If I'm stuck doing nothing while I recover, I'm glad I'm doing nothing at the beach!

Usually the beach means boogie boarding, sailing, kayaking and cycling along the shore but this year our family vacation is all about Mom recovering from her accident and surgery.  For the first time ever we decided to drive to Maryland - all 23 hours - why, you ask?  That's easy!  We wanted to bring bikes.  We were training for the big 100 mile ride, remember.  Well, it's a good thing, because the plane tickets would have gotten super costly when I had to change them because I couldn't travel.  I'm not sure my hurt arm is ready for all the bumps in the road but we have a month at the beach waiting for us, so let's get this show on the road!

I have to wear what??

Yesterday the cast came off and today I had an appointment with the physical therapist to have a splint made for my wrist and to discuss the plan for physical therapy.  I'm not sure what I was expecting, but it wasn't THIS!

dynamic radial nerve splint

It's called a dynamic splint, but really it's quite a contraption.  It actually feels really good to have my wrist in the proper position.  Since I am able to bend my fingers, with this device I have some use of my hand because the rubber bands spring the fingers back, something I am unable to do on my own.  I am unable to lift any weight and have very little range of motion in my elbow so it is completely awkward, but a good feeling to see my hand functioning.

I had the range of motion measured in the elbow:  extension 40 degrees, flexion 100 degrees.  There's a lot of work to be done but the orders for now are very strict.  No pool, no ocean, no submersion into water for two more weeks while the incision heals.  I can finally shower without a bag, I'm to move only what I can do on my own, working on it every day and with the exception of that therapy 5 or 6 times a day the elbow stays in a sling and I wear the dynamic splint every waking hour.  They made me a second splint to wear in the shower or to the beach - - where we are headed now.  Thank God I'm not in a cast!

For shower, pool, beach and sleep.

I heard again that it will "take a long time" to get the use of my wrist and hand back but no one is giving me any hints as to just how long that is.

Oh, that's one ticked off radial nerve!

Today I got my cast off!  In a perfect world that would be a great thing, but in reality, the 10 days in a surgical splint and/or cast has just given my hand and wrist enough of a rest that the reality of the situation is so evident - - it's dead.  The radial nerve is ticked off and any hope I had of seeing progress has quickly disappeared.  My fingers are beginning to get stiff and are curling down and my wrist is not showing any sign of life.  The numbness on the top of my hand and thumb is still present, too.  It's going "to take a long time" but no one is saying just how long.

The cast came off, the stitches came out, and the steri strips will
now do their job in helping the incision heal.

"You guys are KILLING ME!"

To know Scott Darwin is to love him.  He likes order and routine and hates change - it stresses his structure.  I'm not sure if it all goes back to his US Army days, but that certainly plays a role.  He  hates change almost as much as he hates it when something happens to his wife or kids.  So, as you can imagine, my accident has him in a tizzy but just as he is getting back to his routine he gets a call.  A call from Nikki, that is.  I'm still in la-la land, feeling like I was run over by a Mac truck so she couldn't call me to help her.  It's only 9:00 am which means John would still be asleep so she couldn't call him to help her.  She was left with no choice.  She called her dad to tell him that she had an accident, on her bike ... exactly 7 days after my famous fall.

"You guys are KILLING ME," I heard coming from the home office.  Scott comes stomping by, the back door slams and off he went.

Thankfully Nikki was riding with a friend who stayed with her until Scott got there.  Her tire got caught in a groove in the concrete and her guardian angel was with her that day because there were no major injuries but boy was she banged up!  After she caught her breath she would have fixed her flat and rode home but the groove actually shredded her tire so she needed a ride - - and a trip to Richardson Bike Mart to get her bike checked out because the handle bars were knocked out of place, along with the seat and who knows what else.

wow!  what a sad pair we make!

Nice bruise!

 

Because pink makes everything better!

I learned something new today and I'm not sure that I like it.  I learned that when a person has a severe fracture they can develop 'fracture blisters'.  Gross!  They signify underlying soft tissue injuries following a severe fracture and when they took off my surgical splint in my first post-op appointment, my elbow was covered in them.

