My breakthrough day ends with Oxycontin & Pizza.

queequeg · January 6, 2008

Man!

I had my best day of the season today ... I finally had it all hooked up. I grew my balls back, was pumping out strong dynamic arcs, riding the steeps with confidence, playing with the terrain features, initiating my turns with the uphill edge ... I felt like a bloody rock star. for the first time since I started back up again, I had it all together, on a beautiful sunny day in southern Vermont.

But all good things must come to an end, I was carving heelside up a knoll on a steepish run at speed, and transitioned to a toeside just at the peak of the knoll, only to discover that the other side of the knoll fell away WAY more steeply than the approach ... so rather than digging into a nice long frontside arc, I just watched the ground drop out from below. I tried to recover for a decent landing but I was pretty much parallel to the ground. Probably fell 12-15 feet at speed. landed face/neck/ shoulder first on some new-england hardback with an audible snap, so I'm out for five to eight weeks with a broken clavicle. Just when I was getting good again. I'll be back as soon as I can be.

I am proud to report that I rode all the way down to the lodge with the injured body (thankfully, without further incident).

Thankfully there has been little in the way of pain, with the exception of shirt removal proceedings (yyyyyyyyeeeeeoooow!).

What sucks more than taking a bumpy/crowded 4.5 hour drive back to NYC with a newly broken clavicle?

getting home and realizing you forgot your keys.

Thankfully, I got to sit next to a cute chinese girl on the bus with a buttery voice, and thankfully, my super was willing to climb the fire escape for me.

back to my one-handed food.

Any advice for sleeping with a broken clavicle??

Jim · January 6, 2008

Yup, mine was on a real good day too. I let the docs convince me to leave it to mend on its own and now have a huge bump. Should've gotten a plate instead. Heal fast

scotts.Scheinman · January 6, 2008

ouch man, that sucks. feel better.

queequeg · January 6, 2008

Yup, mine was on a real good day too. I let the docs convince me to leave it to mend on its own and now have a huge bump. Should've gotten a plate instead. Heal fast

hrrrm ... I will definitely bring this up with the doc on monday!

Blue Bird · January 6, 2008

I'm a big fan of plates also. a full body pillow helped me to sleep..it was like curling up to my favorite gal..I ended up needing it for about three weeks.

If you have the chance, look for a surgeon that likes to be aggressive, that helped me the last time I broke my collarbone..Mine was in three pieces. the first time I was in the butterfly as seen in Jim's photo's. the second time we just let it go and the third time was the plate. The first two breaks are the ones that I still feel when the weather changes.

Good luck and do all of the PT that you can.. I was able to get about 95% of my use back.

guesswho · January 6, 2008

Damn, that sucks big time. Sorry to hear that, the same thing happened to me a couple years ago right at the beginning of the season, except it was summer and a different sport. I didnt get a plate, just a strap. I was told that theres really nothing that can be done to immobilize a broken clavicle. I didnt know a plate was possible.

The only advice I can give is to sleep sitting up. If you dont have a comfy couch then prop as many pillows as you can under your neck and back till gravity isnt pulling your shoulders to the side anymore like it would be if you were on your back.

I had most of my arm back after 6 weeks, but was up and around after 5. Still have a bump though, several years later. Oh well, its a good scar to show the ladies, lol.

Good luck dude. The season isnt over for you, you should still have a good month or so after recovery.

Hans · January 6, 2008

Don't know you but I wish you a fast recovery. Must be painful with sleeping.

But what I wonder, don't you guys wear any protection at all??

My full harness protector saved me a couple of times with sort likewise crashes. And I was glad wearing a helmet also. Sometimes when friends or collegues look what I am wearing before I go out snowboarding they say I am a SHELL man/puppet with all that harness'.

ursle · January 6, 2008

I found the butterfly was all I needed, when it was on, no pain, instant sleep

(no brain no pain), wasn't offered a plate, wouldn't have let them cut me anyway, wierd feeling when I got back on the board, six or seven weeks later, whenever I changed from toe side to heel side or vice versa, the skin would rub on the bone, hurt like hell the first few times, after two weeks it was rubbed round, :)

Well, relax, be happy, much faster recovery time

skipuppy · January 6, 2008

I second or third the body pillow/sleeping with someone idea. It forces you to sleep on your side which helped me tremendously when I bruised my ribs at Stratton.

queequeg · January 6, 2008

slept on the couch last night with my upper body somewhat upright. Mostly because I didnt want to move in my sleep and the couch is small enough to keep me still.

Guess i'll be doing that for awhile :-)

thanks for the advice: re: plates/butterfly - right now I just have a sling.

