We ain't goin' out like that.....

A couple of years ago I lost a good friend and a remarkable builder. Bruce was not the happiest guy who ever lived but he still saw humor in a lot of life and had come to grips with retired life ,or it seemed that way. Only a couple of years after he liquidated his shop he was gone- but this is what came first.

When out on one of his weekly rides- a ride he knew well- Bruce took a fall in a corner and broke his leg. It was a freak crash on a path he rode on every week. When Bruce got to the hospital the doctors offered him surgery which Bruce opted not to do. I can't tell you why he decided to avoid surgery on his leg but that was his choice. Bruce's recovery was slow and painful and it didn't seem like he ever fully came back from the injury. He could no longer ride a bike and he was reduced to walking with a cane. I think he was maybe 68 years old and otherwise had been a relatively healthy person. By the time he was 70 he was gone-found in his house, no cause of death that I know of -it didn't matter the cause- he was gone. 

This brings me to current events in my life- I just broke my leg in similar fashion to Bruce, riding on a very familiar trail but landing very hard on some hard ground. I am about to turn 68 in September. When offered surgery at the hospital, I took it. The surgeon said that not having surgery was an option but not a good one as there was no guarantee that my leg would heal properly and that I would be spending months in bed. With the surgery I would be up on a walker the following week and fully weight bearing in six weeks. Seemed like an easy decision for me, if not for Bruce. At the time I didn't think of Bruce when I said yes to the procedure but now I can't help but think that maybe Bruce would still be with us if he had done the same as I. Sure, there's a risk with every surgery and the possibility of infection can scare some people , but the thought of being crippled simply because of opting out of a procedure that is commonly done does not seem rational to me. 

Unlike Bruce, I still have a business that I am actively running and lots of work lined up. Retirement at this time is not an option. Giving up riding is not something I want to do, either- even if now I might dial back the amount of miles I ride. I'm also hoping to be a bit more careful, too. One thing about a broken femur , commonly referred to as a broken hip- in people my age and older the broken hip can be an early indicator of a shortened life ........a death sentence to put it bluntly. By getting this surgery I hope to not wind up another statistic in this regard- I want to keep doing what I was doing for as long as I can. With all respect to my departed friend, I don't want to wind up like him- gone well before his time, at least in my opinion. One cannot choose how long one's life will be but there are decisions that can effect the length of one's life - so.......hardware in the leg ? sign me up. I don't want this bike crash to put me in the dirt if I can help it. Bruce, if you are up there somewhere , please don't get mad if I can't agree with you on this........And I really wish you were still here so we could argue about it. I guess we will never have that conversation.