My Afan crash...and a heartfelt thankyou...

Horton

Tough times mate. The only thing to do is look to the future - it will heal, and it will be fine albeit probably a bit lumpy to the touch... I tore a load of ligaments in my shoulder a while back and was in a state but a good specialist and then some really good physio worked wonders. If I was you, I get back to exercise as quick as you can - even boring stuff like squats (no weights) to try and get some muscle tone back in your legs. As and when you're back up to speed, try getting a powerball which will really speed up strengthening your wrist, grip and forearms. A good physio will also really help you get back on the mend! All the best for the future and enjoy your skiing

Bleedproof

The missing image from the above post.



Stu

Raymondavalon

Iain,

Been reading this Thread with great interest over the past month or so.
Good to see you're on the mend. From experience I assure you that the healing process is equally as psycological as it is physical. You're thinking positive so you'll be up and running in no time. The time soon passes by and before you know it you'll be in the saddle again

I have broken my clavicle (collar bone) twice through racing (motorcycle) enduro class and I know just how inconvenient a broken clavicle can be, where the simple task of sitting down or opening a door can be daunting and uncomfortable while it's healing. On the upside your clavicle will be stronger that it ever was prior to the injury.

I share you sentiments on the great service we get from the NHS here. When it comes to trauma they react well. No one ever thanks them for the often thankless job they do daily. I know they'd rather be attending to a mountain biker opposed to some drunk who fell and grazed his knee, but either way they carry on relentlessly irrespective of the circumstances.

On the 26th of April this year I took a spill on my HT and broke my right leg in 5 places. Like yourself, I was gifted with screws and a plate (11 + 1)
Being incapacitated almost drove me insane, but before I knew it, on July 27th I threw my leg over my trusty Kona HT for the first time in 3 months and rode 27 miles!
Today I had my final consultation and yes, I am still riding although still a little cautiously compared to earlier in the year

So, from one injured rider to another, I feel your pain and frustration and rest assured you'll be up riding, sailing and carrying normally sooner than you know.. although perhaps a little more cautiously in the beginning.

Take care and keep us informed of the progress!

Iain C

Thanks for the kind words, and a good story, glad to hear you're back too. And thanks Stu for sorting the pic.

Hmmmm...re NHS, jury's out on that I'm afraid. Air ambulance (not NHS) was awesome, as was the efforts of the various people to get me off the hill.

However, the NHS hospital were more than happy to have me trudging round thier hospital covered in trail muck and sheep pooh, they never even took my shoes off. I have no idea if that kind of dirt can carry infections but I was pretty amazed that they never took some of that kit off. They also despatched me with one single white triangular bandage that pressed down onto the clavicle and was agony as soon as the morphine wore off.

Back home the A&E doc said it would almost certainly need surgery but I then saw two NHS consultants who said "it's fine...NEXT!" and simply would not listen to me when I was trying to explain what I meant by wanting to go "cycling and sailing", I did not mean a commute to the station of a bob round in a Mirror dinghy. In actual fact the second doc who I saw back home in Rugby REALLY annoyed me, telling me that there was no lack of symmetry and what was my problem. In desperation I posted a pic of my xray on the well known motoring forum PistonHeads.com and got the following repsonse...

"This is from an orthopaedic surgical registrar who happens to be in my family:
]Should have been fixed, preferably with a precontoured plate such as the Acumed clavicular locking plate. Any NHS or private orthopaedic surgeon who keeps up to date should know that the current opinion is that in healthy adults clavicle fractures should be fixed if there is more than 1.5cm of shortening. This goes double for those who require normal shoulder dynamics for their occupation / hobbies. Furthermore, there is very possibly soft tissue interposition due to the separation of the two major fragments, which, if present, could delay union. The long-term consequences of malunion will be dimished power and perhaps chronic pain. Not to mention the poor cosmesis of a narrow shoulder girdle.

Formerly, the Europeans would use a figure-of-eight bandage in an endeavour to maintain shoulder girdle width. However, this is painful and poorly tolerated (as evidenced). In the UK, a broad arm sling is more usually employed, supporting the arm and preventing the shoulder dropping. The A+E doctor in rugby was correct with his supposition regarding the need for surgery, but provided exactly the wrong means of support. A "collar and cuff" supports the arm by the wrist, allowing the arm to hang dependent from the shoulder. This would be appropriate for a humeral fracture, where the weight of the arm acts as traction to realign the fracture. With clavicle fractures it distorts the fracture as this bone usually acts a strut to support the arm.