Blue Bird · January 6, 2008

Don't wait for any repairs. I waited about 3 weeks, dumb mistake. It just takes that much longer to get back in the game. I did see three doctors in that time and the last one is the one I went with. I was glad about that, but it took too long to get it repaired

queequeg · January 6, 2008

Don't wait for any repairs. I waited about 3 weeks, dumb mistake. It just takes that much longer to get back in the game. I did see three doctors in that time and the last one is the one I went with. I was glad about that, but it took too long to get it repaired

Thanks, I'm going to see my doctor tomorrow morning first thing. She is excellent, and she knows it is going to be important to me that I get back to normal asap. I really want to minimize the effect this has on my season.

What is the strongest (safe) non prescription painkiller I can get? I'm worried about running out of meds, I only have a short supply.

Blue Bird · January 6, 2008

from what I remember, i had quite a few left over. The oxycontin's are the strongest. Percaset, demarol, oxycodone(sp?), Percadan, darvaset all constipated me so bad that I stopped taking them as soon as I felt that I could. For me the pain after surgery wasn't to bad after the first week.

Edit- your doc will probably give you as much as you want when you see her tomorrow, the selection may be yours as well. The OTC pain meds will be fairly useless from my experience. If you do run out alleve has a strong reputation

www.oldsnowboards.com · January 6, 2008

Sorry to hear of the injury.

Please email me (your email is turned off)

Bryan

cfj04 · January 6, 2008

Sitting on my couch - I feel your pain. Sorry to hear another brother is down!

As for the pain, my first martini when I got back from the hospital was just the ticket. But seriusly, pain sucks and being groggy from meds sucks. Using as much ice as possible to reduce the swelling and numb the pain seems to be my current best friend.

Bluebird - get use to your pillow again shortly

carverchick · January 6, 2008

I guess I shouldn't be so poopy afterall. Last week while riding up in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, I took a digger and now I have a hairline high ankle fracture of the right leg.

The doctors have me wearing an immobilizer boot to further prevent injury and I've been really bummed out. I'm supposed to meet up with my boyfriend out in Lake Tahoe in 2 weeks. I really do hope I'm able to ride by then.

I'm sorry to hear about everyone's injuries, it sucks when it happens and can sometimes make things a little bleak.

queequeg · January 6, 2008

Sorry to hear of the injury.
Please email me (your email is turned off)

Bryan

check your mail Bryan :-)

Sitting on my couch - I feel your pain. Sorry to hear another brother is down!
As for the pain, my first martini when I got back from the hospital was just the ticket. But seriusly, pain sucks and being groggy from meds sucks. Using as much ice as possible to reduce the swelling and numb the pain seems to be my current best friend.

Bluebird - get use to your pillow again shortly

I have to get some ice packs! I think what I got is a kiss on the forehead compared to your tib/fib fracture (ouch!!!). Keep your chin up man! All I have in the house is grappa, and an antique bottle of absinthe. I'm going to pick up a bottle of Scotch when I run some errands later on.

The good thing is this will give me some time to write the boot mods post I've been meaning to post!! albeit, one-handed.

k2slopesurfer · January 7, 2008

having broken each clavicle at least twice, lets just say i will never have a house which does not contain a recliner, or at least a chaise for sleeping.... never operated on for my breaks (not one of them from boarding) but 3 shoulder ops.

broken clav hurt worse than my femur, the my right eye orbital and my ruptured bursa in the rt shoulder rolled into one. (though not the rotator cuff..yikes, lingers)

rest up, and stay still, might look into a stim machine if they dont do surg, i had 2 of my fractures almost non-union

Allee · January 7, 2008

I guess I shouldn't be so poopy afterall. Last week while riding up in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, I took a digger and now I have a hairline high ankle fracture of the right leg.

Ow! Felicia! I hope this doesn't affect your SES!

Queeqeg - that bites. I did something similar 2 seasons ago, except it was a heelside and I landed on my back - it's an awful feeling when you suddenly realise that you're going to have a hard landing. Heal well.

queequeg · January 7, 2008

might look into a stim machine if they dont do surg

hrrrrm - whats a stim machine?? Thanks everyone for all the well-wishes!!!

NateW · January 7, 2008

When I broke mine, I had no trouble sleeping flat on my back, but sitting up was agony. I spent 4 weeks in bed, and another week laying down every chance I got. 3 months later my doctor pronounced me fully healed and gave me the green light for waterskiing. No lasting effects, other than a lump in my left collarbone.

On the other hand, I know a guy who could ride his bicycle to work with his busted collarbone, he just couldn't lie down. I guess it just depends on the nature of the break.

I was also told that nothing could be done other than a butterfly harness and a sling. It never occurred to me to seek a doctor who would be willing to bolt the pieces together, but I really wish I had. And if it happens again, I will. Thanks for the tip.

