My Surgery Results Look Great So Far!

I had my first post-op with Dr. Jobe, he was very pleased with the surgery results.  Check out the WAY COOL x-rays, woo-hoo!!

I didn't realize this, but he also put did bone graft along with the hardware.  The bones have to grow in to fuse the vertebrae, because eventually the hardware by itself would loosen up.  So I still have a lot of restrictions so as not to interfere with the bone growth, but...

• I don't have to wear the collar except for exercise or any physical activity.
• I can start light aerobics now (like the elliptical machine, yay!!).
• I can start exercising my arms and shoulders in another 4 weeks.
• I can start hang gliding 6 months after the surgery.  That's Feb 19th.

Thanks to the grace of God, the Zuñiga family in Pamplona for taking care of me the week after the accident, the Nerlich family for the following two weeks, the amazing Dr. Jobe, and the support, encouragement and prayers of my wife, family and friends!!

My Surgery

(Thursday, August 21)

And the outcome of the surgery was:

My neurosurgeon, Dr. Jobe was very pleased with the surgery.  My C5 vertebra was pretty smashed, with bone fragments all around, but he was able to bolt C4-C5-C6 along the right and left sides with titanium rods.  He also said the nerve to my arm lost its "sheath" but doesn't appear to be damaged, so after several weeks, it should start to grow the sheath back and then I can start re-hab'ing the arm.  On the 3rd day after the surgery, I was allowed to come home, and I'm in great spirits, mostly because I'm thankful for the providence of God by which I narrowly escaped a much more significant negative outcome.

Thanks, everybody, for your thoughts, wishes, and prayers.  I really appreciate the care and concern from my various circles of friends!!

(Monday, August 18)

My wife, Anna and I met with my neurosurgeon, Dr. Jobe for the first time on Monday (August 18) and he explained to me the many mysteries I've been wondering about...

What do I have?

A “broken neck”.  Also, because I lost memory of about 10 minutes immediately following my crash, I had a concussion.

There is only one dislocated vertebra, and the facet (part of the bone that aligns the adjacent vertebrae) on the right side “jumped” out of its correct location and is stuck/jammed in the wrong place.  This also caused the facet of the vertebra to fracture (hence a “broken neck”) and I have bone fragments in my neck.  All of this impacted the nerve that comes out of this juncture, which is why I can’t lift my right arm.  From the CT scan, it appears to me to be about 3/8 inch (1 cm) out of its correct location, so that the adjacent vertebrae above/below are off center and slightly rotated.  All the other vertebrae above/below these two are aligned properly to their neighbors, so it is only off in this one place.

Why didn’t it show up in Pamplona?

They only did an x-ray, so depending on the angle(s) used, it’s not unusual that it would not have been visible.  It’s only on the CT Scan (which is 3-D and can be rotated graphically), that it is visible.  The good thing for me is that if they had seen it in Pamplona, I probably wouldn’t have be allowed to spend the next 3-1/2 weeks touring around Europe.

What will I get?

Two titanium rods plus four screws.  On each side of my neck, three adjacent vertebrae will be joined by a rod, which will be screwed into the top and bottom vertebrae.  Even though only one side is broken and out of alignment, it’s safer to put rods on both sides.  I’ll lose about 25% of my mobility of my neck.  It's likely I'll recover full use and strength in my arm (in 6 months or so).

What could I have had?

He said in about 50% of the cases with damage to this extent, there is partial to full paralysis of up to all four limbs.  He said I was “within millimeters” of that.  I’m thankful that I was chosen to glorify God in the way in which this outcome has been to this point, rather than some other way.  And I pray that the surgery will work as the doctor intends and I will be able to continue with the life I enjoy.

What’s my future risk?

He said the strength of my neck, after recovery, will be the about same as it was before the accident.  In other words, I am not at any increased risk of a neck injury due to any activity.  So I hope to resume flying in “about 6 months”.  But no flat-slope launches until I get better training/skills on that particular technical requirement.

Two Disclocated Vertebrae in my Neck, Surgery Scheduled

I just got back from the neurosurgeon.  He says I have two dislocated vertebrae.  Where each vertebra aligns with the next one, there are two "facets" which are like the "hooks" to keep the vertebrae aligned.  Two vertebrae "jumped" forward  -- their hooks are now in the wrong place, and they are now stuck there.  To fix it, they will have to do surgery to relocate the vertebrae into their original positions and then they will use 13mm screws (permanent) to stabilize them.  That's the best I can understand/explain it now.  It seems to make sense, given that the force of the impact was probably down and forward on my head.  The reason for the pain in my right shoulder, and my inability to lift my right arm, is that the dislocated bones are putting pressure on my spinal cord, and it's messing with some nerves.

