I am still freaking amazed at my minor injuries. With some (fake) scares, I am pretty much certain that there aren't anything else wrong with me other than perhaps just the tiniest concussion of sorts. So let me give an account of what really happened (this is gonna be the longest post I have, in like, forever):
4 Apr
I intended to wake up at 7am to cycle, having slept at 11pm the previous day. It had been an exhaustive week and I was up editing slides on Thursday morning. I only had 4 hrs of sleep and it wasn't enough even with a lunch time nap. Friday became a 掃墓 + nap day and I pretty much didn't do anything for the rest of the day. Hence, the resolve to wake up early, do a quick round, and settle with my work. That didn't work - I snoozed till 8.30am before I finally decided that I really should get up before I lose the most part of the day.
I went out at 9am, and decided to go to ECP for the water point and back - would have been a quick round with 22km. I would have time to come back, shower, go to the interchange to get my body shop item and go over to grandma hse for lunch. So off I went, cycling towards expo. At the cross junction between Simei Ave and Upper Changi Road East, I cycled across Simei Ave on the left side where ITE East was, and attempted to cross the left filter lane coming from Xilin Ave. There was a Premier Cab approaching me, and admittedly I thought I could gauge the speed and cross the zebra crossing at the filter lane before he approached.
I didn't, of course.
He crashed into me and (according to him), I went up the bonnet before landing on the ground probably flying a few feet from where he stopped. My only recollection, really, was that I realized I had been hit, and was stunned sitting on the ground for a bit, trying to make sense of what had happened. A few cyclists were alarmed and stopped immediately to help me shift the bike to the side, while I was there (after a few minutes) saying that I'm alright. My legs were shaking from the shock rather than from the injury (a small abrasion). The cab uncle then got out of the car to see if I was alright, and a couple of other cars had also stopped by then to come over basically, to support the cab uncle. One of them even thrusted his namecard at the cab uncle insisting that he can be a witness and that everything was my fault. I had to loudly proclaim that I was not (yet) holding the driver to task before he would calm down. Subsequently, another cab uncle came over and tried to push the blame to me ($#&$@$) and the cyclists who were with me almost got into a fight with them. I trusted that the cab uncle was probably as confused as myself and had to step in to calm the cyclists and tell the bystander cabbie (again), that I was not holding the cab uncle responsible. Cab uncle got instigated and started taking photos of me and the bike until I had to ask him why on earth he was taking photos of me.
After he left, we checked the damage on my bike and realized that I couldn't ride back anymore. Cab uncle, at the suggestion of the cyclists, gave me a lift back to Tampines where I would fix the bike.
I sensed that he didn't mean for this to happen and thank god he was not going at fast speeds, so I didn't really want to pursue the matter (unless other things cropped up).
While waiting for the bike shop to open, Wei Xiang came over to help me dress my wound. After fixing the bike, we went back and of course I had no choice but to tell my brother what happened. After walking awkwardly for a while (bruises were starting to show up after the shock) and prepping myself, we went over to grandma place for lunch. Backache was developing at this point....
Of course I didn't tell the parents about the crash. It would be suicidal to do so. I'll never find myself on a bike ever again. Lunched and napped for a bit just to see if any other symptoms of any potential head concussions came up. I must say I was relieved to wake up - paranoia but not without good reason :(
Hobbled to Body Shop to redeem my 20 bucks after lunch, and then went home. You will know that I wasn't pleased to hear that the extended family were coming over to my hse that night for mahjong. Hmph. Meanwhile, I was still constantly monitoring myself for any giddiness, nausea, headaches and the like. I didn't display any of those symptoms, but research on concussions and the following paranoia got the better of me. I went to bed that night wondering I would wake up the next morning. (Yes, I set alarms at 2.30am, 5am, 7am just to see if I would wake up).
5 Apr
It was a huge relief to wake up amid the aches and sores and bad sleep from the day before. Damage assessment: one scrapped knee, one scrapped ankle, one badly bruised shoulder and many other bruises all over the legs :(
I couldn't turn without pain, and I was alert through the night to prevent myself from knocking my left knee into the wall. I woke up at 6+am because of hunger, and decided to shower, eat and go to the GP just to check out whether I am really alright. A pseudo headache was developing (I really don't know if I was just being paranoid) and I was pretty worried.
At 8am in the morning, there were already 2 patients in front of me queueing for the opening time of 8.30am. I got to see the doctor at approximately 8.45am and he was very alarmed and amazed that I was hit the day before but sustained such minor injuries (doc: you can still walk after being hit?!). I told him I thought the bike probably got the most impact so I was very lucky. He did a quick check to make sure that I could bend (backache), that my eyes were still following his torchlight, and basically told me that as long as I didn't hit my head, I should be fine even after I told him I have a headache. (But doc, that wasn't what I read on the Internet the day before, they said you don't need to hit your head to have a concussion...). Doc tore off the plaster I put to protect the wound while I slept, and sent me off with Foban cream for anti-infection purposes. Before I left, he asked me whether I reported to the police, and even said that if they tried to put the blame on me, I should do it, just to make a point. Doc was pretty funny and defensive at all the same time...
