We are celebrating, five years after my accident without permanent damage

Wir_feiern_mit_Schokolade

I am happy to say that on Easter there is reason to celebrate. Even though there is a lot of negativity going on in the world, I will celebrate. Five years ago, I had a horrible bicycle accident that resulted in brain bleeding and a concussion, among other things. One of my front teeth was chipped in half, but I didn’t suffer any permanent damage. I want to celebrate this big time and therefore there are going to be chocolate recipes all week long. Various food bloggers are going to present chocolate recipes, that’s what I wanted. The party for Jenny is on! Be sure to check out the comments below this blog post, bloggers will be linking up their recipes. There will also be another roundup here at the end of the week. Anyone who knows me, knows that I am a hopeless chocoholic. That’s why there is a chocolate category on my blog. The pictured chocolate Nutella blueberry cake is of course part of the celebration, be sure to return to my site tomorrow. So to sum up, this is what is going to happen this week:

What and why are we celebrating in which way?

  • What are we celebrating? Five years without permanent damage after my bike accident, yes, this is a party for me, Jenny!
  • When are we celebrating? The whole week of April 18 – 24, 2022.
  • How do we celebrate? With chocolate of course! In the comments the invited guest blogger will link their recipes, a recap can be found on my blog afterwards as well
  • Who is celebrating? Lots and lots of lovely fellow bloggers who all came up with fancy chocolate recipes, yay!
  • Where can you celebrate? Either check out the comments here to see who all brought something chocolatey for me (I’m so excited to browse all the chocolate recipes), read in detail below my accident story and why I’m so thankful or check back here after April 24 for a recap.

P.S.: You can marvel at this mind-blowingly delicious and blatantly decadent chocolate nutella cake with blueberries as of tomorrow, yes, yes, yes! You can find the recipe here.

Umwerfend leckere Schoko-Nutellatorte mit Heidelbeeren

My accdient story

It’s April 23, 2018, I’m deep in thought on my bike on the way home after a long day at work. I’m not far from work yet, in the middle of a busy street in Hamburg, when a car shoots into the parking lot just ahead of me on the right, cutting off both me and pedestrians. I instinctively swerve and hit a red-and-white striped steel bollard. While flying, I scrape the curb with my face. Then all turns black.

When I wake up again, a crowd has formed around me. I’m sort of half hanging in the arms of a woman, many faces are bending down towards me, I hear someone asking more passers-by to move on and someone calling an ambulance at the same time. My brain switches to organization mode, I instruct someone to lock the bike to a lantern, rummage out the key for the bicycle lock, next I look for my health insurance card and then the cell phone number of my husband. The call is unsuccessful. Then the ambulance arrives. No one is allowed to come along, not even a colleague, I am taken away alone. I have to answer umpteen times in which year we are, what my name is, when I was born and other “easy” facts. My filter seems to be blown away, I immediately say what is on my mind and I don’t understand why I am asked these questions. I am slightly annoyed as to me these are all obvious facts.

When I finally arrive  at the hospital, I am immediately put into a tube for a CT scan. I vaguely remember holding the hospital’s landline phone in my hand between examinations and finally reach my husband. His voice is thin and he immediately leaves for the hospital. Apparently I had no cell phone reception in the hospital, how I got the actual landline phone remains unclear. After further examinations I am hit with the diagnosis: brain hemorrhage (bleeding), a concussion, one knocked-out tooth, several stitches in my face. My red jacket is full of blood. My husband, whom I finally get to see, bursts into tears. I seem to look terrible.

I assault the assistant doctor who is about to stitch me up that he looks too young to actually be a doctor. Since he has to make stitches in my face, I ask him to be extra careful. After all this is my face, scars will always remain visible. After the strict instruction from my end, which the doctor calmly accepts, I burst into tears. Emotionally, I am a wreck and vacillate between hurtful honesty and tearful self-pity. But even then the doctor seems fine and just continues sewing with a steady hand.

At some point I am pushed in bed to a room, tubes are being attached and devices are connected. Something beeps constantly, my blood pressure, which is low anyway, seems to be in the basement now more than ever. After the blood pressure device sounds an alarm every three minutes, I ask the nurse to change the setting, sleep is out of the question. Further CTs take place in the middle of the night, at 4 a.m. I provisionally get a roommate who is being prepared for surgery, the room is full of nurses and doctors, of course the room is brightly lit. I doze off and just wish for peace and quiet.

