Three Strikes and You Are OUT
Seeing a picture of you on a bike again
Elicited feelings of disappointment and dread
That this time you may end up dead
And feelings of betrayal because you had said
You were getting rid of your killing machine
First the Vespa bit the dust
Then the big Ducati was driven across
5 lanes of rush hour traffic
where against the center divider you came to rest
your legs though had been run over by another bike
miraculously you were left with only orthopedic trauma
fractured spine, femur, patella and a giant quadriceps hematoma
And a nasty soft tissue pocket
From a sheered off suspender button
I remember, but you obviously do not
Remember the agonizing pain
Treated with morphine the drug supreme
With such a low respiratory rate you had to be
Told to take you next breath
And then at three weeks your legs swelled like the Michelin man
My consultant Johng Hahn said place the filter as fast as you can
And one our later the deed had been done
And with massive anticoagulation you swelling went down
But three months later on removal I saw
A trapped clot that could have taken you life
For these are known to cause a sudden death
And easily snatch away your breath
And frankly Bill it was about more than you
For this impacted everyone in the family too.
And for you a form of PTSD and lingering pain
that is not enough to keep you from mounting a cycle again.
So your third strike I hope is gentle
But if it is an injury horrific
Then I wish for you a quick demise
Sparing you a life of dependency
Howard P. Charman, MD 10-26-2015