Life Is Not an Accident by Jay Williams

Author:Jay Williams
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2015-11-25T16:00:00+00:00

9

Rehab

I’ve obsessed over how my life could’ve ended up differently had I swerved just a foot more to the right and missed that pole altogether. But then I think about what would’ve been had I not swerved at all.

Gone.

I was still here, ravaged by one serious setback after another.

June 19, 2003

I severed my left leg’s femoral artery, the main artery that provides oxygenated blood to the tissues of the leg, and required a vein graft. The sacrum, the triangular bone at the base of my spine, was cracked and needed a large metal pin, which I have to this day because I refuse to have yet another surgery to remove it. My pubic symphysis, the cartilage connecting my right and left pubic bones, pried apart about ten inches, causing severe nerve damage and a virtual coin toss on whether I’d be impotent the rest of my life. The dislocation of my knee not only tore every ligament in the joint but also severed my peroneal nerve, which provides the signal from your brain to lift up your foot. Losing this nerve meant I would never properly control my foot again.

During the first couple of weeks in the ICU in Chicago, the doctors focused on closing the severed artery in my left leg so I wouldn’t lose it or, worse, my life. They then operated on my pelvis to close the gap in my pubic symphysis and the crack in my sacrum. It wouldn’t be until after I got to North Carolina that I would undergo surgery to repair the leg and my peroneal nerve.

July 2, 2003

I met my surgeon, Dr. Claude Moorman, once I arrived at Duke University Hospital. Dr. Moorman, a behemoth of a man who comes from a long line of football players, continues to oversee the Duke Sports Medicine Center today. As physically imposing as he was, he was the dictionary definition of a gentle giant. Upon my arrival, he immediately brought me into surgery to wash out all of my wounds and close my fasciectomy incisions in order to keep any of my lacerations from getting infected after the long trip by land and air.

While recovering from the procedure, my doctors began to ponder the next steps. Four days later, Dr. Moorman, Dr. James Andrews, who has operated on one Hall of Famer after another, and Dr. Richard Steadman, another top orthopedic surgeon based in Colorado, held a conference call to brainstorm the best way to reconstruct my knee. It was like having a dream team of surgeons come together to formulate the game plan.

July 25, 2003

Thirty-six days after my accident was when the surgery to repair my knee finally took place. When people think of a joint dislocation, they might picture a finger or a shoulder, where treatment involves popping it back into place. But with a knee dislocation, the bones of the leg completely separate (the femur is separated from the tibia and the fibula) and the ligaments that hold the bones together tear. Without proper and timely treatment, there is a risk of losing the leg altogether.

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