The Extra Mile

My Journey Late in Life as a Triathlete – Setbacks and Triumphs

Under Pressure – Ebbs and Flows of My Recovery So Far

by | Jun 13, 2017 | Recovery | 4 comments

Adhesive bandage drawing nevitWhen I left the hospital three days after my crash, I had to pull off all sorts of things stuck to my body. One of those things was a heart shaped bandage pad stuck to my tail bone.  I think I said, “What the hell is this for? Did I get road rash there too?”  It turns out it was for bed or pressure sores on my tailbone from lying in bed for extended periods of time. Hmm, wish I had gotten a box of those when I left because, on Friday, I discovered I had started to develop a bed sore in that exact spot.  The night before, I was complaining to my wife that I could feel a spring coming through the mattress pad and it was hurting my butt.  We have a hospital bed for me to sleep in until I get my collar off and the mattress leaves a bit to be desired. The next day, when getting in the shower, Sandra noticed that a 2 inch section above my butt crack was all red and irritated, not to mention it hurt to touch.  It was the start of a bed sore.  The vision that popped into my head at the time was from the movie, “This Is Forty.”  Paul Rudd is pantless lying on the bed with his legs spread wide up in the air looking at his crotch with a mirror.  Leslie Mann walks in and he asks her to look to see what could be causing his rectal pain.  The shit you do for your partner.

So, Sandra goes out and gets me air pillow to sit on and use on the mattress when I sleep.  She also called my Nurse Practitioner and asked for advice about what we should do.  She advised using the air pillow and butt paste used for babies with diaper rash.  I was totally freaked out at first because I have no other choice but to sleep on my back and I thought I was doomed for it to get worse.  Google directed me to some great sites that spelled out the horrors of bedsores along with great illustrations and photos.  I also wasn’t supposed to be adding to my injuries while recovering. Luckily the bed sore was in the early stage, and three days later it is almost gone. I’m not sure if I dodged a bullet or if I was over reacting.

This past Sunday, Sandra and I set up chairs and an umbrella at the office park down the hill from us to watch the bicycle leg of the Greater Nashua Sprint Triathlon.  Actually, Sandra set it up while I watched. We were somewhere about a third of the way into the bike leg. We both had on our Northeast Multisport T-shirts and cheered on the triathletes.  I think this was the first time I have been a spectator for a triathlon. Sandra did the cheering, while I rang the cowbell.  It was great to see people I know from the club racing. It was also cool to have them recognize me out there cheering them on.  While I am not the best cheerleader, I play a mean cowbell. It was also great that race volunteers let us know when the last cyclist was coming through.  It was a good morning.

Sunday afternoon wasn’t so great.  I had an allergic reaction to something, and it felt like my collar was choking me. My hands and feet were visibly swollen, so I started freaking out again.  Sandra suggested I take some Benadryl and that did the trick.  I was able to relax after it kicked in and then fell asleep for a while. And surprisingly, I didn’t have a hard time getting to sleep that night either.  It turns out it was my best night of sleep since I came home from the hospital.  Today was one of my most productive work wise days as well.  The song “This Too Shall Pass” by OK GO pretty much sums up how I need to look at my recovery.