AIL "Alpine Injured List"

[johnasmo]

Troy @b0ardski, 11 screws and 2 plates and you still had the option of non-surgical?  Bet it would have looked like a mountain range on your shoulder.  Hope it heals well.

Clavical was my first ortho surgery after moving to Montana 18 years ago.  Also my second to remove the hardware.  Only 10 screws and one plate, though.  Next week will be my 5th.  Mountain life.

 

[softbootsurfer]

Well then, Wishing you all the Best !!!

[barryj]

11 hours ago, b0ardski said:

join the list.

Yikes!    Sorry to hear it B.   Hope you got  some solace you made it through most of the season and won't loose much riding time!

[b0ardski]

back on the board with extreme caution, good snow pack here so I'll get a couple more days of spring skiing in as onewheel season cranks up

[barryj]

Well, had the Conjoined Tendon surgery 3 days ago, Mon. Aug. 24th and will go back for 1st post-op eval Aug. 1st

The surgery was estimated to take an hour but of course my Tendons were a mess of frayed ends and they had me under the knife for 2 1/2 hours!!

They have me on crutches and in a  brace  on my left side  from my navel down to my knee to restrict  me from putting any pressure on the staples holding the tendons back in place......so sitting is difficult and I have to   slouch.

Feeling no pain thankfully but difficult to get comfortable except when laying flat on the bed but getting in and out of chairs of any kind or bed is a chore!

As of today/Thursday I can put all my weight on the left leg so already gone from crutches to a cane......Yeah! 

If the surgery, recovery and PT go as planned the Doc. says I could be back on the hill (bunny hill probably!) by April/May.......that's my motivational goal!

Time will tell~ 

[CB Utah]

Thanks for the update.  Here’s wishing you a speedy recovery @barryj.  Had tendon surgery; you have a good attitude.  Hope the forum members send you tons of vids so you can feel like you’re there with them on the slope. 

[barryj]

On 7/27/2023 at 2:00 PM, CB Utah said:

wishing you a speedy recovery

Thanks CB!   This has been a loooong week of being mostly immobilized and uncomfortable in this restrictive brace but  I go in for the 1st post-op Tues. and also a MRI same day on what I tore in my left ankle when it was having to compensate for my left leg/hamstrings!   I hope the  ankle is fixable with just PT......but I doubt it with the way it feels!!  Fingers crossed,  We will see!!

[Jack M]

Count me in.  Tore my right rotator cuff in January, trying to save a blown heelside with my hand.  Dumb.  Finally had it repaired on 7/19.  6 weeks in a sling, 6 months of rehab.  Hope I can get back on snow in January.

Don't put your hand down.

[DMKW]

Wishing you a speedy recovery @Jack M.  I encountered a similar shoulder injury this year, but specialist still advised against surgery for me at this point.  There are two main challenges in my return to 'proper' carving.  First is physical:  My shoulder is damaged and vulnerable so I need to avoid touching the snow.  Old habits die hard, but there are a bunch of tips on the forum in this regard (keeping hands 'palm up' while riding, holding a short cord between hands etc.).  Wearing a brace would also probably help. 

Second is mental aspect:  dislocation hurts so f'in much!  I now have a significant psychological hurdle to properly commit to heelside carves particularly when conditions are challenging.  And yet, without such commitment, my form suffers, my heelside turns stink, and re-injury is even more likely.  It is an unpleasant irony to say the least.  To keep myself out of harms way, I only rode softboots after my injury in Feb 2023 but will be back to carving this coming winter.  I plan to start with the gentle slopes to build confidence and practice hand positioning etc. 

Anyway, a long winded way of saying good luck and hope things sort themselves out quickly!    

[SunSurfer]

Been riding with a snowboarder's version of heavy duty ski pole punch guards for 8 years after a finger fracture. In heavy, thicker snow they can catch a little if I touch down but on the majority of hardboot carveable snow they just slide over the surface if I touch down for whatever reason. So far all the carvers who have seen me using them are too cool to be seen wearing "knuckle-draggers". But the type of protection they provide might have saved both the shoulders in the 2 posts above.

Current version in use below.

 

Edited August 19, 2023 by SunSurfer

[Pat Donnelly]

On 8/18/2023 at 2:17 PM, DMKW said:

Wishing you a speedy recovery @Jack M.  I encountered a similar shoulder injury this year, but specialist still advised against surgery for me at this point.  There are two main challenges in my return to 'proper' carving.  First is physical:  My shoulder is damaged and vulnerable so I need to avoid touching the snow.  Old habits die hard, but there are a bunch of tips on the forum in this regard (keeping hands 'palm up' while riding, holding a short cord between hands etc.).  Wearing a brace would also probably help. 

Second is mental aspect:  dislocation hurts so f'in much!  I now have a significant psychological hurdle to properly commit to heelside carves particularly when conditions are challenging.  And yet, without such commitment, my form suffers, my heelside turns stink, and re-injury is even more likely.  It is an unpleasant irony to say the least.  To keep myself out of harms way, I only rode softboots after my injury in Feb 2023 but will be back to carving this coming winter.  I plan to start with the gentle slopes to build confidence and practice hand positioning etc. 

