Not much to report these days. Surgery was two weeks ago so I'm still more or less useless. Work has been busy so it has stepped up to fill the void, and I've taken to watching a bit more TV, playing with my kids a bit more, and eating food and drinking good beer more regularly too. I'm developing a gut to prove it.
This coming week is fantasy football draft week. I'm in two leagues this year, one with neighbors and one with work buddies. Looking forward to draft nights, getting my roster set up, and football getting started.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
X-Rays of my New Hardware
These X-Rays were taken of me while I was still under, so I only know by the time stamp on them when they were taken.
This first one was taken at 3:04pm, about 2 hours after I went under. I only count 5-6 screws at this point in the procedure.
This one was taken at 3:27pm, and it looks like the remaining screws are in place 14-15 in total.
And here was the last one stamped 4:36pm, about an hour before I woke up.
This first one was taken at 3:04pm, about 2 hours after I went under. I only count 5-6 screws at this point in the procedure.
This one was taken at 3:27pm, and it looks like the remaining screws are in place 14-15 in total.
And here was the last one stamped 4:36pm, about an hour before I woke up.
Monday, August 17, 2009
X-Rays of the Fracture
This is an X-ray that was taken about 30 minutes after my bike crash on Aug 6th.
I'll try to pick up one from radiology over at the hospital when I'm back over there for a Dr. apt on Wed. That one will show off the bionic shoulder I'm now sporting.
To orient you a bit, this is my right shoulder. The bone is broken into 4 pieces, although only 3 are visible here. I've marked the pieces with arrows. The top pointy piece nearly came through the skin as a compound fracture. Then there is a small fragment that runs up and down, and the last piece which has a fracture in it is lowered by the weight of my arm, but runs left to right.
It is a bit confusing to view this 3D image in 2D. Your ribs on your back come up higher than the front, so all of the ribs that appear above the clavicle are in the back. This bone had as much forward protrusion is it did, upward protrusion, but that isn't really evident as you can't see that without the 3rd axis.
I'll try to pick up one from radiology over at the hospital when I'm back over there for a Dr. apt on Wed. That one will show off the bionic shoulder I'm now sporting.
To orient you a bit, this is my right shoulder. The bone is broken into 4 pieces, although only 3 are visible here. I've marked the pieces with arrows. The top pointy piece nearly came through the skin as a compound fracture. Then there is a small fragment that runs up and down, and the last piece which has a fracture in it is lowered by the weight of my arm, but runs left to right.
It is a bit confusing to view this 3D image in 2D. Your ribs on your back come up higher than the front, so all of the ribs that appear above the clavicle are in the back. This bone had as much forward protrusion is it did, upward protrusion, but that isn't really evident as you can't see that without the 3rd axis.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Changes
A lot has happened since I last posted. To get everyone up to date, I was on a training ride last Thursday night, and as I was approaching a sharp right hand bend, a truck was approaching from the opposite direction. The truck cut the corner of that bend, came all the way over into my lane of travel, and to avoid getting hit, I dove into the ditch. Within a few feet of coming off the shoulder or the road, I lost control of my bike and was launched over my bars.
My power meter said I was travelling 17.5 mph when the accident happened. I landed on my right elbow and shoulder, and immediately felt my collar bone snap.
I've had 3 major injuries in my life now. A dislocated knee cap, a fractured femur, and now this. I have to say this was very close to as intense at the moment right after the break as the femur fracture was, however the collar bone pain has lingered much longer, and pretty much any time you move, it is terribly painful.
The weird thing about this injury is that the outboard piece of the bone is sagging from the weight of my arm, and it is causing that piece of the bone to put pressure on several nerves that run down my arm. A lot of my pain is from these nerves and is felt in my arm versus the bone itself. I get sensations of ice, then sensations of rubbing alcohol being poured on an open wound. Very strange.
Immediately after the crash, I was able to get my phone out of my pocket and began to call my wife, and my friend David. David came and picked me up and took me to the ER where I met my wife.
Its is a long story and an investigation is pending, but someone did get a license plate and leaving the scene of an accident without exchanging information is a felony. The driver, took one look at me after it happened, then sped off.
So my collar bone is fractured in 4 places, and later this morning, I am going in to have surgery to have a plate installed over the pieces of bone.
The prognosis is that I'll be in the hospital over night, then will be in a sling for 7-10 days. No weight bearing activities for 4-6 weeks, then some therapy to regain range of motion and strength loss.
Thank you very much for all of the emails and text messages that many of you have sent me. It really helps to cheer me up. I'm very lucky to have such great friends.
Thanks also to my wife. She has been nothing short of amazing. She is the most caring, patient, sympathetic, giving, practical, loving, and strong person I've ever known.
I'll check in again when I'm typing with two hands again.
My power meter said I was travelling 17.5 mph when the accident happened. I landed on my right elbow and shoulder, and immediately felt my collar bone snap.
I've had 3 major injuries in my life now. A dislocated knee cap, a fractured femur, and now this. I have to say this was very close to as intense at the moment right after the break as the femur fracture was, however the collar bone pain has lingered much longer, and pretty much any time you move, it is terribly painful.
The weird thing about this injury is that the outboard piece of the bone is sagging from the weight of my arm, and it is causing that piece of the bone to put pressure on several nerves that run down my arm. A lot of my pain is from these nerves and is felt in my arm versus the bone itself. I get sensations of ice, then sensations of rubbing alcohol being poured on an open wound. Very strange.
Immediately after the crash, I was able to get my phone out of my pocket and began to call my wife, and my friend David. David came and picked me up and took me to the ER where I met my wife.
Its is a long story and an investigation is pending, but someone did get a license plate and leaving the scene of an accident without exchanging information is a felony. The driver, took one look at me after it happened, then sped off.
So my collar bone is fractured in 4 places, and later this morning, I am going in to have surgery to have a plate installed over the pieces of bone.
The prognosis is that I'll be in the hospital over night, then will be in a sling for 7-10 days. No weight bearing activities for 4-6 weeks, then some therapy to regain range of motion and strength loss.
Thank you very much for all of the emails and text messages that many of you have sent me. It really helps to cheer me up. I'm very lucky to have such great friends.
Thanks also to my wife. She has been nothing short of amazing. She is the most caring, patient, sympathetic, giving, practical, loving, and strong person I've ever known.
I'll check in again when I'm typing with two hands again.
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