April 7, 2009
Good morning everyone!
I have a little bad news, Good News, and GREAT News!
BAD NEWS FIRST.
As you all know I had surgery on March second on both my lower legs for compartment syndrome. Well after that surgery I came back to the OTC and my legs were starting to feel a little bit better. However, my right leg was still more swollen than my left leg, which was initially attributed to more cutting needing to be done in that leg. After being back at the OTC for a few days, and walking around on my crutches I noticed that it became more and more painful to put any type of pressure on my right leg. I immediately let my trainers know what was going on and asked them if they thought it was possible that I had some sort of infection. They went through a gauntlet of questions with me to determine if in fact any infection was going on. It was determined that I did not have any type of infection. But I knew something was not right. One more day had gone by and the pain was really starting to build. Being that I needed the healing pads covering my stitches changed out, I talked with our head trainer and told him how my leg was feeling. He texted the doctor (It was Doc's surgery day and texting him works better because he is in and out of the office) informing him about what was going on with me. Doc, called the training room in about 5 minutes to talk with my trainer to figure out what was all happening with me. Evidently they were worried that the blood was not flowing in and out of my leg properly. We went over some symptoms I was having to see if I was experiencing a blood clot, but the symptoms were not consistent with a blood clot. Doc was still a little bit concerned and said he would call back a little later when he had more time to talk.
After Doc got off the phone I spoke a little bit more with my head trainer and he informed me that one of the tell tell signs would be if that a section of my leg was shinny like it was directly after my surgery. Little background information for everyone, before a surgery a nurse(s) come in to shave and rub iodine around the area that is going to be operated on. Once this is done this area becomes extremely shinny and almost metallic looking. Swelling also occurs around the area due to the body's way of healing itself causing the skin to be over stretched. Not seeing any of these tell tell signs I went through my normal therapy exercises, iced down and went to go take a shower before we put the healing pads on my legs.
This is where it gets interesting....I get out of the shower and as I begin to dry off what do I notice? Yup you guessed it! On the inside of my leg where most of the pain has been occurring is really shinning, People my leg looks like a Penny Fresh from the USA Mint! lol All I am thinking at this point in GREAT just what I needed! Not only is it shinny but a boil or something has popped up as well. I get dressed as soon as possible and cruthc my way back down to the training room and show my Head Trainer my leg! He immediately calls Doc and lets him know the situation. Doc was evidently in surgery again because he did not respond back. My head trainer tells me he will let me know what Doc says so I go back to my room at about Noon . At 1pm I get a call from one of the other trainers telling me that Doc wants to see me in his office within the hour so he can look at my leg really quick. At this point I already know this is not going to be a short examination! lol Especially since he has surgery's scheduled all day and he is taking time in between surgeries to look at my leg.
We get to the hospital, they sit me in a waiting room and about ten minutes later Doc comes in. Doc is as cheerful as ever, like I mentioned before he loves surgery and he has been doing them all day. He looks at my leg and orders a ultrasound be done so they can see what is going on inside. While Doc is walking out of the room he ask me "hey when was the last time you had something to eat" I told him about two hours ago, he says "Oh OK" and continues on down the hall. I immediately look at the trainer that brought me to the hospital and asked, That was a surgery question wasn't it? He said uhmmmmm....Yeah! This is the point where I start to realize I have a 40% chance of walking out of this hospital today.
I go down for the ultra sound and they find that I do not have a blood clot but there is 13 centimeters of standing fluid and blood inside my leg which is causing the swelling and added pain. I am thinking ok no big deal just go ahead stick a needle in there and suck it out! Right? Right? Yeah......I am not a doctor! lol Doc comes back in to the room, while standing at the foot of the table I am on and stares at the results. He starts to talk about what he see.....then he pauses.....looks up at me then walks around to my right side! I look at him and I say DON"T EVEN SAY IT!........... YOU HAVE TO OPERATE AGAIN DON'T YOU! Doc shook his head yes and said he needs to go in and extract the fluid and make sure no infection has set in! This is not what I wanted to hear!
I finish this lovely conversation with Doc about 2:30pm, which is when the nurse comes in and rolls me out down to the preoperative holding room. My trainer walked down with us but had to leave for another appointment. This worked out pretty good for him because initially I was suppose to be operated on within the next hour which soon became 5 HOURS but I will come back to that! Because now I get to tell you about my Really Fun Time of Playing HUMAN PIN CUSHION!!!...it was fun everyone should try it! lol I am laying in the hospital bed when my nurse Nancy comes in to insert my I.V. While she is trying to do this I see my nurse from last week Wendy walks by and she says "Hey what are you doing back here and where are your Sisters!?" lol We talked about what was going on and she told my current nurse that she is getting off easy today because my sisters were not there to interrogate here!! I then here Wendy telling the other nurses at the nurses station about how my sisters questioned beat her up with question! It was really funny she kept saying that it was not fair that my current nurse was getting off so easy! lol
For whatever reason my nurse seemed a bit distracted or flustered for some reason. It showed a she was trying to insert my I.V, she got the needle in my arm and somehow missed the vein she was going for so she moved the needle left and right in my arm trying to catch the vein. She finally catches the vein but some how it got blown and she could not use it. She takes the needle out and goes for another vein....Can yo guess what happened? Yeah she did the same thing, this woman is providing the definition of insanity in my arm right now. You know doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result! lol. Besides being frustrated with the fact that she was going to go for a third attempt I could not help but think that...God must really like this nurse Because she seriously Lucked out that none of my sisters were there with me!!! Because they would have thrown Nancy in a Head Lock Soooo Quick she would not have time to say "Let me try again"! On Nancy's third attempt knowing that she is having no luck getting this I.V in she decides to bring in the lefty from the dug out, namely Nurse Lisa. Nurse Lisa tries to get the I.V. in my arm and working properly but she fails on her first attempt! Evidently I a came to Hospital Las Vegas because these people keep rolling the dice on my Veins!! NOW...I am really getting frustrated, I am thinking ok, you all get one more shot before I call for another nurse! Finally on the fifth try, and after switching from my right arm to my left arm they successfully get the I.V. into my arm. They tell me that it is flowing slow but it will be ok! UHM....No! See this does not work for me at all!
Thankfully Wendy the nurse from my first operation was still wandering the halls and I was able to call her in to redo my I.V. By this time I a visibly unhappy, I told her the situation and I am not confident with this I.V and have serious concerns about whether or not the anesthesia would flow effectively or not. Wendy takes out my current I.V. attempts to put another one in! This is really not my day! Wendy's first attempt fails but her first attempt was Golden, the I.V. was in and flowing normal! THANK GOD!! Its around 3:15 now. Doc comes in at about 4:30 to let me know he has one more quick surgery and that I will be next. At 6:00pm I ask the nurse what was taking so long, she informed me that the surgery before mine is taking longer than they expected.
At 7:00 pm I had the privilege of getting the one Hippie anesthesiologist in the whole hospital! This guy strolls in all melo lik with long stringy hair, scruffy beard and is talking to me like I am just one of the guys in his Friday night smoking club! He runs through the usual list of options for anesthesia. I inform him that I do not want any tubes stuck down my throat and into my lungs. He understands the reason why and goes on to tell me about a lawsuit he is currently involved with where his throat was damaged a bit after he had tubes stuck down it during a surgical procedure. He then tells me about some anesthesia that he can give me that would require no tubes, but they use to use it in VIETNAM! EXCUSE ME MR CHEECH! DID YOU SAY VIETNAM!? He continues his little speech and tells me that they use to give it to soldiers on the battlefield after they had been shot and they would just leave them there until they can attend to them. He said that some people wake up feeling nauseated and it causes others to hallucinate!! By this time I am looking at this guy in disbelief while I am giving his ID Badge another look over!