My surgery is scheduled for Tuesday, August 19th at 7:30 Eastern Time at Bayfront Medical Center with Dr. Jobe.  Your prayers are appreciated.  In the meantime they put me in a brace as a precaution.  It keeps me from moving my neck very far, and also provides some protection in the case of a shock (such as a fender-bender).  

Estimate is 2 - 3 days in the hospital, 2 - 3 weeks recuperation at home, 6 - 9 months rehab.

This is the really cool t-shirt I got for flying this comp!

Explanation of my Crash (for non-hang glider pilots):
The photo below is of me at Henson's Gap, Tennessee, but I am using it as a reference photo to explain the parts of the glider.

• The keel is a single aluminum tube that runs from the nose to the tail (in the photo, you can only see it at the tail, because the keel is inside the sail, which has a top and bottom surface).
• The control frame is the triangular bar that is attached to the keel.
• The control frame is fixed perpendicular to the keel by the two nose wires and two tail wires; notice they are completely tensioned.
• My harness is attached to the keel at the suspension point.  This allows my body to swing forward and backward (and side-to-side) to control the glider by shifting my weight.

In the situation of my crash, I was skimming extremely low to the ground (a few inches at times) down a slope that was descending at the same angle of slope as my glider (that is, I was neither gaining nor losing altitude relative to the slope).  The ground was rocky, and at some point, the control frame hit a rock, which stopped it instantly.  The momentum of the glider was then pivoted forward so that the nose of the glider hit the ground next, also stopping instantly (and breaking the keel).  The momentum of my body rocked forward at the suspension point so that the top of my head struck the keel (or possibly the sail just to either side of the keel?), which also stopped my body instantly (and disclocating two neck bones).

Explanation of my Crash (for hang glider pilots):
I plan to submit an accident report to USHPA sometime after Nationals finishes up, with the complete unedited launch sequence photos.  But my memory of it is:

• After getting prone, I was flying really low (the photos show that my legs were dragging the ground, kicking up rocks, and my jeans were torn and I had abrasions on both legs; I didn't realize I was that low, I just knew I was in trouble.)
• I couldn't pull in for more speed, because I was so low.
• At one point I felt that the glider was about to stall, and I had maybe 2 feet of altitude, so I dropped my hands from the downtubes to the base tube and pulled in to gain speed.
• This un-stalled the glider, but now I could see that I was "diving" at the ground.  I remember thinking I needed to push out to avoid the ground, but from looking at the photos, I'm not sure whether it got past the thought to the action; it doesn't look like it, judging from the angle of attack, and there is now a bush in the foreground so that you can't see my arms.
• The next thing I remember was the impact, and then nothing until several minutes later when they were putting the collar on me.

Cause: as typical, 100% pilot error.

Contributing factors: 

1. No experience launching from a long rocky slope.
2. No mountain launch santioned comp experience.

Elaboration:

Even though I'm primarily an aerotow pilot, I have plenty of mountain launches, including several in the glider and harness I was using at the comp.  However, they were all ramp or cliff launches.  My only slope launches were the big training hill at Lookout Mountain Flight Park which actually starts out as a shallow slope, but you don't really get in the air until it drops off to a steep slope.  So I really had no experience running a long way down a shallow slope.

I've flown 5 mountain comps at Tennessee Tree Toppers Team Challenge (which are not sanctioned but simulate the launch "pace and feel" of a sanctioned comp), and 4 sanctioned U.S. aerotow comps (in Sport Class with no start clock).  At Team Challenge there were always 4 launch assistants (two wing wiremen, one keel man, plus the pre-ramp hang check), and they provided guidance on the flags below launch and the sock above launch, as well as making sure no one launched with un-level wings or a bad nose angle.

The Sport Class at the comp I crashed at, was intermixed with the Open Class in the launch order, and using the same start clock.  There were two launch lines and pilots were launching in fairly rapid succession, as pretty much everybody decided to launch at about the same time.