Anyway, I was glad to be given the OK by the doctor, and went for Sarah's birthday party. Texted cab uncle to let him know I'm ok and he wanted to sign this settlement thingy which I was totally not comfortable with signing immediately. I mean, what if I developed very bad symptoms in the next two days?! In any case, I had my presentation to prepare for and told him to look for me only after Tues. Uncle was pretty insistent about signing immediately; he said he had to prepare for a trip on Fri from Wed onwards. Seriously, uncle?! Nope, I didn't give in, and uncle seemed to have given up on that idea, he said he trusted me.
One of the neck veins was also starting to ache whenever I raised my head and yep, that totally reassured me? In any case, I came home after the party to...nap. I totally napped 4 consecutive days but I told myself, health is a little more important than school work right now, ALL the searching I did on the internet the day before suggested rest to allow the body to recuperate. So rest, I did. Woke up to dinner and had to prep for Tuesday's presentation. I was finding it really hard to concentrate on school work but I wasn't sure if it was the usual easy distracted me or the accident had caused it.
6 Apr
Woke up and didn't feel the need to go back to the doctor's, so I went to work only to realize that the heads and Vincent were at leader's retreat. Spent the day trying to concentrate at work and still feeling foggy and slow. Strongly suspected that I might have a minor concussion because those symptoms ALL FIT. The pesudo headache was still there! Hella scary. I was all prepared to go to the doctor Tues morning if those symptoms persisted.
Got a call from the cab company pressurizing me to sign the settlement and I got a little pissed off. Told cab company that I will only consider after Wed, and company said uncle would call me. But nope, uncle eventually didn't call.
Even after I got home, I only managed half an hour of preparation before I succumbed to sleep. Chris was nice and offered the team to present on my behalf but well, if I were alright, I should do my part. Weather was hot, boy! Slept in air con.
7 Apr
I woke up feeling slightly better and decided to go to work after all. It was a hectic day and I didn't even have time to relook at the slides before I headed to school. By afternoon, I was back in the foggy and woozy state, and the pseudo headache was back. It took all of my concentration to deliver my part of the presentation and I went into a blank state after that for the rest. I was just glad that ours was over in a jiffy! Both classmates, after class, commented that I didn't look too good and that I should see a doctor. Oh well, it was a good thing that I didn't have work the next day...
8 Apr
Headed to KK Hospital for my scheduled medical appointment and thought I might be able to finish up there and catch the GP doctor for a follow-up session before it closed for the morning. Boy, was I terribly wrong.. It was 12.30pm when I left KK and by the time I got back to Tampines, the clinic had already started its afternoon session. I was lucky there weren't many patients and got a queue number fairly quickly. Went back in and tried to tell the doctor I was feeling woozy and left ankle hurt a little when I walked and he was slightly alarmed that my scrapped ankle had turned red (inflammation!) I didn't even thought that that was of concern so I didn't even mention to him on Sunday, which earned me a stare :/ So he next asked if I had a fever, and I said I didn't think so but the in-ear thermometer showed otherwise: 38.1 (?!?!) Got sent home with fever med and anti-inflammatory med and I was wondering why I even had a fever since I didn't display any of my usual symptoms. I was still pretty convinced that I had a minor concussion :( Went home, slept AGAIN.
9 Apr
Had to monitor myself closely for the fever because doc had mentioned to go back to him if symptoms persisted. Surprisingly, I felt much better so I guess it must really have been the fever making me woozy (does that mean that I had a fever for 3 days straight?!). Went for class at night and had a chat with Keong on the accident.
10 Apr
Still monitored myself closely, but no other symptoms appeared. I left my woozy state and was functioning much better as compared to the start of the week. Heng ah!
11 Apr
One week of non-exercise was killing me.
I was still wary of the potential concussion so I was a little worried about cycling with Wei Xiang even though I had asked for his help to check out what was wrong with my bike. We went for a really short ride (15km).
While cycling, I went really slowly on his bike and tried to avoid all humps to prevent myself from moving too much. It seemed as though I was fine after that, I didn't develop any other symptoms other than napping (again........)
While cycling, I went really slowly on his bike and tried to avoid all humps to prevent myself from moving too much. It seemed as though I was fine after that, I didn't develop any other symptoms other than napping (again........)
12 Apr
I decided to push myself a little bit and went for a short run (2km!) to see if I would develop any other concussion/post concussion symptoms. Other than a very mild headache which went off after a while, everything seemed pretty much alright. I was relieved! So for the next week onwards, I will do some light exercises (no movement of heads, still) hoping to keep up with stamina but not aggravating any potential concussions/post concussions. This should probably go on for a bit till I end exams before I go back into my usual routine...
Hopefully this is the end of it. One week of monitoring myself for post accident symptoms is simply too tiring. Don't want to stretch this out longer than I have to :( I am also hesitant about signing the settlement with cab uncle now...
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