Well I guess it’s time to review the roll over I had on the 4th of July weekend. We got to where Peter said the group was meeting, this was 50 miles down the rough and ready Denali Hwy and then another 7 miles up the Valdez Creek Mine Road to a nice pull out with a view. So far an easy if bumpy ride, well almost easy, crossing Valdez Creek shortly after turning off the Denali Hwy was a challenge. The challenge of course was convincing my lovely bride that we wouldn’t get sweep away crossing what was a pretty good roaring river. Heck it only came over the top of the tires for a few feet.
So we made it and nobody got wet which was nice. After getting camp set up I was informed that Peter was leading a ride farther up the valley, you can see it on the track log included in the pictures. It was a beautiful evening and a nice ride with only a couple of wet crossings, granted one of those was 500 feet long with nice deep pool at the end to get over, but still enjoyable.
7_4_2014_Denali_Hwy
The 4th of July 2014, where I rolled the ATV
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After heading up into the hills (which was around 5000 feet above sea level) everyone decided to turn around, Peter said they would be coming down the trail that was in the valley below but they were going to take the long way around the mountain. Hum, well shoot, I can get down that hill, or so I thought, and meet them at the bottom on the trail. So Mike C joined me and we tried to follow some old cat trails that eventually ended, but heck, just below us I see another old cat track, we’ll just jump off this trail and cross country it to the next one, ha.
All was going good until we both decided we had to go back. Not the best choice, but the only one. So trying to get back up the hill we had to hit it pretty hard, Mike got right up, me, well, my first attempt had my ATV roll over on my leg, but not too bad. The second attempt with Mike C helping, ended up with my ATV doing a heads-over-heel roll and slamming me into the mountain pretty good. How good you ask, enough to give me a bad case of whiplash, or so the x–rays and MRI’s showed.
So I spent the rest of the 4th of July weekend in camp trying to use a bottle of Crown Royal and anything I could find to kill the pain, at least until I was well enough to drive.
Now for the fun part, this could be a bit long, but to shorten it let me say that the MRI’s revealed a bigger problem. As it turns out I have an Arachnoid Cyst causing abnormal dilatation of the 3rd ventricle. In layman terms, a Cyst in my brain that is blocking the flow of my Cranial-Spinal fluids and causing what is known as a Hydrocephalus, or water on the brain.
So now I need to have a Neurosurgeon and Endocrinologist dig around in my head, literally, and penetrate the cyst so the fluids flow again. A couple different options but leave it to say they have to drill a hole in the cyst that’s in a place in my brain that prohibits it from being removed because of its location, oh joy.
I have so far had to consult with or see 5 doctors, all for different aspects, jimmy cricket, let’s just get this drilled and done and call it good. So as they say on the slope, drill baby drill, and get’R done.
My firsts trip to Seattle will be for a consult with the surgeon and setting up a date and time for the actual surgery. Well there goes hunting season shot to H E double L. Maybe I can get a winter hunt in, going to be a long hard year if I have to eat store brought meat for the next 12 months.
I guess I should add that it appears I have Obstructive Hydrocephalus, a couple of sites have some decent info on this. Princeton Brain and Spine and also New York Presbyterian. John Hopkins also has lots of info, as you can see I have been doing lots of research.
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