if only I ran instead of biked..

There are days when you look back and think about the decisions you made and all the what ifs that could have changed your current predicament. Today is one of those days.

What if I decided to go for a run instead of a bike ride? What if I chose to walk my dog or hop in my car and drive to the beach instead. What if I wore my bike gloves and kept my sweatshirt on while biking down Illinois St. rather than stop earlier on 3rd St. and resort to wearing my tank top because it was getting warm?

Of course, it's pointless to think about the what ifs because the damage is already done. I had a bike accident.

I left my house that Sunday morning around 10:30a and rode down Geneva to Bayshore to the blocked off streets designated by the Sunday Streets event. Once I arrived, I felt safer and more confident riding without worrying about vehicles. Maybe the false sense of security made me too confident.

I was standing to the left when this photo was taken before I rode ahead ten minutes later. When I reached Illinois St., there were old train tracks criss-crossing the road. I tried to cross perpendicular to the tracks and failed miserably when my front tire fell into the track groove. I fell down on my left and my face managed to break my fall first. My helmet was unscathed and probably saved me from a concussion. I suffered various lacerations to my hands, shoulder, side and wrist as well as bruising along my thigh, hip and arm.

My left side of my face received the worse damage. I fractured my left cheek bone and dented it inward. There's minimal road rash on my face but I'll have a huge black and blue mark around my eye and cheek. There's likely nerve damage because my face is still numb from below the eye socket down to my upper lip.

I can't open my mouth that much without feeling a dull pain. There's a constant smell of dry blood from my left nostril. I have one of those freakish half smiles that looks more like an evil smirk. If I stand up or move my head around too quickly, I can feel the blood flowing through my face. It leaves a tingling sensation like crawling ants and I have to let the feeling subside before I get too lightheaded.

Since the accident, I'm down to 128lbs. That's fairly slight for my frame. I think I lost most of the weight from throwing up all day in the emergency room Sunday. Everything made me nauseous. I'm eating more now but it'll be a while before I can gain the weight back. I can already tell that my body is breaking down muscle mass for energy.

I'm currently taking Augmentin, a penicillin type of antibiotic. And I was also given Phenergan to treat nausea and vomiting as well as Vicodin. Despite the dull pain in my face, I'm not taking Vicodin for the time being. I figure after surgery, I'll need it but right now, I can deal with the discomfort.