Yeah, you got me on that one. The tat would be on the shin, not the bone, but you knew where I was talking about. Where the accident was is directly on my normal route to and from work every day, so we drove over it on the way home today. Unbelievable the skid marks from the truck. He managed to leave skid marks 2 lanes of north-bound traffic, and a turning land before he hit me. The fire destroyed part of the black-top road, too. I just hope I don't end up with jacked up dreams now.

Wow... scary stuff. You're a tuff guy! Hang in there!!!

Man i'm glad you made it thru ok. I live over in orange county and it made all the local new channels. Sorry to see the Z go but the important thing is everyone is ok.

I grew up in Orange and graduated from WO-S in 90. Shoot me a PM if you think we might know each other.

Ahhh that explains why you're already standing on it. Well I know that no two people are the same but if it's any consolation to ya I broke my ankle on Jan 27 2006 and I was walking and driving again by April. I still was working on getting the last few % of mobility back and swelling with some nasty edema but that didn't matter. Every day is improvement from here on out. And you will look at simple things in a different light. I know just being able to carry a plate from the kitchen counter to the table without crutches was great...And walking, driving are the most liberating and motivating things you could ever imagine. You aren't going to miss out on much and you will be good as new come spring/summer!

crazy stuff. good luck with everything!

daymmmm

Hopefully you won't end up on one of these TSA Calendars. :)

wow i am really in awe at the damages and shocked at what happened. My condolences to the occupants of the truck and their family members.

Also i would like to applaud you on your very professional handling of the whole situation. Obviously both you and your wife are very well trained professionals and it take a lot to have such a clear mind to control the situation while in pain. I feel glad and safe to know such professionals are working for our medical centers. (and by our i mean the usa =p cuz im in canada, but still good to know people like you are around and helping save lives daily)

Oh trust me you'll have jacked up dreams for awhile.
and once you start driving that stretch of road again youll just be looking around everywhere driving like a sissy and paranoid. its hard to overcome but sooner or later you come to peace with it.

We live about 5 miles outside the city limits and this was on the only road going into town from my house. So, I'll have a daily reminder. Just great.

HIPAA Violation!!

:bowrofl:

:bowrofl:

I would go for the tattoo.

So thats what it was. I had surgery around 1 month ago and I was on dilaudid as well for pain as the pill they were giving me was making me sick and not helping all that much (vicodin i think). Later I got put in 'dilaudid' but it sounded kind of like they were saying 'diluted' so I didn't know WTF I was on, heh.

Dilaudid's the trade name and hydromorphone is the generic name. 1mg of dilaudid is equivalent to about 10mg of morphine, or 125mg of demerol. Crazy stuff. The worst part is right when it makes it to the brain and makes the whole room spin a few times. But, I learned to "roll with it" and just close my eyes for a few seconds. It's ok stuff, but we carry even better stuff on the helicopter - fentanyl. :) 0.1mg fentanyl = all the above. Really good stuff. Too bad I never got any. :(

Mine was pulling out of my neighborhood, no other way out.
Its been over six months and every time I stop at the sign where the accident happened I still get that awful feeling and get all paranoid.

Glad to see you made it out in mostly one piece!

They shot me up with a good round of Dilaudid when they had to "reduce" my ankle fracture... The trippyness was awesome but let's just say that I still felt a hell of a lot of pain when they popped my ankle back into place. I remember after I went home from the ER (scheduled surgery a week later due to extreme swelling/trauma), I was eating chinese food and twirling my spoon in the won ton soup. I then remember saying something to the tone of "I can't do this, I need to lay down" LOL... Good stuff is right!

Well, I got lucky. I work part-time in the ER that they transported me to, so I got some pretty heft doses of morphine and dilaudid for the pain. When it came time to try to reduce the fracture, they gave a VERY liberal dose of versed. :) if may have hurt when they pulled, but I can't remember. That's what versed does - causes amnesia. I highly recommend asking for it by name. :tup:

Hopefully I will NEVER, EVER, EVER have to request versed!

A couple of pics from the wrecker yard. Sorry they're not hi-res. My daughter took them with her cell phone, then sent via mms to her mother, then to me. Apparently, they got shrunk each time they got sent.

thats just nasty!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:eek:

i feel the pain of the z..... shes crying inside because she wasnt even able to be enjoyed by you..... at least she protected both you and your wife..... are you going to be getting another z?