Anyway, a long winded way of saying good luck and hope things sort themselves out quickly!    

DMKW - back in 2010 I dislocated my right shoulder while in Aspen.  Went to see a specialist upon our return to Michigan and he too advised against surgery based upon the probabilty that this would not happen again as being >50.  I told him I wasn't so sure with the odds and told him I would send him a few pictures of my style of snowboarding for his consideration.  So I sent a couple of photographs that afternoon and he called me within an hour saying we needed to schedule surgery.  So far, so good.

 

[slopestar]

On 8/18/2023 at 8:12 AM, Jack M said:

Count me in.  Tore my right rotator cuff in January, trying to save a blown heelside with my hand.  Dumb.  Finally had it repaired on 7/19.  6 weeks in a sling, 6 months of rehab.  Hope I can get back on snow in January.

Don't put your hand down.

Sorry to hear Jack. really working on the no touch touch. remember, Don't pat the dog

On 8/18/2023 at 8:46 PM, SunSurfer said:

Been riding with a snowboarder's version of heavy duty ski pole punch guards for 8 years after a finger fracture. In heavy, thicker snow they can catch a little if I touch down but on the majority of hardboot carveable snow they just slide over the surface if I touch down for whatever reason. So far all the carvers who have seen me using them are too cool to be seen wearing "knuckle-draggers". But the type of protection they provide might have saved both the shoulders in the 2 posts above.

Current version in use below.

 

looking good as always!

 

[dhamann]

@Jack M sorry to hear, but those kinco boxing mitts are like five years old. no signs of wear. see you in December.

[Jack M]

20 minutes ago, dhamann said:

@Jack M sorry to hear, but those kinco boxing mitts are like five years old. no signs of wear. see you in December.

Thanks.  I'm thinking mid January, and I doubt I will be hardbooting this year.

It's a slow recovery.  6 weeks in and it is sloooowly improving but still very fresh.  PT twice a week.

Fortunately or unfortunately as the case may be, my surgeon is also a Sugarloaf snowboarder.

[barryj]

On 7/30/2023 at 6:36 AM, barryj said:

a MRI same day on what I tore in my left ankle when it was having to compensate for my left leg/hamstrings! 

Bad:  More Surgery!.................Left Ankle Surgery for complete tear of outside tendon,  which was expected.

Good:  Doc says if my Hamstring/Conjoined Tendon surgery PT recovery doesn't hold me back, I could be back on the hill four months after this ankle surgery and PT!!  Hopefully surgery can happen by Nov. 1....so I could give  the Bunny Hill a go  by March!!!

I've just started PT for the torn left Hamstrings surgery and go back next week for round #2.  They were impressed with my strength/progress and I'm gonna press them for a timeline date I should be cleared for the mtn.

If the PT sages sound promising I'm going to hit up Sean at Donek for a new board to hang on my wall for inspiration/motivation until  the day comes this season I can get back on the hill......and ride it!   

[1xsculler]

So sorry you’re having to go through this, barryj, as downtime can be very depressing. I like the idea of ordering a new board to kindle the stoke. 
I’ve kindled the stoke for the coming season by buying a season pass and an A-lot parking pass for Crystal even though I fear 30 minutes of general anesthesia AND 2 months on Oxycodone for my December 29th shoulder surgery may have negatively affected my balance enough to not be able to carve. 

Oh well, I know I can rely on skiing if I have to for my loved mountain experience. 

[barryj]

12 minutes ago, 1xsculler said:

having to go through this,

Thanks Scully.  It's just the price of a dangerous over crowded sport these days imo. I had never had any ski/boarding incident to speak of the last couple of decades before this......so I was overdue I guess!

I was ready and begrudgingly willing to give up this whole season to get my turn back and be stronger for next season but the Docs. are saying I could/should be able to get back on the hill late March!    Now I'm stoked!!

16 minutes ago, 1xsculler said:

negatively affected my balance

I hear ya.......but I'm sure PT will address it if it shows up and you should be good to go for this season!!  

[1xsculler]

It HAS shown up and, IMHO, it’s not going away. I doubt PT would help at all as, at age 80, my brain was slightly over cooked. My anesthesiologist warned me it could be one of the consequences. I requested that my Brachial plexus be totally blocked, which it was, but my surgeon wouldn’t do the surgery w/o a general. 
An issue for me two years in a row was the increased number of idiots, with no respect for proper slope ediquite, colliding with us carvers.  

[johnasmo]

On 4/6/2023 at 7:33 PM, johnasmo said:

Second opinion always a good idea before taking the option of last resort.

