little, but with winter coming on, the biking may have
to move indoors. I lost my flight medical due to the major bonk I
took to my head. That bonking made me lose some cognitive memory
ability (at least it was that way 4 months post-accident in May when
I had the neuro-psych test done), which the FAA did not like and is
why they won’t issue me a new one yet, but I think I have
recovered to about the 90% normal range, and I am still flying quite
a bit. I am able to do that because it is “dual” time that
I am logging, with a flight instructor, and it is for the purpose of
getting my instrument flight rating (IFR). I anticipate that I should
get my medical back at the one-year point, in January, and then I can
go by myself again. Since we have a new-to-us plane, I am anxious to
be able to get around by myself!
The bad news is that it appears that my ankle cartilage in both legs,
but mostly in my right ankle, is not going to last a lot longer. It
was badly damaged and apparently does not ever re-grow. The doctor
says I will eventually have to have it “fused”, which means
that the leg and ankle will surgically become “one”. I may
have to have that done to my left ankle eventually as well, but time
will tell. The doctor says that when the pain gets too hard to bear,
is the time to do it. He is unable to say if that is months, one
year, five years, or what. All I know is that at this point in time,
walking is somewhat painful and an effort, so I try to keep walking
to a minimum. That may just be due to having the right plate out
recently, not so much due to cartilage deterioration yet. No more
long walks or running for exercise. The fusing is not as bad as it
may sound, because your foot will actually bend quite a bit, due to
the fact that there are several bones from the ankle to the toes. It
gains some flexibility, especially over time, when it has to.
However, the doctor admits that you will probably walk with a little “hitch-in-your-get-a-long”
for the long term. The good news is the pain is resolved. Of course,
you have to go through another ankle surgery when they fuse it, but
hey, a few months of pain and staying off your foot until it fuses
beats pain the rest of your life.
My partial hearing loss that occurred in my left ear was not caused
by scar tissue, but nerve damage, and since it did not come back, I
got a little hearing assist in that ear. It is only about a 10% loss,
so it is not that bad even without the hearing aid.
I am working full time and staying busy. Who in the oil and gas
business is not these days?! I should be pretty well function at
normal speed in the next few months. Thanks again to everyone for
having kept me on their prayer list and for all the calls and cards.
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07-11-05 12:00pm
It has been a little over a month since I last put
together a health update. The good news is most of my surgeries are
now behind me. Having said that, I am looking now at one more surgery
which will be next Friday morning to remove the plate out of my left
ankle. The doctor had apparently told everyone when he put it in that
he had to use an oversized plate, because he had to in order to hold
all the pieces of bone together, and it would eventually need to be
removed. He was hoping he could leave it in there for at least two
weeks and it has now been six months, so I would say it lasted a lot
longer than he thought! The problem now is that it is trying to work
itself out through my skin and the doctor didn’t think that it
would be a good idea. As you might guess, it is a tad painful when it
tries to do that, and I am sort of in favor of this next surgery
myself even though I really don’t look forward to more surgery.
I ought to pretty much be able to recover from that within a week to
ten days as it is essentially only a few (30 or 40?) stitches.
I am currently going to rehabilitation about twice a
week and it takes about one and a half to two hours each time to go
through all of the stretches and exercises. My left eye is now
centered and I am seeing everything again in normal “3-D mono
vision”. My eye lid is still sewn somewhat narrowed, but the
doctor said on my last follow-up visit that he believes my facial
nerve is re-growing and upon my next visit three months from now that
he will be able to open my eye lid back up in the office. Nerve
regrowth is so painfully slow that I don’t see it myself on a
day-to-day basis. It seems to me that I am still talking out of the
right side of my mouth and the left side of my mouth still feels
numb, especially on my tongue. Eating is still a little slow but at
least I don’t slobber all over myself like I did when I came home.
I am currently walking at about 2/3rds speed and I am
using a walking cane in each hand most of the time. The main reason
why I use canes is because it is painful when I get up after sitting
or lying down for a long period of time. Part of that may be due to
the plate, but part of it may also be due to the onset of arthritis.
That problem may alleviate itself once I get the oversized plate
removed next week. Once I have that behind me I may in fact return
the rental wheelchair as I will hopefully no longer need it on standby.
