berner

Whenever I'm feeling out of sorts I go for a massage and that tides me over 'till the next episode.

AzTallRider

Find a safe area, and ride one-handed?

SaiKaiTai

<redacted>

miss kenton

Why Stapfam! Have you been spying on me? The only thing missing from this photo is the glass of nice shiraz (not beer):
https://picasaweb.google.com/1159208...53505041600802

miss kenton

When I asked the doctor how soon I could get back on the bike, he first gave me one of these: Obviously, he's not a cyclist.

How are YOU doing, Bev?

JanMM

Little-known fact: Eli Lilly makes both recombinant Insulin and recombinant bikes. I'm pretty sure about the insulin, anyway.


Isn't the 'r' in 'pi r squared' for 'radius'? Perhaps eating pie can be an effective strategy for healing a radius crack? Some sort of connection there.

Beverly

I'm feeling great I'm hoping to be able to get back on the bike late next week.

miss kenton

Well JanMM, according to my calculations, if 'r' = radius, and in this equation, radius is ÷ and = '0' biking. Thus, the 'r' in pi(e) =Rotund

miss kenton

I am so happy to hear that!

Retro Grouch 

My accident was 23 months ago. I broke the heads of both radius bones. I don't know if my experience is very helpful to anybody else because A lot of my recovery issues have been mental rather than physical. I eventually visited with a Psychologist for a couple of months.

I also find interesting the different treatments prescribed by different orthopods. Honestly, my doctor didn't do anything but examine the X-rays and check my range of motion progress. No cast, no splint, use a sling for as long as you think it necessary. He was also critical of the orthopod who surgically pinned my collar bone. How can an ordinary guy (and you have to decide on a doctor pretty much RIGHT NOW) tell who's great and who's just OK? I still don't know.

My results are OK. I can do 20 push ups, but my elbows make a lot of popping noises when I do. My range of motion is adequate but it's not what it was before. Shaveing, for example, feels funny. I feel like my bicycling prowess is finally back to about what it was before the accident - at least physically - on the recumbent. I still feel anxiety when I'm getting ready for a ride.

Uh - YMMV

miss kenton

Wow! Your injury was much worse than mine! I can't imagine you not having been made to wear casts or splints! It must have been a really painful recovery. My doctor said the half cast was to immobilize and protect my arm from further injury. I feel for you, (but only with one arm).

bikegeek57

hope you are riding sooner than you think but not before you're ready. I empathize. It's been a long spring for me too. not been riding since Feb. 2 on my daily commute. just a few puttering rides in the local area recently. bleh on that. but I'd rather be healed up completely than not and have it last longer. I have plans to resume commuting in a week or so. all is not lost yet. be well. ride safe.

hikeandbike

Borrow a dog and walk with him. I hike at least once a week in the woods with mine. We did about 6 miles this afternoon. It's a nice break between rides. Hope you heal quickly.

miss kenton

Thank you for your good wishes. I have a dog; he's not much of a hiker, either. As a matter of fact, if he had his way, he would spend the day napping while I scratched his belly.

miss kenton

Feb. 2nd?!? Wow, I'll stop complaining now!

overthehillmedi

Did they hide the car keys, if not, go window shopping at a bunch of bike shops. That way when N+1 strikes you'll know what's out there.

nkfrench 

I had a radial head fracture last year. The fracture was slightly displaced but not enough to require surgery. The doc told me to get rid of the sling [no splint] and do a lot of range of motion work but otherwise no exercise. It was much too tender to ride on a trainer, too much weight on it. I broke the elbow tripping and face-planting while walking. The doc restricted me from walking (stairs in particular) other than to get to and from my car to my office.

I was off the bike 6-7 weeks and the first ride was 10 miles mostly flat and quite painful. The fitness loss (and weight gain) was considerable. It took longer before I could swim comfortably (butterfly was the worst, with the full arm extension finishing the armpull).

