By definition adrenaline is a hormone secreted by the adrenal glands, especially in conditions of stress, increasing rates of blood circulation, breathing, and carbohydrate metabolism and preparing muscles for exertion. Its function is to make your heart beat faster and help your lungs breathe more efficiently. It causes the blood vessels to send more blood to the brain and muscles, increasing your blood pressure, making your brain more alert while raising your sugar levels in the blood to give you energy.
I’ve experienced true adrenaline a few times in my life, including today, and I have to say I’m not a fan. You definitely won’t see a picture of me in the dictionary next to adrenaline junkie. Nope.
The first time I experienced true adrenaline I was white water rafting at the Gorge in Colorado. As an elective I took a white water rafting class to be a guide and wouldn’t you know it, we flipped on the first day. I recall surfacing and being pulled into another raft by two classmates. I also remember being grateful for paying attention to the safety guidelines an hour prior and how everything fell right into place. But what they didn’t tell me about was the amount of adrenaline that was going to be pumping through my body. I kid you not it took about 10 minutes for my body to get back to normal and when it did I remember saying out loud “well, I don’t think I wanna be a guide anymore.”
The second time I’m sure was when I had a compound fracture to my leg but I really have no recollection of the accident, just me waking up in the hospital. As a result I had a titanium rod put in my right leg which did me a huge favor today.
I was hit by a car for the second time in a months span. A month ago I was in the crosswalk, on my green, and was hit from behind. I guess this guy wasn’t paying attention, was making a left, didn’t see me and boom. I don’t think there was really any need for adrenaline cause I didn’t see it coming and actually I walked away pretty unscathed.
Today, not so much. I saw it coming, I knew I was in trouble but it happened so fast all I really remember was saying “HOLY SHIT” right before impact. I was coming down a downgrade on my cruiser so I was going pretty fast and here’s this white Suburban pulling out of the neighborhood and BAM I hit it leaving a nice little dent-y-poo, but my right leg took the brunt of it. This time it was my fault. I was riding on the wrong side of the street and I knew better. I came to in a fetal position next to the passenger door and the adrenaline was pumping cause I didn’t feel a thing LOL. Until about 10 minutes later.
By the grace of God I walked away from this accident too. Sure the ambulance came, took my vitals, asked me if I wanted to go the hospital but thats a hard no. These days you go in and some don’t come out, especially if you go on a ventilator. Just saying.
A nurse happened to see the whole thing and walked me through some breathing, this that and the other and was kind enough to put my bike in her car (which was fine, kinda) take me to Walmart so I could get my water and then back to a friend’s house for yet another recovery. This time its more physical than mental though.
All said and done my right leg is pretty banged up but like I said my titanium rod makes it pretty bionic. I think I bruised some ribs and I’ve got two knots on my head but other than that God is good.
The way I see it, this is confirmation again that God truly does have plans for me because seriously, I don’t think I could die if I tried.
Love and Light