I throw this guy one the sternest look that I have in my arsenal and tell him "Listen the fact that you just said VIETNAM, NAUSEA AND HALLUCINATION all in describing this particular anesthesia THERE IS NO WAY THAT WILL BE AN OPTION FOR ME SO GO AHEAD AND MARK THAT OFF YOUR LIST! Then he says well maybe we can come back to that one. EXCUSE ME HIPPIE MAN DID YOU NOT HEAR WHAT I JUST SAID THAT IS NOT AN OPTION! I then made it clear to him that the possibility of me waking up hallucinating and thinking I am surrounded by monsters or something might result to some serious harm for him and any other person attending to me who I mistake for a creature from out of space! He Seem To Amazingly Ge The Point This Time!
He goes on to tell me about the other options. I said I would like to be awake if possible, and I did not want an epidural because I did not like waking up with my lower body completely numb. He said ok, well let me go talk to Doc and see what his recommendations are, then we can see what you both agree on. As he is leaving he asks me to sign the release form saying that I agree to have an anesthesia administered. I tell him Listen Man, I am not signing anything until me and Doc have agreed to what type of anesthesia I will be receiving. So after you get done talking to Doc, come back and tell me what he thinks I should do then I will make my decision and only then will I sign your release! We finally agreed to putting me to sleep and having a tube placed in my throat but only to the top of my esophagus. After that lovely dialogue they start to role me down to surgery. But this e-mail is long enough so I will finish the story in the next email. TO BE
CONTINUED........Duh............Duh............Duh.........Duh!
P.S I always wanted to end an email like that so do not be surprised if it happens again!
God Bless
Jesse
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Surgery.....I Stand Before Thee
HI!!
Little background info I am having surgery on both my lower legs for what has been termed "Chronic Exertional Compartment Syndrome". This lead to poor flexability in my legs, added with a loss of muscle stregth at different periods. Please try to hold of your laughter...so basically the muscles in my lower leg got to big for the compartments that house them. The doctor went into my legs and cut away some of the fascia that encases my muscles so they can fully expand the way they need to.
After a night of dancing like it was my job It was off to Saranac Lake to have surgery performed by our team doctor Dr.Byrne!!! This is one of those moments where I know I need to get the surgery but not necessarily excited to have it. It was not the actual fact that I had to be cut open but more so the thought of not being able to walk and run on my power for a while, let alone not being able to really lift for 8 WEEKS! WE ARE TALKING 8 WEEKS HERE PEOPLE!!! I have NEVER gone 1 week without stepping in a weight room and doing something! So this whole 8 week thing is definitely going to be a little different for me to say the least!
In order to make the trip to the hospital easy or more annoying...............lol, two of my older sisters Ulanka and Tina drove me to the Hospital. Well actually Tina drove and Ulanka sat in the back trying to figure out where in the boonies she was!! LOL Sorry Ulanka.....and she had a GPS UNIT! lol Guess getting lost runs in our family....well that is unless you talk to pops!! but he would not admit to it anyway, and I digress! Oh and for those who every wonder why I do not use the the semi-colon and the colon in my writing much at all it because nothing about me says Semi and come on the word colon speaks for its self and....its my email! SO HA!!! HA! HA! HA! THIS IS SPARTAAAAAAAAAAAAA!! (giving full credit to the writers of 300....P.S I have no money to sue me for) But, I do admit it was cool having my sisters in the hospital with me! Save the Awwwwwwwwww's people "Seriously"
I checked in to the hospital on Monday 02, 2009at 8:30 am to receive the instructions of where I need to go for 10:40 am scheduled surgery. My sisters and I walked down to the surgery waiting room, shortly a nurse comes in and walks us down to one of those curtained off rooms with a hospital bed and a few chairs in it. Evidently the nurse assumed that one of my sister's was my wife or girlfriend because she offered them to stay in the room while I changed into my hospital garments....umm yeah my sisters let her know it was not that type of party!
After I changed out of my street clothes my sisters and the nurse all reentered the room. The nurse begins to tell me about options for anesthesia that are available to me. The first option was for me to be awake and administered an epidural that would numb me from the chest down, they would also place screen in front of my waist so I can not see the actual surgery. Second, was to be completely knocked out and a tube placed down my throat so I can breathe. YOU know what I am thinking....TUBE down MY throat? I can just see it now.... some med school student shoving a tube down my throat Screaming Out DOCTOR!!! I Need Some Help I Think The Tube Is Stuck On His Lungs AGAIN!! Naw Miss Nurse I will pass on that option. LOL The final option, was to be given a lesser form of sedation that would allow me to breathe without any assistance, and administered the epidural that would numb me from the waist down. I actually wanted the first option of being awake through the surgery, in talking with the nurse this was not an option since I was having both legs done. In the end I chose the third option.
The nurse continued to question me about my health history and etc. She asked if I had any other questions, which I really did not have since I had been talking to Dr. Bryne and my trainers all week. My nurse made the fatal error of thinking just because I.... did not have any questions that here job of answering was done! Poor Poor Nurse Do You NOT SEE MY SISTERS OVER IN THE CORNER JUST ITCHING TO ASK YOU EVERYTHING FROM HERE TO THERE!!! LOL I have to admit I was just waiting for my sisters to strike cause I knew they would! Now just for the record, NONE of my sister are soft by any means (One was in the Marines, One in the Army, One a school teacher you would not want to cross, and One who is currently a Chief in the Navy!) and they WISH....(They Have Dreams About People Getting Out Of Line Just To Give Them A Reason to Do Something) someone would try to get something over on their little brother! lol It was like watching a tag team wrestling match! My sister Ulanka (Navy) would ask a question and before the nurse could answer Tina (Army) would add a little bit and vice versa!!! It was brilliant, they even made the nurse go find a form that enabled family members to call in and ask intimate questions about my surgery and status. The nurse did not even know that such a form existed....How Great is That!!! I was Like What! Mmmmhhmmmm that's right I brought some SOLDIERS up in here with me today!! "SHOCK AND AWE BABE" "SHOCK AND AWE"!!! I guess God figured that I needed a little more humor in my life because after my sisters got done shinning the flash light in the nurses eyes, here comes the anesthesiologist! Yup Round 2 Babe! Actually, this guy was ready for the questions and was pretty happy to answer making it slightly less amusing but my sisters hit him up with questions anyway. The anesthesiologist repeated my different options about the surgery with a little more detail about the Anastasia I would be receiving. After he left Doctor Byrne came in marked on my legs information regarding the surgery answered a couple of questions, then reluctantly took my sister's camera so pictures could be taken of the procedure. These pictures can be viewed at www.jessebeckom3.com on my "Media" page. The Minster of the North Country Ministries Pastor Derek Spain was also at the hospital with me before the surgery to keep me company and to say a prayer for me before I went in to play with Edward Scissor Hands! LoL I also thought that was pretty cool!
Once Doc left the anesthesiologist came back administered the anesthesia, then wheeled me into the operating room. Once in the operating room he asked me to move over to the operating table, had me sit up so they can administer the epidural and that is all I remember until I woke up! The Kid was OUT COLD!