I am currently trying to cut down on the pain pills so
that I can get back to normal life. However, rehab sessions tend to
really bring out the need. I am able to drive the car again and
recently I have been working, on average, 1/2 days at the office. I
am not as productive as I was in the old days and that is due to the
fact that my memory (at least my short term memory) is not what it
used to be. Now all I have to do is work on regaining that and prove
my worth. With that, the company may put me back on the payroll
sometime this year!
I have scheduled a flight physical with a doctor to
get my pilot’s license back up to date. Hopefully, I will be
able to pass that physical exam, but I don’t know for sure. If I
get it, after that, I will have to take a check ride with an FAA
examiner, but I am hopeful that I will be able to pass that and be
back in the pilot’s seat. Now, all I have to do is see if I can
borrow our Cessna airplane back from the Deanna’s nephew Dennis
so that I will have something that I will be able to fly the test with.
Other than my rehab sessions at home and at the
clinic, I don’t have the whole lot of time to do regular
exercise. However, there have been a few days when I have been able
to go over to the YMCA and I have gotten some laps in the swimming
pool. So far I am only up to a ½ mile, but I am hopeful that I
will be able to get my normal mile swim in and be able to resume
bicycling 2 to 3 times a week by the end of the year as well. As of
now, I am only up to about 15 minutes on the bike!
I have returned to a semi-normal life and should be
back full-steam yet!! Since there will probably be no more major news
on my health and I should be back a close to normal as I can be, this
will be my last health update. If you get curious down the road, just
send me an email. As usual, thanks to everyone for all the calls,
thoughts and prayers.
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06-02-05 2:58pm
It has been over a month since my last update, and
since people are still asking how I am and still visiting the
website, I thought I would give you the current status on my health situation.
A lot of positive things have happened and I have made
a lot of progress since the last report a month ago. I am now walking
in my own shoes with the help of a couple of canes for safety. If I
do anything adventurous, such as walk through Wal-Mart, I am supposed
to wear my left support boot, at least for the next 3 weeks. That is
because I still need to have my left main leg bone do a little
fill-in between it and one of the plates. However, since that is
uncomfortable on a swollen spot on my ankle to wear the boot or go a
long ways, I just make it a point to not do any ambitious or
adventurous walking. I am not walking at normal speed, but now that I
am doing rehab again, hopefully my ankle range of motion will
increase and I will be able to pick up some speed and get back to
normal. I am doing rehab on my legs and arm usually twice a week. We
still keep the wheelchair in the back of the car in case I need to go
somewhere that is a long ways, but I am basically out of the wheel
chair totally at this point.
The best news is that I got my eye surgically
straightened a few weeks ago, with a surgical procedure that they
call a “Foster Transposition”. That is where they go in and
take the muscles from the top and bottom of the eyeball and “move
them over” 45 degrees to the outside. The swelling has pretty
much gone down but to keep the eye moist since my left side facial
nerve muscle is not back to normal yet, (more importantly my
involuntary blinking ability is not back yet) they sort of
“narrowed down” my opening by putting a few stitches in my
eyelid on the outside edge. Even with the narrowed slit, I can see
out of it fairly well and as of about a week ago, which was a week
after the surgery, my brain was able to bring the two separate views
into focus! That means that I can now see in mono vision or with full
3-D depth perception! Let me tell you, that was great to get that
back again and only see one of everything!! If my facial nerve muscle
keeps growing, and I regain my involuntary blinking, they can
“open” my eye back up in the regular office.
Although my facial nerve muscle has regained some
ground, it is unknown whether it will keep on or ever get totally
back to normal. However, at least I can talk fairly normally, eat,
and even smile a little. I still can’t whistle or spit tobacco
(although I have not tried the latter, it has really just been water
in the shower) but I am hopeful that it will keep up the regrowth.
