One Man Trail

I’m back from the latest 10-day stint in the ICU. Happy to say the most recent brain surgery was another successful roll of the dice. Looks like the infection was cured. I have a period of time that I’ll be on antibiotics just to make sure nothing was missed. Also, I got staples this time instead of stitches. 🧵🪡

I just found out I have to go through another brain surgery tomorrow. I got an infection from the prior surgery and it needs to be cleared out before the infection can spread and antibiotics can’t fix the rest.

This is in most ways more dangerous than the first surgery. Going back in is never the best option. But an infection in your head without treatment is certain death so it’s good we caught it.

I pray I wake up after the surgery the same guy for a second time.

See you in a few days. I hope.

Three weeks from brain surgery to being able to ride again. (No cross-continent adventures just yet)

It felt great to get on the bike again. I won’t be doing any off road trails for a while obviously, but I do have something coming up that I’ll share soon.

Thanks for the support and encouragement.

Today is the day I can explain why I suddenly dropped off social media and my motorcycle trip stopped suddenly after 11,482 miles.

I was making my way across the mountains of Idaho when I stopped for two nights to hide from an expected nasty storm. The second night just as I went to bed I had a short duration headache and unknown to me that was the moment a blood vessel began to bleed in my brain.

Then I fell asleep. Then by some miracle I woke up the next morning. I knew something was not right. I was losing peripheral vision on the right and I didn’t feel like myself.

Due to my remote location I made the decision to self rescue. (I do carry an active InReach) I didn’t think I had time to wait around. I know my body and this just felt serious. I was able to plot a route to a hospital (not a clinic or urgent care) using my Garmin XT2 which ended up being 62 miles on mountain roads down to Mountain Home, Idaho an hour and fifteen minutes away.

I only vaguely remember the trip down the mountain. My parents and I retraced the route after I was released from the hospital and I only remembered the center of the road. My only resource was following that magenta line on the Garmin. And I remember telling myself to stay to the right side of the road. That’s it.

When I got to the hospital it was less than 2 minutes before they had correlated my description of the symptoms with the seriousness of the issue. I changed out of my riding gear into my regular clothes and was immediately taken by ambulance to St. Luke’s Hospital in Boise 41 miles away.

I was in the neurological ICU for about 2 weeks and underwent two surgeries in the brain. One accessed through the wrist, and a second through the wrist and the skull.

It has been two weeks and a couple days since the last time they tickled my brain and amazingly I don’t expect to have any lasting long term effects.

The root issue was called an AVM (you can google it) it’s something of a birth defect that you’re born with. Most people never know it’s there until it bleeds like mine. The good news is that if it’s fixed, it’s fixed for good. It’s not something that grows back. Mine was 100% successful. My vision has also recovered to normal.

There are many more details to the story, including how half of my body had to relearn how to function but it’s amazing how the body heals. I’m about 90% me again so far and getting closer every day.

Thats why I’ve been so quiet. I almost died and I should be blind, but I’m not dead and retained my sight.

Better luck next time.

A lot of people have been wondering where I have been.

 I am not quite ready to spill the beans on what the last 15 days or so has been.

I will check back with everyone soon thank you for your patience