Recovery advice/anecdotes? Staying hopeful.

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Geoff
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by Geoff

I had a Porsche Targa, instead of a turkey. I can't remember any of it, but it was apparently quite the thing. There are still weird gaps in my memory (like, for some strange reason I cannot remember where I store AR mags...)

I would strongly recommend a trainer that you can ride on without having to worry about your balance. Don't rush it. Just start slowly and you will be back on-the-road in no time.

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Mr.Gib
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by Mr.Gib

Sorry to hear of this. After most of a lifetime of involvement in elite athletics (mostly coaching), I have come the the conclusion that for athletes, the most aggressive approach to treating injuries is often the best. If you were a tour pro what would be the treatment?

I have a turkey story. Gentle climb so maybe 15 km/h, I startled a big tom that was foraging not two feet away from me in a roadside ditch. The thing launched to get away from me but bounced off a wire fence that was right beside it that it did not see. This startled the poor animal further and it came straight back at me at top speed. I ducked just enough to avoid a direct impact. it glanced off the back of my head, neck and shoulder. Got home and found bits of feathers in my helmet and jersey. At the time it made be laugh but it was only luck that it was not down in my wheels. Happened in Ontario farmland. Turkeys everywhere there now.

And deer story number one. Col d'Ornon into Bourg d'Oisans, Two deer come blasting out of the woods trying to cross a very busy road. I had been passing cars all the way down and have myself in a nice gap between vehicles - the same gap the deer are going for. The first deer goes for it right in front of me, I brace for impact, slight steering correction and a scream. The deer leaps forward and I just get by its hindquarters. Meanwhile the second deer just feet behind in pursuit, decides to ease up and passes just behind me. I basically threaded the needle between two deer at 60 km/h. At the bottom the look on my wife's face who was 50 meters behind was memorable.

Deer story number two. Pacific Northwest, I live on a hill. One morning, halfway down the hill, the residents find a dead guy, and a bike with deer hair jammed in the spokes, brake levers, and front caliper.

The whole deer thing here has me a bit spooked. I see multiple deer every day. I have taken to descending dead center of the road in the hope that I can get an extra moment to react to something coming from the side.
wheelsONfire wrote: When we ride disc brakes the whole deal of braking is just like a leaving a fart. It happens and then it's over. Nothing planned and nothing to get nervous for.

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wheelbuilder
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by wheelbuilder

The opiate meds are helping with my mood right now I suspect, "and give me something else to worry about regarding getting off them", but by far the most helpful thing has been the kind, and thoughtful replies from you gentlemen. I am a pretty new member here, but the support has been so very much appreciated. I was thinking the same thing as you Mr. Gib. Collarbone and ribs seem like such a ubiquitous injury for cyclists, how does a Pro Tour rider get cared for? There has to be some pretty cutting edge treatments facilitated by the team. Thinking of Contador's fractured leg, and more recently Valverde's fractured patella. They both seemed to be back on the bike very quickly. Degenkolb on the other hand seemed to have a very long recovery after his car/bike incident.
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Calnago
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by Calnago

I suspect a pro rider would be sent off to surgery immediately to have the thing pinned, and/or plated if significantly displaced. No question about it. Why?... because recovery will be much quicker, and they're getting paid big bucks to perform. You said that your bone seemed to be overlapped more than mine, which is probably good, right?... I think that means that maybe it hasn't been completely displaced with a big gap between the bones? I do find it remarkable that mine eventually all healed up and may be stronger than before, but only because now there's much more of a bone mass there than before. But the 3rd surgeon I saw, who was a bike racer himself and had broken his collarbone before (had surgery), took one look at my x-rays and said, without any prompting from me... "Yeah, I'd have fixed that... those bone ends aren't even in the same universe". But by then I had frozen shoulder and couldn't be operated on (8 weeks into it). Your doctor seems to be taking a conservative approach, which is fine, as there's always risks to surgery as well. If you're at all in doubt get a couple other opinions now. That's the one thing I wish I had done early on, but thought... who am I to question this surgeon's advice. I guess if something doesn't seem right, then that's the time to be asking more questions, maybe to someone else as well.
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Hellgate
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by Hellgate

Having broken my collar bone, 5 ribs, punctured a lung, and broken a scapula in my highside, I would have opted for surgery in hindsight. 29 years later my collarbone, now Z shaped, causes issues with back packs, briefcases, and stuff. I would have loved to have it straightened... Especially after 20 years in the Infantry.