Mental Mistakes:

1. When it was my turn, I felt the pressure to step up and launch quickly.
2. I did not check the wind flag.
3. I don't remember consciously checking the nose angle.
4. I didn't yell "clear" (no one did), but that has always been my mental cue to commit to the launch.

Physical Mistakes:

1. I launched in a bad cycle (see flag in third photo below).  From looking at several other launch sequence photos, almost everybody launched in a good headwind.  There were two that launched in a calm and they were both "scary low" but obviously not as bad as mine.
2. I didn't keep running long enough (or fast enough), and/or I didn't hold my correct position relative to the control bar.  The photos show me "falling behind" the control bar.

Here are a subset of the photos from the sequence.  One tricky part was that the camera was hand-held and the photographer naturally rotated the camera as he followed me unexpectedly downhill, so it's not possible to exactly judge the angle of the slope or the angle of attack of the glider.  On the latter photos, I used the cirrus clouds as a reference  to rotate them by 15 degrees.

Unfortunately the series didn't start early enough to check my transition
from having the downtubes on my shoulder to having the glider lift and
tension my hang strap, so this is what I have to start with.  I don't know
if my nose was this high before that, or not.

This is where I don't completely understand what's going wrong.
I seem to be falling behind / falling into the glider.

Probably the worst point.  Note the tail wind.
From the spectator and the flag pole, the camera appears level here.

Close-up of previous photo - I am still in grapevine grip.

THIS AND FOLLOWING PHOTOS ARE ROTATED 15 DEGREES.
Realizing I am stalling, and having a little altitude, I finally drop my
hands to the base tube...

and pull in...

a little too far?  It's not clear from this photo whether I over-rotated
the nose down (pulled in too far), or whether at this point, the control
bar has already hit the ground and started rotating the glider.

FYI - I have posted the full original (unedited) photo series at https://www.dropbox.com/s/nvxseanjbf18epo/Cliff%20Rice%20crash%20on%20launch%20Mt%20Arangoiti%202014-07-13.zip (27 MB).  I will be submitting the Accident Report to USHPA shortly.

We're Home!!

Jenny and I got back to Florida yesterday with no problems.  Leah cooked up a nice Italian dinner!  (Jenny is our summer homestay student from 2012, whose family I visited in Weissensee, and she'll be visiting us for two weeks now.)  I don't really feel like my "vacation" has "ended" - it just seems like we've driven to yet another place (other than I had to go in to the office today).  And next week Keith and his girlfriend, Heather will be here for a week, so the adventure continues.

Final Week in Germany

Jenny's dad, Rene at his work.  This is a shipping and
logistics company, and he manages a line inside that
supports about 20 trucks.

Random sign I just happened to pass.  J.S. Bach lived in this house
for 9 years, and two of his sons were born here.

Another very German dinner.

When I went to the Luftwaffe museum outside Berlin, they just
happened to have a current exhibit on life for the airmen / POW's in
Germany during the Second World War.  I photographed all the text 
(mostly in German) for my wife's family (as well as for my own interest),
as her dad was shot down / POW for a year and a half.

Messerschmitt 163 Komet rocket-powered interceptor.

Reproduction of Otto Lilienthal's hang glider.

Random Sign.  (Luke 19:10)

I saw a sign for this off the highway.  It was a few km
off my course.  "In this house was born Dr. Martin Luther."

Jenny's dad, Rene (on right) and his dad, Peter, in Peter's back yard.
The wall behind is part of the original wall of Weissenssee, 850 years old.
We also met Rene's grandfather, who is 92 years old and was a veteran
of the Second World War, first on the Russian front and then at the
defense of Normany (on D-Day and after).  He was very willing to answer
my questions (translated by Jenny).  On one occassion he came upon a
severely wounded American, made bandages for his leg to stop the
bleeding, and a splint.  He was unable to carry him, and the Americans
were advancing, so he left him to be picked up.

Jenny and her friend, Lisa getting a "snack" (with catsup).

Part of a beautiful (and huge) flower garden.

After several days of rain, it was clear for about 4 days.  I saw at least
100 harvesters and other vehicles working day and night to get the
wheat in while the conditions were good.

Jenny (on right) and her friend, Jessica in Erfurt. 

Memorial to the fallen.  WWI in the center, WWII on the sides. 

