Commuting - Surgery Sucks

Just had jaw surgery. The surgery itself wasn't too bad but now I'm restricted to NO BIKING FOR EIGHT WEEKS!!! And no chewing either.

Oh and I also don't see what's the big deal with Percocets... Unless you're supposed to wash 'em down with a beer or something. I mean, they do OK for the pain but I'm not exactly flying here.

I had surgery over the Christmas period that kept me off the bike for 6 weeks. I thought i was going to go nuts. And I gained 20 pounds.... I guess that you don't need to worry too much about the second problem. That sucks, Jeff, hope your recovery goes well.

Oh and I also don't see what's the big deal with Percocets... Unless you're supposed to wash 'em down with a beer or something. I mean, they do OK for the pain but I'm not exactly flying here.


They are very good at giving you constipation. Ibuprofin is better for pain.

Just had jaw surgery. The surgery itself wasn't too bad but now I'm restricted to NO BIKING FOR EIGHT WEEKS!!!
Sorry to hear the bad news. :(

I know what you mean.
I had shoulder (rotator cuff) surgery Nov 29 and the doc said no riding for 12 weeks. That's why I just started commuting again two weeks ago.

At least you can ride the trainer. I had to wait almost 6 week before I could do that. :crash:

Not sure if I could handle the chewing part. I like chewy snacks.

Be sure and eat lots of jello and ice cream. :)

Sorry to hear the bad news. :(

I know what you mean.
I had shoulder (rotator cuff) surgery Nov 29 and the doc said no riding for 12 weeks. That's why I just started commuting again two weeks ago.

At least you can ride the trainer. I had to wait almost 6 week before I could do that. :crash:

Not sure if I could handle the chewing part. I like chewy snacks.

Be sure and eat lots of jello and ice cream. :)

I don't have a trainer :(. Plus I'm not sure I could ride it anyway, the doc said no strenuous exercise (no jaw clenching). What's the fun of a trainer at 10 mph :rolleyes:.

Yeah the chewing part sucks too. I'm on day, uh, 3, and I'm ready to kill for a piece of bread.

Get well soon.

I would hit the garage sale circuit and find a project bike to keep me busy.

Sorry to hear that Jeff. And spring's coming soon too. What happened to your jaw that you needed surgery?

[e] +1 on Squeakywheel's idea. Might be a good time to build up a newish bike.
[e2] btw, what happened to the parrot in your avy?

Ummm, never had surgery or even stitches. Why can't you ride if you had jaw surgery? I can understand with the rotator cuff. My wife might need her rotator cuff done. But your jaw? Driving to work would cause me to clench my jaw more than riding :-)

waves of sympathy in your direction.

No one understands that cyclists are tortured twice by bad health.

First, by whatever condition is making it impossible to ride the bike

and second, by not being able to ride the bike.

Get well soon.

yuck. i hope you feel much better much sooner than 8 weeks from now.



the doc said no strenuous exercise (no jaw clenching).

did you explain to your doc how NOT exercising strenuously may defeat the purpose of banning strenuous exercise?

But your jaw? Driving to work would cause me to clench my jaw more than riding :-)

Yeah well that's a mental thing and theoretically I can control it :rolleyes:.

The muscles for your jaw run all down your neck and into your shoulders. It's pretty hard to do any kind of exercise that includes your upper body without working jaw muscles.

I had TMJ disorder, where the cartilege discs that project the jaw joint were dislocated. The surgery was to put them back where they belong. Whatever caused the dislocation was a long time ago, when I was a kid sometime. The Dr. could tell it wasn't recent based on the condition of the joint. My jaw started giving me problems about two years ago, first they tried treating it with an orthotic device (a plastic thing in my mouth that made my jaw close differently) but the discs didn't go back on their own so I finally had surgery.


did you explain to your doc how NOT exercising strenuously may defeat the purpose of banning strenuous exercise?

I'm hoping after a couple weeks I can convince him to let me bike "a little" ;). It seems like I'm healing well already (I can already stretch my jaw as far as he said I need to by the 2-week mark) so hopefully he'll be impressed and relax the restrictions early.


Sorry to hear that Jeff. And spring's coming soon too.

Yeah tell me about it! As soon as he said no riding for 8 weeks I was like WHY couldn't I have had this done back in december?!

Probably no new bike at the moment... As good an idea as that is, I don't have a place to keep another one right now. Maybe after I move... :D. I do have some other projects kicking around the house that I might get done though.

Well I decided since I was have a red star now I ought to have a full-size avatar. I didn't have the full-size parrot image laying around any more so I just made a new one. I can change it back if you liked the parrot better though ;).

What's the red start signify?

That I donated $25 to bikeforums.net ;). You get a bigger avatar and less ads. Mine was actually paid for by everyone in the HHCMF tossing in an extra buck or two on their shirt order (thanks again guys)!

Damn Egg... Jaw Surgery? She hit ya too hard? LOL

Hope it mends well.

I have to have Gallbladder Surgery the end of next month! Not looking forward to that. Might have to take a week off from Biking, (not work).

Heal fast... and don't rush it!

Hehe. Naw I think the most likely cause was when I was a kid I fell out of a tree and landed on my face :rolleyes:. Go to the doctor? Bah....

Good luck with your gallbladder. From what I've heard it's usually pretty fast and not too bad as surgery goes. I've known a few people who've had 'em out and they had very few complaints.

Regarding your avatar, I just thought you got a new pet or something. :)

Hehe. Naw I think the most likely cause was when I was a kid I fell out of a tree and landed on my face .

and they say biking is dangerous . . .

The muscles for your jaw run all down your neck and into your shoulders. It's pretty hard to do any kind of exercise that includes your upper body without working jaw muscles.