I'm pretty sure that your car can be repaired. If you just use a Porter Cable and some Zaino it should buff right out.

Hahahahaaahah zaino hahahhhaahahhah

Hi Sundown --

Today was the first I'd seen in this forum. Glad you survived and are doing well! Try to avoid those painkillers, except when listening to Rush Limbaugh. ;p

I read through all the comments and news articles, and there isn't much about the 20-year old deceased couple. I'd be curious whether they had seat belts on, and whether that hindered their escape from the pickup.

The Chevy S-10 sold from 1982-2002, and was rebadged as an Isuzu Hombre 1996-2000. The stock gas tank holds 18 gallons. NHTSA crash-tested a 1996 Hombre; in a front impact it was "marginal" for the driver and "very poor" for the right-seat occupant. They did not do a side-impact test. The Isuzu was powered by a straight-four w/ 120HP or V6 with approx. 50% more. All models were fuel-injected.

Unlike some GM models, there was never a recall for location or function of the gas tank. (That's really why I was looking.)

So: a low-end, compact pickup, 10-15 years old, doing extreme road maneuvers right before the collision. Also: a youthful driver. That doesn't necessarily mean drugs or alcohol, but it does mean (1) relative inexperience behind the wheel, and (2) the truck was bought used (think about it -- did he buy when he was 9 years old?), and therefore (3) an increased likelihood of the vehicle not being in top operating condition.

(4) The handling, i.e., over/understeer, varies drastically with the amount of weight in the load bed. Severe overloading, for example, would likely have been an unusual experience for such a young driver. And once the violent driving maneuvers started, the driver would have been more concerned with flipping (high center of gravity) than where he wound up with respect to traffic.

Even though driver error will be the final listed cause of this fatal crash, it's worth considering whether a marginally designed, maintained, and operated vehicle should have been on the road in the first place. This was a young couple that maybe didn't have to die, if "the system" had been designed better. (And by that I mean, "the system" worked out fairly in your Z.)

:eek::eek::eek:

That is brutal man. Very glad you got out of there OK.

how ya doing man?

It's a long road to recovery with ups and downs. Yesterday was a good day, but today's been rough. My ankle and leg just starting hurting WAY more than it has over the last few days.

I got my hospital bill yesterday. A whopping $54,788 for four nights and two surgeries. I still haven't gotten the bills from the anesthesiologist, surgeon, ER physicians, pathologist, etc, etc, etc. I figure that'll be another $10k or so.

I spoke with my claims adjuster, and they're still waiting on the DPS report. At least all my bills will be taken care of. That's all I really care about at this point.

I have a follow up with my orthopedic surgeon tomorrow. Hopefully, all the staples come out, and he'll give me permission to take this damn boot off every now and then.

9 days down, 75 days to go.

That is incredible, you could have bought two used 370zs for that money! In all seriousness, you seem to have done the right thing by preparing for the worst but expecting the best in your recovery and that makes a huge difference.

Keep it up man!

Get better soon man! Sorry to see the Z gone....

gtr time?

I know im late chiming in, but I'm glad you made it out ok, and man, that is a terrible looking break.. wow..hopefully the recovery process isn't to long!
it's sad about the two youngsters, but again, glad you made it out!

UPDATE - Ok, if anyone cares, here's the update. I just got home from the orthopedic surgeon follow up. He said the X-rays look great, the range of motion in my knee is better than he expected, and no problems foreseen. I finally got all the post-op bandages and wrapping removed. A total of 13 staples and 2 sutures were taken out today. He said I only need to wear the walking boot when, or if, I feel like I need it and that I can start to transition off the walker whenever I feel strong enough for it. Next appointment is in 6 weeks, and no physical therapy needed right now. He's letting me manage my own range of motion exercises at my own pace. Apparently, he figured out that I'm an overachiever and will probably do more than the PT's would have me do anyway.

So, here's a couple of pictures right after hey took the bandaged off. Today is 12 days post accident, and 10 days post rod surgery.

That actually looks pretty good, coming along nicely. It will keep getting better especially if you keep up with your PT. Being an overachiever is a good thing! Just know your limits.

:iagree:

Sorry to hear about this dude. hope u get better fast!