Guest Post from Perky at Cajun Titanium

I have another blog with 2 other amazing girls. Check it out!: Cajun Titanium
This is from one of them in response to my last post. Liability  that makes a lot of sense to me. I don't believe for a second that that's the case with me, but I guess they don't care enough to give me the chance to show them, either.

GIRL, you amaze me! I know what damage my accident caused, and that was with me IN A CAR! I can't imagine being on a bike and getting hit at the speed u were! The fact that u wanna return to work at this point is a testament to ur strength. I know ur sad and discouraged, and I'm sorry...it really sucks that our employers couldn't have our backs when we were at our lowest points in our lives.
My accident was my 2nd brush with death over the span of a year. That way, when I had the accident, I think I was better able to accept things, and at a faster pace. You need to remember; you came back with flying colors from something most people wouldn't have survived. You need to realize that your hard work and dedication are NOT in vain; You WILL get your life back, but not necessarily in the timeframe you choose. You need to look at yourself and the position you're in objectively. Being a nurse, I was always trying to encourage my patients. When I'm being hard on myself or getting frustrated with my situation, it helps to go into nurse mode, step outside myself and look at myself like a patient. What would I tell a patient who just survived countless heart surgeries, orthopedic surgeries, had metal in half their body holding them together? What would you say to that patient who re-learned to walk, despite bones broken so violently that doctors didn't give them hope of ever walking again, much less running or riding a bike? I'd say "You're the strongest person I've ever met!"...and you, Jen and I ARE...the strongest bitches I know!!! It may sound like we're too confident, or cocky, but we've been to hell and back! We know what it means to survive, and we get to be proud of ourselves for that! 
I think we lost our jobs during FMLA because we're viewed as a liability. We weren't supposed to recover the way we did, but when we did, it showed that we weren't the types to shrink from a challenge...we're fighters. Strong people, strong WOMEN, make people nervous. Instead of seeing that we want to continue being productive members of society, contributing to our respective fields of study, we're viewed as suspect for wanting to return to work. We MUST have ulterior motives; I honestly believe they think we plan on getting hurt at work so we can sue them, or that somehow, we will hurt ourselves or exacerbate an injury that would hold them responsible!!! When you consider the number of people who commit insurance fraud, fake injuries, and basically try to get a free ride, it's not surprising we were treated so shabbily by our employing companies!!!
I'm really jazzed about court this week, and I'm feeling so much better about things! When I got on the stand, I thought of you a lot, wondering if you'll ever get the chance to face your offender, and tell him in painful detail how he's fucked your world up?!? You may or may not ever have that chance, but it doesn't mean you can't hold others accountable for their offenses, namely your work! I would seriously pursue your suspicions, and make a lot of noise! Threaten to go to Lee Zurich or newspapers! Tell them you know they're giving you the runaround and you intend to expose them. I fully believe that if I hadn't gone to every court date, and taken the stand on Wed. , that he would've gotten off with just probation! 
I guess my point is, that nearly dying that 2nd time in a year made me realize something I hope you realize; we were meant to survive, to be here and share our experiences. I struggled with my 12 years of Catholic education before I came to this conclusion; God really doesn't give you more than you can handle. We might have to reach down really deep to handle it, but we're handling it nonetheless! The fact he gave us such challenging ordeals shows he has faith in us...maybe that was the point all along, to help us see just how strong we can be when we have to be! 

Friday's Update Spectacular!

Me: I'm soooo sensitive to ambient temperature! I wonder what people did a long time ago before air conditioning when they broke their necks. Oh, that's right, they died!

Nic: Yeah, life was much simpler back then.

Me: Sigh. Things are quite complicated in this day and age.

In the news:

Drugs-down to 25mg baclofen a day, and that does it for prescriptions! I was on 7+ types of meds so this is fantastic. Baclofen is an anti-spasmodic that I'm slowly weaning down. Spasms, by true definition, are created by disruptions in the spinal cord. Related to the hypertonicity of my leg, it happens when the muscle tries to talk to the brain via the spinal cord, and the message is all garbled, making  the muscle twitch or contract in various ways. There's a possibility I'll need it long-term, but it's really a small possibility, and way more likely I never needed it in the first place! Baclofen just never seemed to work for me. It doesn't cause any side effects really, I just don't want to be on meds if I don't need them. My spasms are considerably better; now they're tiny and just a bit annoying every once in a while.
Spasms are hard for me to talk about because they can be debilitating, they can progressively get worse, and many people have them and they never ever ever go away. I'm just hopeful mine will since I'm so highly functioning. But I'm getting sad and fearful just typing about it.
Luckily I haven't had ANY pain since the first few weeks of hospitalization, and I haven't needed pain meds at all this year!

Work-well...this week? The only thing holding me up is honestly redundant superfluous paperwork. Incredibly frustrating. I'm losing hundreds of dollars a day because of it.

Taxes-done! almost ;)

Bike court-I was all prepared to defend myself, it was a no-brainer really and after reading  the laws it was very clear to me that I was in no way in the wrong. THEN I happened to know a lawyer who was there for other cases, who is also a runner/triathlete, who discussed my case with the judge and had my tickets cleared! Woohoo! Not that I wouldn't have won it on my own but it was a big weight off my shoulders. Also there was Ben Broussard, who's family, if you remember, took the video of Nic and me crossing the finish line. Completely ran into him by chance. I love this place!

This is the video, how awesome Ben & Family! Whoa, Really loud!

Driving-soon I hope!

Therapy-FaBuLoUs!! Finally got to try the e-stim machine that would help my hams overcome my quads, but it didn't work very well for me after all. MAINLY because I've improved so much over the last couple of weeks that it was obsolete! It's not perfect, but my quads are really starting to calm down. Things are looking totally up! No One Knows, I may never get better past this point, but I'm expected to make a 95%+ recovery. I say 100%.
My hand is also getting better! I can shake hands again now - this is big! - and my strength and function is returning. SLOW but definite progress. I get frustrated but Simonne my OT can always show me where I've made progress even if I can't see it myself.

Geaux Run rocks. You should check them out.

Geaux Run Link

FestiVELO-Laffy's 1st Bike Festival was last Sunday, and a huge success! It's "Bike To Work" week this week. I'm incredibly hopeful for the cycling future here!

Lastly, I'm part of another blog if you haven't checked it out already, with two other women that battle life-threatening lifestyle changes. We're all the same age, all are mothers, and all stay healthy despite our challenges! Here's the link:

Cajun Titanium