On a hot June Friday afternoon, I was happy to be at WOT on the back straight of TH East before T14. Seeing the bridge get larger, I was shifting my weight inside, rolling off throttle and deploying the upper torso air brake and two fingering the front lever.
I tipped it in with an armor of calm and all seemed well until it wasn’t. My strongest emotion at full lean was, “WHY is that bike “parked” in the turn?! My last visual memory was of a straight up and down rear tire and white rear fairing. My last thought was, “rubber to rubber impact, can’t do much, just relax.”
I do Not remember the high side or landing on the left side of my helmet, shoulder and torso. Witnesses said I attempted to get up, but could not. I came to again laying on my back and slightly bothered by a huddle of people interrupting my nap, so I closed my eyes and went back to sleep, when I awoke again they were still there, so I knew this thing was not a dream.
“What’s your name?” “Is your name Blah, Blah?” he said with a slight stumble of pronunciation on the last Blah. “Yep that’s me, close enough!”
“How old are you?” “I’m 60-ish.” I think they chuckled a reply of, “OK, he is gonna be ahright!”
“Where does it hurt?” I motioned to my left chest where the pain was most prominent.
In big accidents, one remembers small details like how the track owner took good care of my glasses. He held the blue frames in his hands and I was thankful they would return to my face not crooked or smudged.
I faded in and out and do not recall the scissoring of my leathers, back protector or removal of boots or helmet.
I do however, remember the pain of being loaded onto a stretcher and slotted into a helicopter.
I came to again on the undulations of the slight up/down motions… “Just relax, not much you can do, you are in their professional care.” The small details again… “how tight the helicopter is for myself and crew, how lucky I am to have this aid.”
More questions at the ER/Trauma room, but this time about my cognition and perception. A survey of X-rays, CT scans, MRI’s found a mild concussion, heart blip, fractured clavicle, 6 ribs, scapula and torn middle finger nail. Glad I only landed on my left side.
The young nurses attended to my pain with morphine, Hydrocodone, Tylenol and their blonde good looks. “Geez, I guess Chico State must have a desirable nursing program!”
After 3-days of observing no internal bleeding or heart blips, I was wheeled out with a bad case of constipation.
It’s amazing that it took 60 years to fracture bones, but was that balanced by long lived tears and herniations?? I always told my students that it was better to fracture bones than tear soft tissue, in general.
Back home, the Sutter Health Orthopedist asked me if the Enloe Care orthopedist was an older surgeon because some are non operative types. He urgently squeezed me into his schedule for proper plating and screwing.
The broken ribs are the most painful as I am still at the tail end of healing. The concussion was the most disturbing since that dulled my thinking and swirled my balance.
The break at the spine of the scapula was the least bothersome, but it popped frequently in/out of position when I rolled in/out of bed. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.
The clavicle did not hurt much, but along with the other injuries, the accident interfered with life a lot. Work, physical therapy, no sleeping on my sides, help with medication schedules, bathing, home care, etc.
BUT, Good news last week, after 7 months of caring for the three-part broken clavicle, the radiologist typed two words that brought a small grin to my face, “early healing” signs. Despite normal levels of calcium, Vit D, bone density, etc., old age was impeding the union.
Day 1 to 6 months… “I don’t have another concussion left in me and since I had only a few more years left, I should exit while my legs or pelvis are still uniform.
7 months henceforth… “If I return, ride defensively, wear inflatables and join up with a group or another rider.”
Some links to help people decide on surgery or wondering why young vs. old bones heal differently. My conclusion is that in general, surgical interventions like plating have better outcomes. Plus, if you are older, internal splinting can help reduce refractures while it's healing.
A third link to help select effective evidence based treatments for positional vertigo after head injury.
An evaluation of treatment options for medial, midshaft, and distal clavicle fractures: a systematic review and meta-analysis, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7256900/
Effects of Aging on Fracture Healing https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6517062/
The Epley (canalith repositioning) manoeuvre for benign paroxysmal positional vertigo,
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25485940/
I am hardened & lacquered with a paraphrased thought from Hunter S. Thompson – At the end of your life, your body should be well worn and beaten, if not, you have not lived.
