[DH Diva]

Well, I spent some time at the hospital last week and got a CT scan of my wrist. The purpose of the CT was to check if the scaphoid was still alive and healing itself from the accident and from the invasive nature of the surgery. Ever since my accident, my doctors have told me that there was a good chance that the scaphoid was so badly damaged that it would reject the bone graft, not be able to repair itself, and die. This would result in yucky things like fused bones in my hand and a lack of usability.

Well, the results of the CT were in later in the week and I saw my orthopedic surgeon. Miraculously enough, the bone is alive and the smaller fracture lines are almost filled in. There are still several larger ones that are still very visible though so my doctors have warned me that, although this is good news, I'm not in the clear yet. Until the schapoid fully heals, there is still a chance of the healin process stopping, and it dying.

But, so far the surgery worked!! And if my wrist continues to heal like it has been, then that means no more surgeries!!! More good news is that the ligaments that were severed are showing signs of life! They are responding to reflex testing, and painful stimulous (ie poking them with a really sharp needle and seeing them contract). I have also had some involuntary twitching in that region, which is also a good sign.

And last but not least, all the numbness in my wrist and hand has officially disappeared! I can feel everything now! Which, although I'm excited about, means that I can now feel how much it really hurts. Apparently that numbness has really been masking some of the pain this whole time. At this point though I don't care if it's pain, as long as I can finally feel something!

I still have another 6-8 weeks in my cast minimum however, and I wasn't too stoked to hear about that. But, I guess that extra time in the cast is better than not being able to move my hand normally. I took some really great pictures of my arm outside the cast, but my camera cable isn't hooked up, and as I'm home alone today, I don't think I'm going to try and move my computer tower one handed to try and reach the plug in. The last thing I need is to break my computer. So check back and, maybe I'll have some pictures by tonight!!

 

[SirChomps-a-Lot]

Rock on.

You'll be riding again in no time...

 

[profro]

Good to hear, but a dead or dying scaphiod isn't the end of the world or your riding. I'm proof.

 

[DH Diva]

Good to hear, but a dead or dying scaphiod isn't the end of the world or your riding. I'm proof.

Did you have your's removed?? If so, what did they do to stabalize your hand?? I guess in my case, because of the ligament damage, they are concerned that if they have to remove my scaphoid the hand will be more unstable then if that soft tissue had gone uncompromised. I'm curious to hear what your injury was and what they did for it, as I know you still ride and compete.

More cool news is that I talked to my doctors and they are already planning a custom carbon fiber/kevlar brace for my wrist so I can have some protection and support for riding my dirt bike and some downhilling. They decided to go with Allsport Dynamics as they have a local office, and looked to be of the best quality. And the best part is that my insurance is covering it!! So when I do get to start riding again, it will be protected! They really think a brace, at least for the first year, is the best way to go because they feel that if I break it again, there will be very little they can do to keep normal function of the hand. And my wrist will be more susceptable to re-injury. Things are looking up!

 

[profro]

I broke mine about 9 years ago and never had it looked at until about 2 years ago. At that time it was still alive, but I was starting to get arthritis on the head of my arm bone. The doc's (hand specialist and surgen for the SA Spurs) concern was that over time the wrist would collapse and need surgery to repair it. The options at that time were fused wrist or removal of the scaphiod and a couple of other bones in that area. The fused wrist has it obvious downfalls, but she said that the removal of those bones would be the best option. I would loose some strength in that wirst. She would expect 80% strength of the good wrist, but at that time that is about all I had anyway. The upsides were no cast and I could minimize the arthritis.

I opted to just wait. The surgery options wouldn't be any different at a later time, so I figured I could just wait. Now in the past two years I've started DHing again and I have definately put a lot of abuse into my wrist. I can see that it had started to collapse, because I now have a depression in my wrist when I bend it forward. As far as riding, it has actually strengthed my wrist and it doesn't hurt as long as I don't fall on it, but I would say that I definately have a weaker wrist than most. But even if I have to have it fused, I'll make do. The body has an awesome way of adapting. Two years ago the doc was suprized that I was riding at all, if she could only see me now. Oh yeah, using a mouse hurts way more than riding.

