broken hip recovery advice needed...............

Valowitz

Yep,mine was quite high up(subtrochanter or intracapsular) where as yours was probably a bit lower(intertrochanter).
Think the higher up the fracture the longer one has to stick to NWB postop, although from what I've read that seems to differ between consultants,hospitals and countries.
Good to hear you're pushing yourself on your turbo. Also very impressed with the fact you're aiming for PBP next year August. That's sounds like a hard endurance cycle trip.
I hope to do London-Paris,followed by LEJOG in 2012 and may be one day Mont Ventoux and the Marmotte
First need to get back on the bike outdoors again,so hopefully that will be next year May.
In the mean time I'll be pedalling away daily on my tacx i-Magic which is great

greencurly

Valowitz wrote:

First need to get back on the bike outdoors again,so hopefully that will be next year May.
In the mean time I'll be pedalling away daily on my tacx i-Magic which is great

We could be doing a bike ride together sooner than you think, I have a fortius I'm not upto speed on riding online yet but it would be as good a time as any to learn.

Valowitz

Hi greencurly,
My i-Magic only seems to have a multiplayer license for 1 month and runs out just after x-mas.Let me know if you've sussed out how us 2 can cycle online in the next couple of weeks.That would be awesome.
At the moment I am doing only short(6-8 miles) cycle rides in VR. My cadence magnet stopped working after 1 day and have temporarily replaced this with a fridge magnet(which works fine) whilst I am awaiting a replacement from Rutland Cycles.
I was thinking of getting the Dordogne DVD one day as that seems a not too hard cycle trip through beautiful french countryside.
PS.let me know if you fancy a coffee/cup of tea some time somewhere in Market Harborough for a chat.[/quote]

StealTheR

hey guys.

glad to see everyone is recovering well! . i had my 12 week x ray today and was told by the consultant that everything looks fine on my x ray and that the compression was good.

i have been fully weight bearing now for just over a month after coming off the crutches 6 weeks after the operation. my limping has gone, thanks to my physio and i'm in next to no pain. i'd suggest for people to use resistance bands aswell if you aren't already. they make a lot of difference

i'm still worried about this AVN as being 18 i would hate to even think about having this metal-on-metal resurfacing at my age, that seems to be my consultants main concern and mine.

has anyone else been told by their doctors how you can minimise the chances of getting AVN?

and good luck with all your recovery

Valowitz

Hi StealTheR,
Good to hear your doing well but then again I woul expect you to as you're so young
I can understand your concern re AVN.
I think it is very difficult to predict who will develop AVN.
I think it depends on the type of fracture and how old you are.
All I know is that only after 2 years after the initial injury one can say with certainty one will be okay of not having developed this or will develop this in the near future.
I am not sure what factors put one at risk of AVN but after seeing my consultant yesterday it seems that early weightbearing in some cases can be detrimental as he advised me to stay on crutches and only toetouch with my injured leg for a total of 6 months.
He said that that seemed perhaps a bit over cautious but that's what he would do if he was in my shoes.
I hope you continue to do well.
Best wishes,
Valowitz

tyskie

greencurly wrote:

tyskie aren't you worried about the carnage that would be caused if you have another major impact on the "bionic" leg? My GP, physio and sports therapist are all for my metalwork being removed, I shudder when I think what would happen should a metal rod bends in a up bone tube.

I try not to think about it although my surgeon did say that if I did the same again, it's rather tricky extracting a bent titanium rod from a femur. They have to straighten up the rod whilst it's in the leg and then take it out. :shock: He did say that he'd done it with a couple of motorcyclists though.

greencurly

tyskie wrote:

I try not to think about it although my surgeon did say that if I did the same again, it's rather tricky extracting a bent titanium rod from a femur. They have to straighten up the rod whilst it's in the leg and then take it out. :shock: He did say that he'd done it with a couple of motorcyclists though.

Wow I didn't know they could do that. I asked my consultant he said any motorcyclist he would remove the metalwork as a matter of course due to the speed of their impacts.
Thanks for the info on that though.

bookwormhk

tyskie: great to hear you are a better cyclist than before... I was run over by vehicle. It was a narrow escape and I am glad my strength is coming back, though it is probably 3/4 of what I used to be. After reading your posts, at least I know I could come back stronger in good time if I have the will to...

The only problem I have is that I can't sit Indian style. Not sure if this is a common problem and whether it is going to be permanent...

