Medical Question

[Mike Stewart]

Hey Guys,

 

Ok, here it goes. I have been doing the track day thing the last month. I purchased a Kawasaki ZX6R solely for this purpose. The Rosso and Ghezzi-Brian are just too nice to beat up on at the track.

 

So, I did a two day intermediate track class at Thunderhill raceway in California. 2nd day, the bike is working great with the stock Bridgestone 014. Never had a slip out of them, very predictable, love them...

 

The next session the class was to practice two race starts and then do a three lap sprint (Cool). The first start I was in the top 1/2 of the class around turn 1. The second start I was third coming out of turn 1. Now for the three lap sprint. I was positioned toward the outside of the 3rd row and by the time I came out of the 1st turn I was in the front half of the pack.

 

http://gotbluemilk.com/web050921/race2/index.html (I'm the green Kawi #87)

 

The pack was thining out after the first lap, the Kawi was doing fine and I moved up to 9th position. This is where it got weird. At thunderhill there is a small S turn, I hit turn 12 which is a right turn and then leaned left for turn 13, I accelerated out of turn 13 at the apex while looking down the back straight, everything was going as planned, I hear the engine rpm go up, next thing I know, I see my green bike and then pavement and tumble and slide forever (ended up about 150 feet away from my bike). I just layed there in pain. I move my fingers and then arms, wiggle my toes and they move. It felt like the air was knocked out of me but I was breathing ok. By now the course workers were there aswell as the ambulance. They rechecked my movement of fingers, arms and feet and legs and then had me sit up to remove my helmet and gloves. They stood me up to see if I could stand, I did and was able to walk to the ambulance for the short ride to the medical office at the track. Once at the office, I could stand, but could not walk. I could not take any weight off either one of my feet to take a step. I was helped into the tracks medical office and where they took my vitals and started an IV. I was then moved by another ambulance and taken to the local hospital where I spent 4 hours getting xrayed. The pelvic pictures came out negitive and they said I was clear to go, I still could not walk and the doctor ordered another set of pictures. They found a fracture in the pelvis and said it would take 4 to 6 weeks for it to heal.

 

My question is, has anyone else had a fracture pelvis? How long till you can take the first walking steps? How much pain did you have? What to do when your back also goes out of alignment and causes you great pain from a pinched nerve. I can only sleep on my back at the moment, if I twist my legs with out twisting my hips, a sharp pain from my pelvic hits me (not a fun thing at all). Even with the meds I have for the pain, it is still quite sharp.

 

Thanks all,

Mike

[Paul Minnaert]

Hi Mike,

Sorry to hear you went down. I'm to scared for going down, that I'm always slow.

 

I can't tell you about the pelvis, I did have back problems, that took a week before I was on my foot.

 

How did Janice react?

[dlaing]

Owwww!

Sorry to hear about the bad news.

I don't know much about broken pelvises, but if it is anything like my broken shoulder it will be a few weeks before you start physio-therapy.

My only advice is to get a second opinion, or at least discuss the possibility of surgery to screw the pieces together so that you will get better alignment.

And maybe they can give you a butt lift while you are under the knife.

After the bone starts to mend, it will take a while to get motion back.

In the mean time, try to stay off of opiates as this will make you constipated, and make what is already difficult, more difficult.

Try to excercise muscles you will need later, like your feet and calf muscles as well as arms that will help you when it comes time to walk.

Eat well but stay off the junk food and watch your weight, because if you put too much weight on, it will be a bigger burden on the hip.

Oh, and be sure to buy some motorcycle racing movies

Wishing you a speedy recovery,

David

[Mike Stewart]

Hi Mike,

Sorry to hear you went down. I'm to scared for going down, that I'm always slow.

 

I can't tell you about the pelvis, I did have back problems, that took a week before I was on my foot.

 

How did Janice react?

61168[/snapback]

 

 

Paul,

 

Janice did well, I waited till I knew the results at the hospital before I called her. She is a registered nurse by trade and the not knowing part would be the hardest for her to get over. She knows bikes go down and has not been negative at all with me doing track days when I heal up.

 

I was lucky to have three friends at the track that packed up my bike and assorted track day gear back into my truck (along with my newly scuffed up Tamada Suomy helmet, GP leathers and Sidi boots) and also give me a ride home and not to mention, carry me into the house!

 

Mike

[Mike Stewart]

Owwww!

Sorry to hear about the bad news.

I don't know much about broken pelvises, but if it is anything like my broken shoulder it will be a few weeks before you start physio-therapy.

My only advice is to get a second opinion, or at least discuss the possibility of surgery to screw the pieces together so that you will get better alignment.

And maybe they can give you a butt lift while you are under the knife. 

After the bone starts to mend, it will take a while to get motion back.

In the mean time, try to stay off of opiates as this will make you constipated, and make what is already difficult, more difficult.

Try to excercise muscles you will need later, like your feet and calf muscles as well as arms that will help you when it comes time to walk.

Eat well    but stay off the junk food and watch your weight, because if you put too much weight on, it will be a bigger burden on the hip.

Oh, and be sure to buy some motorcycle racing movies

Wishing you a speedy recovery,

David

61169[/snapback]

 

David,

 

I don't like being under the sharp end of the knife either. I will be going to get a second opionion next week if improvement doesn't start to happen, perhaps a CAT scan is in order also. It is hard to tell if the pain I am getting is from other muscle pulls from tumbling down the straight (at age 48, I am not as flexible as I used to be). This is day three after the spill and I have heard the 2nd and third day are the most painfull after an accident. I am already thinking about the weight gain and also about doing some streaching and light workouts that don't require the pelvic region. I seem to forget that I am injured until I try to stand and take a step. A sharp pain screams out from the pelvic region and puts me back into my chair.

