Rather Break Bones Than Damage Ligaments ...

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So I'm 15 weeks out from my motorcycle crash back in February. Left ankle is coming along pretty good given that it was dislocated and had three breaks of the tibia and fibula. Stainless steel plate and 10 screws seems to be getting the job done there. Right arm fully functional thanks to a titanium rod inside the humerous bone running the length from elbow to shoulder to set the break in that bone. Who needs marrow in there anyway. That leaves the old neck-a-reeno. Surgeon says my cervical vertebra fractures are similar to what is called "Clay Shoveler's Fracture" in that it's only the spinous process on C6 and C7 that took fractures. Still feels weird back there and still get lots of crackles and pops through the whole neck structure as it adjusts to being out of the c-collar immobilizer which came off May 15th. Trust me, you don't want to spend 12 weeks in one of those-- sleeping and showering were not optimal. Early on in the recovery I had a motto "Two showers a week whether I need it or not !!" (LoL). Was such a pain bagging up the lower leg and taping it off plus the c-collar and during that early time in recovery right arm was still marginal... bathing was just a real nuisance. Although while in in-patient rehab it was interesting to receive assistance in the sit down shower from the occupational therapists which were all attractive females.

So the problem child that remains is the right shoulder. Apparently whatever impact I took that broke the right humerous also knocked the living [censored] out of the shoulder girdle and AC joint and stretched most of the ligaments in there. 15 weeks and the shoulder blade still wants to float is how I describe the instability and looseness during motion. It works okay for most non weight bearing stuff and even up to moving about 15 lbs around in the hand but it feels and sound like someone is stepping on a box of pretzels when rotating it through range of motion. Surgeon says xrays show no broken bones in the shoulder and that its lined up okay, etc., but likely that the ligaments need to settle down mainly in the AC joint. Doesn't help that I did a type 2 separation to that AC in 2014.

So per the subj line, bones appear to heal faster and with less drama than ligaments if my experience is any guide. Been on a self imposed "healing diet" the whole time, eating clean and keeping the protein and calories up along with vitamin supplementation. But ligaments, they just seem to take their time.
 
To empathize: I knew a gal who had been a ballet dancer (was in George Balanchine's first Nutcracker) and one day her foot stuck to the floor while attempting a pirouette. Everything else pirouetted and her ankle ligaments/tendons were all ripped to hades.

Her dancing days ended there and then. "It would've been better to break the ankle", she told us.

So, what kind of bike are you getting next? Kira
 
LR is already showing symptoms of being 'BI'ke
wink.gif
curious...! Good to know you're recovering nicely.
 
Good luck. Shoulder joints are very complex and take longer to heal. After my motorcycle accident, the ribs were feeling pretty good after six weeks, shoulder took nearly six months to get back to normal. Of course, age makes a difference. I was 57 when I went through this.
 
If you're older (50+ yrs) it could take 12 months before your ligaments get back to not bothering you. I've done some "simple" knee and shoulder ligament tears/strains that far less severe than what you went through. Took me 12 months. And now 2-3 years later after those, I've regained nearly 100% of the former strength. Figure 6 months before you resume "most" of your previous normal activities but likely not to the same intensity.
 
From the tone of the post you seem to be in great spirits, which is a testament to your strength, having gone through such an ordeal. Good for you!

I might have missed a previous thread; what happened? Will you ride again once you've recovered?

My dad tells me all the time I'm lucky to be here. He was sandwiched between two big-rigs before I was born. He could have made out nicely from the ordeal, but was broke and laid up on a buddy's couch and had to take a relatively los settlement instead. He's a strong guy (6'4, 240) and has made due with his injuries, but the effects are showing more and more as he ages. Even in his late 40s he limped and it was visually apparent that he preferred his good leg, since its calf was ~50%+ larger than the bad one.

A buddy of mine never got into an accident with another driver, but wiped out once and exposed the bone in his forearm. He said he stupidly left his gear at home, since he was just going a few miles down the road. It began to rain and he slid on some oil, I think. Nasty.

