Tyler Waldman: It's Good to be Back

Sorry, I just stepped out for a bit. Did I miss anything?

Jokes aside, it's good to be officially back in the game today, just over a month after a pretty bad car accident in Towson the Monday after Thanksgiving.

I know Patch readers in the Baltimore area have read the details of what happened in the last month, and many have shared their concern here and on Facebook and Twitter.

It was a rough crash. I don't remember a bit of it myself—all comes from what I've been told and what I've read—but that much I know. That's why I was taken to Shock Trauma, and that's why I spent nearly three weeks in hospitals.

Many friends, family members and even a few sources old and new dropped by my room at University of Maryland Medical Center or Sinai Hospital. A week and a half since I've been out, I still have more baked goods in the corner of my kitchen counter than I could turn down in a year, and some of them have already been pawned off to family members.

I even got some creative gifts—homemade brownies and gloves from one friend, flowers from another, balloons and a little stuffed tiger from Towson University's athletics department. Towson football coach Rob Ambrose said on Twitter the team sent a football. I'm afraid it may have been batted down or intercepted.

My first memory after Sunday, Nov. 25, was in my room at Shock Trauma late on Friday, Nov. 30. That's right: nearly five days lost, including the day of the crash. Not that I particularly wish I remembered them.

As the better medications wore off that Friday, I realized I was in a hospital bed, with my wrists tied to the sides and hands in those white boxing gloves. I asked a nurse where I was and what I was doing there.

Apparently, I did so so convincingly that after the nurse told me, he got on the phone to my mother and said something to the effect of, "He's back."

It's been a long journey from Nov. 26 to here, a month and a day later. I know early on there were some, including doctors, who thought I might still be in the hospital right now. But despite the numerous bumps, breaks and bruises, I made a relatively swift recovery.

I owe plenty to the doctors at the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center and the rest of the doctors and nurses and therapists who helped me at University of Maryland Medical Center and in rehabilitation at Sinai Hospital. Also, I owe the first responders, from the Medevac pilot to the firefighters, including the Lutherville Volunteer Fire Company.

Thanks, also, to my awesome coworkers for keeping an eye on things while I've been gone.

I'm going to spend these first few days getting back up to speed on the news in the east side. As always, you're welcome to reach me with story ideas here on my cell at 410-725-4828 or by email at tyler@patch.com.

Thanks for all your support as I continue my recovery and thanks for reading.