The Siamerican

It’s been one month since the start of my new life. An entire moon after my accident, I mope in sorrow, soaking in every painful breath– returning from a university mid term examination, a cloud of haunting regrets about that peculiar waning January Wednesday encases my pride within the sufficing  small studio sanctuary on the SE side; in contrast to the new-found, ill-begotten hardships faced today, them days with dual dexterity must have been a breeze–all be em’ now, existing only as precious memories of a borderline life that rode alongside the taunting haunting of death.

Perhaps living a little too deep in the now, second thought was rarely relied; A naïve and arrogant young man at the crescent of his 25^th year justifying his ride against the odds, zooming between routine and spontaneous destinations, wagering the gift of life on the risky yet advantageous convenience of a 130 cc moped. Despite all previous warnings, worries, signs, and perhaps even foreshadowing of inevitable tragedy, responsible and conscious driving ensured an unscathed record with the infamous dangers of Thai traffic and driving on the prized killer–but nothing lasts forever; By the 21st month since its Phuket acquisition, that ripe lime green, bound-for-crash machine had chartered some17XXX urban-rural kilometers across central and southern Thailand, the highlights as follows:

Scaling the mazes of the greater Bangkok Western metropolitan, zigzagging about traffic trains of two and twelve wheel in noisy narrow road concrete jungle madness; a dozen trips based at the Thai capital—from the Jao Praya river, westbound to Chacherngsao, down and over the Bang Pakong river to Jom Tiem—eastbound through Mahachai, beyond the Ta Jeen river and to/fro Mae Klong river mouth at Samut Songkram; slippery monsoon runoff on unmapped paths up through Mahachai and Ratchaburi’s fields and plantations; dodging potholes on muddy mangrove estuary shortcuts dissecting Petchburi and Samut Songkram provinces at the Northwestern gulf-of-Thailand shores; Venturing from within this canal rich delta to the heart of the Korat Plateau and back; retracing the river of kings to its official origins at Bak Nam Po in Nakorn Sawan province; and on three separate occasions in 2008, flawlessly crawling and crossing the Isthmus of Kra Bangkok to Phuket roundtrips—in March, October and December, respectively.

Well, it was good while it lasted, a wandering past with uncertain future. The dangers were obvious, the risk clear: Four of my comrades had lost the life-gamble with motorized recklessness, RIP Emily Bordner, Spencer Pearson, Emily Peterson (school-mates in the USA) , and Dan Storey (fellow English teacher in Phetchburi). Wagering to join his friends and also become a fatal statistic against the independence, convenience and sheer economics of riding two wheels, he let his guard down in the trivial act of irresponsible socialization that night.

After a few hours wasted at the all night Wednesday happy hour at a downtown Bangkok pub, finally hit the road for home. Time had yet to finish my chapter.

It would come down to a late night plea with a roadside tree. On a quiet, trafficless, dark curving street in his apartment neighborhood, he was most vulnerable. Finding opportunity during a split second of careless distraction, lady death struck her blow. In her clash with the  fiberglass of his helmet and moped, Mother nature spared the human’s life—though there would be cost.

With Brachial Plexus (Arm control center) nerve root avulsion and spinal chord intrusion caused by the whiplash trauma of the head-on collision, he was fortunate to escape with fighting breath, standing in the blurry moments after the spill, thankful a safety helmet had kept vital blood in his head. Later found was that internally, the bleeding was reserved to within his left arm nerve plexus and spinal canal.

At the last hospital visit on Friday the 13^th, Doc started off with such words. “Your Lucky!”

A rush of hope springs from within.

“You’re lucky to be alive!”

“Oh…right, well of course…”

Looking at the MRI scans, he continues. “Most people with this degree of spine damage simply stop breathing, if not fully paralyzed.”