At the Wartburg Castle, this is the actual original (not
a copy - I checked the sign, asked 2 docents, and looked
it up online) translation that Martin Luther made of the
New Testament from Greek to the common language
(German) so that everybody could read it directly.
Mini-left hand column, starting in the 4th row: "I am a
good shepherd.  A good shepherd lays his life for..."

The room where Martin Luther, in hiding, translated the New Testament
and made other writings.  (The furnishings are not from his time.)

Will it fit?  Answer: no, because I was already 100% full on the way
here.  A few things Jenny is bringing in the spare space in her luggage
(so she has room to bring home all the clothes she buys in the U.S.).

Buchenwald Concentration Camp

Experience too profound to comment upon, or post photos from.  Except to say that I was stopped in my tracks when the audio tour quoted the sign at the entrance: "Recht oder Unrecht mein Vaterland", which I immediately recalled seeing word-for-word on bumper stickers in the 70's: "My country, right or wrong."

Life in Germany

(Of course, I mean, life at this one particular location in Germany, with this one particular family, and extended family and friends.)

I feel completely “at home” here.  I don’t feel any differently being in this area of Germany than if I were in Kansas (except it’s not as hot here).  Sitting around with extended family and friends is just like when I was growing up and we were visiting our relatives in Ohio every summer (except it’s not as hot here).  Visiting Jenny’s family in Weissensee seems just as normal as visiting my daughter, Nadine’s family in Colorado. 

Like I found with the two families I visited in Spain, the family, extended family, and friends are very close.  The relationships go back generations and generations.  We passed by Jenny’s kindergarten, Jenny’s primary school, Jenny’s secondary school, Rene’s (Jenny’s dad’s) kindergarten, Rene’s primary school, Rene’s secondary school, the house where Rene was born, the house where Rene’s dad was born, etc., etc., etc.

Talk about “eating local”.  Both sets of Jenny’s grandparents have their own gardens, and her mom’s parents have their own livestock.  They grow their own fruit and vegetables, make their own sausage (from their own pigs), as well as the duck we had for lunch (tasted like roast beef to me).

Mario, Danny, Werner (grandpa), Julia, Jenny.
Duck, potatoes, and "Rottkraut" (sweet, red cabbage, delicious!!)

Rene explained to me the construction that I always associate with "typical German".  It's wood beams, and bricks covered with plaster.  The deal is that the wood beams are built first, and they are the structural support.  Then the bricks and plaster are added to fill in the exterior walls.  The idea is that wood has flex and therefore won't crack as the ground settles, whereas if they built just out of bricks, the bricks can separate and crack.

Danny (Jenny's boyfriend), Jenny,
grandpa's (mom's dad) barn / workshop / pigs, chickens, ducks, rabbits.

Grill-Meister Danny.

Anja, Laci, Nico, Hannes, Anette, Claudia (mom's sister), Meline, Uwe. 

German dinner.  Meat and potatoes.

Breakfast in Jenny's back yard.

German Mehrkornbroetchen.  Yummmmmmm!!!

Jenny’s dad, Rene owns a warehouse which is filled with tons and tons of road salt (this is just one small corner).  On this roof he has solar panels and he sells his generation back to the electric grid.  We took Rene’s 4-wheel drive vehicle to one of the wind farms located on his family’s wheat fields.

In Guenstedt, we stopped by the church-yard where several relatives are interred.  All of the graves are covered with live flower gardens which are tended by the descendents.  This is the grave site of Susanne's (Jenny's mom's) grandparents.

Weissensee:

Same Issues Everywhere: "No Dog-Toilet!"

Beautiful Erfurt (about 20 km from Weissensee):

I think I would call this a “peace rally”.  It's called the "Monday Demonstration".  This right to do this was just granted 16 weeks ago.  Several different speakers got up and spoke, and frequently the audience applauded, although people also felt free to occasionally make dissenting comments.  The gist of the message, as best I could understand it, is that the German media is presenting one-sided reporting on the situation in Ukraine and Russia, and that NATO and the American government are posturing anti-Russia.  

Many streets (Ring = Circle) are named after famous people and heroes.
This is a reminder that we are in the former Soviet block of Germany.

Jenny's grandparents' (dad's parents) "cottage" where I am staying.  When she told me it was a cottage on their property, I was expecting a one-room house.  Instead it was a magnificent home on a large property with beautiful gardens and trees.  Her grandpa planted the trees 35 years ago, and he has built two houses and landscaped the entire property himself, as his "hobby".  Wow!