 

[DH Diva]

I broke mine about 9 years ago and never had it looked at until about 2 years ago. At that time it was still alive, but I was starting to get arthritis on the head of my arm bone. The doc's (hand specialist and surgen for the SA Spurs) concern was that over time the wrist would collapse and need surgery to repair it. The options at that time were fused wrist or removal of the scaphiod and a couple of other bones in that area. The fused wrist has it obvious downfalls, but she said that the removal of those bones would be the best option. I would loose some strength in that wirst. She would expect 80% strength of the good wrist, but at that time that is about all I had anyway. The upsides were no cast and I could minimize the arthritis.

I opted to just wait. The surgery options wouldn't be any different at a later time, so I figured I could just wait. Now in the past two years I've started DHing again and I have definately put a lot of abuse into my wrist. I can see that it had started to collapse, because I now have a depression in my wrist when I bend it forward. As far as riding, it has actually strengthed my wrist and it doesn't hurt as long as I don't fall on it, but I would say that I definately have a weaker wrist than most. But even if I have to have it fused, I'll make do. The body has an awesome way of adapting. Two years ago the doc was suprized that I was riding at all, if she could only see me now. Oh yeah, using a mouse hurts way more than riding.

Thanks you so much for that information!! You don't know how much better hearing about your experience makes me feel about my situation and my possible outcomes. It's good to know that people out there are still able to ride with this type of problem. My doctors main concern right now is the soft tissue that was damaged may not be enough support if bones need to be removed or fused. But, I'll deal with that when i get that far. I really does sound, especially after hearing your story, that it's a day by day thing. Doctors can say that all day but it's nice to hear from a fellow rider. Thanks again!

 

[profro]

Yeah, keep your chin up. After a while, it won't be a day to day thing. You'll be riding, racing, and rippin be before you know it.

 

[Repack]

Good to hear things are looking up. DOc's thought that my bro broke his Scaphoid in the Mt Snow Yardsale 2 years ago. Luckily he didn't. He had diagnal breaks of his Ulns and Radius. Both breaks started from the outside of his arm and ran into the middle portion of his wrist. Both breaks were very stable.
But, I remember being amazed at what a pain in the ass a bone as small as you scaphoid can be. Kinda funny when a break of both your lower arm bones is a better alternative to breaking one bone ~the size of a marble.

 

[surfinguru]

Hang in there DH Diva. Your story makes me feel a little bit better about my surgery tomorrow. 3 months in the cast and the scaphoid still isn't healing. At first I was under the impression that they would do the small incision and stablize the bone with a Herbert screw. Well, after the pre-op visit last week, I was informed that it's the full on, spread your wrist open deal to get at the bone, then they put the screw in. I was stressing pretty hard the last few days wondering if I've made the right decision. Clearly you had much more going on in there than me, but it's good to know that positive results are attainable.

Oh, and I have to ask, how much pain were you in after your surgery?

 

[Brian HCM#1]

Hang in there DH Diva. Your story makes me feel a little bit better about my surgery tomorrow. 3 months in the cast and the scaphoid still isn't healing. At first I was under the impression that they would do the small incision and stablize the bone with a Herbert screw. Well, after the pre-op visit last week, I was informed that it's the full on, spread your wrist open deal to get at the bone, then they put the screw in. I was stressing pretty hard the last few days wondering if I've made the right decision. Clearly you had much more going on in there than me, but it's good to know that positive results are attainable.

Oh, and I have to ask, how much pain were you in after your surgery?

Is that from N*?

 

[surfinguru]

Is that from N*?

Yep. Can you believe that crap?

