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[BrianTRice@gmail.com]

Just a quick update:

Last Friday, I had the dental surgery that is a pre-requisite for implants. They moved the schedule up seemingly to avoid a coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdown.

So right now I'm resting at home on painkillers and my girlfriend is doing a lot of care to make sure neither of us get sick, because that would be really devastating to my body, right now. I have two checkups in the next two weeks to determine how fast it's healing which will help schedule the final installation of dental implants.

I'm mandated 3-6 weeks of "no heavy lifting", which definitely rules out riding because I can't even bend over without the headrush feeling like it will injure me.

BUT one really good result is that my anemia has finally cleared - all of my red blood cell indicators and precursors are back in the middle of the normal band. I was anemic for a solid 9 months and it made extended exercise pretty risky, so hiking and motorcycle riding were about the extent of what I'd been doing. Now I can walk a bit, but my mouth is too delicate for a ride.

I did buy a used Zero DSR with a Power Tank since my last post on this thread, which I've been enjoying a lot for errands and rides. I even made it from SF to Zero HQ on two trips southwards, and once I had a Madstad windscreen on, the SoC was 45% by reaching Zero HQ, which implies 127 miles of range at proper highway speeds (60-75mph). Right now it's sitting in my garage at 80% while I heal up. I'm hoping I can get a shiny SRS after all this is done, but I can't really deal with too much at a time so I'm just happy to be able to analyze the bikes remotely or for friends.

[Richard230]

Good news, Brian.  Keep up the good work and best wishes for your continued recovery.

[wavelet]

Great to hear about your progress, and that you've been able to do a bit of riding! Here's to speedy recovery!

[BrianTRice@gmail.com]

Since we're coming up on a year from the accident and I'm still experiencing some concerning effects and don't have my mouth reconstruction complete, I wrote about it on my CaringBridge site:

https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/briantrice/journal/view/id/5ee81b41c04e7b6226a618d6


Basically, I've had a branch retinal arterial occlusion, which is a small stroke in my left eye that's left me with a small blurry area on the lower inside of that eye's vision with a small blindspot within it. I'm safe to ride, vision-wise, but there's a potential follow-on stroke risk so I'm on some drugs and will be undergoing heart testing shortly. There's been no evidence of the cause in MRI and CT scans, so honestly I think it's just a trauma outcome that took a long time to surface. We'll see, and I'm not going to risk my life.


I'm working a lot on my 2020 DSR in the garage, including fairing and charger work, so hopefully I'll emerge with a great travel machine like I always wanted.

[Crissa]

A little step back, but please take it safe.  Thanks for keeping us up to date!

-Crissa

[mistasam]

2020 DSR with fairing and chargers whaaaat!!! 

[BrianTRice@gmail.com]

I'm basically cleared from stroke risk at this point, but it appears that my underlying autoimmune condition (that I don't discuss much but I've had since I was a child) actually tried to attack my retina. Also, the blind spot now occupies about a fifth of my vision on the left side (the area that was previously a blur), and gets pretty close to the center of my vision, which makes reading (or small wire work) harder with my right eye shut.

This is obviously not materially improved, because the blindspot is just as unlikely to diminish (though possible), but I'm now on a different drug that seems to have it under control, and the occlusion is limited to that area. The target drug I'll be on was one that changed my life over a decade ago, and I'm experienced with it, so I'm not too worried, but I've gone through an enormous array of testing and it's been quite a ride.

I do think this is still a delayed outcome from the accident, because my autoimmune disorder had noticeably started flaring up around my eyes after the accident.

I'm still technically and legally okay to ride, but am waiting to clear my initial drug course before trying to do so, since it leaves me pretty shaky and susceptible to infection. I'm at least working in the garage on bike modifications which will hopefully show some nice results soon.