Author: Todd Nickel

2020 week thirty four

Book / Stuff Read
26. How to Architect –Doug Patt
How the Pandemic Defeated America – Ed Yong (The Atlantic)
The Unravelling of America – Wade Davis (Rolling Stone)
The Unravelling of the Unravelling of America – Deanna Kreisel (Medium)

2020 Running to Date
1,905.5 KM

2020 Cycling to Date
1,805.6 KM

Days Without Strava Activity: 12

How to Architect is a cutesy introduction into the world of architecture presented as an A to Z guide, with short introductions into various architectural concepts such as J for Juncture and P for Proportion and culminating with Z for Zeal, the longest chapter of the book in which Patt waxes affection for Ayn Rand and The Fountainhead. The book is an easy read but nothing special, which makes me wish that A was for Ayn rather than Asymmetry so I wouldn’t have wasted my time. The Atlantic‘s long read summarizing the astonishing COVID-19 nightmare gripping the United States didn’t offer anything I hadn’t read elsewhere but it’s a very good collected how-did-we-get-here and worth the read. Wade Davis, an anthropologist at the University of British Columbia takes The Atlantic a step further lambasting America for Rolling Stone but doing so through a highly romanticized comparison to life in Vancouver. Not to have her country shaded, former UBC professor Deanna Kreisel, who recently returned her home to the United States writes a rebuttal that reads more like yet another Vancouver break up letter from yet another exiter. She’s right, of course, but the whole things comes across as a long whataboutism to Davis’ critique. That said I think they’re both worth reading, though. Follow the links above.

I normally follow my pithy reading review with a verbose look back at my week in running. I have not done any running. It has been 12 days since my bicycle crash, and I’ll be neither running nor cycling for the foreseeable future. Instead, I’m going to write about drugs. It’s not a happy story, but it has a satisfactory ending. I hope that my experience never happens to someone else, but I’m under no illusions that this story is going to inspire change. I’m sure it’s happened to a dozen other people since me. I have no way of knowing. On the afternoon of Wednesday, August 5, I was discharged from Lions Gate Hospital in North Vancouver with a single prescription for hydromorphone and instructed to continue following the pain management regiment that I’d received in the hospital. I was given some printed materials on how to put on and take off a shirt one handed and not much else. The trauma coordinator Darren Chan gave me his card with his cell phone and said to call if I needed anything. My care was being transferred to VGH Trauma Centre and I would hear from them. It was on Friday evening we did some math and realized my pain management would run out in 36 hours. I’d been provided with no mechanism to refill the prescription. First thing Saturday morning I phoned Darren and left a voicemail explaining my predicament. His voicemail message assured he would return my call. He didn’t. I didn’t wait. I call Lions Gate and ask to speak to trauma care, and explained the situation and asked for help. The person on the line said there was nothing she could do and that I should visit an Urgent Primary Care centre because no walk-in clinic would provide a prescription for hydromorphone. I asked where and she replied Esplanade and I asked if there was one closer to me in Vancouver. She made a show of being rather put out to have to Google the Hornby Street location for me. The centre opened at 8 a.m. so I gave them a call to see if a long wait could be avoided or, fingers crossed, taken care of over the phone. The automated message said they would neither provide medical advice nor wait times over the phone. At the same time Stephanie had been seeking advice and one suggestion was to call the pharmacy that had filled the prescription—sometimes they’re able to call the doctor for a refill. I was worth a try. Hydromorphone is a narcotic that requires a special prescription written in a special prescription book. The pharmacist was sympathetic, but there was nothing she could do. She suggested I speak with someone over the phone at Urgent Primary Care, so I called them again and held for reception. When I told her my situation she abruptly told me that they don’t dispense drugs and to go to a walk-in clinic. By now Stephanie has spoken with another friend who works in health care who said to just go the Urgent Care and that they tell everyone the no-narcotic message but if I could get in to speak to a doctor about my pain management they would be able to help. We didn’t have any other option. Stephanie drove me down and I took a number and waited my turn.

