Other things that break on a YZ426

[DaveJ]

Just wanted to let you guys know that I ran out of talent and luck on Friday and broke my leg in two places.

On a very remote trail, a tree trunk proved stronger than the tibia and fibula, both snapping and then partially dislocating the ankle.

The search and rescue guys arrived and wrapped my leg in cardboard and tape in the color of my choice. I went with blue.

Then off in one of those fancy rescue Suburbans, then into an ambulance, then off to the hospital and surgery. Now the lower leg is rods, pins and screws, but feels good. Very nauseas...still, but getting better.

Should be dancing in a few months.

Any tips out there on how to speed up the recovery process and keep myself sane?

[fastkevin]

The painkillers are usually pretty fun.

[med56]

DAVEJ,

Sorry to hear of you lousy news. I have been in you shoes before....more than once! From my experience the key ingredient to healing quickly and completely is a positive attitude. I can't tell you how important that is. Don't let yourself get down or feel sorry for yourself. Tell yourself everyday that you are bigger than the injury and you WILL be 100%. Do what you can to stay in shape and stay active.

Good luck, med56

[Guest Guest]

DaveJ,

Sorry to hear about your injury ?

Having just recovered from surgery, my only .02 worth is to try to stay busy......surf the net, read...anything to keep your mind occupied. Other than pain, boredom is your worst enemy.

Good luck.....Hopefully you're a fast healer.

CJF

[Boit]

I destroyed my right ankle and snapped my collarbone on Superbowl Sunday of '96 during a motocross crash. That was the most painful injury I've ever had. My ankle throbbed 24/7 for nearly two months. I had a triple arthrodecis(6 screws fusing three bones together) to repair the damage. Considering the extent of the injury, I've been fortunate to recover with very little residual effects. There was a time while early after the crash that I started to get depressed because all I could do was sit around and wait for the pain to subside and wonder about my future. Like the other posts about keeping a positive attitude being so important, it DOES get difficult at times. I gathered up all my inner strength and tenacity and decided that I WOULD beat this thing. I've been back racing now for 3 years and can't even tell that I was ever injured....except for the two long scars. By the way, the surgeon told me that non-smokers will recover from these types of injuries twice as fast as a smoker. Food for thought for those smokers out there.

[YZThumpa]

Dave, sorry to hear about your accident. No maliciousness intended, but I was wondering what protective gear you were wearing? Were you fully geared or on one of those quick dressed-as-you-are rides? Just curious as to whether those shin guards and boots do their jobs. Hope you have a speedy recovery.

[Guest Guest]

Dave, I'm also sorry to here about your accident. I to have been over come my the power of the ground. I crashed my 250 in Feb. I compond fractured my collor bone, broke some ribs, Broke my wrist in 7 places. and almost broke both my legs. I had hit my legs so hard against the handle bars that I had pressure spilt both my shins open about 3inch. The strange thing about the legs is that the had spilt open under my pant under my knee pads, and of course my Boots. To this day I have holes in my socks from the impact. I have had many other sergeries before, but this one was far from the worst I. I had plates and screws, and a pin going through my wrist.The first day after sergery was the worst could not even sleep. was in way to much pain, Keep taking the pain killers ,but don't get out of control with them as they will come back and kick you in the ash, when your body starts to regect them....The best advice I can give you is try and keep your spirit up, and stay away from the frig. you will be amazed how fast you can put on the pounds.after the sergery It was about 3 days before till I felt well enough to walk around the block. so wif you get a chance take the wheel chair around the block. The only good thing for me was I could walk. bad thing was bolth arms where not able to be used for a while........take care

[kmcbride]

Dave,

That is a tough break, pun intended. Seriously though, find out where you will be going for rehab (physical therapy). I am assuming you will need it. Talk to your doctor about using electrical stimulation to prevent disuse atrophy and assist with healing. Not a bone stimulator, unless fractures are slow healing, but neuromuscular stimulation. It can be done even on casted areas or on your thigh, above your fractures. It will promote healing by increased blood flow and reduce the muscle loss in your leg, which can be substansial in 6-8 weeks, especially if you are restricted with weight bearing. You may have to shop around to find a good therapist to set you up. Also, try to mobilize your ankle as soon as cleared by your M.D. as this will likely be the area of greatest restriction and difficulty during your recovery. The e-stim can be set up to do this as well (at low levels) E-mail me if you have questions. Meanwhile, what better excuse can you have to spend time tooling on your bike? Good Luck!!