By three to four weeks the fracture may well be well on the way to healing. This would render surgery more difficult, but not impossible. The opinion of a shoulder surgeon should be sought as soon as possible if this chap is interested in surgery. Finally, he should expect the need for removal of the plate after 9-12 months if he wishes to carry bags with straps, or use shoulder harnesses comfortably.

Hope this proves useful."

This was enough to make me go private via my company insurance and thank **** I did. The consultant who I saw actually LISTENED to me about sports and hobbies etc, and said that my highy unorthodox forum diagnosis was spot on! If I'd just left it for another month as the NHS doc had told me it would have had over 2 months healing and then that op might have been very tricky indeed.

Moral of the story...get a second opinion. And a third if required. And never underestimate the power of the internet!

stumpyjon

I'd just like to echo the comments re the NHS above. I've been around the NHS alot in the last couple of years due to having two kids, one of whom needs some minor corrective surgery and my wife who had a number of complications during pregnancy.

Whilst there are some excellent individuals in the NHS as a whole my experience has been of people doing the minumum to get patients through the conveyor belt. If you want to ensure you get the most appropriate treatment you need to do additional research and then question / push the doctors to take you seriously. It is also really worth considering private care if you can get it through work.

Two examples of poor care my wife has had that could have had serious consequences are:

SPD during pregnancy which softens the bones excessively in the pelvic area. We went privately to a physio to be assessed the day before she went into labour (early) and thank god we did as the birth ended up with an emergency caesarian, the doctor on call initially wanted to do a forceps delivery which the physio had said should not be done under any circumstance with my wife's SPD. If we hadn't found out privately about the extent of the condition we would have gone ahead with whatever the doctor recommended. Result would most likely have been a smashed pelvis and and unlimited time in a wheelchair (which having read up on things after the birth, this is frighteningly common :shock: )

In the second example my wife got the husk of a grass seed in her eye which was casing irritation. She went to the (private) opticians who confirmed there was something in the eye and said she should see her GP immediately. GP's surgery said they didn't have the equipment to look in her eye properly and after a cursory examination sent her home saying it would sort itself out. A couple of days later it was still bad so she went back to the opticians who were horrified and sent her straight A & E. They were even more useless than our GP. At this point we booked an emergency consultation with a private consultant. He immediately idenitifed what it was and removed it quickly with a sterile needle. He then said that organic matter in the eye like a grass seed is the worst type of foreign body to get in the eye as it nearly always results in serious infection and lasting damage. Luckily for my wife her eye hadn't yet become infected. 3 years later the scarring has only now pretty much healed.

We've had other similar experiences in the last couple of years as well. So my advice is if you use the NHS don't take anything you're told at face value and don't forget your carparking money :evil:

One other thing I don't understand is infection control, there are now alcohol gels available all over hospitals but I have not once been told by a member of staff to wash my hands (even when I went into the operating theatre for my wife's 2nd caesarian :shock: :evil: )

Iain C, glad to hear things are getting slowly better and well done for standing up for yourself.

Yukon Lad

depends where you are, one of my freinds is in the NHS as a GP and he used to work at Cuedoc and as a surgeon in an A+E before that. The amount of pride he took in his work was huge, he never ever did anything by half-measures and no-one at all at where he worked did.

Also bear in mind this is your experiences and possibly not the normal trend, private practicians have normally been in the NHS before and sometimes (no offense to anyone here who is one) moves so they can make more money for the same things they did.

Yukon Lad

midlifechrisis

Iain
Hope you've made a good recovery by now. How long before you were back on your bike, or aren't you yet?
A friend of mine pointed me to your thread, as I did the same kind of damage to myself almost 4 weeks ago. Got it wrong going into a fairly easy bombhole - front wheel hit a something, destroyed the rim & sent me flying. Collar bone & shoulder blade on right side broken.
I, too am very grateful to friends & a stranger who sorted me out. Didn't get the drama of the air ambulance, though, but an hour's excruciatingly painful car journey to hospital.
Still off work, still off the bike & bored s**tless. Watched every MTB DVD I can get my hands on, browsed the net endlessly for bike upgrades etc etc.
Worst bit is hearing from mates about all the great rides theyv'e been on(especially in this amazing weather).
Anyway, happy biking, mate

Iain C

Midlifechrisis...

