Two Years Living On Two Wheels...And Counting
- Thread starter Judoka
- Start date
Judoka
Learning To Live
This LTVA may not be right in town but that is what I liked so much about it. It was always a beautiful ride to get anything. I loved riding out to find whatever I needed. Luckily by this time my money from selling cars in Seattle had finally caught up with me so I was a little more comfortable financially. I had enough to be able to ride out and search for employment.
Judoka
Learning To Live
Senator Wash is such a beautiful area! It is an area where the Colorado River was dammed up to create irrigation for agriculture. It is what makes The Imperial Valley and the area around Yuma AZ so productive. A large percentage of americans produce comes from this area and there are farms everywhere!
Judoka
Learning To Live
I ended up getting a second tent because it would give me a little more room to store some things and I could just pack the one tent and minimal gear if I was going to go somewhere overnight like to visit my son who was stationed near San Diego or to phoenix to help a friend.
Judoka
Learning To Live
Sadly my hand was actually getting worse. It especially painful when I had to put on my riding gloves. My middle finger would not extend and my index woulds barely extend forward now. Something was wrong!
I reached my attorney and they told me that I am entitled to a second opinion and that they do not have the power to settle my claim with Work Comp without my permission. I told them my hand was more important than any money and that I refuse to settle until I know that my hand has been repaired as best as it can be. I knew once they closed this case I would not be able to get any further care for my hand. So began my hunt for another surgeon.
Since I was injured in Kentucky it would be next to impossible to get a Surgeon in California or Arizona to accept the Work Comp payment . That meant finding a doctor in Kentucky and getting to that appointment. Hand surgery is a highly specialized thing at this level. Luckily Louisville KY is one of there best places in the work for specialized hand surgery. After research I found the best. Well, at least that is what I was being told by doctors I knew personally ( friends of my dad who was a physician). I scheduled the first available appointment which was about 6 weeks out. Until then I would just have to take it easy and try not to injure my hand further.
I reached my attorney and they told me that I am entitled to a second opinion and that they do not have the power to settle my claim with Work Comp without my permission. I told them my hand was more important than any money and that I refuse to settle until I know that my hand has been repaired as best as it can be. I knew once they closed this case I would not be able to get any further care for my hand. So began my hunt for another surgeon.
Since I was injured in Kentucky it would be next to impossible to get a Surgeon in California or Arizona to accept the Work Comp payment . That meant finding a doctor in Kentucky and getting to that appointment. Hand surgery is a highly specialized thing at this level. Luckily Louisville KY is one of there best places in the work for specialized hand surgery. After research I found the best. Well, at least that is what I was being told by doctors I knew personally ( friends of my dad who was a physician). I scheduled the first available appointment which was about 6 weeks out. Until then I would just have to take it easy and try not to injure my hand further.
AbleGuy
Officious Intermeddler
I see the Cafe Bustelo
….good choice! A reasonable compromise for an instant fix of hot java when on the road. My travel choice also.
Judoka
Learning To Live
I love Cafe Bustelo ! It is inexpensive and just tasty! I don't like instant coffee much but I was grateful to have it. My current coffee set up in a Cuban Coffee maker and Cafe Bustelo Espresso. I will share pictures when I get to that point in the story. Good coffee is just makes life better no matter what the weather!I see the Cafe Bustelo
Judoka
Learning To Live
The thing about waiting on Work Comp to approve care, especially when they are ready to close the case and write you off, is that it takes forever! That left me struggling with a hand which was getting worse and less and less useful. When your only mode of transportation is a motorcycle that means you become seriously limited because of working the clutch. So, it was back to Hook fisting the clutch! I could manage the highways and open roads well enough but riding in the city was absolute hell ! With time though, I was able to manage doing what I needed to do and adapting my grip by squeezing my fingers together and using the glove to act as sort of a "friction splint" if you will. While the pain would subside the weakness was still an issue. I was functioning though!
Judoka
Learning To Live
In Yuma, while looking for work, I found a cheap place to have a good breakfast. I think it was $2.99 if I remember correctly. Maybe it was $3.99. Either way it was a way to eat cheap!
They had a couple of cool things at this place.
When you gotta go...
If you like beer you gotta love those urinals!
They had a couple of cool things at this place.
When you gotta go...
If you like beer you gotta love those urinals!
ITTOG
Well-known member
Must be coors and miller light keg's.
Judoka
Learning To Live
Luckily Work Comp did approve the second opinion, but not until I informed them that I was going to pay for the visit myself instead of losing that appointment spot. I knew I could not afford that but sometimes you gotta figure it out. I used almost everything I had to pay for the plane ticket and book a hotel room for the night. The only thing that mattered to me was that I get my hand fixed. I can make more money but I can't make another hand!
Judoka
Learning To Live
Hahaha! I like beer but I would have no idea how to tell one keg from another to be honest.
Judoka
Learning To Live
Since those travel arrangements made me broke, broke, broke, I had to go into serious survival mode! I was going to have to make one last trip into town and get food which would be able to last a long time without rotting. I did not have refrigeration and I have to watch my salt intake so it would be a little tricky and..bland. I had to make it just a few weeks with next to nothing. I would need to have the bike fueled up and have food to survive the entire time.
Of course when life presents a challenge it often is accompanied by discomfort and more challenges! I had already survived my first Dust Storm in a tent in the Mojave, but the one that was about to come in was much worse. Sustained winds for several hours picking up dust will just destroy a tent!
This was what was coming through the tent walls!
Of course when life presents a challenge it often is accompanied by discomfort and more challenges! I had already survived my first Dust Storm in a tent in the Mojave, but the one that was about to come in was much worse. Sustained winds for several hours picking up dust will just destroy a tent!
This was what was coming through the tent walls!
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Judoka
Learning To Live
As I have been writing this I have come to realize that I do have more reasons for sharing this experience. I see the pictures I took and especially the videos I made with just a cell phone and I realized that I was documenting this experience because I could not really grasp where I was at and why life was going this way.
I know that life is a culmination of our choices and that they are cumulative but I did not choose to rupture the tendons in my hand. I did not choose to wait so long to get medical care that those tendons could no longer be repaired and thus needed to have a tendon transfer, which is way more invasive. I did not choose to have to have my finances wrecked from this injury. All I could actually choose was how I was going to react to those circumstances; and quite honestly, I was petrified that I might not make it through! I have always been able to overcome because I had my health and determination. Now I was in a fight with one hand tied behind my back!
Maybe now that I am on the other side of that I want to share so that I can encourage others and also share because that experience changed my life in so many ways. I never knew how therapeutic being on two wheels was for me! It helped me through that time, and it has helped me heal from even greater traumatic experiences.
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