Went down hard. Broke ribs and clavicle. Any suggestions?

[Ken Robb]

Originally Posted by Patb095

....and avoid laughing .... oops sorry !


Envoyé de mon iPhone en utilisant Tapatalk

Oh yeah! When I was healing I made the mistake of watching Seinfeld re-runs. That darn near killed me.

[pdxharth]

Thanks All.

Surgery went well. They did a nerve block so my arm feels dead but that doesn’t help my ribs. Laughing sure doesn’t help either, but that doesn’t stop my wife, relatives, and friends from being smart-asses. I’ll just watch the News Hour, which will keep me from laughing.

I hear you on the opioids, OP. I’m taking them half as often as I am supposed to. A little extra pain I can handle. Addiction, I will avoid.

There were several cyclists in the OR yesterday...just sayin.

[kevinvc]

Glad to hear the surgery went well. I doubt it's any consolation, but our mayor just broke a few ribs last week in a bike crash. The story I read said he just wiped out on a wet turn, no other vehicles or factors involved.

[pdxharth]

Hey, same as me. I hadn't heard this. Maybe Ted and I can get together to sit around and shoot the **** and discuss how to improve our city's cycling infrastructure.

Originally Posted by kevinvc

Glad to hear the surgery went well. I doubt it's any consolation, but our mayor just broke a few ribs last week in a bike crash. The story I read said he just wiped out on a wet turn, no other vehicles or factors involved.

[FlashUNC]

Fair warning, once that nerve block wears off you might be reaching for the hydrocodone a bit more. I was fine the first couple days after surgery with the block, but once that was done and out, the pain increased for me quite a bit. Those next 72 hours or so weren't that fun.

[Idris Icabod]

I wish I hadn't had the nerve block. Hated the feeling of a dead arm all day. I had my surgery at 6 in the morning and it truly did stay numb all day. Pain in the shoulder wasn't bad at all once it wore off. It's been almost 3 years since I had mine and I might have minimized the experience a bit but honestly the broken clavicle wasn't that bad, the broken ribs on the other hand sucked. I went for a follow up I think about 2 weeks later, surgeon put some sort of super bandaid on the incision at surgery and peeled it off then. Gave me a Rx for physiotherapy but told me since I was healing so well I didn't need to go, so I didn't. Only lasting effect is the middle screw sticks out a bit and is a bit uncomfortable wearing a seat belt and I am now the slowest descender on the mountain bike!

[Wilkinson4]

Late to the party but I am glad you are on the mend. My experience: two broken collarbones in last 4 years. I hadn't had a serious crash in +20yrs and never broke a bone. On a MUP got tangled with retractable dog leash and went over top, hit head then rolled on, over and down onto my right shoulder and broke rt clavicle clean but down. Rode 17 miles back to car like that, I was stupid. No shortening but the way it broke surgery was not an option. Since I hit my head I had 6-8 weeks if dizziness but I'll stick to the collarbone here. I don't think I got off the couch for a solid week. It was bad and I never hurt so bad.

First thing is make sure you get your arm out of the sling and move your elbow! Mine did freeze up a bit. I could not move my shoulder for 4 weeks, it froze up too and took at least a year to get most of the range of motion back. Within a week I bought a step thru recumbent trainer off (CL) and that helped my mindset tremendously. I also really watched what I ate, got off sugary drinks, sweets, carbs... Kept my weight down, actually lost a few lbs.

After 8 weeks I was back on the road and was actually stronger due to doing intervals on the trainer. Just didn't have any endurance. Anyway, start P/T as soon as you can to ensure you do not get a frozen anything! Watch what you eat, and go at your own pace. Listen to doctor. I could not wait to get on the bike again. 2nd time I broke it was up high by the AC joint. I was back on bike in 7 weeks but honestly I was a bit antsy or skittish after the 2nd one. Not so eager to get back on.

Anyway, hope this helps.

ps. Pro's that have surgery may be back on in a few weeks. They are young, and pros! We are not them!

Mike

[19wisconsin64]

Had a similar accident, with lots of broken bones like yours. The best advice I can offer is to try to keep the swelling down by keeping your body cool. Hope your recovery goes as quickly as possible.

[pdxharth]

Whew, when this was sent yesterday, I was in the throes of the post-nerve block pain. Wow. Intense. Fiery and throbbing. Definitely took the extra Percocet, then one at 3am. I did sleep, though.

Better this morning, but no idea if it’s the drugs or healing. Seems too fast for healing.

Idris, that dead arm feeling was very disconcerting. I was a little worried it wouldn’t wear off. But the nurse called yesterday, and she told me the guy who had surgery right before me had his wear off even before he went to bed that night. He was miserable. I’m glad mine lasted as long as it did.

I just realized I’m even typing easier now, and not relying on the voice to text anymore. That’s progress already. Now I need to bathe, and I am not looking forward to that.

Originally Posted by FlashUNC

Fair warning, once that nerve block wears off you might be reaching for the hydrocodone a bit more. I was fine the first couple days after surgery with the block, but once that was done and out, the pain increased for me quite a bit. Those next 72 hours or so weren't that fun.

[NHAero]

Glad you're on the mending road!

Originally Posted by pdxharth

Whew, when this was sent yesterday, I was in the throes of the post-nerve block pain. Wow. Intense. Fiery and throbbing. Definitely took the extra Percocet, then one at 3am. I did sleep, though.

Better this morning, but no idea if it’s the drugs or healing. Seems too fast for healing.

Idris, that dead arm feeling was very disconcerting. I was a little worried it wouldn’t wear off. But the nurse called yesterday, and she told me the guy who had surgery right before me had his wear off even before he went to bed that night. He was miserable. I’m glad mine lasted as long as it did.

I just realized I’m even typing easier now, and not relying on the voice to text anymore. That’s progress already. Now I need to bathe, and I am not looking forward to that.

[Hindmost]

Originally Posted by Ken Robb

Oh yeah! When I was healing I made the mistake of watching Seinfeld re-runs. That darn near killed me.

BITD, watched the video tape of National Lampoon's Vacation with my father, most excruciating.

[CaptStash]

Really glad to hear that you are progressing well. I remember that within a few days after surgery I felt like I got a little better each day. Bathing was certianly a challenge, but not as bad as I had expected since they put some sort of magical waterproof saran wrap on my incision.

Keep us all in the loop on your recovery. When you're feeling better, maybe we can go for a spin some time when I am working in PDX.

CaptStash....