Being that I have a sets of three stitches in each of my legs now I can only assume that while I was sleeping Doc did what he needed to do! The funny thing about waking up after surgery is that your vision is not really as clear as it should be. Personally for me I felt like I was in a dream sequence of some sort, I mean things are happening around me that I have no control over. I hear nurses talking to me and can barely make them out. I asked for water and a nurse rubbed some weird water filled sponge across my lips....Yeah exactly! I thought I was going crazy so I asked for water again! Sure enough she hit me the sponge! lol My throat is dry as the Gobi Desert and this nurse keeps hitting me the sponge! What is this all about. All I am thinking is you are so lucky I can not move my arms right now cause I would throw that sponge across the room so fast....it would make her head spin, and she would break her neck trying to get me a glass of water! Now to add to my feeling of craziness, someone thought it was a good ideal to have two nurses named Patty helping me as I come back to consciousness. So me being the brilliant person I am I asked these two women their names about five different times a piece, wondering why is the name the same but I SWEAR THIS WOMAN FACE IS CHANGING EVERY TIME I ASK HER WHAT HER NAME IS. Keep in mind I half way awake and the other half of me is playing in the field of dreams with Papa Smurf and He-Man! I do not know whats going on except in that in this new land I am all the water has turned into sponges, every woman has the same name!! lol
The nurses rolled me back to my room where I slowly start to phase back into reality. By this time my sister Tina and her family are on there way back home and my sister Ulanka was on her way back to the hospital. Ulanka had already made plans to stay in town till Thursday just in-case I needed anything after surgery! Pretty cool once again! At 4:30pm my mind finally decides to fully come back to this plane of existence, with my appetite bringing up the rear! I see one of the nurses in my room and I ask her can I have some food? She says to me" you just got out of surgery you should get some rest!" EXCUSE ME!? Does She Not Know I Have Not Eaten Since Last Night! I inform her that I have had plenty of sleep and I need some food because I have not eating anything since 12am the previous night! She complies and ends up grabbing me a turkey club from the Hospital Cafeteria. About two hours later I get a text message from my friend Julie letting me know that her and some of the other girls on the team are coming to visit me. Being that Julie knows my strict diet she asks.............SO, what do you want from McDonald's? YES!!! THANK YOU JULZ!! I would like two cheeseburgers, fries and a drink please! They show up with my McDonald's a pound bag of M&M's, and a bag of Gummie Worms!!!!! I am GOOD real GOOD right now! It was sweet that they came to hospital and chilled with me for a bit.
After they left one of the nurses came by and asked me if I had gone to the bathroom yet (bathroom being that little portable plastic container that they give men)? I told he no I have not yet gone. She tells me "You have until 11:30pm to go" Say what? What do you mean I have until 11:30.....I am like what happens at 11:30? She tells me that if I have not gone by then they would have give me a decatheter! Decatahwho? You fixin Coffee or something!? Naw Miss Nurse The Kid is not playing that game!!!! I grabbed that little bottle so quick like I Neo in the Matrix, Said a couple of Prayers and Said SELF!!! Oh God SELF LETS GET IT DONE SO I DO NOT HAVE TO FIGHT ANYONE IN HERE!!! cause they trying to decaffeinate me! LOL Soon as the nurse came back in the room I pointed to the bottle and was like there you go...enjoy! Save you inquisition tactics for someone else lady!
Doctor Byrne came by the next day to check on my status. I have not had a chance to mention it but Dr.Byrne is a funny dude who loves surgery!!! He tells me the surgery went well and that I my recovery should go good. This is the same man that last week when I was in the training room with one of the trainers Josh told Josh that he should come watch the surgery its going to be bloody! I say its going to be what then he tells me oh I mean its going to be cool! "WHAT" hold Doc!..you can not go from bloody to cool in one breath and expect me to believe the latter! Then he says in 12wks you will be back lifting and running! WHAT Did You Just Say DOC, 12wks!? You Told Me 8wks before I had the surgery! Then he said 8wks before I am able to lift and run and about 12wks before I am back at full strength! Ok Doc that's a little bit better! I told him to stop playing with me! He just laughed then says that Mike said he did not feel really better for 6 months!! I did not pay him any attention this time! I was suppose to be in the hospital for one night but he decided to keep me in another night to make sure I stay off my feet completely a little longer.
On Wednesday morning Dr.Byrne came in changed my badinage's and released me from the hospital. My sister Ulanka and Pastor Derek were both there to help me back to the OTC (Olympic Training Center). Both of them had actually visited me ever-day I was in the hospital! The nurse actually asked me would I prefer to get wheeled out or walk out? I said walk out before she could even finish her question. Thank God I am able to use crutches instead of being restricted to a wheel chair!
This is the first time in my life I have ever had to use crutches. Needless to say learning how to walk on these things around the OTC is definitely interesting. Some of the athletes from other sports who did not know I was having surgery thought I was playing around and could not believe that I was actually on crutches! I have never really been hurt so it was something new for them as well as myself. It is a humbling experience but it is not permanent and I know that GOD has given me the mental capacity, determination, and support I need to come back soon and better than ever.
I will continue to update you all on my progress as I get back to form but until then have a great week and Thank You For Your Support This Season!!!!
God Bless,
Jesse B
www.jessebeckom3.com
www.jessebeckom.blogspot.com
Little background info I am having surgery on both my lower legs for what has been termed "Chronic Exertional Compartment Syndrome". This lead to poor flexability in my legs, added with a loss of muscle stregth at different periods. Please try to hold of your laughter...so basically the muscles in my lower leg got to big for the compartments that house them. The doctor went into my legs and cut away some of the fascia that encases my muscles so they can fully expand the way they need to.
After a night of dancing like it was my job It was off to Saranac Lake to have surgery performed by our team doctor Dr.Byrne!!! This is one of those moments where I know I need to get the surgery but not necessarily excited to have it. It was not the actual fact that I had to be cut open but more so the thought of not being able to walk and run on my power for a while, let alone not being able to really lift for 8 WEEKS! WE ARE TALKING 8 WEEKS HERE PEOPLE!!! I have NEVER gone 1 week without stepping in a weight room and doing something! So this whole 8 week thing is definitely going to be a little different for me to say the least!
In order to make the trip to the hospital easy or more annoying...............lol, two of my older sisters Ulanka and Tina drove me to the Hospital. Well actually Tina drove and Ulanka sat in the back trying to figure out where in the boonies she was!! LOL Sorry Ulanka.....and she had a GPS UNIT! lol Guess getting lost runs in our family....well that is unless you talk to pops!! but he would not admit to it anyway, and I digress! Oh and for those who every wonder why I do not use the the semi-colon and the colon in my writing much at all it because nothing about me says Semi and come on the word colon speaks for its self and....its my email! SO HA!!! HA! HA! HA! THIS IS SPARTAAAAAAAAAAAAA!! (giving full credit to the writers of 300....P.S I have no money to sue me for) But, I do admit it was cool having my sisters in the hospital with me! Save the Awwwwwwwwww's people "Seriously"
I checked in to the hospital on Monday 02, 2009at 8:30 am to receive the instructions of where I need to go for 10:40 am scheduled surgery. My sisters and I walked down to the surgery waiting room, shortly a nurse comes in and walks us down to one of those curtained off rooms with a hospital bed and a few chairs in it. Evidently the nurse assumed that one of my sister's was my wife or girlfriend because she offered them to stay in the room while I changed into my hospital garments....umm yeah my sisters let her know it was not that type of party!