As far as the arm though, Doc goes on to report that at best guess, it could possibly recover 40 percent, though the fine movements of the hand are very unlikely to return. In addition to the spine bleeding, the nerve damage affecting three nerve-spinal roots (C6, C7, and C8) is quite severe, that even surgery might not help—difficult to say until I do an EMG test—electromyography is some kind of test involving needles and electricity—which I have scheduled for early April. Such test will confirm whether or not surgery can do anything.

In the meantime, I must try to keep movement and exercise regular and consistent in all parts of my arm/hand to avoid joints swelling and going defunct, and particularly the muscles demoting to atrophic conditions, calling for me to keep blood circulation optimal as possible to ensure proper nerve regeneration.

Assuming my nerves are finding/will find their way in the after-mess of the damaged plexus-spine, nerves only grow at a rate of only about one inch per month. It appears I have some 30 inches arm length that would need to be re-grown. Keeping numb/dormant muscles active-reactivate-able until a new nerve line can catch up and resynchronize is the prime basis of why a full recovery may be far-fetched.

Though Hope is hope, logic is logic, and if 40 percent is possible, might as well shoot for 41 percent and then some. Bought a 6 channel electric pulse stimulator to implement EMS (Electro Muscle stimulation) and TENS (Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation) therapy at home.

Found a basic yet handy machine for about 3000 baht, complete with five different wave patterns, adjustable frequency and adjustable intensity on each of its six channels. The neat thing is this Chinese made KWD-808 model can be used for electric acupuncture (electric pulse instead of needles). One of its features is an acu-point detector. Plugging a contact needle into a detector outlet jack, and adjusting the detecting frequency, you can precisely locate acu-points all over the body. A beep signals when you pin the right point.

It came with a basic manual and body chart in Chinese and English diagramming primary acu-points to reference when finding the points with the contact detector. The chart is complete with the acu-point + wave pulse formulas-programs for treating everything from influenza and insomnia to arthritis, headaches and even weightloss.

While I won’t dream impossible dreams, I will maximize my recovery potential and learn more about my human body at the same time. Stay tuned…

Popularity: 18% [?]

It’s been one month since the start of my new life. An entire moon after my accident, I mope in sorrow, soaking in every painful breath– returning from a university mid term examination, a cloud of haunting regrets about that peculiar waning January Wednesday encases my pride within the sufficing  small studio sanctuary on the SE side; in contrast to the new-found, ill-begotten hardships faced today, them days with dual dexterity must have been a breeze–all be em’ now, existing only as precious memories of a borderline life that rode alongside the taunting haunting of death.

Perhaps living a little too deep in the now, second thought was rarely relied; A naïve and arrogant young man at the crescent of his 25^th year justifying his ride against the odds, zooming between routine and spontaneous destinations, wagering the gift of life on the risky yet advantageous convenience of a 130 cc moped. Despite all previous warnings, worries, signs, and perhaps even foreshadowing of inevitable tragedy, responsible and conscious driving ensured an unscathed record with the infamous dangers of Thai traffic and driving on the prized killer–but nothing lasts forever; By the 21st month since its Phuket acquisition, that ripe lime green, bound-for-crash machine had chartered some17XXX urban-rural kilometers across central and southern Thailand, the highlights as follows:

Scaling the mazes of the greater Bangkok Western metropolitan, zigzagging about traffic trains of two and twelve wheel in noisy narrow road concrete jungle madness; a dozen trips based at the Thai capital—from the Jao Praya river, westbound to Chacherngsao, down and over the Bang Pakong river to Jom Tiem—eastbound through Mahachai, beyond the Ta Jeen river and to/fro Mae Klong river mouth at Samut Songkram; slippery monsoon runoff on unmapped paths up through Mahachai and Ratchaburi’s fields and plantations; dodging potholes on muddy mangrove estuary shortcuts dissecting Petchburi and Samut Songkram provinces at the Northwestern gulf-of-Thailand shores; Venturing from within this canal rich delta to the heart of the Korat Plateau and back; retracing the river of kings to its official origins at Bak Nam Po in Nakorn Sawan province; and on three separate occasions in 2008, flawlessly crawling and crossing the Isthmus of Kra Bangkok to Phuket roundtrips—in March, October and December, respectively.

