Broken clavicle 9/4/17

[1962siia]

Hey all:

broke my collar bone yesterday mountain biking with a friend. coming down an easy but steep hill i stacked at the bottom and landed on my left shoulder. luckily we were almost back to the trail head and with some help lowering my seat i was able to ride out to a waiting car that took me to kaiser.

was in the hospital within 30 mins and after xrays they sent me home with a sling and pain drugs and told me to expect a call today to schedule surgery because the bone is in three pieces and they arent close enough to heal properly otherwise.

hoping to be back in action for the barf baja trip in january :thumbup

not sure what to expect but seems like folks who get surgery for this are the most satisfied customers regarding the healing outcome. im a major chicken shit about having surgery though. anyway, ill try to document things here.

 

[EastBayDave]

Hey all:

broke my collar bone yesterday mountain biking with a friend. coming down an easy but steep hill i stacked at the bottom and landed on my left shoulder. luckily were almost back to the trail head and with some help lowering my seat i was able to ride out to a waiting car that took me to kaiser.

was in the hospital within 30 mins and after xrays they sent me home with a sling and pain drugs and told me to expect a call today to schedule surgery because the bone is in three pieces and they arent close enough to heal properly otherwise.

hoping to be back in action for the barf baja trip in january :thumbup

not sure what to expect but seems like folks who get surgery for this are the most satisfied customers regarding the healing outcome. im a major chicken shit about having surgery though. anyway, ill try to document things here.

ouch! :wow: so sorry to hear man! Happens to us all, don't feel alone. Also don't worry about the surgery, I've lost count of how many I've had & most have worked out great. Some docs can be biased against riders, but surgeons typically are not. They do what they do great= no worries.

Don't be dumb, take your pain meds & relax until you get back for surgery. Do not, repeat, do not make it worse. Get a helper for around the house help- your going to need it until you've been plated...

Get well soon!

-dd

 

[1962siia]

thanks dave. luckily im married and my wife is awesome so im covered! also im 47 and in decent shape so im sure ill be fine. trying to post my xray but its too large a file. ill figure it out at some point and get it posted. thx again.

 

[ThumperX]

Yowza Daniel!!!
Right now your shoulder measurement is down an inch or two.

 

[budman]

Oh man... sorry to see that xray.

Hope you are resting easy and all goes well.

 

[1962siia]

thanks budman. im actually staying ahead of the pain and the sling seems to be holding everything in place. :thumbup

 

[Lunch Box]

Ouch, man. Ouch. I've had a ton of broken bones in my life but have somehow managed to avoid the collar bone break. I hope you get surgery ASAP and heal up quickly. Let me know if you need any help around the house in the meantime. I do owe you, after all.

 

[thedub]

Taken out by a mountain bike! :cry Those things are dangerous. I stick to motorcycles.

 

[1962siia]

Ouch, man. Ouch. I've had a ton of broken bones in my life but have somehow managed to avoid the collar bone break. I hope you get surgery ASAP and heal up quickly. Let me know if you need any help around the house in the meantime. I do owe you, after all.

Thanks aaron. Hopefully surgery will get scheduled tomorrow. My guess is two weeks from now.

Taken out by a mountain bike! :cry Those things are dangerous. I stick to motorcycles.

I know right?! I've had this same type of crash on a motorcycle a bunch of times with no problem and the dang mtb bike at the end of the ride gets me!!
:laughing


So today went pretty well. Stayed ahead of the pain, spoke to ortho surgeon, he answered my questions and seems like a good guy to have do the surgery. Actually drove to work and got some stuff done and I'm now out dealing with my old house. This sling does a good job of keeping it in the spot that doesn't hurt too much. Should get the surgery scheduled tomorrow but it sounds like they are booked out a bit. If the rest of this goes like today I think I'll do fine!

 

[rebekahlynn]

Good to hear! See you tonight.