My back is doing well and I am doing a lot of
exercises for it and of course on my legs, ankles and arms. I still
sort of “run out of steam” with my back in the evenings,
and so I usually “get horizontal” by 9:00 PM so that it can
rest. Unfortunately, (or fortunately for the sleep deprived) since my
bod is still on the mend, I usually stay horizontal until 7 or 7:30
in the morning. I am usually reluctant to stand in the morning, or
after I have been sitting for a long period of time because when I
first put weight on my left ankle, it sort of gives me a little more
pain than I care to have. After I have been up on it for a short
time, it usually quiets down and I can walk without the pain. I am
only on one medication now, which is a single, lower dose painpill,
which I take mainly for my back. Now I just need to progress enough
with my rehab to see if my running days are over or not.
I am not driving yet, but I probably could if I needed
to. However, when you have a great live-in chauffeur like Deanna, I
say, heck, why bother? She goes everywhere I go anyway, which is
usually Dr.’s visits, because she wants to hear what they have
to say anyway!! I am sort of tapering off on follow-up Dr. visits.
Three weeks ago, I had at least one or more Dr. visit every day
(actually one of them was eye surgery) and two weeks ago I had three
in one day! For the next few months, due to my progress, they are
usually only about one every few weeks at most. The rehab will take
the most time now, usually about 1 & ½ hours since there is
so much to work on.
I am now spending a little time at the office but with
my exercises and rehab visits, and my slow going in the mornings, I
can’t spend a whole lot of time, but I hope that improves as I
get that all behind me. Thanks again to everyone for all the phone
calls, visits, and prayers!
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04-26-05 2:58pm
Well, it has been over a month since I sent any
information in to update the “health status” page, and
although not a lot major has changed, I thought I ought to do an
update because I hear that people do check the page and want to know
where I am currently.
I have come a long ways in the 2 months that I have
been home. In fact, it is pretty unbelievable to even me and Deanna.
I can sit up, usually all day long, without any pain or tiredness
setting in. In fact, I am down to just one pain pill at a time for my
back, if any at all, and it is pretty minor since half of it is
really extra-strength Tylenol. The only other “drug” is
just my blood thinner shots (called Lovenox) that I give myself in my
stomach fat (which no longer exists!). Let me tell you, I know that
most people would like to be in my shoes (so to speak, even though I
don’t wear any right now) but when you lose 30 pounds and
don’t have any stomach fat, shots in that place is a little more painful!!
I had ankle surgery about 3 weeks ago to fix the
little piece of bone that broke off on the bottom of my right leg
bone. They put in a new longer plate to keep it sturdy till it
healed. The surgery was painful and it was really the first real
surgery that I had remembered (since the initial stuff when I came
into the hospital was done when I was not “aware”). In
fact, I woke up in surgery because some guy was screaming from pain.
Turns out it was me and I woke myself up! That said, I am getting
pretty much back to my old self and feeling well. In fact, last week
I made it in to the office at least half-days in the afternoons, and
here it is 9:00 this morning and I have made it in today. That is a
major accomplishment for me!
Although I can stand and put weight on my left leg, I
am still mostly in the wheelchair and reliant on Deanna to drive,
haul my wheelchair in and out of the car, and do the shopping,
cooking and cleaning. I can help out a little in the kitchen. My
nerve to the left side of my face is progressing in regrowth, but I
still don’t blink that eye normally (to moisten it) and so I
have to “grease” it through out the day with eye stuff.
That fairly well ruins the vision, but it is still also cocked in and
looking at my nose, so the fuzzy view is not a real problem in seeing
because I would mostly just be looking at my nose or have double
vision anyway unless I wore an eye patch over it.
I hope that I can get surgery next month to straighten
the left eye to look forward, and if my facial muscle keeps coming
back and I can eventually blink, I will be able to see pretty much
normally. They say I will be able to look to the right and have both
eyes move; I will just have to turn my head to see things to the left
of me because the nerve that pulls it that direction is not working
now, and most likely at this point will never work. It better not
start to work after surgery or that will all be bad!
I can speak fairly normal, chew and swallow well, and
no longer have water coming out my nose when I swallow, so that is
good. I am a little slow eating in that I don’t normally use the
left side of my mouth to chew since there is not 100% feeling there.
Bottom line is I hope to be “walking” in
about 3 more weeks, but based upon how tough that is on my left after
so long of being sedentary, it is going to be a challenge. Thanks
again to everyone for all the thoughts and prayers.
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