After I changed out of my street clothes my sisters and the nurse all reentered the room. The nurse begins to tell me about options for anesthesia that are available to me. The first option was for me to be awake and administered an epidural that would numb me from the chest down, they would also place screen in front of my waist so I can not see the actual surgery. Second, was to be completely knocked out and a tube placed down my throat so I can breathe. YOU know what I am thinking....TUBE down MY throat? I can just see it now.... some med school student shoving a tube down my throat Screaming Out DOCTOR!!! I Need Some Help I Think The Tube Is Stuck On His Lungs AGAIN!! Naw Miss Nurse I will pass on that option. LOL The final option, was to be given a lesser form of sedation that would allow me to breathe without any assistance, and administered the epidural that would numb me from the waist down. I actually wanted the first option of being awake through the surgery, in talking with the nurse this was not an option since I was having both legs done. In the end I chose the third option.
The nurse continued to question me about my health history and etc. She asked if I had any other questions, which I really did not have since I had been talking to Dr. Bryne and my trainers all week. My nurse made the fatal error of thinking just because I.... did not have any questions that here job of answering was done! Poor Poor Nurse Do You NOT SEE MY SISTERS OVER IN THE CORNER JUST ITCHING TO ASK YOU EVERYTHING FROM HERE TO THERE!!! LOL I have to admit I was just waiting for my sisters to strike cause I knew they would! Now just for the record, NONE of my sister are soft by any means (One was in the Marines, One in the Army, One a school teacher you would not want to cross, and One who is currently a Chief in the Navy!) and they WISH....(They Have Dreams About People Getting Out Of Line Just To Give Them A Reason to Do Something) someone would try to get something over on their little brother! lol It was like watching a tag team wrestling match! My sister Ulanka (Navy) would ask a question and before the nurse could answer Tina (Army) would add a little bit and vice versa!!! It was brilliant, they even made the nurse go find a form that enabled family members to call in and ask intimate questions about my surgery and status. The nurse did not even know that such a form existed....How Great is That!!! I was Like What! Mmmmhhmmmm that's right I brought some SOLDIERS up in here with me today!! "SHOCK AND AWE BABE" "SHOCK AND AWE"!!! I guess God figured that I needed a little more humor in my life because after my sisters got done shinning the flash light in the nurses eyes, here comes the anesthesiologist! Yup Round 2 Babe! Actually, this guy was ready for the questions and was pretty happy to answer making it slightly less amusing but my sisters hit him up with questions anyway. The anesthesiologist repeated my different options about the surgery with a little more detail about the Anastasia I would be receiving. After he left Doctor Byrne came in marked on my legs information regarding the surgery answered a couple of questions, then reluctantly took my sister's camera so pictures could be taken of the procedure. These pictures can be viewed at www.jessebeckom3.com on my "Media" page. The Minster of the North Country Ministries Pastor Derek Spain was also at the hospital with me before the surgery to keep me company and to say a prayer for me before I went in to play with Edward Scissor Hands! LoL I also thought that was pretty cool!
Once Doc left the anesthesiologist came back administered the anesthesia, then wheeled me into the operating room. Once in the operating room he asked me to move over to the operating table, had me sit up so they can administer the epidural and that is all I remember until I woke up! The Kid was OUT COLD!
Being that I have a sets of three stitches in each of my legs now I can only assume that while I was sleeping Doc did what he needed to do! The funny thing about waking up after surgery is that your vision is not really as clear as it should be. Personally for me I felt like I was in a dream sequence of some sort, I mean things are happening around me that I have no control over. I hear nurses talking to me and can barely make them out. I asked for water and a nurse rubbed some weird water filled sponge across my lips....Yeah exactly! I thought I was going crazy so I asked for water again! Sure enough she hit me the sponge! lol My throat is dry as the Gobi Desert and this nurse keeps hitting me the sponge! What is this all about. All I am thinking is you are so lucky I can not move my arms right now cause I would throw that sponge across the room so fast....it would make her head spin, and she would break her neck trying to get me a glass of water! Now to add to my feeling of craziness, someone thought it was a good ideal to have two nurses named Patty helping me as I come back to consciousness. So me being the brilliant person I am I asked these two women their names about five different times a piece, wondering why is the name the same but I SWEAR THIS WOMAN FACE IS CHANGING EVERY TIME I ASK HER WHAT HER NAME IS. Keep in mind I half way awake and the other half of me is playing in the field of dreams with Papa Smurf and He-Man! I do not know whats going on except in that in this new land I am all the water has turned into sponges, every woman has the same name!! lol
The nurses rolled me back to my room where I slowly start to phase back into reality. By this time my sister Tina and her family are on there way back home and my sister Ulanka was on her way back to the hospital. Ulanka had already made plans to stay in town till Thursday just in-case I needed anything after surgery! Pretty cool once again! At 4:30pm my mind finally decides to fully come back to this plane of existence, with my appetite bringing up the rear! I see one of the nurses in my room and I ask her can I have some food? She says to me" you just got out of surgery you should get some rest!" EXCUSE ME!? Does She Not Know I Have Not Eaten Since Last Night! I inform her that I have had plenty of sleep and I need some food because I have not eating anything since 12am the previous night! She complies and ends up grabbing me a turkey club from the Hospital Cafeteria. About two hours later I get a text message from my friend Julie letting me know that her and some of the other girls on the team are coming to visit me. Being that Julie knows my strict diet she asks.............SO, what do you want from McDonald's? YES!!! THANK YOU JULZ!! I would like two cheeseburgers, fries and a drink please! They show up with my McDonald's a pound bag of M&M's, and a bag of Gummie Worms!!!!! I am GOOD real GOOD right now! It was sweet that they came to hospital and chilled with me for a bit.
After they left one of the nurses came by and asked me if I had gone to the bathroom yet (bathroom being that little portable plastic container that they give men)? I told he no I have not yet gone. She tells me "You have until 11:30pm to go" Say what? What do you mean I have until 11:30.....I am like what happens at 11:30? She tells me that if I have not gone by then they would have give me a decatheter! Decatahwho? You fixin Coffee or something!? Naw Miss Nurse The Kid is not playing that game!!!! I grabbed that little bottle so quick like I Neo in the Matrix, Said a couple of Prayers and Said SELF!!! Oh God SELF LETS GET IT DONE SO I DO NOT HAVE TO FIGHT ANYONE IN HERE!!! cause they trying to decaffeinate me! LOL Soon as the nurse came back in the room I pointed to the bottle and was like there you go...enjoy! Save you inquisition tactics for someone else lady!
Doctor Byrne came by the next day to check on my status. I have not had a chance to mention it but Dr.Byrne is a funny dude who loves surgery!!! He tells me the surgery went well and that I my recovery should go good. This is the same man that last week when I was in the training room with one of the trainers Josh told Josh that he should come watch the surgery its going to be bloody! I say its going to be what then he tells me oh I mean its going to be cool! "WHAT" hold Doc!..you can not go from bloody to cool in one breath and expect me to believe the latter! Then he says in 12wks you will be back lifting and running! WHAT Did You Just Say DOC, 12wks!? You Told Me 8wks before I had the surgery! Then he said 8wks before I am able to lift and run and about 12wks before I am back at full strength! Ok Doc that's a little bit better! I told him to stop playing with me! He just laughed then says that Mike said he did not feel really better for 6 months!! I did not pay him any attention this time! I was suppose to be in the hospital for one night but he decided to keep me in another night to make sure I stay off my feet completely a little longer.
On Wednesday morning Dr.Byrne came in changed my badinage's and released me from the hospital. My sister Ulanka and Pastor Derek were both there to help me back to the OTC (Olympic Training Center). Both of them had actually visited me ever-day I was in the hospital! The nurse actually asked me would I prefer to get wheeled out or walk out? I said walk out before she could even finish her question. Thank God I am able to use crutches instead of being restricted to a wheel chair!