 

[Roadstergal]

not sure what to expect but seems like folks who get surgery for this are the most satisfied customers regarding the healing outcome

I've had a few surgeries for broken bones, and the collarbone is really the best. Once the initial surgical pain is over - less than a week, for me - the break pain is gone, and you can get back into your normal activities shockingly quickly. I had a break pinned, and a year later had the plate removed, so I've had that surgery twice. M'boy had it three times - a break, a re-break, and a plate removal. It's so much better than trying to suffer with a sling!

Do all of the fiddly stuff they tell you to do for the prep, it helps. If they do nerve blocks, definitely opt in - that means they use less GA and you're less loopy afterwards. Constant icing and stay ahead with the pain meds in the first few days post-surgery, and then it's all gravy!

The post-op physical therapy brought me back to pre-surgery state very quickly - particularly the flexibility. I can't recommend it highly enough. The scar wanted to heal in a way that tightened up my shoulder, and it loosed with every PT appointment.

 

[1962siia]

Good to hear! See you tonight.

Thanks R! I'm here already!

I've had a few surgeries for broken bones, and the collarbone is really the best. Once the initial surgical pain is over - less than a week, for me - the break pain is gone, and you can get back into your normal activities shockingly quickly. I had a break pinned, and a year later had the plate removed, so I've had that surgery twice. M'boy had it three times - a break, a re-break, and a plate removal. It's so much better than trying to suffer with a sling!

Do all of the fiddly stuff they tell you to do for the prep, it helps. If they do nerve blocks, definitely opt in - that means they use less GA and you're less loopy afterwards. Constant icing and stay ahead with the pain meds in the first few days post-surgery, and then it's all gravy!

The post-op physical therapy brought me back to pre-surgery state very quickly - particularly the flexibility. I can't recommend it highly enough. The scar wanted to heal in a way that tightened up my shoulder, and it loosed with every PT appointment.

Roadstergal thanks for this first hand info! Surgery is scheduled for next weds. I'll plan to be a good patient and follow their plan. Thanks again. :thumbup

 

[Rumbo Sur]

The post-op physical therapy brought me back to pre-surgery state very quickly - particularly the flexibility. I can't recommend it highly enough. The scar wanted to heal in a way that tightened up my shoulder, and it loosed with every PT appointment.

100% agree with the above. Work hard on your PT to quickly regain range of motion, strength and help stimulate nerve healing, chase away numbness. :thumbup

And ... make sure the PT staff work HARD on you and not take a break and go have coffee.

No stress on the surgery, you are in good hands at Kaiser :thumbup

 

[Titus58]

Daniel- ouch :wow Hope surgery goes well and you recover quickly :thumbup My wife is 10-days postop on a full knee replacement (also at Kaiser) - follow their instructions on the pain meds and PT and you should be fine :thumbup

Just curious - do you wear any gear when you mountain bike? I also ride and I've been thinking about adding some light weight protective gear - I've had more injuries from mtb riding (broken foot, sprained wrist/thumb, severe road rash) than any moto riding. Funny how we protect our heads and hands on bikes but don't necessarily think about the rest of the body.

I'm hoping to ride one of my favorite mtb trails in the SC mtns this weekend - it was closed for six months after being washed out this winter...your crash is reminding me to take it easy on this trail - it has some fast and twisty descents where I can quickly get in trouble if I'm not careful...particularly on my new stumpy that has way more capability then me :teeth

Heal up!


Tim

 

[1962siia]

100% agree with the above. Work hard on your PT to quickly regain range of motion, strength and help stimulate nerve healing, chase away numbness. :thumbup

And ... make sure the PT staff work HARD on you and not take a break and go have coffee.

No stress on the surgery, you are in good hands at Kaiser :thumbup

Thanks Rumbo, looking forward to getting this surgery done and I plan to work hard so im back in shape for baja.