The next morning at the doctor’s round, they tell me that the brain bleeding has stopped, which is a very good sign. The chief physician says that rest is the most important thing in the case of a brain hemorrhage and concussion. I laugh at him, point to the beeping blood pressure machine, and tell him that I’ve had virtually not slept last night due to said beeping machine and another patient being prepared for surgery in the middle of the night. If you would like me to rest, I definitely wouldn’t call this rest or would you? He mumbles some sort of excuse I don’t understand. Apparently the nurse, who was listening in, takes pity on me and pushes me into another room. He will see to it that I can stay it this room for as loong as possible. I squeeze his arm in gratitude and catch up on some sleep.

I was in the hospital for a total of one week- One very long week until finally I got the news that I was going to be discharged. I have never been more happy to finally be home. At every round the doctors told me to rest. Each time I said that I couldn’t do that in the hospital. All my roommates were the type who would rip out tubes out of their stomach in the middle of the night, there was no thought of rest. A doctor explained to me that my brain was still on alert. My senses were highly alerted, which is why I perceived everything more intensely, saw everything more glaringly, heard better and smelled more intensely. Perhaps that is also the reason why I, who often keeps quiet and to herself, suddenly was bold and wouldn’t mind bluntly telling the chief surgeon that his ideas were crazy and he should stop making fun of me. The fact that I was discharged so early certainly also has something to do with it. Not having a filter can sometimes be an advantage.

At home, I finally got to rest and recover. For five weeks, I was not supposed to strain my brain. No books, no TV, no nothing, screen time was considered bad. Besides slow walks and various baking projects, I didn’t really know what to do. I did get back on my bike on the first day back home with wobbly legs and all, riding like a grandma in the backyard. I was too scared of being scared of bikes, I wanted to make sure I would ride the bike in the future. Mind you, even a few meters to the next bakery with a helmet.

It took about a year until I had the same energy level as before. In the meantime the scars have healed and I got a dental crown. I have not suffered any permanent damage, the “decency filter” is back, I don’t laugh at doctors and am careful not to say what I think to everyone’s face. What remains, however, is a shock, the shock that life can be completely different within seconds. An accident puts one’s perspective in perspective, especially at work the hamster wheel in which one moves becomes even clearer. Meaningless things are exposed as such, you realize that the world continues to turn even without me, you no longer take yourself and your job so seriously and prioritize differently.

I celebrate my accident every year, this time it’s the fifth anniversary. I am infinitely grateful that I did not suffer any permanent damage. Yes, sometimes I have the impression that my eyes get tired more quickly or that the energy is turned off at the drop of a hat. But that can also be simply due to age or the chronic disease endometriosis that I have. My body will tell me when it’s enough and I’ve learned to react more quickly. Then I experience small moments as intense happiness and rejoice in such small things as being able to take a nice long walk with our dog. Or at a decadent cake, with chocolate of course.

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28 Comments

  • Reply
    Simone von zimtkringel
    Monday April 18th, 2022 at 12:52 PM

    Liebe Jenny, ich freue mich sehr, dass ich mit dir feiern darf. Bei mir gibt es ein schokoladiges Dessert für Erwachsene: Dickflüssige, herrlich dunkle Chocolate Pots mit Zartbitterschokolade, dazu Erdbeeren und Cantuccini zum Tunken, ein Tässchen Espresso und ein Schlückchen Vin Santo. https://www.zimtkringel.org/chocolate-pots/
    Auf dich, alles Gute!
    Simone

    • Reply
      Jenny
      Monday April 18th, 2022 at 03:42 PM

      Das sieht mega lecker aus, das muss ich ausprobieren!

  • Reply
    Bine
    Monday April 18th, 2022 at 03:39 PM

    Liebe Jenny,
    ich freue mich, dass ich diesen ganz besonderen Jahrestag gemeinsam mit Dir und anderen lieben Bloggerkollegen feiern darf. Ich bringe eine einfache No-bake Schokoladenmousse-Tarte mit Salted Caramel und Pistazien mit auf die Party und hoffe, dass Dir dieses (im wahrsten Sinne des Worte) “Sahnestückchen” schmeckt.
    https://einfach-bine.de/schokoladenmousse-torte-no-bake/

    Lass Dich feiern und sein lieb gegrüßt von der Bine

    • Reply
      Jenny
      Monday April 18th, 2022 at 03:47 PM

      Oh, da muss ich SOFORT bei dir vorbeischauen, ich liebe ja Tartes jeder Art, danke für deinen leckeren Beitrag!