I was told that for every week of immobilization, it usually takes a week to get full movement back, and in my case that was correct. I had to do lots of exercises like swinging my arm like a pendulum, one inch in either direction at first, then two inches, etc. Then lean forward and swing it one inch side-to-side... steadily working my way up to full motion. I might have started on that stuff sooner, and spent more time doing it, if I'd realized how long it was going to take.

Curiously, when I broke mine, it didn't hurt at first. It was just really uncomfortable in a strange way. I knew something was wrong, but at first I thought I'd just knocked the wind out of myself. That was part of the problem, but it took a few minutes for me to figure out that my collarbone was also broken. But the next morning, when I sat up... boom! Pain like I'd never imagined!

The strongest pain meds I've taken were hydrocodone and oxycodone. I had one when I busted by collarbone and one from a surgery (the two most painful things I've ever experienced), but I forget which pills I got for which incident. Both were very effective though.

Get well soon.

Dr D · January 7, 2008

Thanks, I'm going to see my doctor tomorrow morning first thing. She is excellent, and she knows it is going to be important to me that I get back to normal asap. I really want to minimize the effect this has on my season.
What is the strongest (safe) non prescription painkiller I can get? I'm worried about running out of meds, I only have a short supply.

there is a good herbal Cox-2 lox-5 inhibitor (same action as viox and celebrex without the heart attack side effect) available called phenocane that works great and is low risk compared to drugs. another that is harder to find is called vaxamine.

Dr D · January 7, 2008

Phenocane not Phenocaine :biggthump

Dr D · January 7, 2008

hrrrrm - whats a stim machine?? Thanks everyone for all the well-wishes!!!

micro current stimulation would help healing and pain.

See http://www.painmasterpatch.com/painmaster.asp?c=chiro

wei labs has an herbal poultice type patch that speeds bone healing immensely called the fasst patch and another called the whitee patch.

http://www.weilab.com/

I have used both with excellent results.

pdf on bone growth and micro current if interested see link 53 pages

http://www.painmasterpatch.com/PDF/BoneGrowth.pdf

Dr D · January 7, 2008

Painmaster® MCT Patch - Information Booklet , click here.

Painmaster® MCT Patch - Brochure, click here.

Description:

Adheres to the body around the affected area - delivers current through the skin.
Can be removed and applied when needed.
No side effects. Safe, easy to use.
Power supply in Patch unit – No external power supply needed-500 Hours of use.

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Principal of Action

The MCT therapeutic current flows through the tissue and causes a charge alteration in the cells.
Current flows in the body from the anode (red light) to cathode.

Cumulative Effect<?XML:NAMESPACE PREFIX = P />

</P:COLORSCHEME></P>

Two self-adherent active electrode patches, linked by a wire, generate the current of 50µA (micro amperes). This current is about 5% of the commonly used factor of 1 mA (mille ampere) for electrotherapy. The treatment, however, lasts significantly longer than that of the higher current devices.

Crucial to treatment is the quantity of charge carriers Q (ions), which are being moved in the body tissues in the electrical field between the electrodes. The measure of the degree of stimulation is cumulative in accordance with the equation:

Q(carrier) = I (current) x t (time)

Standard Device

Q= 1mA x 0.5 hrs. = .5ma hrs

Painmaster® Device

Q= 50 µA x 24 hrs. = 1.2mA hrs.

Features and Benefits:

No external power supply needed
Indicator Light
Reusable and disposable
Can help speed the healing process
Reduces swelling and inflammation
Ability to treat multiple areas of pain
Release muscle trigger points
Improves soft tissue regeneration

Treatment Capabilities

Arthritis
Fibromyalgia
Sciatica
Lower and upper back pain
Migraine headaches
Runners knee
Carpal tunnel
Muscle spasm
Tendonitis
Acute pain from injury
Sports injury
Bursitis
Swelling and inflammation
Hip pain
Leg cramps

Comparison to TENS

(Transcutanous Electrical Nerve Stimulation)

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</TD><TD style="BORDER-RIGHT: windowtext 1pt solid; PADDING-RIGHT: 5.4pt; BORDER-TOP: windowtext 1pt solid; PADDING-LEFT: 5.4pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; WIDTH: 142.05pt; PADDING-TOP: 0in; BORDER-BOTTOM: windowtext 1pt solid" vAlign=top width=189>MCT

</TD></TR><TR><TD style="BORDER-RIGHT: windowtext 1pt solid; PADDING-RIGHT: 5.4pt; BORDER-TOP: medium none; PADDING-LEFT: 5.4pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; BORDER-LEFT: windowtext 1pt solid; WIDTH: 113.4pt; PADDING-TOP: 0in; BORDER-BOTTOM: windowtext 1pt solid" vAlign=top width=151>

Strength of Current

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Uses milliamps