Quote Originally Posted by truk4u View Post
Michael,

There are lots of folks here that will help you through the various operational and maintenance needs of your Prevost. This is a pretty direct group, you will get answers that are fact driven and not sugar coated to make you feel good. We all have been on the receiving end of solutions that make us feel like we're just not up to speed on these somewhat complicated machines.

However, I do have to raise a concern and hope you don't take it the wrong way. Not knowing the severity of your injury, I do hope the comprehension issues you experience do not have any effect on your ability to safely transport your family and deal with the complexity that exists (your words) of the bus and surrounding dangerous truck and car traffic. People have no regard for the size of our buses and the long distance it takes to get stopped.

We have lost one member due to a preventible none driving accident and you will find that many on the site truly have your well being at heart and if you get spanked, it's because that's just the way it is!
Tom- I didn't take offense to your comments and concerns in the least! I understand - particularly given the limited information I've disclosed thus far.
So, here's the whole story... Have a seat, this will take a while...

On May 4th, 2004, I had a horrific accident on my Harley-Davidson near my home in Chicago (A young girl pulled out from a side street and hit me.) I was rushed to the hospital where they gave me a 5% chance of surviving through the night. I had a traumatic brain injury and had emergency brain surgery to remove a clot the size of a human fist that had shifted my entire brain over to the left side of my skull. I was in a deep coma for 32 days (3 on the Glascow scale - the worst) and then in various hospitals for another three months. I was in a wheelchair for about 6 months. Against all odds I slowly recovered, although I am permanently disabled and haven't worked since the accident (except for a couple of consulting engagements lasting 2-3 months each that I took at the request of friends/ex-colleagues) and a part-time member services job at a local gym for about a year.

Also I'm fortunate that, because I was wearing my leathers (but alas, no helmet), I was spared any visible or disfiguring physical injuries, so my appearance hasn't changed (not to say that I was any special prize before the accident!). I sold my home in Chicago and moved back to Georgia (after 19 months in Chicago) at the end of November 2004 to be near family and friends.

Several months after the accident, I was cleared to drive after testing by a neurologist and a rehabilitation doctor. When I returned to Georgia, I retested for my CDL License and passed the written test with a perfect score, the driving test with no noted concerns, and the DOT physical with flying colors. I do walk with a "spastic gait" and my left arm/hand are partially paralyzed. My "brain issues" are really more centered around short term memory issues. My reaction time, vision, etc are unaffected. Actually, the thing that bothers me most in social situations is my voice. I had a tracheostomy for 6 weeks and it left one of my vocal chords paralyzed, a large amount of scar tissue around my trachea and my trachea below the tracheostomy site narrowed to about 1 milimeter (normal is about 2.5 milimeters). The result is that my voice is very hoarse and weak and it requires a lot of effort for me to "converse" at length.

But you know what? I have no complaints! I'm just happy to be alive, that I have a beautiful Prevost bus, and that the most incredible woman I've ever met agreed to marry me on December 6, 2008!

In closing this epistle, I want to reiterate that I love being a part of POG and look up to many of the members here who are so knowlegeable and so generous with their knowledge!

Thank you for being so kind to me and Vita (especially when I pester you with "idiot questions"!