SMIDSY 7/7 me unfortunately

[Freakuk]

Hi all,

Well I was knocked off my bike on 7/7 on the way home from a ride out in the lakes, about 5 miles from home (luckily) approaching a crossroads lights on red and cars beginning to queue, I was coasting/slowing toward the centre of the road to get a clear view ahead and filter to the front of the queue when the traffic stopped. Without warning the car I front turned right either to filter to the front of the queue or to turn onto the forecourt of a local services, I swerved as quick as I could but struck the rear quarter panel and then along the side of the vehicle. Myself and my bike then slid across the road into the wall of the forecourt at this point I knew I was going to hurt!

To cut a long story short I'm now home after spending 9 days in hospital with both legs in plaster, the right leg suffered knee/ligament damage also which the hospital are hoping should heal naturally, to add to that I have six compressed spinal fractures and a torn rotator cuff.

The bike will more than likely be written off after hitting the wall I am guessing/hoping.

Unfortunately no witnesses came forward at the scene and although the police seemed capable as I start to look back at things they've even got little details like the colour of the vehicle wrong!!

My insurance doesn't seem any better either as I've received a letter from them stating they have been unable to locate my vehicle to date and I will be liable for the storage charges upon recovery, I've called them and explained that my injuries meant the police arranged the recovery so it's up to them to inform you who recovered the motorcycle, I did receive the storage details at the weekend and passed them on so hopefully that will be then end of that one.

Likewise I've contacted a solicitor to see if I am able to claim for personal injury and he believes I have a good case but who knows?

My main target is getting myself fit again, so I need some advice from the collective..

I'm planning on physio now I am home a few times a week and exercise as much as I can given my injuries and constraints, what else can I do to get my bones healed quicker and aid my recovery?

[VidalBaboon]

Sorry to hear about your off.

Swimming, probably. All the guys that go to Re-hab have a mix of massage (unfortunately Penile wasn't within the remits of the MoD), wobble balls, elastic band thingies, balance beams, hydrotherapy and swimming, even if they go in with a bleeding nose.


Good reason to get a Jacuzzi, and a Thai hooker!

Edited by VidalBaboon on Tuesday 24th July 10:56

[3doorPete]

Sorry to hear this - bit of a nightmare. Horrible injuries too. No advice other than to keep your chin up. It's easy to get down in the dumps whilst out of action. PMA helps in my experience.

Get well soon!

[Chilli]

Damn, that's awful. Do the BIB sound hopefull of tracking down the motorist?
Mate, with those injuries I'd be thinking of nothing other than plenty of sofa time. Let everythnig heal first, then get cracking on a return to fitness.

Good luck with it all, hope you make a full recovery.

[sprinter1050]

VidalBaboon said:

Swimming, probably. All the guys that go to Re-hab have a mix of massage wobble balls, etc etc

How does this massage & wobble balls actually work ?

Sounds as good as a penile massage from a Thai hooker to me...

[jhoneyball]

ouch -- hope you get better soon!

[Freakuk]

Chilli said:

Damn, that's awful. Do the BIB sound hopefull of tracking down the motorist?
Mate, with those injuries I'd be thinking of nothing other than plenty of sofa time. Let everythnig heal first, then get cracking on a return to fitness.

Good luck with it all, hope you make a full recovery.

Sorry maybe I wasn't clear the motorist did stop, however this is where it gets interesting the passenger came to my aid, called 999 the driver a woman could be heard trying to calm her kids down but proceeded to drive off leaving the passenger (I can only assume to take the kids home) however there could be more to it. They did return but I'm not sure "who" returned as I was in the ambulance by that time.

Police don't seem to want to take any further action

[Chilli]

Freakuk said:

Sorry maybe I wasn't clear the motorist did stop, however this is where it gets interesting the passenger came to my aid, called 999 the driver a woman could be heard trying to calm her kids down but proceeded to drive off leaving the passenger (I can only assume to take the kids home) however there could be more to it. They did return but I'm not sure "who" returned as I was in the ambulance by that time.

Police don't seem to want to take any further action

Got ya. P!sses me off that the bib don't want to get further involved. I guess it would be a 'your word vs theirs' without witnesses? Still, if you can afford a cracking lawyer, then they could find the flaws in their stories and secure some conviction....just thinking out loud really. Why can't people just hold their hands up when they make a mistake?

Good luck though.

[LoonR1]

Get well soon and all the other best wishes stuff.

Posts like the below big me a lot.

Chilli said:

Got ya. P!sses me off that the bib don't want to get further involved. I guess it would be a 'your word vs theirs' without witnesses? Still, if you can afford a cracking lawyer, then they could find the flaws in their stories and secure some conviction....just thinking out loud really. Why can't people just hold their hands up when they make a mistake?

