The right side of my body seems to take the brunt of all my mishaps. The way I am going it might not be long before every major joint on the right side of my body has had to be reconstructed. The list:
- Ankle: pretty much destroyed in one of those ball sports back around ‘67, reconstructed in ‘68.
- Knee: off and on damage over the years, possibly more in the latest incident. Will have X-rays and an assessment made in a couple of weeks.
- Hip: in the recent accident the hip end of the femur needed to be reconstructed using traction and a ‘box of hardware’ according to the orthopedic surgeon. Interested to see the X-rays next week.
- Shoulder: definitely messed up after the recent accident. So far the orthopedic surgeon has ruled out rotator cuff damage, but nothing else.
- Elbow: hey, no damage. Yeah!
- Wrist: pretty messed up when I was presumably drop-kicked by a car in 2002. Have an “L” shaped titanium plate and 6 screws holding it together.
The left side has been relatively free of damage. Some minor damage to the knee, and broken ribs from a car accident, but no joint reconstruction. Perhaps I need to add additional padding and protective material to my right side?
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July 3, 2008 at 12:47 pm
drKim
Ouch! That is painful just reading about! I hope the shoulder has nothing bad wrong…shoulders are complicated beasts! And I hope the hip is feeling better. Here, today, it’s all about emergencies. There is a fire burning about 2 miles from my house. It grew to over 2000 acres overnight (from <500) and it is coming towards town. It is all about the wind. Last night the ash looked like snow, and you can see the whole hillside lit up with flames from my windows. I did go on a ride this morning, but I had to drive south to get out of the bad air first.
July 3, 2008 at 2:28 pm
Groover
That’s an impressive list. Ouch! Hope all the damage can be fixed and will heal with time but you’ll need a lot of patience by the sound of it.
July 3, 2008 at 3:15 pm
chatterbox
My plan is that you are going to spend the rest of your days living in a bubble. Fun time is up!
Dr. Kim - be safe. I hope your place is OK.
July 3, 2008 at 3:40 pm
Russ
Ouch…ouch…ouch, Rick.
So, I take it you’re now going to have real trouble as a security risk in airports by not getting through the metal detectors. Let’s hope the shoulder is a minor separation or less, that while sore won’t need anything more than some healing time…of course you end up with this real asymmetrical look with your shirt off, ;).
Chatty — you could set up a GPS with a speed sensor and any time Mr. Rick goes too fast it would alert you and dial your cell phone…sort of a virtual love bubble…
You guys be good and Rick we’ll be sending some good vibes your way from Cascade!
Later.
July 3, 2008 at 6:01 pm
twinkiepatissier
which side was your thumb?
July 3, 2008 at 8:17 pm
chris
You may end up just spinning in circles to the right if your right side doesn’t work as good as your left. How long is the recovery going to take?
July 3, 2008 at 9:23 pm
kimmy
I have an excellent recipe for swollen ankles. It involves onions, salt, and plastic wrap. It got me through my bball years. Glad to see you up on the posting! Been thinking of you lately.
July 4, 2008 at 8:13 am
CyclistRick
Doc Kim - The first thing I thought of when I heard of the Gap fire was you and the rest of our friends and families in that area. Hope they can get that under control soon and everyone stays safe.
Groover - looks like I will need lots of patience. This will be a long, slow recovery.
Ms. Chatterbox - we will negotiate the bubble parameters
Russ - Thanks, and we will be sending winning vibes toward Cascade with Anny’s name attached.
Twinkie - Right side.
Chris - Good question. The orthopedist says the recovery will be a 6 month process, but not sure what she sees as the end-point of the recovery. It is certain to be a long, slow grind.
Kimmy - Fortunately the swelling is going down; A week ago my right leg was looking like a tree trunk from foot to hip but now I can see definition in the ankle and knee and all the muscle groups. Swelling was a concern as it might indicate things that could lead to blood clots, which are not good. Hope I can get out on the sidelines of one of the races soon and cheer on all my favorites!
July 9, 2008 at 11:05 am
Chris
Sorry to hear about the state of affairs. It was good to have you out there at Pesky, so sorry to see how banged up you are. At least you are due for some good health