Good times ahead

It has been almost five months or 20 weeks or 138 days (not that I am counting) since the day of the accident and even though I am still wearing a brace, life has really started getting back to normal. I have almost forgotten how frustrating this whole procedure was. I remember crying multiple times but I am not sure what was upsetting me so much. Tough times are gone and now I am in the transition phase.

I have been told to not set a countdown in my head but I have to go see my doctor next on end of September and that's less than TWO months *yay*.

And now that I have started going to work, time is passing by much faster. I am only going three times a week, 5 hours a day and honestly, I wish everyone only had to work for 5 hours.I am loving it is the right way to put it. My team has been amazing, the timings are great, the first fifteen minutes of every meeting are about me. It’s almost awkward when someone new comes for a meeting and they don’t ask anything because I can see how they want to ask but they are trying to keep it professional.

Since my last appointment, I have gone for a movie, a fashion show, a few family dinners, some nights out with the friends and my activity level has definitely gone up. I can almost get away with anything because no one wants to get mad at me anymore. Life is good (I guess)..

There is a flipside too, the brace has really started getting to me. I really miss working out, I feel like I am gaining weight, I can’t go out as much as I used to, my neck & back are forever stiff and there isn’t much I can do about any of these things. And sometimes, the brace just attracts TOO much attention.

On that note, here's a list of things NOT to do when you’re around someone who's injured/disabled:

1.     Stare at them and make them feel like an alien. 

2.     Look at them with pity eyes 

3.     Remind them how bad it could have been and how lucky they are to be alive (I do prefer being told “you’re blessed” over “your life could’ve been destroyed)

4.     Ask them if they need help every two minutes when they're capable of doing almost everything on their own

5.     Stop telling them to be positive & look at the bright side of things. WE KNOW! Sometimes, life just sucks and there's nothing anyone can do about it. It’s ok to have a bad day once in a while

But coming back to the real point, in just a couple of months....

Half way there

After watching an 18 minute video on "Understanding a Cervical Spine CT Scan",I could finally understand the scans and I knew my fractures have come a long way but they have definitely not fused completely.

 Before going to the doctor, I think I knew that I wasn't going to need surgery and I'll probably need to wear the brace for another month before the bones fuse completely. So when I finally did meet the doctor(a very serious doctor), he said with a smile on his face "the fractures are fusing really well, but you'll need to wear the brace for another three months"  and just when I was about to whine, he said "I'll make you wear it for a year if it's required so please don't cry about it, you don't know how blessed you are to have gotten away with just a couple of fractures"

And that's when I knew, I will be turning 28 in this brace!

Next, I asked if I can go back to work since it's been almost four months and he said YES!!!!! (not in an excited tone of course). He said I need to be extra careful since Delhi roads are terrible and maybe I can start with a couple of times a week for just a few hours a day.

After much discussion at home, I finally went to work yesterday.

Thankfully my team is just happy to have me back, even if it's for a couple of times a week. I know, the next three months will not be like yesterday. Yesterday was only about catching up on what's happened in the last few months, a 'little' gossip, a long lunch and some work updates.

I ended up going for a meeting as well and the reaction was exactly how it is every time I meet someone new, "Oh my god! What HAPPENEDDDDD??". I realized I'll have to repeat the story only about 300 times over the next three months but that's OK. With in three minutes of being in the meeting, I'd completely forgotten that I was wearing a brace and looking like a robo-cop and work is what mattered more.

Someone I met yesterday told me about how her sister met with a terrible accident 4 years ago and managed to break more than 6 bones in her spine and had to undergo 3 intense surgeries. The doctors weren't sure if she'll be able to walk again but after dropping a year in college and 6 months in physiotherapy, she can walk, she can run, she can drive and the verdict was that all all anyone has to do is stay positive and work towards a goal. I really need to keep hearing such stories to remind myself that everything will be A-OK!

With time I think I'll be back in action and hopefully the next three months will pass by faster than the last three did.

*Too blessed to be stressed*