i had an accident

[d3funct]

...and it hurts.

riding along the kwinana psp, came off my bike at around 35kmh. what caused it? a bug, a wasp or something landed on my hand, and i panicked. this caused me to lose my balance. the front wheel jacknifed and as a result i went over the handlebars and landed on my shoulder.

the front wheel is now bent and numerous scratches all over, luckily its an old bike but still the chain snapped too.

my injuries? massive swelling and bruising on my quad muscle, and fractured clavicle.

im very upset, as this morning i was looking to revise my 2010 goal, now ill be out of action for a while.

at least my uni exams will now be deferred more study time!!

ouch



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[trailgumby]

Oh, so not good. Sorry to hear about your crash.

Presume you're getting it pinned?

[d3funct]

not sure, the consultant was busy in theatre so they sent me home in a sling. have an appt with surgeon on tuesday, they said it could be a week or so before they either operate or not

public hospital system

[familyguy]

Yeah, cause that sure looks like it'll heal straight on its own

Good healin'!

[open roader]

Bugger about the spill - hope you feel better about it all soon - quite a big shock!

I've broken my right collarbone similar clean break. I was offered two options - pin and plate or natural healing. My father is a retired surgeon, he warned me against the pin and plate operation for the posibility of post operative infection. I took his advise and now am living with one clavicle 28mm shorter than the other!! The knit was strong but the bone set with the brake overlapping so I have a huge calceous lump on my right clavicle....... The upshot of that is ongoing muscular problems on my right side, posture correction, and loss of flexibility - 12 years of trouble and counting.

if you opt for a natural healing be double wary of an overlapping knit - keep at your doctor/s to ensure the bone is correctly aligned for a neat knit.

Get well soon!!

[jules21]

get well soon. that's a nasty outcome.

[silkishuge]

That looks nasty. Take care and get well soon. You should ace the exam

J

[sogood]

Impressive crack. Get it plated. Good luck!

[zues]

Hope they patch it properly-all the best to ya

[Fleshpiston]

what caused it? a bug, a wasp or something landed on my hand, and i panicked. this caused me to lose my balance. the front wheel jacknifed and as a result i went over the handlebars and landed on my shoulder.

Evening,

Probably a paper wasp, as its the session for those buggers. I'm sure of this since my 6 year old collects wasp nests for a hobby. Fwiw, on Saturday i just knocked one down from a local church for his collection. Disgusting lookin things as far as i'm concerned, especially the larvae moving around in the hive cells, YUCK !!!

If it was me i'll go the surgical route and get the clav pin and plated. I would then jump onto a recumbent bike asap at my local gym.

Heal well and soon,
Brad

[moosterbounce]

Ooooh bugger. Good healing thoughts coming your way. Such a simple thing to cause such a nasty break.

I suppose now if the wrong time to discuss the merits of living north of the river?

[Marty Moose]

Terrible news for you After a having few breaks of my own over the years (m/c racing) this is a good time to get private health cover it really is worth it. I got stuck in the public system once, it cost me eight weeks in a hospital bed on heavy drugs only to firnd out I could have paid for the procedure I was waiting for it was $800 was NOT HAPPY.

MM

[il padrone]

Terrible news for you After a having few breaks of my own over the years (m/c racing) this is a good time to get private health cover it really is worth it. I got stuck in the public system once, it cost me eight weeks in a hospital bed on heavy drugs only to firnd out I could have paid for the procedure I was waiting for it was $800 was NOT HAPPY.

Hmmm......

That sounds very strange. I've had a few breaks in the past 10 years from some off-road MTB incidents and a couple of silly falls. Never had much undue waiting time, the public system always saw that there was a serious medical issue that needed fixing. I did have to wait 3 days to get the broken elbow tip operated on to get cabled and pinned, that was about the most inconvenience I've had. Eight weeks? With heavy drugs (pain-killers?). Sounds like a bit more than elective surgery.

[moreegolfer]

Best of luck with the healing process. That xray looks a lot worse than my break. I am no doctor but it looks to be a good case of pin and plate.

[d3funct]

thanks for the well wishes folks, appreciate it

my wife is having fun looking after me now, as i have very restricted movement.

i think its hardest on my dogs right now, they just dont understand why daddy cant walk or play with them right now

ill keep you posted on updates

[Spork!]

I'm no surgeon, but I have smashed a clavicle. Pin and plate for sure mate, or it will probably never be quite right again. I had 3-4 very painful days wait for mine to be done (public) as every time I was scheduled someone would have a nasty MVA (motor vehicle accident) and my surgery had to be delayed while they saved someones life.
It felt much more comfortable almost immediately after the surgery. Unfortunately it got infected and the next few days were hell. I kept going back to the hospital daily telling them something was wrong. It wasn't until the swelling was so great that the protruding end of one of the pins was below the level of the skin that they said "thats a nasty infection, "we'll need to operate" (again).

I guess what I'm saying is, have it fixed, and if it starts getting sorer after a couplefew days, go back to the hospital, and keep going back, until they fix it properly. Monitor closely for signs of infection!

[sogood]

Infection rate should be very low if it wasn't a compound fracture ie. With skin break. So don't let that complication worry you unnecessarily. Otherwise death is the other well documented complication for any surgery...

[blkmcs]

That looks nasty, I hope it heals well for you.

The only advice I can offer is to follow the advice of the experts at the hospital, they have dealt with thousands of similar injuries and know what they are doing.

[Spork!]

Infection rate should be very low if it wasn't a compound fracture ie. With skin break. So don't let that complication worry you unnecessarily. Otherwise death is the other well documented complication for any surgery...

The infection usually occurs during or following the surgery. My surgeon told me before my op. that the rate is high for shoulders compared to other joints.

[sogood]

The infection usually occurs during or following the surgery. My surgeon told me before my op. that the rate is high for shoulders compared to other joints.

Infection rate for open reduction and internal fixation of clavicular surgery has been reported b/n 0.4-7.8%. In Australia and for uncomplicated healthy subjects, I'd expect it to be on the lower end of the spectrum. Given the potential long term functional and cosmetic issues with non-anatonomical healing and the ready availability of antibiotics, it's not very logical to opt out of this surgery when offered.

As always, find the most well qualified orthopedic surgeon and hospital you can and YMMV.

[d3funct]

just made an appointment with freo hospital, for friday morning!! at first they wanted me to come in monday, 8 days after the fact!!!

i said no! my arm is still out of alignment and im in constant pain, so they hesitantly gave me a friday appointment.
then, who knows how long it will be before they actually correct it!!

ugh

[elantra]

That sounds very strange. I've had a few breaks in the past 10 years from some off-road MTB incidents and a couple of silly falls. Never had much undue waiting time, the public system always saw that there was a serious medical issue that needed fixing. I did have to wait 3 days to get the broken elbow tip operated on to get cabled and pinned, that was about the most inconvenience I've had. Eight weeks? With heavy drugs (pain-killers?). Sounds like a bit more than elective surgery.

Having private health insurance at least gives you an option if the public hospitals fail to take you seriously.

By the same token if you are ever in a public emergency department do not let them bully you into "going private" just because you have health insurance.
In queensland, getting public hospital health care is like betting on the Melbourne cup.
You don't know how it is going to turn out.
But paradoxically sometimes it is still better to go public.
Difficult to know when though.

[sogood]

who knows how long it will be before they actually correct it!!

It's better to operate when soft tissue swelling around the fracture has subsided a bit ie. A few days later.

[munga]

will it buff out?

[foo on patrol]

Bugger, that hurt!