May 6th, 2019

Toronto, Ontario – We left for the hospital last night and arrived shortly after 9:00 p.m. We walked out of there shortly after 9:00 this morning.

After three rounds of x-rays, two splints and two “closed reductions” (manipulations without incisions), it was determined that I had a fractured radius and would need surgery. Though the orthopedic surgeons were satisfied that the bones were aligned, I have a floating bone chip in the wrist area that only surgery will remedy.

While the surgery date hasn’t been set (we’re hoping it’ll be this week), I was assured there won’t be any serious riding for the next couple of months.

All of this comes with great disappointment, yet I’m siding with fate on this one and imagining it wasn’t meant to be, so perhaps I’m better off for not taking my planned journey now.

A comment about St. Michael’s Hospital…in this era of funding cutbacks in various sectors, including healthcare, it’s encouraging to be on the receiving end of such professionalism.

The staff looked after me with exceptional care and compassion, with a light dose of humour.

Upon learning how I incurred the injury and how I made it back to Toronto, they thought it would be amusing to literally label me as a “falls risk” patient. It’s a step usually reserved for wobbly seniors.

If you need hospital assistance in downtown Toronto, you can’t go wrong by going to St. Michael’s.

On another note, I have to say how happy Lori and I were to be heading home. It had been a long night for Lori and a long day/night for me. Sleep would come easily after a nourishing meal.

As we were getting ready to sleep, we became aware of a lot of activity taking place near our house.

Jones Avenue Fire was unfolding across the street, which meant sleep would have to wait while we watched the fire and prepared for the possibility of evacuation due to the amount of smoke. Fortunately, no one needed to evacuate.

Everything calmed down as evening turned into night, although several of the 20+ fire trucks and other emergency vehicles remained until the next morning. Thankfully, the fire didn’t cause any injuries.

This will be my last post until the surgery is done, my recovery is well under way and my travels resume.

I’m looking forward to typing with two hands again instead of one finger, as well as hitting the road again (not literally hitting the road!)…