Well, it was good while it lasted, a wandering past with uncertain future. The dangers were obvious, the risk clear: Four of my comrades had lost the life-gamble with motorized recklessness, RIP Emily Bordner, Spencer Pearson, Emily Peterson (school-mates in the USA) , and Dan Storey (fellow English teacher in Phetchburi). Wagering to join his friends and also become a fatal statistic against the independence, convenience and sheer economics of riding two wheels, he let his guard down in the trivial act of irresponsible socialization that night.

After a few hours wasted at the all night Wednesday happy hour at a downtown Bangkok pub, finally hit the road for home. Time had yet to finish my chapter.

It would come down to a late night plea with a roadside tree. On a quiet, trafficless, dark curving street in his apartment neighborhood, he was most vulnerable. Finding opportunity during a split second of careless distraction, lady death struck her blow. In her clash with the  fiberglass of his helmet and moped, Mother nature spared the human’s life—though there would be cost.

With Brachial Plexus (Arm control center) nerve root avulsion and spinal chord intrusion caused by the whiplash trauma of the head-on collision, he was fortunate to escape with fighting breath, standing in the blurry moments after the spill, thankful a safety helmet had kept vital blood in his head. Later found was that internally, the bleeding was reserved to within his left arm nerve plexus and spinal canal.

At the last hospital visit on Friday the 13^th, Doc started off with such words. “Your Lucky!”

A rush of hope springs from within.

“You’re lucky to be alive!”

“Oh…right, well of course…”

Looking at the MRI scans, he continues. “Most people with this degree of spine damage simply stop breathing, if not fully paralyzed.”

As far as the arm though, Doc goes on to report that at best guess, it could possibly recover 40 percent, though the fine movements of the hand are very unlikely to return. In addition to the spine bleeding, the nerve damage affecting three nerve-spinal roots (C6, C7, and C8) is quite severe, that even surgery might not help—difficult to say until I do an EMG test—electromyography is some kind of test involving needles and electricity—which I have scheduled for early April. Such test will confirm whether or not surgery can do anything.

In the meantime, I must try to keep movement and exercise regular and consistent in all parts of my arm/hand to avoid joints swelling and going defunct, and particularly the muscles demoting to atrophic conditions, calling for me to keep blood circulation optimal as possible to ensure proper nerve regeneration.

Assuming my nerves are finding/will find their way in the after-mess of the damaged plexus-spine, nerves only grow at a rate of only about one inch per month. It appears I have some 30 inches arm length that would need to be re-grown. Keeping numb/dormant muscles active-reactivate-able until a new nerve line can catch up and resynchronize is the prime basis of why a full recovery may be far-fetched.

Though Hope is hope, logic is logic, and if 40 percent is possible, might as well shoot for 41 percent and then some. Bought a 6 channel electric pulse stimulator to implement EMS (Electro Muscle stimulation) and TENS (Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation) therapy at home.

Found a basic yet handy machine for about 3000 baht, complete with five different wave patterns, adjustable frequency and adjustable intensity on each of its six channels. The neat thing is this Chinese made KWD-808 model can be used for electric acupuncture (electric pulse instead of needles). One of its features is an acu-point detector. Plugging a contact needle into a detector outlet jack, and adjusting the detecting frequency, you can precisely locate acu-points all over the body. A beep signals when you pin the right point.

It came with a basic manual and body chart in Chinese and English diagramming primary acu-points to reference when finding the points with the contact detector. The chart is complete with the acu-point + wave pulse formulas-programs for treating everything from influenza and insomnia to arthritis, headaches and even weightloss.

While I won’t dream impossible dreams, I will maximize my recovery potential and learn more about my human body at the same time. Stay tuned…

Popularity: 18% [?]