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How to keep busy when broken

stumpjump

Monkey
Sep 14, 2007
673
0
DC
Was at Seven Springs a little over a month ago and took a pretty nasty digger breaking my femur, 2 ribs, and put a nice tear in my rotator cuff as well. Got a rod put into my leg and had to learn how to walk all over agian. Today was my first day I walked into work without crutches, but Ive still got a long way to go. Im on a trainer for about 20 minutes a day just peddling to keep my ligaments stretched and starting to rebuild the muscle too. Other than that I go to work and I come home and watch tv. Im trying not to drink because itll just slow down the healing time but theres really not much to do besides the interwebz and tv when you can barely walk.

Im trying to be positive but Im running out of things to keep my mind off the fact that I cant ride. Im looking for some relatively cheap ideas that will be low impact on the body. Something physical, but at the same time not too physical. So throw me some stories or ideas of what got you through your last injury. At 30, I can honestly say I had never thought I would be this guy but here I am. I will be back on the trail as soon as my doc/body lets me but for now I just need to keep myself sane.
 

jonKranked

Detective Dookie
Nov 10, 2005
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completely off topic, but that rod in your leg may very well have been made by the company i work for.


super cool story, right bro?
 

stumpjump

Monkey
Sep 14, 2007
673
0
DC
I always thought that intramedullary robs were on the outside of the bone and screwed to the side to keep it straight, but after quite a bit of research I found they are actually within the marrow canal of the bone. Mega cool but also kind of weird when you think of it. Im crazy interested in medical technology, but way more interested when its not me the parts are going in. Ok Jon so I was wondering this and maybe you can answer it for me. Whats the approx diameter of the rods. I know Ti is strong and everything, but how could a thin rod stay straight when so much weight is being put on it. My doc told me to bare as much weight as I could on it right after surgery, but I was really hesitant to do that.
 

jonKranked

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Nov 10, 2005
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I always thought that intramedullary robs were on the outside of the bone and screwed to the side to keep it straight, but after quite a bit of research I found they are actually within the marrow canal of the bone. Mega cool but also kind of weird when you think of it. Im crazy interested in medical technology, but way more interested when its not me the parts are going in. Ok Jon so I was wondering this and maybe you can answer it for me. Whats the approx diameter of the rods. I know Ti is strong and everything, but how could a thin rod stay straight when so much weight is being put on it. My doc told me to bare as much weight as I could on it right after surgery, but I was really hesitant to do that.
they're also referred to as intrameduallary nails too. they come in multiple lengths and diameters; the size used depends on how big of a person (and thus your femur) is. diameters range from 8 to 19mm, and lengths up to i think 460mm

i had to do a demo lab once where i actually installed one of these nails into a saw bone (saw bone = fake bone used to instructional and test purposes) :twitch:
 

stumpjump

Monkey
Sep 14, 2007
673
0
DC
I got banned from r/mtb a long time ago because one of the admins was a bag or crate of douchery. Im trying to decrease couch time and increase something else that doesnt make me have the cripple mindset. I wish I had an ear for music, but unfortunately stubby fingers and no gift of sound doesnt put me at a good start.

@Jon, I was totally following you until you said medical hammers. Just ouch. Im actually going to see if I can get an itemized list of what went into me. Im really curious what the hardware looking like that will be setting off medal detectors for the rest of my life. I've heard some stories of people having the rods removed after time because of sensitivity in the leg but I have dodged that bullet so far. I would actually like to see the process of putting the rod into a broken bone. I asked the doctor to gopro it but he wasnt as cool with the idea as I was. Would have been a sick edit.
 

jonKranked

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Nov 10, 2005
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The hollow impaction screw with staggered threads in my navicular is one of hte coolest pieces of technology I've seen.:thumb:

The staple in my ulnar colatteral ligament, not so much.
screws are only hollow to allow use of guides for minimally invasive surgery. and by staggered threads i'm guessing you mean with the head threaded to lock into a plate? or was it a self tapping screw?

and we have way cooler stuff
 

jonKranked

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Nov 10, 2005
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@Jon, I was totally following you until you said medical hammers.
you should see some of the drill bits :twitch:

Im actually going to see if I can get an itemized list of what went into me.
ask for the bill

Im really curious what the hardware looking like that will be setting off medal detectors for the rest of my life.
the nail is ti, so that won't. the screws to fix it in place - depends on if they are ti or SS

I would actually like to see the process of putting the rod into a broken bone.
no. no you don't.
 

stumpjump

Monkey
Sep 14, 2007
673
0
DC
I was really curious how they drive the nail into the marrow canals, especially after I saw how bad the bruising was around my @$$ near the top incision.
 

bizutch

Delicate CUSTOM flower
Dec 11, 2001
15,928
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Over your shoulder whispering
screws are only hollow to allow use of guides for minimally invasive surgery. and by staggered threads i'm guessing you mean with the head threaded to lock into a plate? or was it a self tapping screw?

and we have way cooler stuff
It had graduated threads and the screw was hollow, the center being for the actual tool that runs it into the bone.
This one:



Oh, and I found a butthurt image in the same search that I can't resist:

 
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stumpjump

Monkey
Sep 14, 2007
673
0
DC
Got a pup but ive been unable to walk her for the most part because she tends to pull a ton and Im still not stable enough yet to deal with the imbalance.

@ Bizutch, I broke my scaphoid a few years ago DJing. Its def not a walk in the park.
 

jonKranked

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Nov 10, 2005
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bizzy: "graduated" threads isn't an engineering term. do you mean variable pitch? some screws are dual pitch.

either way, from that x-ray it appears to be a self tapping screw,
 

stumpjump

Monkey
Sep 14, 2007
673
0
DC
Have you been brewing while you're on IR?
Actually I have been brewing, but Im not drinking as much now because I don't want it to get in the way of the healing. Right now Ive got a choco stout sitting. Im either thinking an oatmeal stout or maybe a lager is up next.
 

jonKranked

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Nov 10, 2005
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Actually I have been brewing, but Im not drinking as much now because I don't want it to get in the way of the healing. Right now Ive got a choco stout sitting. Im either thinking an oatmeal stout or maybe a lager is up next.
fact: alcohol and caffeine reduce the rate of bone healing when a fracture occurs.
 

stumpjump

Monkey
Sep 14, 2007
673
0
DC
Yeah, Ive cut it down to about 1-2 beers a week now. The caffeine on the other hand is a little more difficult to limit.
 

Casey-Ryan

Monkey
Jan 2, 2012
142
1
Gloucester, MA
Go Down to your local playground and start an occupy_____ where you live. This may last only a day or a couple of weeks but you might make some friends out of the deal.
:D