Hey Bull, hope you have a speedy recovery, If you need anything I'm right up the road from you. Jim H
Thanks again guys. Day 1 at home so far has been tough, but I've made great strides. I was able to get out of bed un***isted to go to the bathroom last night. This morning I was able to finally go #2 as well. Though wiping a big **** with a gimp arm and a bum leg while balancing on a walker is no fun or easy task! But its one more step on the road to getting my life back. Thanks to all my friends, family and especially my wife for putting up with me. I know this is tough and I love you all for being right here with me.
Had my first follow-up visit with the Orthopedic Surgeon today. Great visit. He looked at the wounds on my left elbow and left leg. They looked healthy and he was able to remove the s***ches. They should heal cleanly on their own now. I'll have some cool scars to go with the rest too. He took the splint off my right wrist and x-rayed it. Everything looks good there too. He re-casted it with a cool red fibergl*** cast. With any luck, the cast should come off in 5-6 weeks and I'll have no long-term residual effects. Now for the big daddy, my right knee. He removed the immobilizer and dressings, performed an x-ray and examined the wound. Gnarly wound about 10 inches long over the knee cap with staples holding it together all the way down. The x-rays really told the tale of how much material loss there was. As he put it, the lower part of the knee cap was "corn flakes." All told they removed 75-80% of my knee cap. They then s***ched the tendons back to the knee cap and sewed me back up. He said the wound looked excellent -- in fact he wants to see me in a week to remove the staples. He was very pleased with my progress with pain management and mobility on the walker. He wants me to continue what I am doing and thinks that I may be able to get rid of the immobilizer in 5-6 weeks and start talking about rehab at that time. Now for the long-term effects . . . he said I will likely always have stiffness in the knee and will have difficulty straightening it entirely. I will likely deal with arthritis of the knee. Longer term I may experience a break down of the cartilage in the knee due to less protection from the knee cap. But as far as limitations are concerned, I should be able to do most everything I did before the accident. I won't likely be able to power lift with that leg like I had, but I can live with that. All in all, things are looking up every day. Now its just time to work through the legal battle to get compensated for medical expenses, lost wages, the car, etc. We are contemplating seeking the services of a lawyer at this time to aid us in the process. My dad and I are working on putting a value on the car and all the parts as well. So again, if you know of any recent Model A Tudor sales or similar examples for sale currently, please send them my way for comparables sake. And by the way . . . I'll see some of you in Des Moines this weekend for the Goodguy's event. I got the green light from the doctor to make the trip. I was going to keep it a secret, but I'm just too excited. Please say hi . . . I'll be the only guy in a wheelchair with a leg immobilizer, red arm cast and hopefully a smile ear to ear!
I just happened upon this thread tonight (not much 'net time w/the newborn in the house) - glad to hear that you're making good strides toward recovery , Bull . good luch w/the car claim . I hope it all goes very well . It's a shame when stuff like this happens . A year ago (today , actually) I was rear-ended by some young ***hat while I was sitting at a red light . Totalled my daily-driver (very nice) A2 Jetta , and screwed up my neck/back (wife's too) - still not right to this day . People make me scream sometimes !! Again , good luck & speedy recovery .
Makes me sick to my stomach to see things like this happen because of other peoples' carelessness. Especially when it's a HAMBer. It's great to hear that you're OK. Just goes to show that the scariest thing on the road really is the other drivers.
Bull-------The med report sounds like everything trying to get healthy from the inside out. Good doctors! Glad you got out to enjoy some hot rods, takes your mind off the needless pain for awhile . Again get well soon !
I saw the orthopedic surgeon again today. He removed the staples from my knee and examined the wound. He likes the way its healing up. He also wants me to do some muscle contraction exercises to help regain some of my strength. He's hoping to remove the immobilizer and arm cast when I see him again in 4 weeks. At that time he'll set up a brace with limited mobility of the knee. He'll continue to see me weekly through PT and add more mobility to the brace as he sees the knee is ready for it. The biggest news for the day (for my comfort anyway) is that I won't have to wear the the knee high stockings on my legs any more. They had me wear them to prevent blood clots. Damn those things ****ed! I am currently interviewing lawyers for my case. From what I've been told, we're looking at a year or more before everything is settled. One day at a time . . .