Good luck though.

It doesn't matter whether there is a prosecution or not. Insurance and any compo is a civil matter decided by a completely different burden of proof.

[tori]

If you smoke, stop! Seriously impedes healing. Wobble board is good for core stability but do NOT use until back is more stable as it'll compound, not resolve the situation. Vibration plates ( in gyms) are very good in increasing bone density/ speeding up bone union as well as ultrasound but speak to the physio first. Laser is excellent for soft tissue but depends if they have it. Once you're given the initial clear, Pilates and a decent SPORTS massage on a weekly basis will allow you to regain much of the muscle strength and condition but try not to rest too much as you'll get muscle waste which technically can't be replaced. Good luck and p.m me if you need to.

[996 sps]

Freakuk said:

Hi all,

To cut a long story short I'm now home after spending 9 days in hospital with both legs in plaster, the right leg suffered knee/ligament damage also which the hospital are hoping should heal naturally, to add to that I have six compressed spinal fractures and a torn rotator cuff.

My main target is getting myself fit again, so I need some advice from the collective..

I'm planning on physio now I am home a few times a week and exercise as much as I can given my injuries and constraints, what else can I do to get my bones healed quicker and aid my recovery?

Mate firstly gutted for you what a bloody nightmare, I know everyone say's it but as ever it could have been worse, I mean by that injury wise, thats the only positive you can get in these situations.

Ref rehabilitation, as much as you can you need to mobilise the joints (the spinal fractures you need an assessment on, is it C spine? You don't want some keyboard warrior telling you what to do with spinal fractures) full extension of the knee is paramount obviously for the walking gait, plus hamstrings tighten then shorten pulls on the pelvis leads to sacro-illac pain etc, so cut a long story short take the knee through range of movement but only to its pain threshold. If its pain free put you foot up on a chair and push your knee down to fully extend it or place a powerbag/heavish soft object to passively extend the knee. Both legs are in plaster so just keep mobilising hip and knee, toes etc, not a lot else you can do there. Once the plasters off you can get cracking.

There is some research stating the vastrus medials oblique (search engine VMO exercises) wastes first as one of the quad muscles, they say the VMO pulls the patella into line (medially) if you don't work it there is a possibility you could get patella femoral pain later down the line, so static contractions (or isometric contractions) can be done as your sat at home, just tense the quads hold for 10-15 seconds the relax. I suppose another exercise you could try is placing your feet against the wall and pushing against with your toes, so contracting calf muscle there-by maintaing some strength, if you bend the knee and do you'll work soleus which is a plantarflexor as well, assists with toe off in gait.

As for rotator cuff which one? Is it a full rupture or tear? Is it swollen? Could you get a set of lightish dumbells and do rows, bicep curls, tricep press, tricep dips, dumbell bench press etc. To painful to do press ups?

Finally calcium tablets plus drink semi-skimmed milk when you can alongside vitamin D as the body will only retain so much calcium unless Vit D is involved to assit.

If you can't find knee/hip mobilising exercises on google PM me and i'll send you some exercise sheets.

Hope that helps, there's loads you'll be able to do but see a sports therapist or physio (a good one into sport).

[Freakuk]

tori said:

If you smoke, stop! Seriously impedes healing. Wobble board is good for core stability but do NOT use until back is more stable as it'll compound, not resolve the situation. Vibration plates ( in gyms) are very good in increasing bone density/ speeding up bone union as well as ultrasound but speak to the physio first. Laser is excellent for soft tissue but depends if they have it. Once you're given the initial clear, Pilates and a decent SPORTS massage on a weekly basis will allow you to regain much of the muscle strength and condition but try not to rest too much as you'll get muscle waste which technically can't be replaced. Good luck and p.m me if you need to.

Thanks, luckily I don't smoke...

Can you laser through a cast? I saw an ultrasound product Exogen but I would need to drill holes in my casts for this to work.

The break on my knee is on the bottom of my right femur where the ligament joins the bone so I can move my leg within the cast to try and keep the muscles moving but is that hindering the healing process of the bone?

[tori]

Freakuk said:

tori said:

If you smoke, stop! Seriously impedes healing. Wobble board is good for core stability but do NOT use until back is more stable as it'll compound, not resolve the situation. Vibration plates ( in gyms) are very good in increasing bone density/ speeding up bone union as well as ultrasound but speak to the physio first. Laser is excellent for soft tissue but depends if they have it. Once you're given the initial clear, Pilates and a decent SPORTS massage on a weekly basis will allow you to regain much of the muscle strength and condition but try not to rest too much as you'll get muscle waste which technically can't be replaced. Good luck and p.m me if you need to.

Thanks, luckily I don't smoke...