That was over a year ago. The elbow still gets quirky when I am riding. It catches a bit when I straighten/bend it so there may have been some ligament damage that couldn't be seen on the x-rays. I'd rather just live with it instead of looking at more downtime.

stringbreaker

My wife broke her shoulder just below the ball of the left Humerus 5 1/2 weeks ago. She is back to work and driving but until the next checkup in about 10 days she isn't supposed to try to lift her arm above her head ( can't anyway it really hurts) but she is right about where the doc predicted. Has some movement, enough to put her hair in a ponytail which is a big deal to her and she can lift it enough to put on a t-shirt instead of button shirts all the time and has been doing her normal other stuff except a bit slower and can't really lift much so I am still doing what she wants me to and try to anticipate when she needs Hagen Daas therapy.

Retro Grouch 

The first two weeks I had to have a home health care aide while Mrs. Grouch was at work because, among other things, I couldn't feed myself.

I call it the "gift that keeps on giving". I missed 9 weeks of work due to the injury in 2009. Because of that I didn't qualify for a paid vacation last year. Missing work plus no paid vacation is affecting my Unemployment Compensation this summer and may even affect my Unemployment Compensation next year too. All that from something that only took a couple of seconds that I don't even remember.

wobblyoldgeezer

I'm very sorry to hear this. I wish you a fast and pain free recovery.

I wouldn't worry too much about fitness and your MS 75. I don't imagine you were planning to race it to the last 5% of your capability so any little fitness drop-off won't affect things much, and I bet it'll be a comfortable and social experience that you'll breeze through.

If there is a word of encouragement from me, my first post-injury bike ride was such a blast! . Worth looking forward to!

And, speaking of looking forward......

khutch

Sorry to hear about your accident and I wish you a speedy and complete recovery. Like several others here while I have not been there, done that exactly, I certainly have visited the neighborhood. Last year I crashed and broke four ribs. I also got a concussion so bad that it literally erased my memory. All I can remember of the crash is having lunch with the wife before and waking up in the hospital afterwards. As I recall I was promised 6-8 weeks to recover and that was pretty accurate as far as normal living goes. I was starting to feel pain free for most activities at six weeks but two trips around the block on my bike proved that it was too early for that. By eight I was able to resume limited commuting on the folder. The "good" thing about broken ribs is that there is so much pain, so constantly, that at least you don't start to get antsy about riding a bike again until about six weeks and then you only have two more to go! Actually, I had a brief bout with post concussion syndrome from about six to ten weeks and that limited my commuting the first week or two. If it had not been for that I was considering riding in the McHenry County Udder Century, but the 30 mile loop, of course. So, I had to wait until this year to do that and I was able to go the full distance, proof that at 50+ (59 now in my case) such things are not insurmountable.

Good luck,

Ken

groth

Miss Kenton -

If you'd like to be stoker for my tandem recumbent trike, PM me and we can work something out.

You might have seen the trike at the GFLBT last June.

I live near Pennington; a round trip to Washington's crossing and back is about 18 miles which can be extended by various detours.

- Ed

miss kenton

Thank you for this post. It answered a lot of the questions I have been wondering about. Although I don't own a trainer and can't test myself, I find that even applying slight pressure, like leaning my hand on a counter top, is painful, so I can't imagine using a trainer.
I am removing the splint more often, as instructed by the doctor, to exercise my arm and find I am more comfortable without it. It gets really stiff after a long time in the splint. I still have to wear it to bed every night.
Six or seven weeks off the bike does sound about right to me and I can imagine the first ride to be short and uncomfortable. Thanks for sharing your experience.

miss kenton

Her injury sounds much worse than mine. I still can't do the ponytail and have taken to a barrette, instead. You should see the manipulations involved in blow drying my hair! Good job with the Haagen Dazs therapy! I have to give my own husband "props" in bringing me cups of coffee and giving massages on request.

miss kenton

I am sorry to hear that. Luckily, I had paid sick time and was able to return to my jobs in ten days!