Be the Beast Triathlon Coaching

Tonight I was walking through the grocery store with my sister and I noticed other shoppers looking twice at me. You may be saying, “Adelaide, you’ve been injured for 6 weeks and out of the hospital for 5 weeks. Aren’t you used to this by now?” Nope, and here is why. Several weeks ago I was talking to a coworker who asked whether people stared when I went into a grocery store. I said no. I think at that point people were too sympathetic. They could immediately see from the way I walked, my restricted speech, and of course, my face and teeth that something went very bad. They didn’t want to be impolite and stare. Now I am close enough to normal that I can walk in public without people noticing at first. And that is where the double take becomes necessary. I get it. Sometimes when you don’t see things properly for what they are, you have to look twice. Since everyone else seems curious, I figured it was time for a quick update.

I’m back to a sense of normalcy. Last Tuesday my stomach tube came out. Kennett came with me for moral support but ended up video taping it instead. If you care to see what it looks like, let me know. The whole event was pretty anti-climatic. The doctor was planning on taking x-rays but just decided it was ready and pulled it out. No Big Deal. I went home and laid on the couch the rest of the day to minimize my stomach juices seeping out. Perhaps that was too much detail. Don’t worry, it sealed up pretty quick and just looks like I took a bullet to my stomach. As a result of the stomach tube being removed, I am now free of pain medication, minus a bit of Tylenol, and I’m able to stand up a bit straighter. Plus, no pain meds means I can drive which offers a bit more freedom as well.

Also last Tuesday I was able to start chewing again. It is slow going. For me to eat a small square of chocolate about 1 square inch requires me to split it up with a knife, let it sit in my mouth to get soft and then slowly chew on my right side of my mouth. My right side is doing  the grunt work because my front teeth are fractured and completely useless while my left side is still swollen. The cool thing is that I started licking spatulas a bunch. I told Kennett that it was tongue exercises. I was only sort of joking because it helped a lot and I can now stick my tongue out completely. Overall, my tongue and jaw are feeling pretty good. Thanks to Boulder Dental Arts, my teeth should get fixed up here soon. I’m glad I live close to such a great dentist.

Another great person to know in town is Byron Thomas. I’ve been going to him almost weekly since the crash. His work has increased my range of motion with my neck and helped with movement in my shoulder. Today he also confirmed that I have deep bruises or some tears in my right quad. This was important because I asked Kennett to feel the front of my leg the other day and he said it was just my muscle, just like everyone else’s quad. I felt like I was going crazy because I could definitely feel the dip in my muscle. Now that I’m off pain medication I don’t want to feel like I’m going crazy.

Talking about my muscles, I’m able to start using them. I went for a hike on Thanksgiving and I’ve been using the gym to do shoulder rehab and get a few other weights in. There is too much jarring to run now but I am slowly getting back to the bike. The endorphins have kicked in again and I’m a much happier person than I was the weekend before Thanksgiving.

That was the quick and dirty update. Basically, I’m healing fast and I am looking normal enough walking through the store that you may have to glance twice.

Doing this puzzle has kept me entertained as I heal.
Kennett and I at the silent auction two weeks ago with our Pay Attention T-shirts. Let us know if you want one of the t-shirts. They are pretty awesome!