Has it really been that long? Holy Moly, LMAO.
First, I would like to thank Glenn for Emailing me to remind me that you guys are all still here.
Boy, do I have a lot to catch you guys and gals up on.
First of all, the good news, my ankle and knee are finally healing up quite well, I can walk on the ankle fairly well with only a stirrup brace for support and the knee only give a hitch after it's been sitting in one position for too long. every once in a while my ankle will ache with the weather but I always expected that to happen with the two bolts still in there. I haven't had a recurrence of any traveling blood clots, so no more close brushes with death, lol.
And for the not so good news, my insurance company has repeatedly refused to authorize surgery for my shoulders and have finally scheduled yet another re-evaluation by a third Orthopedic Surgeon. The bad part is I have to wait yet again until September 5th to get here. I think the waiting is one of the worst parts of all this. AIG is trying to play the waiting game trying to get me just frustrated enough to give up completely and take the paltry settlement they want to offer me. I had to go out and hire a Workman's Comp Attorney to keep them from rolling right over me.
My shoulders are still almost completely useless to me, I can barely lift a gallon of milk, let alone do any kind of useful work. Both Orthopedic surgeons I have dealt with have told AIG that I need arthroscopic surgery to fix the problems but all to no avail. I am still confined to my electric wheelchair most of the time. I have gained about 100 pounds because my body won't allow any kind of exertion. My back goes out if I try walking more than 20 or 30 yards and I collapse, even if I stand for more than a few minutes at a time my back complains mightily. If I can start doing even light exercising I might be able to lose some of the weight but for now the most I can do is sit on my couch and watch T.V. or browse the internet when I have connection.
Rita, my dearest Rita, lolol. Well, she is here safe with me, on my front porch, covered by a tarp to protect her from the elements. She is waiting patiently for me to finish her, I only have a few more things to do to get her roadworthy again. I need to buy her new front end, bore the cylinders, and paint all the sheet metal. I have everything else I need now. I've been putting off buying the last of what I need trying to stay ahead of my bills while paying off all my old debts. Now that I live out here in the boonies I have been able to keep my head above water most of the time. I had hoped to be able to finish her by June this year but my shoulders can't do what I need them to do to work on her, so I have just been keeping her on the back burner till my shoulders are fixed. It is just a matter of waiting out the insurance company until they finally agree to pay for the required surgery. If they don't, my doctor will be forced to classify me as permanently totally disabled for the rest of my life, and I just couldn't live with myself if I didn't do everything in my power to keep that from happening.
Another of my problems is dealing with the depression I succumb to more often than not. There are days where I just want to stay in bed all the time and never come out of the trailer again. This has been happening more and more often the last several months but I just remind myself that it'll be over one of these days and I'll be able to work and ride again. It might not happen this year, or maybe not even next year, but it'll happen. I have to keep that faith or it just isn't worth keeping going. All of you who know me also know that I am not the type to give in so easily, but this has been going on for over 2 years now, and I have been in constant pain in my shoulders for almost 18 months. I am immune to pain killers so I don't even bother to have them prescribed anymore. A few months ago my Doctor gave me a month of Oxyconton but they only worked for 2 days before my body rejected them. I'm told they are supposed to be one of the most potent painkillers out there but they do nothing for me any more. I am talking to my attorney about a pain and suffering stipulation to the settlement we will be putting forth to AIG once they finally approve the shoulder surgeries. We have them by the proverbial balls because they paid an orthopedic doctor to write up an evaluation without ever having seeing me and only reading the materials AIG provided, so naturally they got a recommendation that they wanted, not what was actually true. I also want to go for a settlement that includes reparations for the il-legal means AIG obtained the report they wanted. My Attorney held that report like it was made of gold, lolol.
Anyway, I have to go for now, I promise to make it back here more often to chat and hang out. The last few days I've been without internet, they were upgrading the equipment but they are still working out bugs in the system.
Talk to you guys more soon,
Peace and Long Rides,
Jeff
