Journal entry by Yipu Wang —
This message is from Deborah:
I'm out (of the hospital)!
Thank you to everyone who took time and resources out of their lives to help with the big house swap/renovation. It would have been a huge project even under normal circumstances, and to have done it so quickly on such short notice is amazing. Thanks to your labor, I have the mobility to perform the "activities of daily living" (e.g. sit on and get off couch, use restroom, heat food)from the wheelchair without help. I am bewildered that so many people helped in such substantial ways, and I do not even know how to begin to appropriately thank everyone. I can only say thank you, and hope that I will have opportunities to express my gratitude in the future!
Thank you to everyone who visited while I was hospitalized. My body was broken, but my spirit never felt despair. Every single one of your kind words supported me, encouraged me, and gave me hope that God would use this crash for good.
Thank you to everyone who took the time to send me kind messages and/or funny pictures from afar! I read your messages and chuckled at your pictures, even if I wasn't able to respond. I needed all the dopamine I could get and y'all delivered.
I've taken the liberty of anticipating a few FAQ below.
----
Q: You're in a wheelchair! For how long? What's the prognosis?
A: Surgeon says at least 8-10 weeks before I am allowed to put weight on either the leg or the arm. I'm fully wheelchair-bound until then. After that, there will be some intensive physical therapy to get me back to strong and balanced (i.e. not weak on left/strong on right)
Q: What about the driver?
A: My guess is he got a "failure to yield" ticket, since Illinois law treats cyclists as vehicles. Dunno though. It's not the time to worry about that yet.
Q: Your body was pretty chewed up. Any brain injury?
A: Not to my knowledge, and not according to the battery of cognitive testing I got. No gaps in working memory, reasoning etc. No visible trauma to head/neck according to CT scans. Docs says I almost certainly had some level of concussion, but there's nothing you can do for that but wait for it to heal. I am noticing a reduced ability to focus and general irritability and/or impatience.
Q: How can we help?
A: A lovely question! Thank you so much for asking it.
1. At some point, when my lovely mother-in-law leaves we will need some meal help.
2. I'll need people to sit with me occasionally (just to kill the boredom really, being housebound is SO BORING). Once in a while I'll also need help running errands and doing light housework.
3. There's also a few handyman-style tasks on the list. (e.g. install shower grab bar, patch a hole in the drywall, install light switch face-plate)
4. We're moving in, slowly. In the immediate future, if you can spend an hour or so hauling furniture or unpacking boxes for us it would be so very helpful to us. For this one text me directly if you wanna help (925 389 7621).
Email Mary Sievers (marysievers6@gmail.com) if tasks 1-3 sound appealing to you.
Q: Deb I love you but I can't come to East Central Illinois D:
A: Hohoho. I will now take advantage of your socially appropriate concern and goodwill to extract monetary contributions to a cause I care about! (like a good capitalist) Make a donation to Champaign County Bikes by becoming a member. Our friend Jeff Yockey is president and he worked himself to shreds getting our house ready for us in time. We have ties to the cycling community in Champaign-Urbana at large through CCB, and our legal representation will involve connections through the organization. I suggest $50.
Q: Wait so does this mean you're planning on biking again?
A: What do we say to the god of [fear]? Not today. (That's a Game of Thrones reference).
I'm out (of the hospital)!
Thank you to everyone who took time and resources out of their lives to help with the big house swap/renovation. It would have been a huge project even under normal circumstances, and to have done it so quickly on such short notice is amazing. Thanks to your labor, I have the mobility to perform the "activities of daily living" (e.g. sit on and get off couch, use restroom, heat food)from the wheelchair without help. I am bewildered that so many people helped in such substantial ways, and I do not even know how to begin to appropriately thank everyone. I can only say thank you, and hope that I will have opportunities to express my gratitude in the future!
Thank you to everyone who visited while I was hospitalized. My body was broken, but my spirit never felt despair. Every single one of your kind words supported me, encouraged me, and gave me hope that God would use this crash for good.
Thank you to everyone who took the time to send me kind messages and/or funny pictures from afar! I read your messages and chuckled at your pictures, even if I wasn't able to respond. I needed all the dopamine I could get and y'all delivered.
I've taken the liberty of anticipating a few FAQ below.
----
Q: You're in a wheelchair! For how long? What's the prognosis?
A: Surgeon says at least 8-10 weeks before I am allowed to put weight on either the leg or the arm. I'm fully wheelchair-bound until then. After that, there will be some intensive physical therapy to get me back to strong and balanced (i.e. not weak on left/strong on right)
Q: What about the driver?
A: My guess is he got a "failure to yield" ticket, since Illinois law treats cyclists as vehicles. Dunno though. It's not the time to worry about that yet.
Q: Your body was pretty chewed up. Any brain injury?
A: Not to my knowledge, and not according to the battery of cognitive testing I got. No gaps in working memory, reasoning etc. No visible trauma to head/neck according to CT scans. Docs says I almost certainly had some level of concussion, but there's nothing you can do for that but wait for it to heal. I am noticing a reduced ability to focus and general irritability and/or impatience.
Q: How can we help?
A: A lovely question! Thank you so much for asking it.
1. At some point, when my lovely mother-in-law leaves we will need some meal help.
2. I'll need people to sit with me occasionally (just to kill the boredom really, being housebound is SO BORING). Once in a while I'll also need help running errands and doing light housework.
3. There's also a few handyman-style tasks on the list. (e.g. install shower grab bar, patch a hole in the drywall, install light switch face-plate)
4. We're moving in, slowly. In the immediate future, if you can spend an hour or so hauling furniture or unpacking boxes for us it would be so very helpful to us. For this one text me directly if you wanna help (925 389 7621).
Email Mary Sievers (marysievers6@gmail.com) if tasks 1-3 sound appealing to you.
Q: Deb I love you but I can't come to East Central Illinois D:
A: Hohoho. I will now take advantage of your socially appropriate concern and goodwill to extract monetary contributions to a cause I care about! (like a good capitalist) Make a donation to Champaign County Bikes by becoming a member. Our friend Jeff Yockey is president and he worked himself to shreds getting our house ready for us in time. We have ties to the cycling community in Champaign-Urbana at large through CCB, and our legal representation will involve connections through the organization. I suggest $50.
Q: Wait so does this mean you're planning on biking again?
A: What do we say to the god of [fear]? Not today. (That's a Game of Thrones reference).
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