I have an IM nail too and I was worried about a second accident causing a bent rod. But after some Internet search, it seems that it shouldn't be a major issue extracting a bent rod... I don't know yet if I want to take my nail out later... A friend of mine had an IM rod for over 10 years (and he is now in his 30s) without any issues.

greencurly

bookwormhk wrote:

I have an IM nail too and I was worried about a second accident causing a bent rod. But after some Internet search, it seems that it shouldn't be a major issue extracting a bent rod... I don't know yet if I want to take my nail out later... A friend of mine had an IM rod for over 10 years (and he is now in his 30s) without any issues.

while you were researching did you find out what actually happens to the bone as a result of the bent? I was under the impression that the femur shatters along it's length causing big problems?

StealTheR

A friend of mine suffered from a spiral fracture and had around 8 screws inserted, 2 of them bent and apparently they were easy to remove. So I don't think it would be a problem anywhere else on the body. I wouldn't be concerned about falling on it again and even bending the screws imo.

I've been working the past 2 days carrying bike boxes (I have been told I can do heavy lifting now) about and walking up and down stairs alot, I was also out last night with friends. So it ges without saying I'm feeling the pain a bit today.

Does anyone else also suffer from pain, all over the operated side, after doing say excessive exercises?

As aches and spasms get me concerned, but my doc did say don't let pain worry you.

Thanks

gavintc

Tomorrow is 8 weeks since the operation. The pain has pretty much all gone. I was at Christmas party last night and was quite impressed that I was able to dance without any discomfort. I got the odd bad day, where there can be a low dull ache, but most of the time, my problem is just general weakness in the area. So for me, I can foresee a return to the bike in about 4 weeks time. The turbo is pretty boring though.

I was amused when going through an airport security check that although the doorway check did not pick up the metal, when I was checked over with the electronic wand thing, it beeped loudly when it passed over my hip.

StealTheR

haha, I go away next week aswell, hoping the scanners dont go off when I go through them.

So I take it the doctor has had you fully weight bearing 6 weeks after the operation?

bookwormhk

I was pretty surprised that my metal didn't set off security alarms, whether the gate or hand held device!

gavintc

StealTheR wrote:

haha, I go away next week aswell, hoping the scanners dont go off when I go through them.

So I take it the doctor has had you fully weight bearing 6 weeks after the operation?

Yes, when I went in for the 5-6 week check up, I was down to one crutch at that point. I discussed dropping the crutch and he said it was up to me, when I felt comfortable I could go without. It started with forgetting to pick up the crutch around the house and then slowly over the last week, I have been walking further. On my business trip away this week, I took the crutch - just in case I needed support.

greencurly

Does anybody know the weight of a long(down to the knee) intermedullary nail? I want to try and get an idea how much more weight I'm going to have to lug up the hills

greencurly

Almost 10 weeks into recovery now, I used a sports therapist a couple of weeks ago and now I am reaping the benefits. The exercises I was given really hit the spot, I have almost re-learnt to walk properly and I ventured down to the gym for a workout on the weights yesterday. I fully expected to be hobbling around today but am still able to maintain a limp free walk if I concentrate(Just)
Waiting for the all clear from the consultant to get outside on the bike now, it wasn't so bad looking out the window at a frozen landscape but now I'm itching to ride.

753forme

Hi greencurly. Sorry that you've joined the 'club'. Sounds like you are healing well, and its great to hear about your PBP ambitions. I'm thinking about doing it myself - but that would be three and a half years after the accident!! Just be careful not to force and put yourself back - there are examples of that on here. Keep us posted and take it a day at a time. Good luck.

bookwormhk

greencurly: the 10th or 11th week was also itchy for me. I hit the road in week 12 as soon as my doctor told me I don't need to see him again... But then, only nearly 6 months after injurty did I really do (with enough strength at long last) my favorite trail pre-injury, climbing 300 metres at 1:8 gradient across the countryside. When I was still on crutches, I looked up the same mountains and told myself I might never be able climb this route again.

greencurly

Hi bookwormhk, I have been training so far with measured power output, my power is steadily increasing but I am still 25%+ below where I should be, my other leg which was previously the weaker one has compensated a little.
I did a fairly long walk across an arable field on Friday, I am paying for that still!
How many months was it before your power returned?

bookwormhk

Hi greencurly: only 10 weeks into recovery and you are just 25% below what it used to be - that is quite impressive.

When I was 12 weeks, my injured leg was probably only 50% of its strength pre-injury.

Nearly six months post-injury, the injured leg is probably at 90% and is still improving (and I should add that the improvement over the past three months has been steady). In the past, I could cycle at an average speed of say 30 km per hour over a period of time. Now, I could only do 27. At 4 months, it was only 20. I guess it is not just muscle strength of the injured leg, but general physical fitness as well.

