I stopped at St. Vincent’s today to visit Judy. Her surgery was yesterday. But today she is showing remarkable recovery. She has a long way to go, but she is good spirits. One immediate disappointment for her is that she had to cancel her scheduled bicycle trip to the Azores, which was scheduled for early April.
Judy expects that her next move will be to Rehab. But when depends not only on her doctor but availability of rehab space.
The femur this time is the right leg. She had one to the left leg in Hawaii a few years ago. With previous hip repairs, ankle repairs, her ribs last year on the bike ride on another island, skiing accidents, Judy knows as much about the medical procedures as anyone alive today.
Another minor disappointment s that she has been disqualified from the Elon Musk rocket trip to Mars because all of the metal in her body means she cannot survive travel through radiation belts.
Judy told me that she and Julie Jacobs were riding along Rabbit Road on Monday. At one point, they intersected with a dirt road that Judy knew to be a loop road that would eventually rejoin Rabbit Road. Riding her e-bike, Judy said that things were going fine. The dirt road was in good condition. Out in the middle of no where, the road began a nice decline and the downhill was exhilarating. So good it was that she turned off the electric motor. Ahead she could see that the road was going to make a 90-degree turn. But she could not see beyond the turn. And when she made the turn–you can probably write the finish right here.
Indeed, the dirt was a little softer. The incline of the new hill going up especially steep. Her motor was turned off. The gears in the highest ones. Judy could not turn on the motor quickly enough, shift the gears down. She rolled to a stop and then fell over. Worse, there was a ledge at the edge of the road and she really dropped fast.
Julie called the ambulance which arrived quickly. The crew was great. All men, they told Judy they would have to cut off her bike shorts down to her “skivvies.” Judy told them that cyclists don’t wear those garments.
“That’s OK,” one of the crew said. “We will cover you with a blanket.”
The ambulance left,. but now Julie was in trouble. She had two bikes to worry about plus miles from civilization. Then, as if on order from a higher being, the fire engine arrived. Julie asked if there was a way they could take her and the bikes to a safe location. “We are not supposed to permit civilians in the fire truck. But I will call the Fire Station and see what I can do.” Julie suggested that they tell the station that there was a damsel in distress. The guy did, and it worked. They put the bikes in the huge space within the fire truck and drover back to the fire station. Julie could ride her bike from back to her truck and then return and get Judy’s bike.
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