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wheelbuilder
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by wheelbuilder

Keeping this updated for the collarbone content......... I am guessing that the broken ribs are complicating the collarbone issue, but am happy to report that on day 13, the pain has subsided a good amount. Still very painful, and my autonomy is very low, but it is not at the what I would consider excruciating levels that it had been up until now. Moving around the house, walked the dog, etc. Still taking Norco, but one less pill than yesterday and hope to continue that trend.
Never cheer before you know who is winning

stax
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by stax

Good to hear the recovery is progressing and that you are up and about. The little things, like walking the dog, were important during my rib recovery from a feel good point of view. Keep it up and keep us informed.

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Calnago
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by Calnago

It’d be great to see a pic of the collarbone after your next appointment at the doc, assuming they take X-rays to verify that it’s healing up ok. Just ask for a printout at snap a cellphone shot of it. Thanks for keeping the updates coming. I’m still interested in these injuries since now that my frozen shoulder is all gone, I’m hoping that there are no side effects down the road from not putting Humpty Dumpty back together again.
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wheelbuilder
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by wheelbuilder

Calnago wrote:
Tue Jan 09, 2018 11:53 pm
It’d be great to see a pic of the collarbone after your next appointment at the doc, assuming they take X-rays to verify that it’s healing up ok. Just ask for a printout at snap a cellphone shot of it. Thanks for keeping the updates coming. I’m still interested in these injuries since now that my frozen shoulder is all gone, I’m hoping that there are no side effects down the road from not putting Humpty Dumpty back together again.
I will definitely get a printout or two and post them up, when I have my next appointment. Jan 16th.
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wheelbuilder
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by wheelbuilder

Update.....Sorry Calnago, of course I forgot about x-ray, cause I was kind of flummoxed. Now I am getting surgery on Monday the 22nd. One plate, with five or six screws. What an absolute waste of 21 days hoping it would start healing. Dr stated he was "worried because I'm so active that the healing process would take far too long, and as of yet it has made little to no progress." They knew 2 weeks ago that I was an active cyclist. So disappointing. Will start from scratch on Monday night I suppose. It's the only option I have.
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alistaird
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by alistaird

wheelbuilder wrote:Update.....Sorry Calnago, of course I forgot about x-ray, cause I was kind of flummoxed. Now I am getting surgery on Monday the 22nd. One plate, with five or six screws. What an absolute waste of 21 days hoping it would start healing. Dr stated he was "worried because I'm so active that the healing process would take far too long, and as of yet it has made little to no progress." They knew 2 weeks ago that I was an active cyclist. So disappointing. Will start from scratch on Monday night I suppose. It's the only option I have.
Sorry to hear that, here's hoping the op goes well and a speedy recovery.... This coming from someone 10 weeks into hip replacement recovery,

A

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wheelbuilder
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by wheelbuilder

Ok, so six weeks post injury, two weeks today post surgery and I am happy to report that I rode the trainer for the first time today with both hands. This is a big deal for me, as for the last two weeks I had only been able to support myself with my left arm. Led to fatigue and soreness which really limited the trainer time. It felt really good to support myself with both arms, on the hoods and tops. Not enough strength for drops yet, but I think I will be back on the road soon!
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Calnago
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by Calnago

That's great... damn... you're recovering so quickly compared to what I went through. At the six week mark I was still in way lots of pain, and numbness and loss of control of my fingers was setting in. Week 7 I had a follow up. Said I wanted a second opinion. Got one. The second surgeon said he would have done surgery, and scheduled it for a week later. But a pre surgery appointment made it obvious that "frozen shoulder" had set in, and he couldn't operate until I had range of motion back. That could take months. Got two other opinions and they all concurred... would have done surgery initially, but since frozen shoulder had set in, they couldn't do it till that went away. 12-18 months later. Really sucked. I'm ok now it seems, but that was a long haul. Would really love to see your x-rays sometime out of interest. You'll be back full strength this season for sure it sounds like.
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wheelbuilder
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by wheelbuilder

Yeah I'm feeling like I might get lucky with this, Calnago. I at first was very depressed and negative about recovery time. The 3-4 weeks prior to surgery were terrible. The first 2 days after surgery were even worse than that, but then it started to improve pretty rapidly. I got on the trainer on the 4th day, which helped. I still have a lot of swelling and some incision site pain, but was happy to be able to use both arms now. Feel like maybe next Monday I will try to get outside on the road. Your situation sounds horrible. My elbow and shoulder were very stiff from being in the sling for so long, but I could get them through their ROM. I'm glad you finally came out of it!
Never cheer before you know who is winning

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Calnago
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by Calnago

How's the recovery coming along...? Sent you a PM some time ago, but it's still sitting in my outbox, so either your inbox is full or you haven't opened it. It did seem like you're recovering very quickly. Are they going to remove the plates and/or pins/screws that they put in to help it heal? Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't I guess.
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