  • Reply
    pane-bistecca
    Tuesday April 19th, 2022 at 12:01 PM

    Liebe Jenny,

    ich hab’s geschafft und morgen geht’s endlich nach Hause juhuiiiii! Da ich auch so einen 2. Geburtstag im Jahr habe, freue ich mich, mit dir zu feiern. Ich feiere meinen 4. Geburtstag nach einem Herzproblem im August. Man feiert eh nie genug!!! Meine Lollipops passen toll auf dein Buffet!

    https://pane-bistecca.com/2022/04/19/gesunde-schokolade-lollipops-healthy-chocolate-lollipops-zum-5-blog-geburtstag-von-jenny-is-baking/

    liebe Gruesse
    Wilma

    • Reply
      Jenny
      Tuesday April 19th, 2022 at 02:02 PM

      So eine coole Idee Obst in Schokolade zu tunken und viel einfacher als Schokofondue. Danke für deinen Beitrag!

  • Reply
    Ole
    Tuesday April 19th, 2022 at 02:08 PM

    Alles erdenklich Gute und Wünschenswerte zum fünften Geburtstag! Was mich selbst darauf bringt, dass meine kleine Seite am nächsten Wochenende ein Jahr alt wird und ich ebenfalls vor fünf Jahren einen schweren Frontalcrash mit dem Auto überlebt habe. Mit irren Schutzengeln und viel Glück. Schön, dass Du keine gravierenden Folgeschäden davongetragen hast – und herzlichste Glückwünsche auch zu dieser wundervollen Seite, auf die ich gerade erst gestoßen bin und mich gern weiter umgucke. Herzliche Grüße, Ole

    • Reply
      Jenny
      Tuesday April 19th, 2022 at 02:09 PM

      Danke dir! Seitdem halte ich viel öfter im ganzen Trubel an und feiere einfach das Leben, ich hoffe, das machst du auch.

  • Reply
    Kathrina
    Wednesday April 20th, 2022 at 09:09 AM

    Liebe Jenny,
    da hattest du aber mehr als einen Schutzengel. Ich freue mich, deinen zweiten Geburtstag gemeinsam mit dir zu feiern und stelle leckere Schokoladen Madeleines auf das Buffet.
    https://www.kuechentraumundpurzelbaum.de/schokoladen-madeleines/
    Pass weiter gut auf dich auf.
    Liebe Grüße,
    Kathrina

    • Reply
      Jenny
      Wednesday April 20th, 2022 at 10:03 AM

      Oh, Schoko-Madeleines, da muss ich gleich gucken. Ürbigens sind es schon fünf Jahre, nicht zwei 😉

  • Reply
    zorra vom kochtopf
    Wednesday April 20th, 2022 at 06:00 PM

    Liebe Jenny, deinen Schutzengel müssen wir wirklich feiern! Hier mein Gâteau „Reine de Saba“. Ich hoffe er schmeckt dir! https://www.kochtopf.me/gateau-reine-de-saba-franzoesischer-schokoladenkuchen

    • Reply
      Jenny
      Wednesday April 20th, 2022 at 06:01 PM

      Liebe Zorra, ganz bestimmt schmeckt der mir, danke für deinen tollen Beitrag!

  • Reply
    Susanne
    Thursday April 21st, 2022 at 08:06 AM

    Liee Jenny, ich freue mich, dass dein Unfall gut ausgegangen ist und dass ich mit Dir feiern darf. Ich stelle Schokoküchlein mit Tahin auf die Kaffeetafel:
    https://magentratzerl.de/2022/04/21/schokokuechlein-mit-tahin-und-creme-fraiche/

    • Reply
      Jenny
      Thursday April 21st, 2022 at 03:58 PM

      Ich bin so gerührt, ganz lieben Dank für deinen Beitrag!