After a couple hours wait I got to see a doctor, who then proceeded to tell me that the pain management instructions I’d been following were “a lot” and anyway he didn’t have the required special prescription pad. I said that surely he could get one, or at least one page from one. I asked if there was a walk in clinic nearby that the doctor on duty might have one, and he replied that no walk in clinic would prescribe me hydromorphone. I replied that the Urgent Care receptionist told me to go to a walk in clinic, why would they tell me that? He had no answer, but suggested he could ask the other doctor on duty if they had the correct pad. After a few minutes he returned. There was no pad, but he could prescribe Tylenol 3. I replied that my injuries had happened just a few days ago and I really didn’t think it was wise to change up the pain management that I’d been instructed to follow. I asked if there was someone at St. Paul’s Hospital nearby that he could call. He was apprehensive, but finally acquiesced; he would make a phone call and see. He returned a few minutes later, asking, “Hey, are you that cyclist in the news?” He gave me a letter to give to the Emergency doctor on duty at St. Paul’s but made no promises they would be willing or able to help me either. We walked up to St. Paul’s and checked into Emergency. Stephanie couldn’t stay with me because of COVID-19 restrictions, but the intake staff at St. Paul’s were exceptionally helpful and kind. I was fast tracked through Emergency and met with the doctor, letter in hand. I could tell he too was hesitant to write a hydromorphone prescription, but ultimately did. I thanked him profusely and set off for the pharmacy. On a day I should have never left the sofa, I left the house in search of health care support at just after 8 a.m. and didn’t get home until nearly 5 p.m. Back in late July, before my life was changed by a negligent driver, Premier John Horgan suggested in a press conference that the opioid crisis starts with a choice. He’s since tried to walk that statement back, as have Minister of Health Adrian Dix and the province’s top doctor Bonnie Henry. I remember being so disappointed when I heard him say it. My experience navigating the health care for pain management certainly gives me another perspective. What if I hadn’t been able to convince the doctor at Urgent Care to phone St. Paul’s? I was out of options. I’m in terrible pain, and the pain management that I’m on only manages it. It is bearable, and I have a very high pain threshold. What would I have done if I wasn’t able to get a prescription? If this was my experience, what is the experience of others? I cannot be unique. On Monday, August 10, over 48 hours after I left a message with Trauma Coordinator Darren Chan, he returned my call. I was furious. “I don’t check my phone 24 hours a day,” he replied. I reminded him that he gave me his card and said to phone if I needed anything, that I was given no other contact person for assistance. “Why would discharge me from trauma care, and give me a number – the only number I was given – that isn’t even monitored?” He replied, “I’m sorry you feel that way.”

I received excellent care throughout my stay at Lions Gate Hospital. The doctors and nurses were exceptional and professional. There is a huge problem with the way in which I was discharged. I am fortunate that I was able to solve the issues I faced, but I shouldn’t have had to, and no one else should have to either.

Notes:
– If you’re wondering what the heck is going on, I wrote about it all here: https://readrunwrite.com/2020-week-thirty-two/
– Thanks again for all the well wishes from everyone. I have a very long road ahead of me and your kind words of support really do help.
– My bike is home! It looks in okay shape but I won’t be riding anytime soon, and not before it gets a full safety check at the shop. I’m on the waitlist. Thanks for all the offers to help.
– Some of you have asked about a GoFundMe page; a friend has created one. It feels weird because I think there are much more worthy causes, but if you are so inclined: https://www.gofundme.com/f/todd-nickel-recovery-fund I am overwhelmed by the response so far. Thank you.

2020 week thirty two

Photo by Mike Martin

Today is Thursday, August 6. The Canucks just won game three of the prelim against the Wild. I’m typing this from home.