This is the first time in my life I have ever had to use crutches. Needless to say learning how to walk on these things around the OTC is definitely interesting. Some of the athletes from other sports who did not know I was having surgery thought I was playing around and could not believe that I was actually on crutches! I have never really been hurt so it was something new for them as well as myself. It is a humbling experience but it is not permanent and I know that GOD has given me the mental capacity, determination, and support I need to come back soon and better than ever.
I will continue to update you all on my progress as I get back to form but until then have a great week and Thank You For Your Support This Season!!!!
God Bless,
Jesse B
www.jessebeckom3.com
www.jessebeckom.blogspot.com
Friday, March 6, 2009
End of the Season, Start of A New Season
March 06, 2009
What up Everyone!!?
Well, it has finally happened! As of Sunday March Second the 2008-2099 season is over and now its the 2009-2010 season of as we like to say....are you ready? cause here it comes ITS OLYMPIC YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
How did the year end you wonder well just sit right back and you will hear a tale, a tale of a faithful race, that started atop a mountain slope. The Pushers were there sledding Men the Driver brace and sure. For bobsledders set to race two days of four runs not more! Four Runs Not More! The track started getting rough, the bobsled hit the wall, and if not for the courage of the crew the bobsled would be lost. The Bobsled Would Be Lost!!! lol Ok enough of that I know.
Going in into four-man week unplanned events began to occur on our team. Since the start of the Second Half our crew has been John Napier, Jamie Moriarty, Corey Buckner and myself. Like any other team we had differences here and there but we worked past them, came together leading to some good results and great push times. As it is every year in our sport toward the end of a season, injuries pop up! During 4-man training week Corey pulled up two times in practice once we hit over-speed as we ran the bobsled over the crest. It turns out that his hamstring had been bothering him and he was not able to get up to full speed at the time. Once the problem was known our people in sports med went to work on Corey trying to get him back healthy to race Worlds, three days away. Unfortunately for Corey time and the importance of World Championships were not on his side. He was put through a series of test to see if he would be able to race. He performed well in the test but there was still to much doubt about whether he would be able to perform One Hundred Percent over two days of racing! The decision was made to replace Corey with Nick Cunningham the USA 1 alternate. In all honesty it broke the teams heart to have to replace Corey but it was a decision that unfortunately had to be made. We welcomed Nick to the team and started our race preparation. We made sure to let Nick know that he is one of us regardless of how he came to the team and that we had full confidence in his ability to perform.
We were able to squeeze in a full day of practice with nick the Thursday before the race. This was important in order for us to work on loading in the sled and getting settled as a team going into the first curve. If a team is not fully settled going in or the load is off it kills the sleds velocity going into the first curve, which in turn can multiply down the track whereby you may never actually reclaim that speed again.
After training we took the sled down to the Bodyne garage flipped her (Elanor our sled) upside down to allow her to dry for the night. In the breaking stretch Bobsleds pack in a lot of snow and ice into the sled once the breaks are pulled. We are able to get the majority of the snow out but flipping it upside down, placing a space heater underneath it helps with the drying out process further. On Friday the day before the start of racing we waxed the bottom of Elanor whiled she was still flipped, then flipped her down and waxed the top. We also added two more 10lb lead sheets to the sled in order to compensate for the weight difference between Nick and Corey which brought our sled up to a total of 50lb or more being added to it. We add weight to a sled to make sure the we're as close to the 630kilo(1,386lb) maximum that a 4-man team and sled combined is permitted to weigh. It is always better if the team members themselves are heavier that way they can race with a lighter sled, helping to make for faster push times while still keeping that maximum velocity down the hill. Being that Napier only about 187lb or so and Nick is 200lb we needed the weight to ensure the speed down the track unfortunately it does have a direct affect on the start times.
Also this marked a Gear occasion for me personally because it was the first time some of my family was able come see me race!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My sister Ulanka flew out from San Diego, and my Sister Tina drove down with her husband Mark and their children my niece and nephew. They were here for the whole weekend!!!! I got a chance to show them around the training center, introducing them to my teammates, coaches and other staff members. We went up to the Bodyne garage to see how we prepare our sleds for racing. During the race they were lined up at the start SCREAMING!!!!! J B 3! J B 3! J B 3! IT WAS PRETTY COOL TO HEAR AND SEE THAT! Everyone had a really good time. My sister Ulanka was even able to stay till this Thursday to help me with anything after I have my surgery....I will come back to that!
Going into the race the order was by Overall World Cup Ranking so we went of 16th. This was not the best time to be going on in Placid since it had been in the 40's and 50's earlier this week making for less than desirable ice conditions, added with 15 four-man sleds going down before us chewing up the ice. Napier's fastest start time in four-man here is 5.19 we pushed 5.18 and 5.19 on the first day, two descent pushes but not as fast as we would have liked. The first run down was not a good run for us especially since this is Napier's home track, so we ended up in tenth position after the first run and held the same position after the second run going into day two. On Day two of racing we dropped our start times down to 5.15 and 5.16 marking the Fastest Napier had ever been at the start!
This was good for us a pushers especially considering how heavy(weight in the sled) we were running comparatively USA 2 pushed 5.12 with an empty sled! However our runs down the track were not that good and we ended up in 11th place overall. It was the highest Napier and us had finished in World Championships but we still thought we should have gone faster, because earlier this year with a start of 5.37 in practice Napier drove better and we had a faster down time. But hey sometimes things changes on race day and we were still blessed to finish the way we did! Also our teammates on USA 1 WON WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS!!!!! THE FIRST TIME IN 5OYRS THAT AN AMERICAN CREW HAD WON A GOLD MEDAL IN WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS AND THE OLYMPICS COMBINED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Overall it was a great weekend for Men's and Women's Bobsled. We took Silver,6th, and 10th place in the women's race, we took Bronze in the men's two-man, Bronze and 6th in the Team Competition, Gold, 8th and 11th place in Four-Man!!!!!!
After the race was said and done we all sat down for a nice formal picnic. Lol Just playing!!!!!!!!!!!! we all went out for dinner, and dancing and all those great season ending festivities!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was a good night! I got my dance on BIG TIME because I knew the next morning I had to have surgery on both of my legs for the compartment syndrome that I have!
I will continue the surgery story in the next e-mail just to break it up and......................keep you wanting more!!! No it does not have anything to do with wanting you to visit my web-site http://www.jessebeckom3.com/ for pictures under my Media section or my blog page http://www.jessebeckom.blogspot.com/ more!!!!! That's just crazy talk! Straight Crazy Talk!
LOL
God Bless!
Jesse
What up Everyone!!?
Well, it has finally happened! As of Sunday March Second the 2008-2099 season is over and now its the 2009-2010 season of as we like to say....are you ready? cause here it comes ITS OLYMPIC YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
How did the year end you wonder well just sit right back and you will hear a tale, a tale of a faithful race, that started atop a mountain slope. The Pushers were there sledding Men the Driver brace and sure. For bobsledders set to race two days of four runs not more! Four Runs Not More! The track started getting rough, the bobsled hit the wall, and if not for the courage of the crew the bobsled would be lost. The Bobsled Would Be Lost!!! lol Ok enough of that I know.