Ahh, ok. Makes sense. I think I was thinking of the jaw itself and not the joints.

That's rough, dude. Sounds like you're a quick healer. Pick-up a cheap, used trainer on Craig's List or eBay -- I bet the doc lets you get on that first (no road vibrations). My brother got a low-end mag trainer for $50 on CL (not the greatest but it beats not riding).

Sorry to hear about the surgery, Jeff. :( I hope your doctor gives you the okay to get back on the bike before 8 weeks. :eek:

As for the avatar, I hope Mr. Parrot returns soon.

I took my first bike ride on Sunday after three weeks of recovering from surgery. The first week of recovery I had to spend at home where I had to spend most of my time in bed. It wasn't as long as your forced haitus but I totally symphathize. Sorry about the surgery. Can you ride an indoor trainer just to keep the legs loose? Not much chance of falling there.

Look on the bright side.
If was say leg surgery, you still couldnt ride for 8 weeks, AND you'd be eating lots.
Now that you cant bike, your jaw wired shut prevents you from gaining weight :)..........ok ok its not much of a silver lining, im really reaching here...

Just think about how nice it will be outside when you're finally cleared to ride. :)

Sorry to hear about the surgery, Jeff :[ Hopefully you'll heal sooner than 8 weeks. Did you get some time off work? :]


Oh, and one vote for a purple cow :p

I don't have a trainer :(. Plus I'm not sure I could ride it anyway, the doc said no strenuous exercise (no jaw clenching).

I find that it's impossible for me to clench my jaw during hard riding. I need air man air...

Get well soon.

I would hit the garage sale circuit and find a project bike to keep me busy.

Darn you putting ideas in my head! http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/bik/143318556.html

I don't need a bike darnit! I can't even test-ride it right now!

oh no. you gotta get that. you'll kick yourself if you don't.

EJ,

sorry bout the surgery but give it time, in the long run it's worth it.
The percocet deal? works really well when your in pain and it's doing what
it's supposed to do. Other effects (recreational) are not as notable when
you're in pain. Be careful with them they sneak up on ya and you can get
a good case of the nausea/heaves from em.

marty

Here's hoping you're riding again MUCH sooner than 8 weeks.

And I miss Mr. Parrot too. ;)

I had back surgery about 3 weeks ago, and was tickled to death to find I could ride after 9 days out of the hospital, especially after racing other patients using those walker things up and down the hallway with my IV tree and the horrible Foley catheter. Didn't ask the Dr. about it first though, since when i asked about driving he put the kabash on that. I'm supposed to be walking, but it takes so damn long to get anywhere.

And ask your Dr. about darvocet...

oh no. you gotta get that. you'll kick yourself if you don't.

OK that didn't take long. Yeah I bought it.

Worse than that, I'm thinking about converting it to a fixie. :eek:

Stop me, before I strike again!



was tickled to death to find I could ride after 9 days out of the hospital.... Didn't ask the Dr. about it first though

That is 100% the correct approach to take. I'm kicking myself for asking the doctor about riding.



The percocet deal? works really well when your in pain and it's doing what
it's supposed to do.... Be careful with them they sneak up on ya and you can get
a good case of the nausea/heaves from em.

Yeah I noticed. Nausea anyway... Still not sure they worked all that much better than tylenol though. Oh well I'm off pain meds now, except for occasional tylenol/advil.

Here's hoping you're riding again MUCH sooner than 8 weeks.

And I miss Mr. Parrot too. ;)

Thanks.

And, due to popular demand, the parrot is back ;).

OK that didn't take long. Yeah I bought it.

Worse than that, I'm thinking about converting it to a fixie. :eek:

Stop me, before I strike again!


Attaboy ;) Have fun.

I'm still working on getting my fix...I mean I'm looking for a frame so I can start working on my fixie. You probably don't want two fixies. That might lead to addiction.

Try Craig's list, that's where I found this one... and I saw lots of other interesting stuff on there. You have to check it regularly though, stuff changes a lot day by day. Depends on your price range though, for me convenience was more important than price (found online, paid $75). If you want to pay $10 or whatever you'll probably have to do the footwork (yard sales etc). Almost no one bothers to put $10 bikes online.

Oh and I also don't see what's the big deal with Percocets... Unless you're supposed to wash 'em down with a beer or something. I mean, they do OK for the pain but I'm not exactly flying here.

Don't be wasting those things on pain. Their purpose is recreation. :beer:

It sounds like you have 512's. (The number on the pill). Tell your doc you want 543's and get some good red wine. Like a nice pinot noir. :)

How about a mouth guard to use while riding? That should keep you from biting down all the way, anyway. I'm in a similar position - TMJ Disorder is flaring up on me. Lots of pain when I bite down hard on my right side, but I don't want to see the doctor for fear I won't be able ride! It's only been a couple of weeks, so I'm hoping it'll settle down on its own... :(

Heh well, if you believe my doctor, TMJD rarely "gets better" on its own, usually it just "stops hurting". The problem isn't my teeth touching, it's putting stress on the joint (since that's where the surgery was)... which happens if you bite down on anything. That's why I'm not allowed to chew for another 6.5 weeks :(. And since the jaw muscles run down your neck into your shoulders, any kind of strenuous exercise can mess up your jaw.

I'd recommend seeing a doctor but not doing anything beyond an oral appliance of some sort. That'll usually alleviate symptoms, for a lot of people an appliance worn at night is all they need.

Hope you get better soon. What type of software job and platform are you looking for in PHiladelphia ?

Thanks.

Senior software developer or team lead, and platform is pretty flexible. I've done C++, Java & J2EE, Unix, Windows, I have no problem going to C#/.NET but no experience in it yet. My wife has family in Philly and we're looking to move to be near them. I've had a couple interviews so far but nothing's panned out.