ICYMI – On Monday morning I set out to complete my first “century” on my bike, pedalling 54 KM from my West End apartment to Britannia Beach and back. It all went sideways on the way back when I was hit by a negligent pickup truck driver a bit south of Furry Creek.

Monday – The ride out was uneventful. I’d never been farther north than the ferry terminal at Horseshoe Bay before, but I’m connected with many people on Strava who have. I see why it’s a popular ride; the route is beautiful. I reached Britannia in a little under two hours and stopped at the north end for a snack and took a couple photos. Gave a wave to a peloton heading farther north, and waited on a cyclist coming down the hill into Britannia heading south, then pulled behind him. I followed for a few kilometres and then took the lead after the descent through Furry Creek. We exchanged some small talk, he happy to get pulled along for a bit and me happy to take my turn. A few kilometres down I hear him shout out and in the same instant I was hit from behind on my head and back. The impact threw me and my bike from the shoulder into the lane and I couldn’t recover. Fortunately my shoes unclipped from my pedals. I took the brunt of the impact on the asphalt on my right side and shoulder and came to rest on my back. Quickly there were a few people at me who identified as off-duty responders and at least one doctor. They isolated my head and spine and rolled me into recovery position. I asked someone to find and turn off my watch. (Of course I did….) I was sure that my clavicle was broken (I’d broken it before). I could move my arms and legs and feel everything and sure didn’t want to. I was having a lot of difficulty breathing, which was really frightening. Fire arrived first and paramedics next. Stretchered and braced my neck and gave me oxygen, they cut off my shorts and put on a pelvic sling. RCMP said he would take my bike to Squamish. I replied that wasn’t very helpful. Someone remarked it was in pretty good shape considering. I haven’t seen it yet; it’s still in Squamish. I was transported lights-and-sirens (a first) to Lions Gate Hospital in North Vancouver.

They cut off what was left of my kit, bandaged my knees and elbows, hands, side, shoulders, gave me a CT Scan and X-rays. Right hand sure looks broken and they thought it was, but it’s not. Clavicle, scapula and ribs one through eight on my right side all are broken. The rib fracture punctured my lung but not badly; they opted to monitor rather than intubate or chest tube. I have a bit of a lump on my head, but it’s otherwise fine. My helmet mashed my sunglasses into my nose. They’re destroyed, but although my nose looks ghastly it’s fine. Got a nice asphalt tattoo on my face by my eye. At this time I still don’t know what really happened. Stephanie arrives and she’s brought me some things because I’m not going anywhere and I look at Strava and it’s updated my activity (so whoever actually found and turned off my watch, thanks!). I check the Flybys to see if I can find the cyclist who was with me and he’s posted his near death along with this (now infamous) photo:

Photo by Mike Martin

I’m fucking mad and I’m still mad and I know that’s not healthy especially right now but I’m mad. It seems clear that the load wasn’t secured properly and fell off the headache rack but instead of stopping, the driver decided to scythe his way through the joke of a bike lane at 80 km/h (the posted limit, which literally nobody drives on this route, so I’m being generous). I found out later that Mike Martin, the cyclist behind me, was hit as well but managed to stay on his bike. The driver was issued two tickets at the scene: (1) driving without reasonable consideration for other persons using the highway (2) driving with an insecure load. If convicted, he faces a fine of less than the cost of the cycling kit that was smashed and / or cut off of me. Media have provided conflicting math but it’s less than $500. The driver claims he didn’t notice the load had shifted. What hasn’t been reported is the RCMP officer noted that the truck’s back cab window was open, as well as the camper in front of the truck had to “encourage” the driver to stop.

Worst kit photo ever.

Tuesday – I was kept overnight to monitor my punctured lung and to get checked by the orthopaedic surgeon. My scapula breaks into my shoulder socket (or really near it, I’m still not sure) and there was concern I would need surgery. After some more X-rays of my chest I met with the surgeon who determined that surgery wasn’t the best approach, but getting me home was. Before that could happen I needed my lung puncture to stabilize and the epidural in my spine needed to come out, which meant transition off the drip and onto oral meds. That meant another night at Lions Gate at least. I was determined to make it just one. By now I had been inundated relentlessly by media, thanks in part I’m sure for my social media posts exploding. I recorded an interview with CBC Vancouver and spoke live on Radio One “On the Coast.”