 

Anyway, I will most likely speed a good portion of my time on this site during recovery.

 

Mike

[Guest whart]

Mike- sorry for your injury- as you will see elsewhere, i went down a couple weeks ago. I would not rely on the hospital's findings as the last word. I too was X-rayed, a break found (my clavicle) and was shipped off with a sling and a prescription for dope. My internist expressed some concern about the blood clotting along my side-which was not evident at the time I was in the hospital. And, my ortho not only re-Xrayed me, but is having additional CT scans done this week to get an even better look at the fracture.

THis may be a statement of the obvious, but find the best bone doc you can, right now- and get as thorough and as many follow up exams as are necessary to satisfy that you are healing properly. There is a huge, HUGE, variance in the quality and sophistication of medical care from doctor to doctor and place to place.

[Mike Stewart]

Mike- sorry for your injury- as you will see elsewhere, i went down a couple weeks ago. I would not rely on the hospital's findings as the last word. I too was X-rayed, a break found (my clavicle) and was shipped off with a sling and a prescription for dope. My internist expressed some concern about the blood clotting along my side-which was not evident at the time I was in the hospital. And, my ortho not only re-Xrayed me, but is having additional CT scans done this week to get an even better look at the fracture.

THis may be a statement of the obvious, but find the best bone doc you can, right now- and get as thorough and as many follow up exams as are necessary to satisfy that you are healing properly. There is a huge, HUGE, variance in the quality and sophistication of medical care from doctor to doctor and place to place.

61173[/snapback]

 

Whart,

 

My wife is up on the medical thing,she contacted my doctor and he also said to take an asprin a day to combat blood clotting. The xrays I saw at the ER were not the greatest, they even had to run me back in to have more pictures taken when I could not walk after they releasted me. From I have read, there is not much that can be done with a broken pelvis, it just takes time.

 

Thanks,

Mike

[v50man]

Should I even admit this?

 

When I was in my twenties -- drinkinking, partying -- I accidentally dropped a girl during a pool party -- and she fractured her pelvis (yeah -- I missed the pool -- oy).

 

Yes, she probably still hates me.

 

Yes, she healed up quite nicely in a month or so.

 

There's hope.

 

v50

[jrt]

Yeah, I bet she does still hate you. Even still, she's a woman and the pelvis is supposed to separate during childbirth.....but not for MEN. Ow ow ow ow ow ow.

 

Sonya (my long-suffering and now pregnant wife) is now hitting me and telling me how, uh, insensitive and irrelevant I am.

 

 

Mike-hope you heal up soon. I'm really sorry to hear this news. Dlaing's advice sounds good to me, except the 'stay off the opiates' part. Just take more and you won't even feel like eating. Everything's cool then.

 

I've got 'Faster' on DVD if you need it.

 

J

[richard100t]

My condolences Mike. Its been a bad year for us Guzzi guys it seems. Lots of falls this year. I hit some gravel a month ago & took a dive @ about 25mph myself. I think I retore my rotator cuff I had surgically repaired a few years ago. The bike surprisingly had little damage! The Tekno bag & the head guard took most of the damage. I was wearing full gear so no real bumps or scrapes. As for your pelvis, I'm not a doctor but I'd say that you wont know how bad your hurt or should I say your recovery time for maybe a week. Between what your body will tell you & how fast the doctors assess your recovery time shouldnt be more than 7-10 days. Just take it easy & let your injuries heal. Dont try to rush things I think a hip is probably a major thing to heal right. If I remember right Stephen King had his hip broken when he got hit by that van a few years ago & it is a slow recovery.

[docc]

Hmmm, internet medical advice . . . probably as shaky as gettng your tuning specs off a Dutch forum. ( my Sport wouldn't be running without this forum).

 

It would be helpful for me to know the location of your fracture, whether diagnosed by plain film or CT scan and if displaced or multiple. PM me on that stuff, eh?

 

Nonetheless, fractures tend to heal nicely in 5- 10 weeks. Yet, if there has been enough force to fracure , there has certainly been enough force to sprain and strain.

 

Sprains are injuries to the ligaments , especially those forming joints holding bone to bone. The greatest area of concern for you would be injury to the sacroiliac joints and the junction of the base of the spine with the pelvis.

 

The good news is there is a lot that can be done to rehabilitate injured ligaments. The bad news is that it is a long haul. 40-50% of ligament (joint) healing occurs within 6 months. The remainder takes from 1 - 3 years.

 

What you do to restore function over these months to years will make a world of difference.

[dlaing]

Dlaing's advice sounds good to me, except the 'stay off the opiates' part. 

61188[/snapback]

Shush!

I want him to send me the extra pills

[richard100t]

Shush!

I want him to send me the extra pills

61199[/snapback]

Vicodin can be a wonderful thing! lol

[callison]

Vicodin can be a wonderful thing!   lol

61216[/snapback]

 

There used to be an urban legend about dropping moth balls into your gas to increase the octane but I didn't know you could do that with Vicodin.

[bigbikerrick]

Vicodin can be a wonderful thing!   lol

61216[/snapback]

Yes Vicodin can be wonderful, but you have to watch out for severe constipation caused by it. If you dont take agressive measures to prevent it ,it will plug you up tighter than a drum. You need to eat lots of fiber, and drink lots of fluids, on some nurse with a long index finger will be doing a digital disimpaction on you. Dont ask how I know this.....