Along with that lovely visual, I got to see my incision for the first time.  It is MUCH bigger than I expected.  I also saw my post-op x-ray for the first time and I don't think my surgeon appreciated my sense of humor when the first thing out of my mouth was, "is all of that hardware really necessary?"  It was a joke!  I was just trying to maintain my sense of humor.  I don't know what I expected, but it wasn't long screws - and so many of them.

Today I had my cast put on.  I will only have it for 7 days, just enough to let things settle down for pain management.  I find it fascinating that I only need a cast for a week.  I chose hot pink because it made me laugh ... and because pink just makes everything better!

first look at the incision - wow!

I don't look very thrilled :(

2010 Collin Classic

Part of Nikki and my training for the Seagull Century includes local events so we can get used to riding with large groups.  Our first ever event was scheduled for June 12th, the Collin Classic ... 3 days AFTER my accident.  Needless to say, I was on the injured reserve list, but Nikki was a rock star!  There were many more hills than she expected but she not only survived, but can't wait to do it again!  Yay Nikki!

Houston, we have a problem!

“Can you move your fingers?”  … Yes!

“Ok, lift your thumb.”  … Nothing

“You can’t lift your thumb?” … Nope

“Straighten your fingers for me.” … Nothing

Houston, we have a problem!  I remember the doctor mentioning the radial nerve, the ulnar nerve and what can go wrong.  From the looks of things, I have full feeling in my pinky and left ring finger and no tingling or numbness in those fingers, so the ulnar nerve survived the trauma.  However, I am unable to straighten my fingers or lift my wrist and the top of my hand and thumb are numb, which means that the radial nerve is not as lucky.  I have to admit that I’m freaking out and when I mention this to my surgeon he tells me that “he is not happy about it at all.”  Ugh!

Here’s a quick anatomy lesson:  There is a groove in the humerus that the radial nerve rests in and unfortunately, when there is a fracture and/or open repair involving screws and plates, the radial nerve can be traumatized and let’s just say – it can’t take a joke!

Not quite the Westin, but I did get room service!

The last time I had surgery was over 30 years ago and ironically it was severe fracture to the same arm.  I was 14 years old and was horseback riding in Idaho with cousins.  The main injury was a compound fracture of my ulnar, but it was really an injury to all of the bones.  I don’t remember everything, but I do remember the big cast and pain – months and months of pain, multiple surgeries and rehab.

My first night in the hospital has been completely pain free, thanks to the morphine pump attached to my IV.  It’s a quite handy little thing!  However, along with the lack of pain, comes a lack of the ability to be very coherent.  Call it sleepy, groggy, out of it — whatever it is, all I want to do is nap.

Post surgery

Was there a sale on titanium screws?

I don’t know what I expected but it wasn’t a repair that involved 14 screws and two plates.  Holy moly!  Really????  Surgery was well over 4 hours and when I woke up I was wheeled up to my room where I promptly asked Scott, “did I hurt my bike?”  Scott had already seen the x-rays of the repair so he knew far more than I did and at that moment didn’t care about my bike.  (In fact, I’m quite sure he wouldn’t be upset if it was run over by a truck and crushed into little pieces.)

left distal humerus open repair with plates and screws

Crash!

20 miles is how far I was riding this morning.  I took off at 6:15 am and headed out with my Pearl Izumi shoes that I needed to break in and my recently installed clipless pedals.  It was a perfect morning for a ride and then I would be off with a friend to pick blueberries – a summer tradition.  I was almost home, marveling in how much I loved cycling when I approached a 3 way stop and I can’t remember how or why, but I got stuck in my pedals, couldn’t release my foot, and …. C R A S H! It was loud, it was ugly and I was hurt!  I didn’t crash into a car, I crashed into a curb.  I was still struggling to release my shoes from the clips while on the ground so I just gave up and took my feet out of my shoes, reached into my back pocket, grabbed my iPhone and called my husband to come pick me up.

We headed straight for the ER and it didn’t take long for me to realize that I had really done a number on myself.  I had severely fractured my left arm, just above the elbow.  I wasn’t going to pick blueberries.  In fact, I wasn’t going anywhere for 2-3 days and surgery would be at 2:00 pm this afternoon.  It is called a ‘distal humerus fracture’ and it is not good.

Emergency Room

Left distal humerus fracture