Link to CBC Vancouver news story, including video: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/vancouver-cyclist-hit-by-overhanging-load-1.5673995

Wednesday – More chest X-rays and they were satisfied with how my right lung is recovering. The transition to oral pain management went okay, except that the medication makes me very nauseous and the last thing I want to be doing with eight broken ribs is throwing up. They also make me extremely drowsy so I try to just sweat through the nausea until I pass out for a bit and it’s usually passed by the time I wake up. I was discharged late afternoon, my ongoing care transferred to the trauma unit at Vancouver General, and to Stephanie. A stop at the pharmacy on the way and I was home in my own bed.

Today – Today has been rough; the pain is excruciating and the nausea is nearly as bad. I anticipated the worst DOMS of my life and they’ve exceeded expectations. But I’m grateful to be at home. I am extremely grateful to the people who stopped to help me on Monday, to the responders and all the medical professionals at Lions Gate Hospital for your care. Thank you, all of you. I am also extremely grateful for the outpouring of support through messages and social media. If I don’t reply please understand I’m exhausted, from the events of the past few days and also having to retell it over and over. I’ve read all your messages, and tried to read all the comments – normally the worst thing you can do – but they have been overwhelmingly positive. Not all, of course, there’s still the handful who are mad I ruined their holiday commute, blame me for being there in the first place, insist that the whole thing is a hoax (that one’s pretty fun), or conclude that it wasn’t so bad because I was so chipper in the CBC interview, apparently. Many of you want to visit or have offered help and we will welcome both. Please coordinate with Stephanie so that I can focus on my recovery. I am not interested in speaking with the media, and no amount of dogged determination is going to change that, though I’m sure that by tomorrow everyone will have moved on. I do hope that the calls for better cycling safety stay loud and clear, and let’s be clear: it is car culture that needs to change.

UPDATE 08/08:
– Many of you have offered to help get my bike from Squamish. Thank you, it is being taken care of.
– Some of you have offered legal referrals, and again, thank you. I have signed with excellent representation.
– Some of you have asked about a GoFundMe page; a friend has created one. It feels weird because I think there are much more worthy causes, but if you are so inclined: https://www.gofundme.com/f/todd-nickel-recovery-fund

2020 mid check in

July 2 marked the middle of 2020 and for the past couple years of diawriting here I’ve written a bit of a mid-year check in. It is possible that when I look back on 2020, assuming I’m fortunate enough to be able to, that I’ll lament the little I read and wrote throughout it. Going into the pandemic I had pretty religiously kept up my end of my little bargain with my trio or readers, to post something about what I’d been reading and something about what I’d been running each Sunday covering the preceding week. I have fallen down and it’s been a struggle to get back up, reading and writing at least. As of writing, I’ve read 25 book-ish collections of word on printed or digital page. Sure, six were graphic novels (plus one comic strip collection), but I’m still within the vicinity of on pace to reach my goal of reading 52 books this year, which is, quite frankly, a shocker. I’m caught up in the midst of a real lull right now that I hope I can shuck off and get back into some sort of reading routine. This is what it looks like at mid-year:

  • Comix / Graphic Novel — seven
  • Fiction — six
  • Non Fiction — six
  • Poetry — seven

My running goals for 2020 where (as usual) a lot more thoroughly fleshed out, and then a pandemic happened, which basically cancelled everything. I say basically because rising like a putrid zombie came the virtual race. It’s no substitute. But let’s play along anyway.

Run (at least) one race per month

When the pandemic was declared by the WHO on March 12 I had run four races. Nothing happened in April, so even if I count virtuals (I don’t), this goal is not happening in 2020.