Can you laser through a cast? I saw an ultrasound product Exogen but I would need to drill holes in my casts for this to work.

The break on my knee is on the bottom of my right femur where the ligament joins the bone so I can move my leg within the cast to try and keep the muscles moving but is that hindering the healing process of the bone?

996S is spot on but unfortunately yes if too enthusiastic. Don't try and mobilise that area yet as clean break across the end of the femur, if distracted could lead to a whole world of cack. Quad firing whilst the leg is supported (on a bed/sofa) should be ok but let the injury tell you when to stop Certainly after the 6 weeks though get it going and as 996 said, earlier the better to get full range of movement or things start wasting. Really the rehab starts the minute you get out of plaster but any small,gentle movement you can make without hurting the site is good, even stuff as banial as squeezing a squash ball in your hands will help. laser/ ultrasound will be for when the cast is removed and the muscle starts to be mobilised again in the lower leg and for upper shoulder reasonable quicky to kick start tissue resolution. One key thing,if you feel that NHS physio isn't quite up to scratch then in invest in a private one. It'll be the best money you'll ever spend

[996 sps]

I'm with Tori, get a decent assessment and an idea of what you can get cracking on with, there's got to be some exercises to get you going, especially with the shoulder.

Good luck mate.

[Freakuk]

Thanks guys, there's a sports physio down the road that comes highly recommended and luckily the other half had me covered on her BUPA policy so I've been on the phone with them today to try and progress that, I realise there isn't much I can do while my legs are plastered up, saying that my left is only knee down so plenty of movement so I'm just going to focus more on the right with the full length cast.

Hopefully I can start working on my back at the physio in the mean-time, WRT to my spine its T spine injuries which after an MRI scan didn't show up anything nasty so just rest. My shoulder is getting stronger everyday I was struggling to raise my arm if extended hand horizontal in front of me, not too bad to the side etc the pain is somewhere in my bicep rather than my shoulder if you can understand that.

Thx

[y2blade]

Sorry to read this, thankfully you are on BUPA cover.

Heal fast.

[off_again]

Sorry to hear your crash. Get well soon - cant offer any advice but I one of the well known solicitors who specialise in Motorcycle claims can help.

[996 sps]

Freakuk said:

Thanks guys, there's a sports physio down the road that comes highly recommended and luckily the other half had me covered on her BUPA policy so I've been on the phone with them today to try and progress that, I realise there isn't much I can do while my legs are plastered up, saying that my left is only knee down so plenty of movement so I'm just going to focus more on the right with the full length cast.

Hopefully I can start working on my back at the physio in the mean-time, WRT to my spine its T spine injuries which after an MRI scan didn't show up anything nasty so just rest. My shoulder is getting stronger everyday I was struggling to raise my arm if extended hand horizontal in front of me, not too bad to the side etc the pain is somewhere in my bicep rather than my shoulder if you can understand that.

Thx

Good news, the long head of bicep tendon is often referred to as the 5th rotator cuff as it joins into the glenoid (shoulder joint), so could explain the bicep pain, the shoulder is so bloody complex though you need a hands on assessment to get the full picture. Just make sure you do strength training on your shoulder specific, the bike racers I take for training have all thought their shoulder feels okay so have left them, when they go to do a press up or chin up the weakness stands out a mile and just leaves you open to shoulder pain later on.

T spine is a relief, you could google thoracic spine mobility exercises and that would get you started, drink milk and get Vit D in as well.

[2GOOD]

Sorry to read about your bump. The NHS provided me with superb physio when I was knocked off my bike a fair few years ago. Started whilst I was still in & then 2/3 times a week in their gym afterwards. Got more movement back in than I was told to expect too, just did everything I was told to do, as much as I could.

[Freakuk]

Slight update from me, back in the hospital yesterday at the fracture clinic and after 4 hours it looks like everything is healing up nicely but there's another 4 weeks in casts yet, new casts yesterday too which seem to make moving around easier. My back pain seems to have in the main settled down but my ribs are killing me at the moment. 

Later that day I headed off to phsyio for my first session/assessment, maybe that's a bit premature but I've got to get my upper body moving and address my back and shoulder, so we have a game plan on that one and then the legs so I'm feeling happy with that. 

First set of casts when I was in A&E



Obviously had to be red



New casts, new colour yesterday



Also had a call from the insurance yesterday and the multi has been written off down as a cat B, plus what they've offered me seems bang in-line with what they're up for on bike trader etc but I'm going to call a few dealers and check before I accept the offer so that could be out of the way in the next week. Money in the bank ready for the 2013 model I guess. 

You can understand why it's been written off



finally thanks to everyone for the texts, calls, visits, offers of help it's quite humbling... Thanks