Going in into four-man week unplanned events began to occur on our team. Since the start of the Second Half our crew has been John Napier, Jamie Moriarty, Corey Buckner and myself. Like any other team we had differences here and there but we worked past them, came together leading to some good results and great push times. As it is every year in our sport toward the end of a season, injuries pop up! During 4-man training week Corey pulled up two times in practice once we hit over-speed as we ran the bobsled over the crest. It turns out that his hamstring had been bothering him and he was not able to get up to full speed at the time. Once the problem was known our people in sports med went to work on Corey trying to get him back healthy to race Worlds, three days away. Unfortunately for Corey time and the importance of World Championships were not on his side. He was put through a series of test to see if he would be able to race. He performed well in the test but there was still to much doubt about whether he would be able to perform One Hundred Percent over two days of racing! The decision was made to replace Corey with Nick Cunningham the USA 1 alternate. In all honesty it broke the teams heart to have to replace Corey but it was a decision that unfortunately had to be made. We welcomed Nick to the team and started our race preparation. We made sure to let Nick know that he is one of us regardless of how he came to the team and that we had full confidence in his ability to perform.
We were able to squeeze in a full day of practice with nick the Thursday before the race. This was important in order for us to work on loading in the sled and getting settled as a team going into the first curve. If a team is not fully settled going in or the load is off it kills the sleds velocity going into the first curve, which in turn can multiply down the track whereby you may never actually reclaim that speed again.
After training we took the sled down to the Bodyne garage flipped her (Elanor our sled) upside down to allow her to dry for the night. In the breaking stretch Bobsleds pack in a lot of snow and ice into the sled once the breaks are pulled. We are able to get the majority of the snow out but flipping it upside down, placing a space heater underneath it helps with the drying out process further. On Friday the day before the start of racing we waxed the bottom of Elanor whiled she was still flipped, then flipped her down and waxed the top. We also added two more 10lb lead sheets to the sled in order to compensate for the weight difference between Nick and Corey which brought our sled up to a total of 50lb or more being added to it. We add weight to a sled to make sure the we're as close to the 630kilo(1,386lb) maximum that a 4-man team and sled combined is permitted to weigh. It is always better if the team members themselves are heavier that way they can race with a lighter sled, helping to make for faster push times while still keeping that maximum velocity down the hill. Being that Napier only about 187lb or so and Nick is 200lb we needed the weight to ensure the speed down the track unfortunately it does have a direct affect on the start times.
Also this marked a Gear occasion for me personally because it was the first time some of my family was able come see me race!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My sister Ulanka flew out from San Diego, and my Sister Tina drove down with her husband Mark and their children my niece and nephew. They were here for the whole weekend!!!! I got a chance to show them around the training center, introducing them to my teammates, coaches and other staff members. We went up to the Bodyne garage to see how we prepare our sleds for racing. During the race they were lined up at the start SCREAMING!!!!! J B 3! J B 3! J B 3! IT WAS PRETTY COOL TO HEAR AND SEE THAT! Everyone had a really good time. My sister Ulanka was even able to stay till this Thursday to help me with anything after I have my surgery....I will come back to that!
Going into the race the order was by Overall World Cup Ranking so we went of 16th. This was not the best time to be going on in Placid since it had been in the 40's and 50's earlier this week making for less than desirable ice conditions, added with 15 four-man sleds going down before us chewing up the ice. Napier's fastest start time in four-man here is 5.19 we pushed 5.18 and 5.19 on the first day, two descent pushes but not as fast as we would have liked. The first run down was not a good run for us especially since this is Napier's home track, so we ended up in tenth position after the first run and held the same position after the second run going into day two. On Day two of racing we dropped our start times down to 5.15 and 5.16 marking the Fastest Napier had ever been at the start!
This was good for us a pushers especially considering how heavy(weight in the sled) we were running comparatively USA 2 pushed 5.12 with an empty sled! However our runs down the track were not that good and we ended up in 11th place overall. It was the highest Napier and us had finished in World Championships but we still thought we should have gone faster, because earlier this year with a start of 5.37 in practice Napier drove better and we had a faster down time. But hey sometimes things changes on race day and we were still blessed to finish the way we did! Also our teammates on USA 1 WON WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS!!!!! THE FIRST TIME IN 5OYRS THAT AN AMERICAN CREW HAD WON A GOLD MEDAL IN WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS AND THE OLYMPICS COMBINED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Overall it was a great weekend for Men's and Women's Bobsled. We took Silver,6th, and 10th place in the women's race, we took Bronze in the men's two-man, Bronze and 6th in the Team Competition, Gold, 8th and 11th place in Four-Man!!!!!!
After the race was said and done we all sat down for a nice formal picnic. Lol Just playing!!!!!!!!!!!! we all went out for dinner, and dancing and all those great season ending festivities!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was a good night! I got my dance on BIG TIME because I knew the next morning I had to have surgery on both of my legs for the compartment syndrome that I have!
I will continue the surgery story in the next e-mail just to break it up and......................keep you wanting more!!! No it does not have anything to do with wanting you to visit my web-site http://www.jessebeckom3.com/ for pictures under my Media section or my blog page http://www.jessebeckom.blogspot.com/ more!!!!! That's just crazy talk! Straight Crazy Talk!
LOL
God Bless!
Jesse
Park City Race Update and More
February 26, 2009
What up Everyone!!!!!
Really quick all of our races can be viewed for FREE at www.universalsports.com under the bobsled and luge link!!!! Or if you get the Universal Sports Channel. As usual I have posted pictures on my web-site www.jessebeckom3.com
I appologize for being behind on my updates but it has been a little busy lately which is a very good thing! Well here is the recap of what has been going on....Come...Travel with me back in time to a long....long...time of three weeks and three WORLD CUPS ago in a Bobsled Far....Far....Far.......Far...............Far.............Far..............I can do this all day...........Far.............Away! lol
Still Further................Away!
The race in whistler got off to an ok start my teammates who race ended up taking 11th in the race. My driver drove really well but the start was next to the slowest start of the day, my driver was able to drive up but that is a long way to drive up from. The four man went a little bit better we finished 10th (which is always good especially when the USOC is seeing all there USA sleds finish in the top ten). It was a good runs and we were able to take a way some good things from the race, we had the fastest speed going into turn one which is a direct result of our start and well executed load, and we had the fifth fastest down time of the heat. This was good because it gave our driver John Napier a little more confidence going into Park City. The big thing was that the coaches were happy and so was our CEO, but in all honestly we just considered it to be a good start because we know we can be better!!!
After the race we do what we usually do and begin packing up the sleds to be shipped to Park City. Now packing the sleds is definitely not one of the more fun things we do in the sport of Bobsled but unfortunately its one of those things that has to be done. Why do you ask is this not fun? Well of course I will tell you don't be coy its ok. Directly after racing in about twenty degree weather and after the sun has fully gone making it around 5 degrees or colder we have brake down the sled in a snow covered parking lot. When we break down the sled we flip the sled upside down in order to take the runners off and put the transports on for shipping. Taking the runners off takes about five minutes or so but when you are tired from racing, your fingers are freezing because your adrenalin rush has run out, and you are starving it seems like it takes forever. Once we take the runners off we wipe of any remaining ice that may be left on the runners, then we place the runners in their perspective runner box.
We then flip the sled down pack it full of bags (we pack the majority of our bags in our crates to avoid overweight fees at the airport) or toolbox, stand, and runners. When the sled (2-man or 4-man) is about half way full (we only fill it half way to avoid making the sled to heavy to push into the crate) we push it half way into the crate then fill the sled up all the way and finishing pushing it fully into the crate. Next we pack up the scabboards, workmates, and any other equipment that we use. From there we usually head back to our hotel and prepare to leave in the morning for our next race.