I personally witnessed some idiot teen run a res light right in front of a biker. When I pulled over to help he was covered in blood after having slid on glass and pavement. Mostly superficial, since the bleeding seemed to stop with some applied shirts some lady, who was the only other one to stop, had in her car. Anyway, the police officer was apparently an idiot, too, because both of us who stopped clearly stated to the officer that the kid had run a red light, but hat never made it into the police report. I gave my deposition very recently and haven't heard back about a court date or anything, so hopefully it was enough to get the rider what he was due. Oh, and as you can expect, people were weaving around the debris from the bike and car to continue on their way, not wanting to stop or possibly make things worse.

ONLY TWO OF US STOPPED. The lady who also stopped was timid, but I made sure our statements were taken (even though that apparently never made it on record.)

Every time I consider riding (I know so many who do and love it) I see a near miss or worse. I'll never ride, due solely to the number of distracted idiots on the road!
 
Dont get discouraged Plan for a 1 year recovery period then evaluate where you are.

It took 6months before I could do anything with my shattered left wrist/arm.

after 14 month.. its about 85%-90% at certain angles and about 50% at others.

The worst for me right now.. picture lifting one end of a 70lb pallet.

as you get higher the flex of my wrist just doesnt flex in that direction after about waist height.

I've been working on loosening it up abit and now its lower chest level or so in that direction.

(arm extended palm up lifting)

I could still see major gains in recovering even at the 1 year mark.. being yours is much more serious.
I'd expect if you stick with rehab you will never recover fully (what a downer) but should be able to live normal life just fine.. At 6 month I felt like I might as well cut the hand off and have a hook for all that I could do with it. Its pretty good now.. esp for driving and other tasks.. and you can compensate somewhat for parts that dont work quite right.
 
Stay away from motorcycles, ATVs, go carts and any any other type of conveyance that moves faster than a wheel chair. No surrounding sheet metal to absorb some of the energy of a crash is a sure recipe for spending time mending broken bones and mangles flesh.
 
gathermewool, I bagged the Ducati that's lined out in my sig... on a curve got wide avoiding some gravel kickout and went off the road and lost control about 40 - 45mph was afraid of low siding but in hindsight might have been better than going into the sticks and high siding although had no intent to do that either. Had on helmet, jacket, gloves but like your buddy who busted his forearm.... was only "going out for a quick one" looked square at my armored TCX riding boots that are a little hard to get on and went out with street shoes on. talk about a dumb move. I'm 54 so the recovery probably isn't what it could be 20 or 30 yrs ago. Even with D.O.T. helmet (Nolan N104), had a concussion and brain bleed.

Who said I was BIke curious?... Yeah, have to admit. Hate to give up riding, but at least this season I'm sitting it out. For one thing don't trust ankle and shoulder yet for handling a bike plus head rotation and swiveling still not back to normal-- amazing how stiff your neck gets after immobilized so long.

I live about two blocks from a popular watering hole and being bike season, on Fri and Sat night I hear guys leaving there on bikes just hauling arse down the long straight suburban two laner both HD's and sport bikes, likely with some level of blood alcohol to boot. I think to myself, dude I hope you're in one piece tomorrow... Thought that before my crash, but since then I just cringe when I see or hear bikes doing stupid stuff.
 
I cringe when I see people abusing a ladder or doing stupid stuff like standing on the top of the step ladder (the top "not a step" part)

Literally broke out in a cold sweat a few times.
 
My Sister is over a year out from her crash which totaled her R1200RT. Leg broken in four places. She is getting around slowly, but it will still take some time to get back to normal. Having been non-weight-bearing for nearly 10 months, means that everything needs to strengthened before she gets back to normal. She was desperate to get back to riding, but currently lacks the leg strength to support a bike when stopped. She bought a Cam-Am Spyder, but isn't too fond of it, because it just isn't the same as a bike.

As for ligament injuries, I've had a few. It usually took at least a year to get back to normalcy. Listen to your Doctor and Physical Therapist.

Good luck, injuries are no fun.
 
Originally Posted By: Rand
I cringe when I see people abusing a ladder or doing stupid stuff like standing on the top of the step ladder (the top "not a step" part)

Literally broke out in a cold sweat a few times.


Yeah, it doesn't take much to fall from a ladder and I've heard of a case where someone just fell from a ladder broke a few ribs and one of those ribs punctured the aorta so they just bled to death.
 
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