Update:  Second opinion received, this time meeting with an actual surgeon at a different clinic.  Same diagnosis and treatment recommendation.  Both argued that when tibiofibular syndesmosis injuries are left untreated it can lead to chronic ankle instability and degenerative arthritis.  Both felt there was evidence of enough syndesmosis injury to warrant internal fixation to put things in the right place to heal properly.  They'll look for other ligaments needing repair while in there. 

Rather than wait 6 weeks to see if it's still messed up, I'm going to do the repair and hope to be on my feet again without a boot by June.

Well, it's been over 6 month now and I'm about ready to share the results of my surgery.  I was meaning to post sooner, like all summer long, but every time I thought about it, I just didn't want to... think about it.

Lesson learned: Beware of nerve blocks!  My ankle surgery (tiliofibular syndesmois fixation and deltoid ligament repair) went well according to the surgeon, but the outcome was doomed even before I entered the operating room.  The anesthesiologist did two nerve blocks and caused damage to branches of the sciatic nerve.  It took 72 hours for one of the blocks to wear off and I haven't had normal sensation or strength in the foot since.  I'm now holding out hope that by this time NEXT year it will be feeling more normal - less like a numb, foreign body.

Damage confirmed by electromyography (EMG) which showed, "reduced Tibial AH and Peroneal EDB motor amplitudes, as well as absent sural and peroneal sensory responses."  The impaired signals start above the knee in the vicinity of one of the nerve blocks.  A followup MRI showed, "increased size intrasubstance signal involving the common fibular and tibial nerves...."  So pretty sure I got jabbed and injected too close to the nerves.  Opps, his bad.

I spent my summer doing PT.  Short hikes.  Even shorter runs.  Strength is up to 60 or 70 percent, but endurance is low.  The foot is good for maybe 5 miles of hiking and only 3 of running before it poops out.  Calf gets sore; pry from the  muscle fibers that ARE still innervated carrying for the less innervated ones.

On top of that was three broken ribs, lacerated spleen, and slight pneumothorax in September, but that's another story.  I've put that behind me.

I'll find out how the foot fairs snowboarding when the local hill opens in a week and a half.  No hiking runs yet as the resort is still waiting for snow.  It should be strong enough, as it's just lower leg.  Toe/heal strength on softies will suffer, but not so much up/down of alpine.  I am worried about how the numbness will impact my feel for the board and snow, though.  And the cold could make the numbness even worse, turning it (literally) into a pain.  I have a box of charcoal toe warmers waiting.

[1xsculler]

Wow, what a freakin’ mess. I’m feelin’ for ya!

I hope time will cure all of your issues!

[SunSurfer]

@johnasmo Wow! Reading this makes my heart sink! As an anesthesiologist that's an outcome we work really hard to avoid. I'm assuming from your surgery and nerve damage pattern that one of the blocks was done just above and behind your knee. What you describe is indeed most likely to be the result of drug injection actually into the nerves. There are normally a number of checks in any block process to try to prevent this from happening. These include commonly using ultrasound imaging to guide the needle tip to the chosen spot as well as pressure checks during drug injection. We're trying to get close, but not that close. You have been desperately unfortunate to have this complication.

Nerve signals are necessary for muscle health, so that muscles deprived of motion signals weaken and waste. Remaining muscles have to work harder to compensate, hence get tired and sore faster.

Sural nerve supplies sensation for much of the sole of the foot and underside of your toes, and that area is crucial for balance and board feel. Calf and foot muscles crucial for actual balancing.

Hoping for your recovery!

PS: Injection pressure check can be as low tech as a known volume of air above the drug being injected and monitoring the volume change as the air is compressed. If the volume halves, then the injection pressure is approx. 15psi, which is too high!

Edited November 29, 2023 by SunSurfer
add technique detail

[johnasmo]

Unfortunate indeed.  He used an ultrasound to position the injection, but I think a nurse assisting might have done the injecting.  I wish I'd paid closer attention to that.  I wasn't expecting a problem at that point.  The outside of the foot, the area forward of a diagonal from the outside of the heal across to the big toe, has the worst numbness.  The forefoot has a constant sensation of pressure, like it's being squeezed.  Curling the toes down causes this feeling to exaggerate in the bottom of the forefoot.  Sort of like the skin is hard and is being crinkled up. 

I'm hoping for continued re-innervation, but it's been 6 months already and there hasn't been much improvement to sensation.  I guess it'll be like tinnitus... just gotta learn to live with it.

[slabber]

Ooof - sorry to read this outcome.  I've learned some today.   Best of luck with improved sensation in future.  Hopefully not permanent and its simply going to take a bit longer. 

[1xsculler]

Wow, I have learned some today too!

When I had my shoulder surgery last December 29th I specifically asked for a Brachial Plexus block hoping to avoid a general BUT I got both. I had no idea a block could cause long term damage but I was aware that for an 80 year old a general might have lasting affects which it does, i.e. balance issues and some vertigo which I will just have to live with. I’m sure I can ski with no issues as I have done it for 70 years but I’m not so confident that I can ride my snowboard edge to connect pencil lines. 

[st_lupo]

My turn… Small potatoes compared to most.