Been thinking about you,good to hear your doing good.I see your model a is in the Linechaser a couple of times.****s to know it's not looking that good now.Can you do any work on it or do you have to wait till the dust settles?
Yeah, the car gets press AFTER its destroyed. Oh well . . . Unfortunately I can't touch it until the property damage claim is settled. I anticipate a few more weeks for that to happen. With any kind of luck, about the time I'm walking again is when I'll see a settlement on the car so I can get started on the re-birth.
As a cool aside, I found out the doc is a car guy too. He's got a 69 Camaro, 67? GTO and a 74 Corvette. Pretty cool. He was asking me if I had plans to rebuild the Model A.
I do not like seeing people and most of all HAMB family get injured in the hobby that they enjoy and love everyday. Get well soon man.
Well, its been a few days since I gave an update (and I hope you guys and gals don't mind my updates -- gives me something to do as I sit here on my ***) . . . I've been knee deep in the lawyer selection process (a ****ty process indeed). I met with the last lawyer this morning and I think I've made my selection. It's going to be a long legal process, but I'm looking forward to easing the stress on my family by hiring the lawyer. I've been getting around pretty well on my walker. I'm pretty self sufficient now and don't need as much help with day to day stuff. Thankfully my family, friends and neighbors have been great in helping my wife and I take care of the house and all that I can't tend to while I'm laid up. After going to the Goodguys show in Des Moines only a week after the accident, it became so clear that even though I was in a hot rod when the accident happened, it was hot rods that were going to help me get through all of this too. Hot rod healing! My dad got me out of the house last weekend to head up to Brainerd International Raceway (a couple hours north) for the Bad Boyz car show and drag race. Nice cars and some 6-10 second stormers were just what the doctor ordered. As a matter of fact, my dad and I were taking a closer look at a Model A Tudor at the show when the owner walked up. He saw me in the wheelchair and asked about the accident. I told him all about it -- the fact that it happened in a Model A Tudor made him cringe too. He then pulled up his shorts to show me his knee. Ironically enough he had the same knee injury as me. He had 70% of his knee cap removed some 20 years ago. What gave me hope was that he told me he had no complications or limitations as a result. Hallelujah! Just what I needed to hear! I've decided to attend as many shows/events as I can while I'm recovering -- with my hot rod or not -- wheelchair or not. I can't let this accident wreck the rest of my life! If I do, I let the guy that hit me win and I refuse to let that happen. (Even though the ******* still has never checked on me nor apologized - not even at the scene of the accident!) I got the initial estimate of damages to the Model A from the insurance company of the driver that hit me. A joke to say the least, but they're willing to work with me and want to get the ball rolling on the repairs. They've said they will reimburse me based on actual invoices and repair logs. So I'm anxious to get started once I get the green light. All in all, things are beginning to look up. I've just got to find ways to keep from going crazy during the rehabilitation process as I'll be laid up at home for at least a few more weeks if not longer. I know we'll pull through, I've beat worse **** that this (http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=258586)!
Great to hear all is getting better and your spirits are great! let me know if I can help Bull, anything but my coupe
Ahh, come on John . . . you've got more. See you at the Pile-up . . . probably sans hot rod, but I WILL have my chili bowl and s**** in hand.
Good to hear of your progress Bull The updates are what we need to hear "the rest of the story". Did they ever tell you what the total loss they would pay for the "A"? Just in case if it was high enough so you could buy the car back and rebuild it without going through the repair do***entation paper work with them.
The initial estimate by their insurance company was just over $10k in damages, which we all know is a joke seeing as the frame rails are bent all the way back, engine is junk, ****** is junk, front end is junk, grill, radiator and hood are junk, drivers door is twisted, dash is twisted, cowl is twisted, floorpan is buckled and seat mount is bent, wheels are bent and there are stress cracks throughout the body. The good thing is, they are willing to fix the car and said they would reimburse all costs based on invoices and a repair log. The car IS fixable, but we'll be basically starting over.
