Of Auto Mishaps and Cyborgs...

Hello Everyone,

I just wanted to fill you all in on a little incident that occurred last Sunday the 27th of February. As most of you know I had been hired to work at the Bay Area Ren Fest in Tampa this season. Charles Murray and I arranged to rent a place together in St. Petersburgh for the duration of the show. Unfortunately, the place was not ready and we were not able to move in until today (the 2nd of March). For the first weekend of the Faire, Charles found himself a hotel in Tampa and I arranged to house sit for some friends in Gulfport. My biggest concern, the first weekend of the show was that I had picked up a stupid head cold on the trip to Florida, and I was hoping my voice would last through the first show.

The first day of the Faire passed without incident. The second day of the faire, Tampa was experiencing torrential rains. We arrived at the faire for the morning meeting, and were told in short order that the show was going to be canceled that day. Charles and I decided to make the best of it and get a bite to eat. Perhaps catch a movie. Since both of our cars were filled with our possessions, (remember, we hadn't moved into our main housing yet) we could not drive together and were forced to follow one another through rained soaked Tampa. First I followed Charles to his hotel, where we changed into our street clothes (i.e. out of our geeky rennie clothes). Next Charles followed me (I know Tampa a little better than he does, so it was my job to get him to a place where we could get food and see a movie).

So Charles was following me down Fowler Avenue, a road which runs three lanes east and west. I cannot recall which direction I was going in, but it was whatever direction I needed to be in to make a left turn and cross three lanes of traffic in order to get to the university mall. There was a little section in the middle of the road which I had to pull into in order to make the turn. Another vehicle was parked in the middle section of the road, preparing to make a turn in the opposite direction. I didn't realize it at the time, but this vehicle was creating a dangerous blind spot. I attempted to make my turn across Fowler, when a large, gray, SUV (traveling far too fast for the conditions) came barreling out of the blind spot and t-boned my little Oldsmobile, striking it on the rear passenger side and nearly tearing my car in half. The boom box sitting on my passenger seat flew into my arm, causing a right proximal humerus fracture, minimally displaced (that's doctor talk for a broken wing).

The rest of the day was a chaotic jumble of cops and hospitals and pain medications. My possessions were moved into a friends van, to be delivered to my apartment later this week. I am typing this, one handed, from my cousin Mark DiNovo's house in Largo, FL. Besides the broken arm, I am in good shape and, quite frankly, lucky to be alive. I lost some stuff, but stuff can be replaced. Myself and the other gentleman involved in the accident are still alive and that is what is important here. The doctor's say that I should make a full recovery.

I am a lucky man. I am lucky for Friends like Charles Murray who has stuck by me through this whole ordeal. I'm lucky for all of my Renaissance Festival friends who stopped by the road to make sure that I was alright, and who took care of my possessions for me. I'm lucky for family, like my distant cousin Mark and his wife, Lindy, who have taken me in without question during this difficult first week. I'm lucky that I'm still going to be able to perform at the Ren Fest (as a one armed character). I have no idea what I'm going to be doing with myself after this show, but whatever it is I know I'll be lucky to be doing it.

That's all for now. Recounting this has been exhausting. More later...

Love/Soon/Peace

John

Date: Sun, 3 Apr 2005 16:01:38 -0700 (PDT)
From: John Michael Decker
Subject: Another arm update...To: Everybody

Hey Everybody,

Just wanted to fire out another health update to keep everyone in the know. Last Tuesday I went to see a shoulder specialist in Tampa named Dr. Mark Mighell (pronounced "Mile"), and he recommended that I have surgery immediately. You see, in the car accident that broke my upper humerus, my shoulder was knocked out of whack. I was healing improperly, and if I continued to do so, I would have lost some mobility in my right arm. So on Wednesday (the 30th of March) I went to the University Community Hospital in Tampa for an open reduction and fixation of the right proximal humerus. What this means is that they cracked open my arm, straightened out the shoulder and then bolted it all together with a stainless steel plate and some screws. It was my hope to go into surgery on Wednesday and then work at the Bay Area Ren Fest on Saturday the 2nd of April, but I overestimated my bodies recuperative powers, so I've spent the weekend at my apartment in St. Petersburg reading, watching television and listening to music.

The good news is that the surgery went well and I should eventually gain full mobility in my right arm. Also, as a bonus, I have joined such luminaries as Steve Austin, Darth Vader, Wolverine, Vic Stone, the Terminator, and Deathlok the Demolisher as a man with metal in his body. I am still waiting for my super powers to manifest. Just call me Johnny Cyborg!

Anyway, that's all the news that's fit to print in my life right now. I'll see you when I see you...

Your's in a Fusion of Metal and Flesh,

John Michael Decker (Cyborg Action Figure)