The Slow Walk to Freedom

It's been a little over three years since my accident: three years of not driving; of hanging around, waiting for late buses; of always leaving time to walk to reach a place. Finally, earlier this week, I had my first post-accident, independent drive!



My return to driving was much delayed by the eye problem I mentioned in this post. I could have restarted driving despite that problem if I'd been willing to wear an eye patch. Given the way I think my brain works when I drive, unfortunately I felt that too dangerous for me to contemplate. I do not know how I would live with myself if, by taking unnecessary risk, I caused an accident like my own to someone else. Safety is paramount!

So, instead of driving while wearing an eye patch, I waited three years for operations to correct my eye problem. Two years is regularly taken to see if the problem might improve without surgery. In my case, it didn't, but surgery was further delayed by an extended period of travel (which you can read more about here). I'll also add that my search for the right surgeon led me to write this post, I'm the Boss!

Fortunately, that search proved successful. The results of my first operation meant no further ops were needed. I'd been expecting to need two, three or even four operations to solve my problem well and I was hardly assured of a good outcome. I was absolutely amazed to have such an outcome after only one operation!

An additional bonus of needing to wait to sort out my eye problem was that I wasn't trying to drive while still learning to cope with a significant amount of fatigue.

I write this post not to crow about driving again; more to talk about how, with care and patience, abilities and the freedom they allow will often slowly return.

Cheers,
Mike