Pelvic fracture anyone? Recovery experience?

[MattTuck]

Unfortunately, I don't have any information I can provide. I am just wishing you a full and speedy recovery. That sounds like it will be a long road, with many ups and downs -- but you can do it. Stay positive and if you ever need a random pick me up, shoot me a PM and I'll give you some positive energy.

Given the air ambulance.... you may become the true $6 million dollar man!

"Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. We have the technology. Wayne77 will be better than he was before. Better, stronger, faster."

[spoonrobot]

If you're bored and want to find a little solace, two very good bloggers I read have fractured their pelvis riding. Their posts about the injury and recovery are good reading IMO.

Aki at Sprinter della Casa: http://sprinterdellacasa.blogspot.co...to-suffer.html

and Seth at PV Cycling: https://pvcycling.wordpress.com/2016...ehabilitation/

You can do a word search for other posts on both sites, there are quite a few relevant posts.

[pcxmbfj]

Did mine in three places, about seven months to recovery to ride.
PT, walking, and swimming.

[Wayne77]

Thanks everyone for your thoughts and best wishes! I’ll post updates.

Kingpin75s: I was just told today that there is no displacement of the bone structure and therefore no operation needed. Pretty happy to hear that. Sounds similar to your friend - multiple fractures, but doesn’t require surgery. I’d definitely be interested in hearing about your friend’s experience.

redir: Ironically I had that same thought minutes after it happened. I’ve had a tubular blow that suddenly before, similar speed, also on the front, and while it was still pretty dicey I didn’t go down. In this case, the tire came off the rim and I was down in a split second. It happened so fast I couldn’t react.

spoonrobot: thanks for posting those links! Already seeing some great insight

[rwsaunders]

I can’t offer anything but good karma Wayne.

[Newb21]

If you have travel insurance, the transportation could be covered, although most of the insurance companies these days only cover a portion of the total cost. Make sure your inquiry id done before the trip, it could be tricky otherwise.

Good luck and speedy recovery!

[Wayne77]

Originally Posted by CNY rider

That’s a tough injury.
Wishing you speedy healing.
Insider tip: make sure you poop. Regularly. The combination of pelvic fractures and pain meds can lead to severe, medical grade constipation that will make you more miserable than the fracture ever does.
If they aren’t already giving you laxatives ask for them now. Don’t wait until you are having trouble moving your bowels, by then it’s too late.

Wow, thanks. I almost feel like I dodged a bullet there. I hadn’t even thought of that.

[OtayBW]

Originally Posted by Wayne77

I’m in a hospital in France right now...traveled here for some riding during the Tour. Last Thursday I was descending the Col du Galibier after watching stage 18. A cyclist in front of me dropped something, not sure what it was but the second my front wheel rolled over it, it blew out, the carbon rim then became the contact point with the road, and I went down hard on my left hip. The rental bike was set up tubeless, so the front tire was completely off the rim after the crash ...I ride tubulars back home.

Anyway, I fractured my pelvis in 2 places...zero mobility right now. I’ve heard I’ll make a full recovery but wondering if anyone else has had the same injury. If so, how long were you on crutches? How long until you could walk without crutches? And how long until you could ride a bile again?

Semi-related question: have any of you been injured overseas and then had to be flown back via an air-ambulance jet? (Basically a small private Learjet that will accommodate a stretcher. I’ll be doing this and I’m wondering what your experience was like.

Thanks!

WOW! Nothing to add, but just a vote of moral support. Makes me glad I've got good ins. coverage as I have been overseas a lot lately myself. I'd like to say that it probably looks worse from your perspective than it may, in fact, be. Here's hoping for a full and fast recovery!

[NHAero]

All of our collective sympathies to you, what a tough break (figuratively and literally). Hoping that your excellent physical condition will assist in a speedier than normal recovery.

[oldpotatoe]

OUCH...hope the financials are in order(including an ambulance ride I'm guessing?)..Charter a flight back to US? That's gonna be expensive..

BIG +1 about pain meds and constipation..probably even tougher considering the pita(sorry) of sitting onna pot..

Beat of luck, as said, collective PL well wishes.

[Wayne77]

Thanks. I guess I’m lucky in that my insurance will cover the medical transport after I meet my deductible. They’ve identified this company: airambulanceworldwide.com

Originally Posted by oldpotatoe

OUCH...hope the financials are in order(including an ambulance ride I'm guessing?)..Charter a flight back to US? That's gonna be expensive..

BIG +1 about pain meds and constipation..probably even tougher considering the pita(sorry) of sitting onna pot..

Beat of luck, as said, collective PL well wishes.

[wallymann]

first week or so sucks the worst. unable to sleep or sit or stand or move w/o extreme discomfort. amazing how much torque passes thru your core doing the most mundane things -- just rolling over in bed was an excruciating experience. pain subsided with time.

do your PT which for me was mostly walking as much as possible. started with a walker just getting from sofa to the commode and kitchen. took over a week to even consider taking the stairs. then moved up to a cane for short jaunts down the driveway to get the mail. then graduated to hobbling down the street and worked up from there. pain was my guide.

try not to gain too much weight -- I failed at this! when I got back on the bike I had a strength imbalance as you'd expect. takes focused work to get things back in balance. also had some protracted discomfort on my sit-bone where 1 fracture happened to occur. was back to full/normal function the following winter/spring.

when you're back to pedaling, suggest you really work on re-connecting your brain with your pedalstroke -- my left leg got "lazy". also, suggest doing focused weight work on the fractured side to rebuild lost muscle mass, especially in/around the pelvic muscle attachment points. i lost some meat/muscle around the left sit-bone which negatively affected my saddle comfort on that side. as i added back muscle mass and toughened up the now-healed sitbone, lingering discomfort abated.

[ColonelJLloyd]

I've gone through a traumatic injury, spent weeks in the hospital, multiple surgeries and yada yada. One of my lowest points was dealing with the constipation issue after all those weeks and I'm lucky to be alive, let alone not paralyzed. It's hard to explain, but heed the advice to deal with it before it's an issue.

Hopefully you've got a loved one with you, but always be your own advocate to the best of your abilities with regard to your medical care. Best of luck to you in your recovery. Work hard at PT.

[choke]

Ouch. Sorry to hear that and I hope your recovery is quick and painless.

FWIW, in 2014 Anna van der Breggen fractured her pelvis at the World's during the TTT. She won her first race when started racing again.

[2LeftCleats]

Best wishes. Try to avoid/ limit opiate pain meds if possible. Nothing shuts the bowels down faster (seems to be a common theme in these posts). And easier to become dependent than previously understood. For some a sleeping pill helps more than a pain pill to get through the night, but they can be habit-forming as well (though less constipating).