No, not that end, as in my swan song. Rather, the end of my near-death crash ordeal. I’ve already summarized my fitness for 2024, said my thank-yous, and documented in detail my path to recovery, and progress for the past 14 months. So, for this final update, a very brief couple of things to wrap everything up with a tidy bow.
Scar Payment
This is also included in my post about dealing with ICBC, the crown corporation in British Columbia that insures vehicles. After getting paid the ridiculous sum of about $43,000 sometime in the middle of last year, for the myriad life-altering injuries I sustained, I received the princely sum of about another $13,000 in April for my scars and permanent loss of sensation in my pectoral and rib area. As I said, under their enhanced recovery model, they do pay for therapies and some other things to help you recover (free weights and transitions glasses in my case), but if we were still allowed to sue for damages as we could up until May, 2021, I would have been much more fairly compensated.
Early Retirement
I know that up until my last update, everything was pointing to a graduated return to work, and I’d even been approved for a 100% remote accommodation based on a medical restriction. However, none of that will come to pass.
My employer is having major budget issues, as many post-secondary institutions are, with reductions in immigration and foreign students resulting in fewer applications for admission. As a result, they needed to reduce headcount across the institute, and by ten in just my department. I was so focused on my return to work, that taking early retirement didn’t really register at first, but the more I thought about it, the more appealing the idea became.
I qualified for early retirement (being only four years shy of 65), and they offered 80% of a year’s salary to leave, or if I opted for voluntary layoff, it would have been nine months salary. However, this option would have meant a gap in extended health and dental. The only caveat to taking early retirement is the requirement to begin collecting my pension immediately after payout. My pension won’t be reduced that much by taking it early, our finances are in decent shape, and I can apply for extended health and dental as part of the pension application process. All that remains is to receive the official letter and get my pension application rolling.
The added benefit is, of course, that by taking early retirement it should avoid someone lower on the seniority list from being laid off, and there’s been a person with little seniority backfilling me for several months.
Where This Leaves Me
As I’ve mentioned several times over the past months, in general my recovery has gone very well. I’ve regained the ability to run and cycle at levels better than I could have imagined in the early days after the crash 16k run and 60k ride so far), even if I do have to do both with more care and attention now. After dropping 30+ pounds while in the hospital, I’ve been holding steady at 150-155 (nearly a perfect weight for my 5’8″ frame) for the past few months, and my strength and flexibility are pretty good for a 60 year old guy, by way of regular resistance training and yoga. And my right hand is nearly fully recovered after not being able to print or type or feed myself when I was released from hospital. This is due in large part to daily drumming sessions early on, and using my right hand as much as possible. A near-daily reading habit has done wonders to minimize the significant issues I was having parsing and comprehending the written word, which included a somewhat concerning inability to easily tell time when I was still in GF Strong (ah, the wonders of an acquired brain injury).
And yet, some issues remain. I’m permanently immunocompromised. I have an incisional hernia from the splenectomy, which will require surgery to correct (after I can finally get a CT scan). I have a loss of sensation localized to a small area around my left pec muscle and ribs. I still have a mild brain fog, which is usually more pronounced in the morning, and light sensitivity which affects me all the time. Similarly, when running or walking I still experience mild vestibular (balance, dizziness) issues. While all of these issues may still improve a bit, now that I am 14 months post-crash, the likelihood of complete recovery diminishes with each passing day. So, I’m probably going to be a sunglass-wearing, dizzy, brain-foggy, occasionally-masking geezer to some degree, for my remaining days. Given the alternative, I can cope, and I remain incredibly thankful for the family support (particularly my rock star of a wife), care and therapy I have received in getting to this point.
I don’t think there’s any point in documenting things related to the crash further, but I am going to begin what I hope will become a daily journalling habit in retirement, maybe digital, maybe paper-based. Not sure yet. My printing is slower than my typing, so my hand would probably benefit from the printing more.
Another thing I’m going to do is focus on piano and let the drums go to some degree (which should continue to help my right hand improve dexterity), along with continuing to travel as budget allows.
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