I didn't push myself too hard as I was worried that it could back fire. As long as you continue to train yourself up regularly, it is only a matter of time you will be OK.

greencurly

Thanks for that bookwormhk, I think my % power recovery in the injured leg would be closer to your figure, I suspect my good leg has been doing a lot more work recently and as a consequence is now stronger than it ever was, maybe when the injured one is as good as it's going to get I will end up with more power a bit of wishfull thinking never hurts

bookwormhk

One suggestion - try to use your injured leg more while cycling to help its muscle recover and catch up with the normal one. I am glad to say that muscle wastage in my injured leg is minimal and the two legs are pretty symmetrical (a few months ago anyone would notice the difference). This kind of catching up exercise can't be done when you walk. When I climb a staircase, I also use my injured leg more too for the same reason. But then my buttock on the injured side is only half the normal side's size. I hope it will return to normal with more exercises albeit very slowly :-)

Dog Breath

I'm going to point my partner in the direction of this thread. On 28th November she slipped on on icy road and came off her bike. She landed squarely on her right hip. The ball of the hip was pushed through the socket (breaking that) and into the pelvis and breaking that in 2 places. She spent 16 days in hospital and endured an 8 hour operation to put everything back together.

Currently she is getting around on crutches and is due to go back to hospital for further X-rays on 26th January. Until then she cannot put any weight bearing on that leg.

Hopefully after that she will be able to get on the road to recovery. But I'm sure that it won't always be an easy road to follow.

The important thing is that she gets the correct advice/physio to get her back to doing what she loves; cycling, walking and running.

Will update with progress...

DB

greencurly

Dog Breath,
Sorry to hear about Mrs.DB she is already on that long road to recovery, pleased to hear she got through that mammoth op ok.

Bookwormhk,
I have been using a flat pedal on the good leg and clipping in the injured one as soon as I was able too, that has definitelly helped. I find that concentration on the power strokes of the bad leg(easier with a lower cadence) is the key because when I lapse, the good leg immediatelly starts to do more, especially if I am pushing over 60% of FTP

StealTheR

I've been doing quite a lot of swimming to try and build up the muscles again, seems to be working good and with all the snow over the past month I've been avoiding riding. Although I have been told that I can ride again like before, but to work up to longer distance rides by adding 2-3 miles each ride.

I am still getting some minor pain though, and I'm coming up to 4 months post op and 2 of them have been fully weight bearing, still limping a tiny bit though.

Good luck with your recovery guys!

greencurly

toontra wrote:

greencurly wrote:

I am still keeping my sights on qualifying and completing the Paris/Brest/Paris ride in August 2011.

Good stuff! See you in Paris next August!

Had a day of mixed emotion today, I went for a spinscan and power assessment of the damaged leg, much to my delight the power balance between the two legs is almost identical now after only 12 weeks of recovery and my overall power is only a little down due we suspect to a lack of overall fitness, as I would expect in January, so all seemed bright and dandy , then the bombshell was dropped and I have been strongly advised to abandon my hopes of a PBP ride in 2011 owing to the moderately high possibility of permanent long term damage Instead to focus on short and medium distance TT's for this season.
Sadly it doesn't look as if I will be seeing you in Paris in August.

bookwormhk

Oh, what makes such a possibility I wonder?

greencurly

Not having any expertise in these matters I will ask my consultant as I have my 3 month check-up next week.
As an aside my sports therapist recommended that I buy a re-bounder, it arrived today and I can already tell that it is going to be a very good aid to my recovery.

753forme

Greencurly - you are doing really well. I know at the moment it may be hard to take the disappointment over PBP but there's always another chance in the future. It took me 12 months to get over my accident. You are doing amazingly, and just keep working at it and you'll get there in the end. You've had a really serious accident and it takes longer than we want to accept mentally sometimes. At least you can still cycle and you will make a full recovery by the sound of it.

Scottmike

Hi,

I am new to the forum and glad to get so much pertinent info about hip fractures. I broke my hip on Nov. 1st after slipping on a road downhill, resulting in a complete break. I was in surgery for a couple hours and 3 rods were used to join the bone.

I've just started walking/partial weight bearing with crutches earlier this week. The doctor said that I can wean myself off the crutches and begin using a stationary bike. I used it today for only a couple of minutes, but hoping to increase my time on the bike by 5 minutes each week, two times a day.

After the MRI and X-ray, the doctor still had trouble seeing if there was any healing taking place, except for maybe at the top of the fracture. She said that there are no signs of AVN, so I am hoping the news stays positive on my next 3 month follow up, I'm always nervous before the X-rays are taken.

I've been using a herbal combination called Dryneria 12 which is supposed to increase bloodflow to the extremities and aid bone healing. Along with the herbs, I also take magnesium, calcium, and vitamin D supplements.

If anyone has questions or advice, please feel free to respond.

Thank you!