Two ago weeks when we arrived in Park City the weather was really nice, the temperature was somewhere around twenty-five degrees or so. Yes I know to some that is cold but after you have been in twenty or thirty below like we were in Placid twenty-five degrees now feels like summer!!!! Now if you do not mind I will return back to telling my story....and please no more sighs and doubts about what I consider to be warm weather because if it continues this will be a really long e-mail! lol Oh and as it just popped in my mind on of my teammates Jamie Moriarty came up with a great ideal and way to name our sled!! We call her Elenaor! We took an ideal from the old World War II figher pilots who would place a picture of a model on the side of their Jets! So we did the same thing! IT LOOKS GREAT IF I DO SAY SO!!! I put pictures up on my web site.
In Park City, Utah one 2-man race and two 4-man races were scheduled. The extra 4-Man race was a make up race for the 4-man race that was canceled due to excessive amounts of snow in Cesana, Italy earlier this season. On Thursday February 12, my Teammate Corey raced the two-man race with John and and the start times were not where they wanted them to be and my team ended up in 20th place at the end of the race. But our spirits were still high because we know as a team we push better and have better results in 4-man. We were really geeked up (Extremely Exited and Pumped up) for the race and ready to got at the start! Our first push was a top 8 push which was ok but once again at the bottom we were not personally pleased and new that we have more speed in us. We talked about going faster and harder, quicker for the next heat. In hind sight it kind of reminds me of that saying "The best laid plans of mice and men" because our second push was respectively slower than our first push. This happened because at the start right as we were calling our cadence tons of people were still screaming and shouting for us, and we could not hear the final cadence that John was calling. This called the timing to be off between all of us when we went to hit (The initial movement when we all begin to run at the same time) the sled. Now don't get me wrong it is great when people cheer for us, but its kind of like 4th and 1 in a football game when the home team quarter back is trying to call the play. And the crowd is screaming really loud until the quarterback steps up behind center and then crowds knows to quiet down when the play calling starts. In bobsled its the same thing we love for everyone to be screaming at the top of their lungs while we are standing at the start but once we get set and begin our cadence we prefer if the crowd quiets down a little and then begin screaming again once we start running. Well needless to say we were not happy with our final result of 13th especially when we finished three spots higher the previous week.
That night we went over what had occurred and decided if a situation like that goes again that John would either scream louder or we would go off hand gestures to make sure we all hit the sled at the same time. It was not my best night sleep before a race but it did have me more motivated for the next day's race.
During the second 4-man race it was snowing pretty good during the race and before every competitive sled they were sweeping down the start. They do this because the snow accumulates in the start lines which causes for slower push times and could possibly cause the sled to pop out of the groves during the start. When our teammates from USA 1 were on the line the snow was beginning to slow a bit then it picked back up again after they went. Then in a act of Divine Intervention kind of like when God opened up the Red Sea for moses, God pushed away the snow clouds for us right as we got to the line!!! I am serious the snow had stopped and the sun began to shine!! All I was thinking was YES!!!! Thank you God this is what we needed especially all of the sled that usually finish in the top five or so had already gone down the hill, and we would know exactly where we stood when we got to the bottom of the hill! The start was good it was in the top 5 of all the pushes and John drove like a champ!!! and we got to the bottom we saw a 3 pop up on the down clock.....meaning that we were in Bronze Medal position after the first heat WE WENT CRAZY SCREAMING BECAUSE WE WERE IN THE MEDAL HUNT!! The video is pretty funny the Men's Head Coach Brian Shimer was going crazy at the top it was great! This is where we knew we could be at in every race and it was a great spot to be in. Once again at the bottom we all talked about pushing harder and faster just like we do after each first run, and this time we would not fall off like before...WE WERE DETERMINED TO GET THIS RIGHT! It had been too long since I had been in this position and for some of my team mates it was their first time in it. I WAS CHOMPIN AT THE BIT FOR THIS MEDAL!!!
Now, in World Cup Races their is about a thirty minute break between the last sled of the first heat and the first sled in the second heat. The second heat starts in reverse order so the the sled in last place goes first and so on. While we are waiting to take our second run we hurry and put our warm-up clothes on, flip the sled and grab equally distributed pieces of sandpaper from the FIBT (Federatin Internationale Bobsled and Tobogganing) Jury members for our runners. We do this because during the first heat the runners on our bobsled get scratches in them, sometimes they are worse than others but any scratch can cause the second run to be slower which is why we sand in between heats. After we are done sanding we wipe each runner down with acetone wipes to remove any residue that may be on the runner. Once that is complete we begin a second warm up in preparation for final run! This is a great feeling by the way because USA 1 is in 1st position and then, Latvia is in second and we are in third. So it is just our three sleds left alone the top of the hill, we are all sitting in medal position we just have to hold on to our spots. We get to the start and we are really geeked up....we all hit the sled at the same time and we are off!! Once again we have a good push and the ride is going pretty smooth. Then we hit the curve three and the sled just taps the wall! Not good! On this track an early bump will kill your speed at the bottom. So we get down to the bottom and as we are coming up the breaking stretch I am looking for that number 1 to pop up meaning that we are in 1st position until the next two sleds come down, it also means that we hold on to Bronze Medal position........And what do I see...I see the number 2! Yeah not what I wanted to see! We were now 7 hundredths of a second (.07) out of third place and sitting in fifth. It was one of those Bittersweet moments because we were so close to that Bronze but 5th was also the best result for my driver in his life!!! We were happy but still not completely satisfied...I know some of you all are probably thinking that we should be happy....But come on people this is SPORTS if you are not hungry for the number 1 Spot and every essence of your soul does not want it then this is not the place for you. I am greatly humbled for what the Lord allowed us to do in Park City, I also believe God has given us the ability to be number 1 and I personally want to see that come to fruition!
Needless to say we are excited to be going into 4-man at Lake Placid we are looking to put up some good times and we are looking to WIN!
On two other notes I was squatting the other day and it dawned on me that this would be my last back squat for a good 8wks because I will have my surgery on March 2nd so please say a prayer for me that it goes well and I recover quicker than expected. Also my father called me the other day and the police have caught the guy accused of murdering my cousin. Thank you all for your support in all that I have done even when it has not been anything sport related!
God Bless and Thank you all
.
Jesse Beckom III
www.jessebeckom3.com
What up Everyone!!!!!
Really quick all of our races can be viewed for FREE at www.universalsports.com under the bobsled and luge link!!!! Or if you get the Universal Sports Channel. As usual I have posted pictures on my web-site www.jessebeckom3.com
I appologize for being behind on my updates but it has been a little busy lately which is a very good thing! Well here is the recap of what has been going on....Come...Travel with me back in time to a long....long...time of three weeks and three WORLD CUPS ago in a Bobsled Far....Far....Far.......Far...............Far.............Far..............I can do this all day...........Far.............Away! lol
Still Further................Away!
The race in whistler got off to an ok start my teammates who race ended up taking 11th in the race. My driver drove really well but the start was next to the slowest start of the day, my driver was able to drive up but that is a long way to drive up from. The four man went a little bit better we finished 10th (which is always good especially when the USOC is seeing all there USA sleds finish in the top ten). It was a good runs and we were able to take a way some good things from the race, we had the fastest speed going into turn one which is a direct result of our start and well executed load, and we had the fifth fastest down time of the heat. This was good because it gave our driver John Napier a little more confidence going into Park City. The big thing was that the coaches were happy and so was our CEO, but in all honestly we just considered it to be a good start because we know we can be better!!!