I'm hoping I'll be ready sometime near the beginning of the year, but I have no false expectations.

Expect the worst, hope for the best....

 

[Brian HCM#1]

Yep. Can you believe that crap?

I'm hoping I'll be ready sometime near the beginning of the year, but I have no false expectations.

Expect the worst, hope for the best....

Damn, I thought you'd be back by now, I'm sure everything will go fine.

 

[DH Diva]

Hang in there DH Diva. Your story makes me feel a little bit better about my surgery tomorrow. 3 months in the cast and the scaphoid still isn't healing. At first I was under the impression that they would do the small incision and stablize the bone with a Herbert screw. Well, after the pre-op visit last week, I was informed that it's the full on, spread your wrist open deal to get at the bone, then they put the screw in. I was stressing pretty hard the last few days wondering if I've made the right decision. Clearly you had much more going on in there than me, but it's good to know that positive results are attainable.

Oh, and I have to ask, how much pain were you in after your surgery?

Surprisingly enough, the pain in my hand and wrist wasn't too bad. My hip hurt worse, as thats where they took the bone graft material from and they apparently had to harvest a rather large piece of bone. My wrist and hand were actually very dead feeling and pretty numb. Which they said was normal given the invasivness of the surgery. But, I was on some pretty heavy drugs for the 1-2 weeks after the surgery. I was on a morphine derivitive for several days and actually don't completely remeber all of that time. But, the better the drugs, the less pain your in. My doctors actually wanted me to do nothing but sleep for like a week just to let the wrist have a good rest so they doped me up pretty good. It's really not a bad procedure and you'll be surprised how quickly your incisions will heal up. Because of were the scaphoid is, they can actually very easily move aside the soft tissue to insert the screw into the scaphoid. So as invasive as it sounds, it's really not that bad. I'm sure you'll get through it with no problems! I'm a wimp and I made it! Best wishes tomorrow and good luck! We'll all be sending good thoughts your way!

 

[Repack]

I was on a morphine derivitive for several days and actually don't completely remeber all of that time.

Mmmmm...Dilodid!(sp?) Kate had that stuff. She got to hit the button every 6 minutes. They said they she was the only person allowed to hit it so that someone else wouldn't accidently OD her. Powerful stuff. Now its Perc's, Vicodin, and Valium!!! Actually 'only' Percocet and Valium. The Vicodin made her sick. Pretty much Cloud 9 either way though.
I used to think that professional athletes were pvzzies for getting hooked on pain killers. Than I had surgery, ended up with a mess of pills, and was like, Wow! Me likey!

 

[DH Diva]

Mmmmm...Dilodid!(sp?) Kate had that stuff. She got to hit the button every 6 minutes. They said they she was the only person allowed to hit it so that someone else wouldn't accidently OD her. Powerful stuff. Now its Perc's, Vicodin, and Valium!!! Actually 'only' Percocet and Valium. The Vicodin made her sick. Pretty much Cloud 9 either way though.
I used to think that professional athletes were pvzzies for getting hooked on pain killers. Than I had surgery, ended up with a mess of pills, and was like, Wow! Me likey!

Yup!! Thats the stuff (I think the spelling is diluadid). I was on that stuff after the accident and then for a week after my surgery (two weeks total). I was actually surprised they let me go home with the stuff. The quicker you can get off it and on to something a little less narcotic the better. You really feel like crap if you've been on it for a while and then stop taking it. I had to ween myself on to darvocet to make the transition less traumatic to my body. Vicodin makes me sick too so it was percocet or darvocet after that. I feel like a walking pharmacutical manual sometimes.

BTW repack- I e-mailed Kate last night...Hope she's feeling alright.

 

[Repack]

BTW repack- I e-mailed Kate last night...Hope she's feeling alright.

Cool! She's doing much better. Amazingly so. It seems like every 6 hours or so she makes marked imporvement. If she doesn't mind, I might post her x-rays later.