Daniel- ouch :wow Hope surgery goes well and you recover quickly :thumbup My wife is 10-days postop on a full knee replacement (also at Kaiser) - follow their instructions on the pain meds and PT and you should be fine :thumbup

Just curious - do you wear any gear when you mountain bike? I also ride and I've been thinking about adding some light weight protective gear - I've had more injuries from mtb riding (broken foot, sprained wrist/thumb, severe road rash) than any moto riding. Funny how we protect our heads and hands on bikes but don't necessarily think about the rest of the body.

I'm hoping to ride one of my favorite mtb trails in the SC mtns this weekend - it was closed for six months after being washed out this winter...your crash is reminding me to take it easy on this trail - it has some fast and twisty descents where I can quickly get in trouble if I'm not careful...particularly on my new stumpy that has way more capability then me :teeth

Heal up!


Tim

Hey Tim- My mtb gear consists of helmet, gloves, camel back with tools tubes etc and normally glasses. Now that I'm thinking about it I realize I didn't wear the glasses monday and I had a hunk of $hit in my eye that I had been trying to get out for several minutes before the crash (its still in there actually :mad). It just gets too hot riding to consider more gear. I guess elbow and knee pads wouldn't be too much, but I've never ridden with them.

Have fun with the new stumpy!! I was on a specialized enduro comp 29. I just had the suspension rebuilt a couple weeks ago and it was ready for a lot of miles before baja. I've been riding at Annadel which is pretty close to home and lots of fun trails. :thumbup

So yesterday went well, had a lot of numbness in the shoulder so very little pain or discomfort. Kaiser said it wasn't too unusual to have this and as long as I wasn't losing the ability to move stuff like hands and fingers not to worry. My left hand also got pretty swollen, enough that i took my wedding ring off because it was getting tight. Haven't take any norco since 9pm tues and have just been taking one aleve and one tylenol together every 8hrs or so. I have a pre-surgery phone call with the surgeon today so will probably learn what to expect from that. Thanks all for the well wishes and support. :love the barfs

 

[Honey Badger]

Good luck with the surgery, usually not a big deal, I've only had one where I felt pretty shitty after waking up. Next two were just fine, so not sure what they did on that one that didn't work so well for me....

Known several people with collarbone bits, they all seemed much happier getting it fixed than not.

 

[1962siia]

Good luck with the surgery, usually not a big deal, I've only had one where I felt pretty shitty after waking up. Next two were just fine, so not sure what they did on that one that didn't work so well for me....

Known several people with collarbone bits, they all seemed much happier getting it fixed than not.

Thanks AJ. I cant wait to get the surgery done at this point and the chicken
$hit in me has given way to the "I want this over with" side of me. Now I'm just bummed about all the riding fun I'll be missing in the next few weeks and the $6-7k that I assume this all will cost. :thumbdown

Ok enough complaining. Still feeling good. I haven't needed the sling the last day and as long as I dont try to lift my left arm up everything seems to be fine with the exception of how weird it feels when the bones shift around. Went to Kaiser and got my pre-surgery anti bacterial skin prep wipes. I love the instructions and how they say "Wear clean underwear and clothing." Well I was going to just turn my undies inside out and get another day out them, but if they insist I'll bust out some clean ones I guess. :laughing

 

[Lunch Box]

:laughing @ underwear comment
I'm thinking about you, man. Fingers crossed that all goes smoothly.

 

[Roadstergal]

They're probably trying to tactfully get to those of us who usually go commando. :laughing

If you have a lot of those cold gel packs, get them all in your freezer; if not, pop down to Walgreens and get a handful. A nice cold pad makes those first couple of days way better.

Don't let your spouse take video of you in the recovery room.

 

[XC horizon]

Hey buddy, I know I'm a little late to the thread but I just thought I'd wish you the best on healing and dealing with this injury. I've broken my clavicle before on the right side while playing soccer. I didnt require surgery but man did the healing process suck. You really dont think about some of these things ahead of time that we take for granted like writing, using the bathroom and showering, and even laying or sitting down. I had some of the worst sleepless nights all because of the excruiciating pain of any simple movement or touch to the area. Anyways get better!