Nowhere near riding yet mate! Another month before I hopefully get the OK to drive and move my arm up past 90 degrees and to be honest I doubt I'll ride again this year as I want to go skiiing in January and don't want to risk it. I might do some towpath stuff or make it out on the roadie in a couple of months but no proper MTBing.

Re NHS, I think in this case I had very poor "customer service". However in 2005 I went in to an NHS hospital clutching a private MRI (back pain) and the consultant admitted me the very next day and operated the day after on the "biggest prolapsed disc he'd seen in over 1000 operations". Saved me possibly from a wheelchair apprently (gulp!!) and I am eternally grateful for that. As a doctor mate said, if you are dying or really in the doo-doo, the NHS is very good indeed, but if you're just a bit broken they stop you getting any worse and send you on your way before you become another "waiting for operation" statistic or cost.

Jeez, I sound like a right chuffing drama queen in this thread! I'm going to be more positive now and stop moaning...I've just fitted Bonty Jones 2.35 ACX tubeless tyres to my steed...seems really easy to do...looking forward to giving them a go, and by the time I do that it will be January and proper muddy...bring it on!!!!

Iain C

F*** YEAH!!!!

Today the consultant has given me the OK to drive again...and to go road biking! So I'm afraid it might be skinny tyres and lyrca for me for a bit, although I might dust off the Trek and hit some local bridleways...hopefully not too much chance of me damaging myself much there!

Cannot WAIT to get back out on a bike again (and depress myself how unfit I must be now!) and when the bone is fully fused and I've been skiing in Jan, I'll be hitting the proper trails again, and sorting out a charity ride for the air ambulance.

Thanks again for the messages of support!

Raymondavalon

Iain,

Well done. In my opinion the healing process is 55% pyschological and 45 physical
Time has flown and you've kept your chin up throughout the entire process and been nothing but positive.
I know exactly how it feels to get the go ahead from the doc to drive/cycle and get on with life. Your independence has been given back to you!
I wish you many care and puncture free miles on the road bike and it will only be a matter of time before you're tearing up the trails on the MTB again

Once again well done ) and thanks for keeping us informed of your progress.

Raymond

Dr Tinkle

Been following this link for a while now as well. Really glad to hear you mending up.

Ironically, I took a trip to Cannock Chase just recently for a skills lesson and with this thread fresh in my mind, kept my riding turned down a crack just to be safe.

Sessioned a small jump a couple of times, glanced over my shoulder with a grin because I'd got it dialed, grabbed a handful of brakes, front wheel slipped out, back to nature with a thud, dislocated shoulder. . .

Half mile walk through the woods in the rain, 15 minute wait for a pick up, excruciating drive to meet my new friends at Stafford A&E.

And while I lay there in my morphine induced haze, who did I think about?

My wife was most jealous.

Chin up chap

Northwind

Slight derail, but is there sensible armour out there that'll actually help with shoulders? Elbows, knees and hips/pelvises are easy, you just put a cushion round it, but shoulders need a lot of movement and the damaging impacts tend to be different. I'm riding around with osteoperosis so I'll take any edge I can I'm going to break some more bones sooner or later, I'd just sooner it be later...

Iain C wrote:

However I am very concerened about the weight...I do hope he uses an XTR plate and titanium bolts...I don't want anything cheap or heavy in there!!

They put my leg back on with stainless fasteners AND they used a cheap draper torque wrench. If they'd told me I could have got someone to fish out my snap-on and a couple of nice anodised ti M8s...

Iain C

Yay!!!!

Finally got back out today on my roadie, a nice 25 mile loop with a cake stop or two, with my other half and a couple of other MTBers and forum members who also have something skinnier and lighter hidden away in the garage!

Just felt fantastic to be out there again and doing something! And I was not nearly as unfit as I thought I might be...biggest problem was my arse was not used to a skinny Fizik Pave instead of a sofa! Still not quite sure how in 3 months of zero use my roadie gears had got themselves so "untuned" but a quick tweak on the go got them almost there.

Just managed to get back before the rain arrived too! Just excellent...I have really missed it!