one more for the wrecked shoulder club

[hefalump]

Only difference is I broke mine Skiing. I broke the ball right off the top of the humorous. The Greater Tubular(?) also sheared off. It's the bump on the side of the Humorous that rotator cuff muscles attach to. As of now both are non-displaced fractures, so I might avoid surgery. If the bones stitch together in the correct position I could begin physical therapy in about 3-4 weeks. At that point I will learn if the muscles were torn. Although, the doctor said based on the type of injury it looks like I tucked my arms in at the moment of impact so he thinks it's not likely I tore anything.

Next week I go for X-rays (and MRI if required) to see if every thing if healing in the correct positions. If all goes well I could be good to go in 3 months, or it could be months longer if I need surgery.

I'm hopeful to make the ECC ... to wind dummy at least if I can't compete.

There was a link to HG in this miss-hap ... I was skiing with Adam, Erica, Scott, and Eish. My friend Christine was also with me, poor girl had to scrap the rest of the day skiing to help me get to first aid, then the Killington Clinic, and finally pack my stuff and get me on my way home ... thanks Chrisy!!

If I had a Bat Wing I could of stuck the landing. After My skis left the terrain, as I careened of the slope, I got a taste of what it might feel like launching unhooked ... very frightening.

This one handed typing sucks ... I'll post the results after my doctor visit next week.

See you all ... a little later in the season than expected.

JD

[jimrooney]

Shitter man. I don't care how my friends get hurt... it always sucks!
I hope your prognosis is good. You just heal up the right way, don't worry about how long it takes... do whatever will be best at the end of it all.

See you at the ECC!
Jim

[John Simon]

Those Green circles are meaner than they used to be. Look into something called the "bunny" hill next time. Sorry you are gimping, I tried it last year and cannot recommend it. Hope your recovery is quick, if the bones play nice and nothing's torn you may get lucky. Call me.

John

[Lauren Tjaden]

oh! I am so very sorry. I hope you're not in too much pain. (Mixing Percocet with gin works well for that). Seriously, I'm sending hugs and kisses and quick healing wishes your way.
Lauren (the other crip) Tjaden

[Paul Tjaden]

Hey Hef,

That really sucks. I think you should definitely take Simon's advice and stick with slopes of 5 degrees or less. When I was a young whippersnapper, I would regularly cheat death on the steep and deep but now I am more than challenged enough just to survive the nice groomed cruiser runs. Of course, hang gliding is much safer. You just need to figure out a way not to land. It's those damn landings that can really screw with your body.

It sounds like your injury may be similar to Awesome Bob's injury when the tandem glider broke a couple years back. It took him a while to heal but he didn't need surgery and he's 100% now.

Heal quick,

Paul

[markc]

Sheesh, Lauren's hurt, JD's hurt. Thinking about you both, and I really hope
that your recoveries go well, with a return to the air that is faster than forecast.

Hmmmm... You two would make a great XC-retrieval team. The one with
the lame left shoulder handles the shift, and the one with the lame right
shoulder handles the wheel!! Party with Lauren and JD, let's go, woohoo!

Hope that you can find some laughs and fun to speed the recup time along.

MarkC

[Flying Lobster]

You shoulda stuck with naked fire jumping while intoxicated, hah hah. Seriously, major bummer to hear of accident--heal well so we can enjoy your fun presence again.

marc

[kcarra]

We have a EXOGEN 2000+ bone fracture system left over from my broken humerus. It has 146 treatments remaining. We're not sure how much longer the battery will last so we'd like someone to get some use out of it. Let us know and we can mail it out.

Karen

[hefalump]

Kcarra,

Thank you so much for the kind offer, but John Simon has already offered me the use of his. You mentioned that it has a limited number of treatments remaining ... do they have a service life? I thought that it would keep going provided you could replace the gel.

My shoulder feels much better. I never needed any pain meds, just some Advil from time to time. It really only gets sore after the exercises to prevent the joint from locking up. I hope the lack of pain means that things are going well. The big issue is the Greater Tubercle fracture. That is the attachment point for the muscles (among others) that lift the arm. If I accidentally try to lift my arm, the muscles will pull this piece of bone out of alignment. Imagine when you chip a piece of porcelain and the chip slides a little out of alignment as it glued back into place, that's what I hope to avoid. The X-rays, taken last week, clearly shows this piece out of alignment, I asked the Doctor about the displacement, but he said it was "close enough". From when I broke a finger a few years ago, I was told that the broken surface of the bone gets "sticky" and they find there home position. The break across the top of the Humorous had enough "tooth" along the break line and it "keyed" right into position, so no worries with that one. I was actually surprised to hear an Orthopedic Surgeon say "if it was my shoulder ... I wouldn't get surgery", I thought the solution for everything for these guys is surgery. Maybe that's why he started me on exercises after the first day ... he wants things to get goofed up because he's down on his billing this month … Ha Ha.

I will know better after this Thursday with the new X-rays (and MRI"s) if required.

Thanks to all for the well wishes.

JD

[hefalump]

Update ... I was a little disapointed after my doctors visit to but my prognosis is good. The Fracture across the Surgical Neck is healing fine. The fracture of the Greater Tubercle (GT) is still out of position, but close enough for the Collar of Calum to form and close the fracture. I was hoping that it would "magically" find it's way into position. The snag is that the Greater Tubercle will be about 1CM lower than it should. It would be as if you broke a handle off of a coffe mug and reglued it to mug about 1/2 inch lower. The GT is where at least three muscles attach to the Humorus which allow you to lift your arm away from your body. Iterestingly the GT act as a mechanical stop when it hits the Acromion. So I my actully be able to lift my arm a bit higher (may help with the flair), but because it will not project out so far (shorten the lever) I will lose some mechanical advantage. With Physical Therapy the muscles will adapt and should pose no long term problem and I will avoid surgery. But I'll just have to live with knowledge everything is not exactly where it's supposed to be.

So 8-12 weeks from the date of injury, the bone will be fully healed and able to bear full load. I hope to be closer to the 8 week with the aid of John's Bone healer. I will start PT in three weeks, but it will take about a month after the bone heals to regain full muscle strength.

So the most important thing is that I will be good for the ECC, albeit not very current. I guess I just have to come down a week early.

[jimrooney]

everything is not exactly where it's supposed to be.

Sounds pretty much par for the course eh?

Glad you don't have to go under the knife. Take it slow, heal well. We'll see ya at the ECC.

Jim

[Lauren Tjaden]

Hey Hef,
Glad to hear you're not too painful, even if you are a little lopsided!
Lauren