My worst wreck

So after riding for 50 years, 30 of which involved tracks I have had a big one. No at the track hell not even on a motorcycle. Bicycle. Dog ran out and took out my front tire. I have 8 broken ribs and a collapsed lung. My question is how long will I be out of commission. Thank God for Bell helmets

 

Glad to hear you're still at least posting... Bones are not as flexible when you get older...

Heal up quick

 

Ribs suck...I just had my second "big one" last week, had surgery Friday.

Couple things I've learned that will help: NO ibuprofen...it slows bone growth...stick with Tylenol...

Breathe deeply a few times a day. It'll hurt like hell, but you get to decide when that happens instead of waiting for fluid to build and make you cough...

Lastly...and I believe this completely: you get to decide how much pain you're in. Tell yourself you're in control of it. Don't let it beat you. Never say it hurts.

I know that sounds strange...but it works. I'm not tough...not by a long shot. I just had one plate and 9 screws inserted 4 days ago. I've had 8 Tylenol since then. You've got this....

 

My worst injuries have all been on pedal bikes. I've cracked a few ribs in the past. Sleeping was always the worst part. If you have a big "lazy boy" like recliner you would probably most comfortable sleeping in that.

 

The worst one I remember is about a year or so ago. Way out of shape, slipped on the ice and fell maybe from 5 feet in the air. Whiplash, crunched and dislocated collar bone (still virgin until that point) and a dislocated elbow.

You can only dodge the gawds of the payment for so long until they come for you, and they will.

 

Everytime I've broken a rib I just wrap them up everyday nice and tight and continue on. I've caught a handle bar(bmx) to the side a few times.

 

How's the dog???






















What? Like one of you effers wasn't wondering?



Sorry about your crash, sir. EIGHT broken ribs??? That suckeths the ass largely.

 

I had a big arse dog take out my front wheel too. Back in 09. Broken collarbone, a few ribs, both rotator cuffs torn.


I'd say about 4-5 weeks for the ribs. The lung thing usually requires a tube in the side for drainage, being below the arm pit. I've had 2 of those in 012, and seems it was gtg after about a month. But I could be wrong, since my back and neck were also broken multiple times, so I out most of the time and wasn't doing much but surviving.

 

second the lazy boy comment. If you don't have one, go buy one. That and put a pillow across your chest to rest your arms on. Good luck.

 

I don't know about the lung part, but I would give the ribs a few weeks at least. The average recovery timespan for a fracture is typically 6 weeks. Obviously it depends on many factors like age, health condition, diet, location and severity of the break, etc. You could probably ride with them sooner, but expect to be in a lot of pain/discomfort.

Ive cracked and broken ribs several times, damn that shit sucks. Like everything hurts. If somebody makes them laugh you want to kick them in the dick. But you don't want to do that because if you have to breath hard that will hurt too. Then once you see them in pain and you want to laugh about it, that will hurt even worse.

 

The worst wreck of my life happened in my very first track weekend ever, riding in the Novice group. I was passing a guy on the outside and he laid his bike down and took me out (that is what was told to me by the people that saw it). I had a shattered collarbone, 2 broken ribs, a major concussion with some brain swelling and memory loss, ear damage, torn ligaments in my left arm, and all of the other typical bumps/bruises that go along with crashes.

That is why I absolutely HATE it when conversations about protective gear, cheap helmets/suits/gloves, chest and back protectors, etc come up and people are like "eh, you will be fine, it is just a track day" or "you are just riding in Novice/Intermediate" or "I would do TDs with it, but i wouldnt race with it" and shit like that. Bones don't care which group you were riding in.

Wear the best and most protective equipment you can, every time you ride, without exception.

 

I'm leading a dirt bike group today here in the NC mtns, up into some crazy arse, rock garden chit. About 4 hrs worth. I'll be wearing everything (knee braces, elbow armor, chest/shoulder armor, etc. If I stop posting after a couple days, call the Graham cnty rescue squad...

 

After many years of street riding and racing I had almost the exact same injury (six broken ribs and a collapsed lung) from a dirt bike crash on a CRF-150. I gutted it out for 5 days before I went to the doctor because I thought it was just the ribs and getting the breath knocked out of me. They put me in the hospital overnight but by then it was too late to reinflate the lung (which they normally do by jamming a metal tube between the ribs to suck out the blood which is collapsing the lung from the outside).

The thing that helped the most was the good drugs which allowed me to take deep breaths which I could not do. I took those for less than a week, and then things were getting livable. After that it was a couple weeks before I could get around pretty good. I think the advice to wrap the ribs up is wrong, because this affects your breathing, and deep breaths are what you need to get your lungs back is shape. The hospital gave me breathing exercises, and their concern is that you don't get pneumonia.

Good luck,

 

OP, you're 50+ years old. You might bounce like an 18 year old, but you'll heal like a granny. You won't be competitive for months.
Just my opinion...

 

ribs take a while to heal, minimum 6 weeks but you will have pain after that.

 

it is actually not good to do that because it limits you taking deep breaths, which if you can't do that can lead to pneumonia

 

Thanks for the advise and to Jball you are a hell of a lot tougher than me I couldn't roll out of the road if my life had depended on it. The chest tube was a whole new world of pain

 

Probably just dumber. I actually rode a bit more that day because my friend was teasing me to just "walk it off". The next morning it took me an hour to get out of bed. When I finally went to the doctor they couldn't believe I had gone five days like that. I was extremely lucky that I did not get pneumonia because I could not take a deep breath.

At the time I was glad I didn't have to go through the chest tube thing though because I saw a friend get one put in. They put lidocane on where it was inserted but that didn't do anything, and he screamed like a girl. He crashed a KX-80 road racer at Circleville Raceway and broke a shoulder blade and his collar bone, and had the collapsed lung as well. After briefly trying to get out of them, he begged them to cut his leathers off.

Good times...

 

I went on a pedal bike ride last night after work. There is a fairly large decent on the route I took (for my area/skill anyways) and according to my gps cycling computer I hit 40.8 mph. I can tell you that nearly the entire time down that hill I was thinking about how going down would F me up worse than any motorcycle accident I had been in yet. Scary stuff sometimes.

 

Provided I don't hit anything but ground, I've been hurt the worst at slower speeds. Seems almost inversely proportionate, minus friction burning.