If you can, have an appraisal done as to precollision worth. Have it done bya rcognized appraiser. It can help with the insurance company since the are coming in with such a low estimate. jerry
hey after meeting you saturday .. i had to checkall this **** out,, looks to me that your car was mislabeled on the ***le and that you should be trying to get a "32 "value not a 'model "A"... GRILL IS A 32 ISN'T IT ... MUST BE A REAL EARLY UNIT BUT A 32 JUST THE SAME.. GOOD LUCK I DON'T THINK YOUR SCARS ARE GONNA IMPRESS THE GIRLS VERY MUCH ESPECIALLY IF YOU REMOVE YUOR PANTS TO SHOW EM...
Nice to meet you on Saturday as well. The battle is underway with the insurance company. Regardless of the outcome I WILL be back in a hot rod of my own ASAP. I'm already bidding on one to fill the void for now. Probably jumping the gun a bit since I'm not even able to walk yet and am broke from being out of work, but . . .
I just put all the photos in my photobucket album. They include photos of the car, the accident scene, the ER and my injuries. http://s85.photobucket.com/albums/k80/MNBullyBoy/Model%20A Wreck/?start=all Two more weeks until I get the cast off my arm and get a new hinged brace for my knee. The doctor and I haven't discussed any specifics of physical therapy but I ***ume it'll start within the next couple weeks or so.
hey after further review .. the area of this scene is but a couple of blocks from my brothers house...he just up on maple knoll way on the east side in a culde sac.... good luck its hard to sneak up on any body with a squeaky knee hinge so lube it properly
Beer? Sure! Bring it on . . . I'm off the pain meds for the most part now. Still pain there, but I wanted to ween myself off of them. The cast comes off and I get a new hinged brace for the knee on Wednesday. Can't wait to start PT so I can walk again. The sooner I'm on my feet, the sooner I can start the rebuild of the Model A. Still battling the insurance company to get paid for the damage to the car . . . been 5 weeks now. If there's no action within the next few days it'll be time to send my lawyer after them. I've been more than patient thus far.
I just spotted this thread for the first time and damn that really ****s. I'll have to say you seem to have one of the best at***udes of anyone in your situation I have seen in a long time. It looks like you are getting the right help in getting healed up that's good to see. As far as recent selling/asking prices of comparable cars you might check hotrod hotline www.hotrodhotline.com if you haven't already. I think they have a way of keeping track of the cars sold in their cl***ifieds that you can research. If you haven't done so already I think I would start a detailed list of everything that it is going to take to rebuild the car right down to the last lock washer. Doing that now and letting your Dad and one or two of your buds check it over might help make sure everything is covered later. A guy writes down x $$ for a wheel and X $$ for the tire but he forgets the $$ for the mounting, stem and ballencing. Good luck and keep us posted. Good to hear that the guy had insurance, the guy who hit me didn't have insurance and gave a phony non existant address to the police and drove away with a bent wheel and A frame.
Another update . . . 6 weeks down and counting. I just wanted to check in with you guys and give you an update on my recovery. I saw the doctor this morning and got the cast off my arm. My wrist is very weak and tender. He said that the wrist will gain strength and mobility in time. He wants me to keep the immobilizer on my leg, but begin working on my mobility with it off gradually to the point that I don't need it. He wants me to do the same with the walker and wheelchair. I begin PT on Tuesday and will go 3 days a week for 7 weeks. I asked about driving and he said no driving or work for another 6 weeks. He said we could discuss those things when I see him again in mid September. Overall he seemed very pleased with my progress and at***ude. As painful as I know it will be, I am excited to begin PT. I know it's the next step to walking, driving and getting my life back. Still battling with the insurance company on the car too. They're still trying to lowball me. I've got all the time in the world to fight for what is rightfully mine. I won't stop until its made right again!
Dood!!! I got a random text, likely from your girl when you got out of surgery. Needless to say I was like WTF? Any hoo, called Stevens and got part of the story. I somehow missed it on here, probably becuase I'm not here a whole lot. I feel like sh*t for not getting in touch and seeing how you were. Sorry, man;( Glad to hear you're doing ok though. The Murder City send it's love.
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