Racing for the Ottawa Hospital AND staying active in Ottawa? You’ve already won.

“And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom” --Anaïs Nin

I read this quote every single day.  It was passed along to me from my sister, Claire, as I entered the Ottawa Hospital’s Rehabilitation Centre.  It’s true, yah know, that it’s easier to run towards things than away from them.  It’s easier to run towards things than to stand still.

On October 17, I was hit by a car in Ottawa at the corner of Bronson & Sunnyside.  I had been standing at the intersection waiting for the traffic light to signal my crossing when a car and minivan crashed into each other, and then crashed into me.  Or so I’ve heard – thankfully I don’t remember any of it.  Since then, my life has been a whirlwind of ups and downs, of setbacks and progress, of many, many miracles.

When I awoke from a coma, I had to write to my family because I was still intubated with breathing tubes.  Since running is so often on my mind, one of the first questions I asked them was:

Spoiler alert!  The answer is yes.

To make a long story short, I’m hoping this blog will allow my family and friends to follow my progress.  I also truly hope it will raise awareness about the importance of:

• The Ottawa Hospital.  It saved my life and sped up my recovery;
• Being active.  It saved my life and sped up my recovery.

And now for the longer story.  I’ve been running for a number of years, but I only began entering races in Ottawa and Bangkok (home #2) about 3 years ago.  Needless to say, I do love to run!  Right before my accident, I had been busily training for the Rattle Me Bones race – a run that raises money to support patient care, arthritis and orthopedic research at The Ottawa Hospital.  I had been following an 8-week training program and had finally gotten my 5K time under 20 minutes.  I couldn’t wait for the race, which was only a few days off.

Obviously (obviously!) I didn’t make it to the Rattle Me Bones event; instead I lay in the Intensive Care Unit of the Civic Hospital.  A little too ironic (yeah I really do think).  I broke so many bones *insert requisite “your bones were rattled” quip here*: ankle, knee, femur, back, many ribs, many bones in my pelvis, wrist, hand, jaw, nose, the bones that hold my teeth in place, and, sigh, many teeth (I’ll own being vain and admit this was horrifyingly embarrassing). My surgeons at the Ottawa Hospital did a wonderful job of fixing my wounds and bones.  Now some of my rattled bones look like this:

 

My rattled knee, ankle and jaw.

After the Civic, I stayed in a convalescence home, and then was extremely fortunate to be moved to the Ottawa Hospital’s Rehab Centre.  I’ll have to use this blog to tell you about how the Rehab Centre gave me back my independence – it helped me check off many of the items on my To-Do List (right of page).  My doctors, nurses and therapists taught me to stand, use the toilet myself, shower myself, dress myself, they tested and retrained my study-loving mind and memory, they helped me regain strength in my limbs, they fed me, gave me a bed, and kept me safe, 24 hours a day, for nearly 2 months.  The rest was up to me – thank goodness I was healthy and active before the accident…it gave me something to fall back on.

 Learning how to stand on my own two feet (literally and figuratively) at the Rehab Centre, November 2011.  In December I was allowed to use crutches on my own!

My family likes to say that I was re-born to run.  I learned to walk in January.  By February I was already running (if you can call it that) on the treadmill.  By March I was running outside (remember that glorious heat wave?).  And so I registered for the Ottawa Race Weekend 5K, hoping to finish the race in under 45 minutes.  I did it in 28 minutes!  After all that my parents and sisters have done for me in the past 9 months, it was a proud day for all of us.  I ran for them, and because of them.

Me with my parents and sisters before the Ottawa Race Weekend 5K. 
 My greatest cheerleaders - in running and in life.

As you can see from my To-Do List, I’m not quite back to my old self. Living in a 3-storey house without being able to walk up and down stairs properly? The. Worst. Also, a massive wound on my left thigh tore through my muscles and the scarring still gives me a ton of grief (sidebar - Dear random man at Ribfest: no, I was not attacked by a shark).  I still do physio 2 times a week and I try to workout on my own 3 times a week.  

 My poor little left leg.

And I am running! – around 10 kilometers every other day.  I’m hoping to get some of my strength and speed back.  And, you guessed it, I JUST REGISTERED FOR THE RATTLE ME BONES RACE!!!!  Admittedly I feel a bit eerie about it, after how things went down last time.  Inauspicious much?  But I have faith that I’ll make it to the finish line (and, umm, the start line) this time around.  

I would be so honoured if you would cheer me on as I train for the Rattle Me Bones race, and help me raise money for the Ottawa Hospital.  Watch this space to see how it’s going.  I’ll even challenge you!  If you sponsor me at all, I’ll run with your name on my race shirt!  If you sponsor me for $50 or more, I’ll bake you my niece Emma’s famously delicious ginger cookies! Or register yourself and train while I train!  You can walk or run distances ranging from 1K to 10K.  Unless you have a better excuse for missing it than I had last year. 

Racing for the Ottawa Hospital AND staying active in Ottawa?  Let's face it, you’ve already won.