I tipped it in with an armor of calm and all seemed well until it wasn’t. My strongest emotion at full lean was, “WHY is that bike “parked” in the turn?! My last visual memory was of a straight up and down rear tire and white rear fairing. My last thought was, “rubber to rubber impact, can’t do much, just relax.”
I do Not remember the high side or landing on the left side of my helmet, shoulder and torso. Witnesses said I attempted to get up, but could not. I came to again laying on my back and slightly bothered by a huddle of people interrupting my nap, so I closed my eyes and went back to sleep, when I awoke again they were still there, so I knew this thing was not a dream.
“What’s your name?” “Is your name Blah, Blah?” he said with a slight stumble of pronunciation on the last Blah. “Yep that’s me, close enough!”
“How old are you?” “I’m 60-ish.” I think they chuckled a reply of, “OK, he is gonna be ahright!”
“Where does it hurt?” I motioned to my left chest where the pain was most prominent.
In big accidents, one remembers small details like how the track owner took good care of my glasses. He held the blue frames in his hands and I was thankful they would return to my face not crooked or smudged.
I faded in and out and do not recall the scissoring of my leathers, back protector or removal of boots or helmet.
I do however, remember the pain of being loaded onto a stretcher and slotted into a helicopter.
I came to again on the undulations of the slight up/down motions… “Just relax, not much you can do, you are in their professional care.” The small details again… “how tight the helicopter is for myself and crew, how lucky I am to have this aid.”
More questions at the ER/Trauma room, but this time about my cognition and perception. A survey of X-rays, CT scans, MRI’s found a mild concussion, heart blip, fractured clavicle, 6 ribs, scapula and torn middle finger nail. Glad I only landed on my left side.
The young nurses attended to my pain with morphine, Hydrocodone, Tylenol and their blonde good looks. “Geez, I guess Chico State must have a desirable nursing program!”
After 3-days of observing no internal bleeding or heart blips, I was wheeled out with a bad case of constipation.
It’s amazing that it took 60 years to fracture bones, but was that balanced by long lived tears and herniations?? I always told my students that it was better to fracture bones than tear soft tissue, in general.
Back home, the Sutter Health Orthopedist asked me if the Enloe Care orthopedist was an older surgeon because some are non operative types. He urgently squeezed me into his schedule for proper plating and screwing.
The broken ribs are the most painful as I am still at the tail end of healing. The concussion was the most disturbing since that dulled my thinking and swirled my balance.
The break at the spine of the scapula was the least bothersome, but it popped frequently in/out of position when I rolled in/out of bed. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.
The clavicle did not hurt much, but along with the other injuries, the accident interfered with life a lot. Work, physical therapy, no sleeping on my sides, help with medication schedules, bathing, home care, etc.
BUT, Good news last week, after 7 months of caring for the three-part broken clavicle, the radiologist typed two words that brought a small grin to my face, “early healing” signs. Despite normal levels of calcium, Vit D, bone density, etc., old age was impeding the union.
Day 1 to 6 months… “I don’t have another concussion left in me and since I had only a few more years left, I should exit while my legs or pelvis are still uniform.
7 months henceforth… “If I return, ride defensively, wear inflatables and join up with a group or another rider.”
Some links to help people decide on surgery or wondering why young vs. old bones heal differently. My conclusion is that in general, surgical interventions like plating have better outcomes. Plus, if you are older, internal splinting can help reduce refractures while it's healing.
A third link to help select effective evidence based treatments for positional vertigo after head injury.
An evaluation of treatment options for medial, midshaft, and distal clavicle fractures: a systematic review and meta-analysis, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7256900/
Effects of Aging on Fracture Healing https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6517062/
The Epley (canalith repositioning) manoeuvre for benign paroxysmal positional vertigo,
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25485940/
I am hardened & lacquered with a paraphrased thought from Hunter S. Thompson – At the end of your life, your body should be well worn and beaten, if not, you have not lived.
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