  • Reply
    Tina von Küchenmomente
    Thursday April 21st, 2022 at 05:08 PM

    Liebe Jenny,
    wie schön, dass du mich zu deinem ganz besonderen Blogevent einladen hast. Toll, dass du alles gut überstanden hast und es dir heute so gut geht! Von mir bekommst du die volle Schoko-Dröhung 😉 .

    https://www.kuechenmomente.de/triple-chocolate-cheesecake/
    Herzliche Grüße und pass auf dich auf,
    Tina

    • Reply
      Jenny
      Thursday April 21st, 2022 at 06:10 PM

      Yummy, das sieht soooo gut aus, danke für den schönen Beitrag!

  • Reply
    Caro
    Friday April 22nd, 2022 at 08:19 AM

    Liebe Jenny,
    ich freue mich so sehr für dich, dass alles gut gegangen ist!
    Ich habe dir zur Feier noch Brownies mitgebracht: https://caroskueche.de/einfache-vegane-brownies/
    Die kann man entweder als volle, große Schokoholic-Stücke verspeisen oder kleine Stückchen schneiden – zum Beispiel für Kinder, die natürlich auch immer mit Helm fahren sollten 😉
    Ganz liebe Grüße
    Caro

    • Reply
      Jenny
      Friday April 22nd, 2022 at 10:26 AM

      Ja, mit Helm, ganz wichtig! Danke für deinen tollen Beitrag!

  • Reply
    Ulrike
    Saturday April 23rd, 2022 at 04:52 PM

    Liebe Jenny, ich habe dir den weltbesten Schokoladenkuchen gebacken. Wie schön, dass du den Unfall so gut überstanden hast.

    • Reply
      Jenny
      Saturday April 23rd, 2022 at 05:04 PM

      Lecker, da muss ich gleich gucken, was du da gezaubert hast.

  • Reply
    Brotwein
    Saturday April 23rd, 2022 at 05:43 PM

    Liebe Jenny,
    von mir gibt es einen klassischen Marmorkuchen für Dein Jubiläum.
    https://brotwein.net/marmorkuchen-rezept-einfach-in-kastenform-backen-5869
    Auf dass Du noch viele Jahre Spaß am bloggen haben wirst!
    Lieben Gruß Sylvia

    • Reply
      Jenny
      Saturday April 23rd, 2022 at 08:15 PM

      Uh, Mamorkuchen, das klingt gut, danke für deinen Beitrag!

  • Reply
    Britta von Backmaedchen 1967
    Sunday April 24th, 2022 at 09:06 AM

    Liebe Jenny, ich freue mich das es dir heute nach deinem Unfall gut geht und du keine Folgeschäden zurück behalten hast. Ich feiere sehr gerne mit dir dafür habe ich leckere Schoko-Muffins mit Mandarinen Frischäsecreme gebacken.

    https://backmaedchen1967.de/schoko-cupcakes-mit-mandarinen-frischkaesecreme/

    Liebe Grüße
    Britta

    • Reply
      Jenny
      Sunday April 24th, 2022 at 09:23 AM

      Liebe Britta, das sieht richtig gut aus, Muffins gehen irgendwie immer!

  • Reply
    Anna von teigliebe
    Monday April 25th, 2022 at 09:18 AM

    Liebe Jenny, ich freue mich dass wir mit Schokolade feiern können und es dir gut geht ❤️ Mein Beitrag ist eine Erdbeer Schoko Biskuitroulade ? https://teigliebe.com/recipe/schoko-biskuitroulade-mit-erdbeeren/

    • Reply
      Jenny
      Monday April 25th, 2022 at 09:19 AM

      Liebe Anna, ich liebe Biskuitrollen, Erdbeer-Schoko ist eine wundervolle Kombi!

  • Reply
    Bettina von homemade & baked
    Tuesday April 26th, 2022 at 07:34 PM

    Liebe Jenny,
    ich habe meinen Kommentar hier total vergessen und hoffe, dass es jetzt nicht zu spät ist… Ich hab dir eine Mousse au Chocolat mitgebracht, aus nur 2 Zutaten. Schokoladiger geht es kaum 😉 https://www.homemade-baked.de/2022/04/mousse-au-chocolat.html
    Liebe Grüße, Bettina

    • Reply
      Jenny
      Tuesday April 26th, 2022 at 07:36 PM

      Liebe Bettina,
      das passt noch, danke dir!

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