After the race we do what we usually do and begin packing up the sleds to be shipped to Park City. Now packing the sleds is definitely not one of the more fun things we do in the sport of Bobsled but unfortunately its one of those things that has to be done. Why do you ask is this not fun? Well of course I will tell you don't be coy its ok. Directly after racing in about twenty degree weather and after the sun has fully gone making it around 5 degrees or colder we have brake down the sled in a snow covered parking lot. When we break down the sled we flip the sled upside down in order to take the runners off and put the transports on for shipping. Taking the runners off takes about five minutes or so but when you are tired from racing, your fingers are freezing because your adrenalin rush has run out, and you are starving it seems like it takes forever. Once we take the runners off we wipe of any remaining ice that may be left on the runners, then we place the runners in their perspective runner box.
We then flip the sled down pack it full of bags (we pack the majority of our bags in our crates to avoid overweight fees at the airport) or toolbox, stand, and runners. When the sled (2-man or 4-man) is about half way full (we only fill it half way to avoid making the sled to heavy to push into the crate) we push it half way into the crate then fill the sled up all the way and finishing pushing it fully into the crate. Next we pack up the scabboards, workmates, and any other equipment that we use. From there we usually head back to our hotel and prepare to leave in the morning for our next race.
Two ago weeks when we arrived in Park City the weather was really nice, the temperature was somewhere around twenty-five degrees or so. Yes I know to some that is cold but after you have been in twenty or thirty below like we were in Placid twenty-five degrees now feels like summer!!!! Now if you do not mind I will return back to telling my story....and please no more sighs and doubts about what I consider to be warm weather because if it continues this will be a really long e-mail! lol Oh and as it just popped in my mind on of my teammates Jamie Moriarty came up with a great ideal and way to name our sled!! We call her Elenaor! We took an ideal from the old World War II figher pilots who would place a picture of a model on the side of their Jets! So we did the same thing! IT LOOKS GREAT IF I DO SAY SO!!! I put pictures up on my web site.
In Park City, Utah one 2-man race and two 4-man races were scheduled. The extra 4-Man race was a make up race for the 4-man race that was canceled due to excessive amounts of snow in Cesana, Italy earlier this season. On Thursday February 12, my Teammate Corey raced the two-man race with John and and the start times were not where they wanted them to be and my team ended up in 20th place at the end of the race. But our spirits were still high because we know as a team we push better and have better results in 4-man. We were really geeked up (Extremely Exited and Pumped up) for the race and ready to got at the start! Our first push was a top 8 push which was ok but once again at the bottom we were not personally pleased and new that we have more speed in us. We talked about going faster and harder, quicker for the next heat. In hind sight it kind of reminds me of that saying "The best laid plans of mice and men" because our second push was respectively slower than our first push. This happened because at the start right as we were calling our cadence tons of people were still screaming and shouting for us, and we could not hear the final cadence that John was calling. This called the timing to be off between all of us when we went to hit (The initial movement when we all begin to run at the same time) the sled. Now don't get me wrong it is great when people cheer for us, but its kind of like 4th and 1 in a football game when the home team quarter back is trying to call the play. And the crowd is screaming really loud until the quarterback steps up behind center and then crowds knows to quiet down when the play calling starts. In bobsled its the same thing we love for everyone to be screaming at the top of their lungs while we are standing at the start but once we get set and begin our cadence we prefer if the crowd quiets down a little and then begin screaming again once we start running. Well needless to say we were not happy with our final result of 13th especially when we finished three spots higher the previous week.
That night we went over what had occurred and decided if a situation like that goes again that John would either scream louder or we would go off hand gestures to make sure we all hit the sled at the same time. It was not my best night sleep before a race but it did have me more motivated for the next day's race.
During the second 4-man race it was snowing pretty good during the race and before every competitive sled they were sweeping down the start. They do this because the snow accumulates in the start lines which causes for slower push times and could possibly cause the sled to pop out of the groves during the start. When our teammates from USA 1 were on the line the snow was beginning to slow a bit then it picked back up again after they went. Then in a act of Divine Intervention kind of like when God opened up the Red Sea for moses, God pushed away the snow clouds for us right as we got to the line!!! I am serious the snow had stopped and the sun began to shine!! All I was thinking was YES!!!! Thank you God this is what we needed especially all of the sled that usually finish in the top five or so had already gone down the hill, and we would know exactly where we stood when we got to the bottom of the hill! The start was good it was in the top 5 of all the pushes and John drove like a champ!!! and we got to the bottom we saw a 3 pop up on the down clock.....meaning that we were in Bronze Medal position after the first heat WE WENT CRAZY SCREAMING BECAUSE WE WERE IN THE MEDAL HUNT!! The video is pretty funny the Men's Head Coach Brian Shimer was going crazy at the top it was great! This is where we knew we could be at in every race and it was a great spot to be in. Once again at the bottom we all talked about pushing harder and faster just like we do after each first run, and this time we would not fall off like before...WE WERE DETERMINED TO GET THIS RIGHT! It had been too long since I had been in this position and for some of my team mates it was their first time in it. I WAS CHOMPIN AT THE BIT FOR THIS MEDAL!!!
Now, in World Cup Races their is about a thirty minute break between the last sled of the first heat and the first sled in the second heat. The second heat starts in reverse order so the the sled in last place goes first and so on. While we are waiting to take our second run we hurry and put our warm-up clothes on, flip the sled and grab equally distributed pieces of sandpaper from the FIBT (Federatin Internationale Bobsled and Tobogganing) Jury members for our runners. We do this because during the first heat the runners on our bobsled get scratches in them, sometimes they are worse than others but any scratch can cause the second run to be slower which is why we sand in between heats. After we are done sanding we wipe each runner down with acetone wipes to remove any residue that may be on the runner. Once that is complete we begin a second warm up in preparation for final run! This is a great feeling by the way because USA 1 is in 1st position and then, Latvia is in second and we are in third. So it is just our three sleds left alone the top of the hill, we are all sitting in medal position we just have to hold on to our spots. We get to the start and we are really geeked up....we all hit the sled at the same time and we are off!! Once again we have a good push and the ride is going pretty smooth. Then we hit the curve three and the sled just taps the wall! Not good! On this track an early bump will kill your speed at the bottom. So we get down to the bottom and as we are coming up the breaking stretch I am looking for that number 1 to pop up meaning that we are in 1st position until the next two sleds come down, it also means that we hold on to Bronze Medal position........And what do I see...I see the number 2! Yeah not what I wanted to see! We were now 7 hundredths of a second (.07) out of third place and sitting in fifth. It was one of those Bittersweet moments because we were so close to that Bronze but 5th was also the best result for my driver in his life!!! We were happy but still not completely satisfied...I know some of you all are probably thinking that we should be happy....But come on people this is SPORTS if you are not hungry for the number 1 Spot and every essence of your soul does not want it then this is not the place for you. I am greatly humbled for what the Lord allowed us to do in Park City, I also believe God has given us the ability to be number 1 and I personally want to see that come to fruition!
Needless to say we are excited to be going into 4-man at Lake Placid we are looking to put up some good times and we are looking to WIN!
On two other notes I was squatting the other day and it dawned on me that this would be my last back squat for a good 8wks because I will have my surgery on March 2nd so please say a prayer for me that it goes well and I recover quicker than expected. Also my father called me the other day and the police have caught the guy accused of murdering my cousin. Thank you all for your support in all that I have done even when it has not been anything sport related!
God Bless and Thank you all
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Jesse Beckom III
www.jessebeckom3.com
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