[fastkevin]

During lower leg injury recouperation, I found that it's pretty easy to stay in (relative) shape by doing upper body weight training. You can do lower weight-high repetition sets and keep the metabolism up. Plus, I don't care what anybody says, when the pain wakes you up at 0430, the Percocet actually makes the Bonanza re-runs interesting :-)

[Scott_F]

Dave, you already got great advice from McBride and others, so I'll just say best wishes for a complete and speedy recovery.

[Numpsy]

Sad to hear about Your leg!!

Best wishes and hope You will get back on track soon!!

Just remember to keep the spirit up and do not sit around and wait.........

Regards from All of the Vikings in Sweden!

[scottzx7rr]

Same here, take it easy and if you are in a relationship work(being babied is great for injuries) it for all it is worth. LOL

Good Luck with your healing and do as the Dr say. Don't try to come back to soon as it can cause problems.

------------------

Scott #431

Some Fear Racing "Cause if you don't have any you ain't going fast enough"

'99 YZ400F(Coming to a Theater near you soon)

'92 ZX-7R and '97 ZX-7RR

"Doesn't hurt till the bone is exposed"

"When cut do you bleed green? I do!"

Pics

[ICEMAN]

that sucks, get well soon, and keep PMA

TMX AND MY DOGS BITE!!!!!!!!!!1

[DaveJ]

Thanks guys. The family and girlfriend has been taking great care of me. I'm feeling much better each day.

And I think I saw a question about gear.

I had full Alpine boots and shin guards on, (nice stuff) which makes me wonder how much worse this would have been. The boots, pants, and socks are now of course history.

[mikeolichney]

DaveJ, very sorry to hear about your accident. Was the lower leg the only thing damaged, how is the rest of you? I broke my arm once when some drunk ran into a friend of mine while we were going downhill on road bicycles. I hit my sliding friend at 35 mph and went over the bars. Only had lycra and a foam helmet (sure would have liked to have had full MX gear on at that time). The guy took off but was caught and spent 90 days in the slammer. At least I had someone to blame.

When it came to recovery, of course the PT is the most important thing. If you like to lift, it think that is a good sugestion to stay in shape upper body wise. But I found swimming was great. It gave range of motion with very little stress or impact. If you don't like to swim, you can try water running. You get in the deep end and run in place with your head out of the water. Sometimes people use flotation belts or life jackets. It looks silly but it works well.

Best of luck in your recovery. Hey, at least it is winter!

[Guest Guest]

I haven't broken a leg yet (knock on wood) but I have dislocated an ankle (ugly pole vault mishap in my younger years). You have my sympathy, that joint injury feeling gives me the willies. My best advice is to exercise the muscles and joints as soon as possible. If you can get physical therapy, take advantage of it, and follow a good diet. Once you can get it moving you will be surprised how fast you make progress. Stay positive and get well soon! Remember, that which doesn't kill you only makes you stronger (or so they say). ?

[DaveJ]

Mike,

Only damage was lower leg, and some poison oak in the days to follow. That's enough for me for quite some time.

And I'll take your advice and get off to the gym as soon as I'm a little more mobile.

I'll keep ya guys posted.

DaveJ

[oldxmxer]

Good luck with a quick recovery Dave-might check out mxtrainer on ronron.com

[techman]

Make sure and take it easy on the intensity setting if you go for an electric muscle stimulator ala Dr. Ho's Massage etc. They do make your muscles contract and strain, and until the bone firms up, don't load it. It should set in a week or two and then firm up after that, forming into actual bone. I'd go easy at the 3 1/2 to 4 week point, of course pending a doctor's viewing X rays to confirm that the bone is knit and formng up nicely.

Wait till you see the caveman fur that grows under casts!! ?

All these stories of crunching and rending give me that little twist in the gut reminiscent of when a guy gets booted in the nuts on TV and you instinctively curl up and protect your groin. Brings back memories.

[DaveJ]

Thanks for all the great words of support and tips guys. Much appreciated.

When I went into the ER, the surgeon told me I could get surgery or a traditional cast. I opted for surgery with the promise of a faster recovery.

I did my first follow up yesterday, and they pulled the temp cast off and gave me a big cozy boot. They also told me to start exercising it and putting weight on it. AND, that I should be off crutches in 3 weeks??!!!

Even that has me surprised.

However, in reviewing the follow-up x-rays, I now have a rod that runs through the entire lower bone, about a foot long. It's pinned at the bottom, and at the top it has a grove for the pin to slide upwards as the bone compresses back together in the coming week.

The other break was fixed by what looks like one large wood screw. Nasty.

I had no idea that this much metal was going to go into my leg, but perhaps this is the way to do things these days.

In either case, at least I can take the boot off, exercise, shower, and keep my girlfriend happy.

DaveJ