Run a BQ Marathon

My actual goal, whether I every said it out loud or not, was to run at or near 3:06 with home-course advantage at the BMO Vancouver Marathon in May, and then fun run the Berlin Marathon in September. Then the BMO went virtual, and Berlin was cancelled completely. I took the BMO virtual but on the advice of my coach dropped down to the half. I deferred my Berlin entry to 2021, though I’m not confident that it will happen in 2021, let alone that we’ll want to risk international travel. Who knows. Anyway, this goal is not happening in 2020 that’s for sure.

Run a new Half Marathon PB

Way back on January 1 I figured that I could run 1:27:59 at the First Half Half Marathon in February for a five second PB and then chip away at it through the spring. I got sick instead, and nearly stayed in bed on race day but instead opted to fun run it, then moments before start decided to give it hard. I didn’t PB but far exceeded expectations though 15 KM that I still wonder what if I was healthy. Ended up with my second sub-90 proving the first time wasn’t a fluke. I decided to give it another go and created a dead flat clock-and-counter loops of Stanley Park for my first virtual race: BMO Vancouver, and I learned quite quickly that going hard solo is really hard. I ran until my watch read 21.2 KM and the timer stayed under 1:30 for my third time.

Run a new 10 KM PB

I actually wanted to run 37:59 so that I could qualify for a seeded bib in the Sun Run, but that was really, really ambitious. Instead, on day two of WestVanRun I ran to a very close but still second quickest. Not unhappy with the result given the effort just 24 hours earlier.

Run a new 5 KM PB

WestVanRun day one and I really wanted to go sub 19 and came oh so close finishing with a big new personal best time 19:04. Then the pandemic, and then Mile2Marathon got onto the virtual bandwagon with their own virtual race series, beginning with a 5 KM at the end of May. The afternoon before I took a bike ride through the proposed rolling hill course, and the following morning I dragged my unhappy GI through the M2M “Big Aus” loop up at Pacific Spirit Park and came up a hair short of sub 19, crossing the virtual line according to Garmin + Strava at 19:02 for a new, fake PB.

One mile time trial stare down(hill).
Run a new Mile PB

I had hoped to take another shot at the mile on the track at the VFAC series again this year but then there was this pandemic thing and everything got cancelled. Cue the mile time trial for the M2M Virtual Race Series. Rather than trust my watch, I created a 1.61 KM public Strava segment to run through — from the top down the Stanley Park Causeway. The route actually has a really nice roll to it, starting with a nice slope to get you going, then a bit of a plateau before gentle decline for the last 300 metres or so right when your body should be screaming at you to stop. I felt a bit cheeky about time trialing a mile down 45 metres of elevation, that is until I saw one of the recommended routes posted on the M2M Virtual Race Series web page featured a 65 metre drop down Marine Drive to Spanish Banks. I raced the mile twice in 2019 and finish 5:52 both times. Then in November I ran an unofficial 5:41. I set my B Goal at 5:39 but I really wanted to go under 5:20. The day before, on June 23, I took a test run at the segment just to get a feel, and cleared it in 5:53. Game on. The following morning I hit it again as hard as I could and came out the other end in 5:18. I was happy but not satisfied, so on Friday evening, June 26 I jogged up and hammered it again, this time in 5:16. Unofficial. Downhill. Don’t care.

Looking forward, running

At the end of week 27 I’ve run 1,688 KM, which puts me well on pace to run over 3,000 KM in 2020, a total I’ve never come close to in one year before. The M2M Virtual Race Series continues through the summer, with a 10 KM coming up in a couple weeks when I’ll have another chance to go under 39 minutes. Following that, I’m taking my first crack at 15 KM in August and I’ve set a pretty lofty goal to run sub 60. Then around Labour Day, another crack at the half marathon when I plan to challenge for a new fastest in the virtual CRS West Scotiabank Half Marathon. By then I’m going to be thoroughly virtual raced out.