Wednesday 11 May 2011

Hello fellow sufferee..

In my previous blog entry I received a comment and a couple of questions from Gordon who in answering him is worthy of the main page and not a line or two in that little reply box so here goes.

Gordon's comment: 

Hi Mark
Just found your blog today. I broke my hip 8 weeks ago today on my bike and our stories are similiar although I am 49.
Back wheel went out on some diesel? at 25 mph and I came down hard on right hip. No other damage thankfully.
DHS and no weight bearing for first 6 weeks. So now allowed back on turbo and 25% weight bearing building up to full weight by 10 weeks post op.
Your story is heartening and it sounds like you are making a good recovery. I am getting a lot of aches and pains in leg now I am using it again - did you go through that? Knee seems a little unhappy about working again too. No one mentioned anything to me about prospect of ball of femur 'dying' from lack of blood flow - how do you tell?
All the best
Gordon 


Hi Gordon, firstly so sorry you've joined the broken hip gang, it's an exclusive club with few members but more than you'd think! You say you are 49, well I'm only a year younger and the only reason I mention age is that in my case age combined with the side affect of the immunosuppressant drugs I take for my kidney transplant (along with the fall of course) are responsible for my weakened bones. Since my fall I've read a lot and have come to understand that cyclists are prone to 'thinning of the bones' as my doc puts it and once we get past forty it can become a real concern. Calcium & vitamin D supplementation is recommended as a precaution but in our cases that recommendation comes too late - I'm mostly mentioning this for the older riders that may be reading this...

You are already on the turbo and soon to be fully weight bearing, that's really good going and slightly better than my own progress but all the same very similar. I like you also had pains but in places you wouldn't associate with a broken hip, my pains initially were in my thigh, hip, knee and strangely my feet - both feet. As soon as I was allowed to partially bear weight I was out on my crutch 'walking' my dog and walking as much as possible in the house. Every day I upped the distance until the time came when I was allowed to fully weight bear and then I would walk up to 2 miles, yes there was pain but I was determined that I would get back to my old self so 'walked' through the pain trying to walk as normal as I possibly could.

My pains have diminished or completely gone now at 4 months. My knee pain has gone but does occasionally flare up, pain killers takes care of that if I'm off out somewhere. Both of my feet hurt from the time I was partially weight bearing and for a few weeks after fully weight bearing with the good legs foot stopping aching first then a couple of weeks later the bad leg stopped. I also had hip pain at first particularly when walking up a slope and especially when riding my bike up any sort of incline but this rarely troubles me now although I can't say I've pushed myself on the bike as I've deliberately avoided any of the hillier hills around my locale but normal walking doesn't hurt my hip any more.I still get pains in my thigh during and more so after exercise or physio. I also suffered some muscle wastage particularly in my calf and in my lower quad just above the knee - some of it is back now but I still have a lot of work to do to get those muscles back...


This death of the head thing is called avascular necrosis, I was told it can be caused by a lack of blood to the head of the femur at the time of the accident or thereafter. If the break is on the neck or higher nearer the socket there is a greater risk of this happening than if it's lower like mine was. I have a follow up in 6 months time to see if I'm suffering from this but my consultant isn't concerned about it so I'm not.

As I said I'm 4 months post break, I'm back on my turbo and the road and my fitness is getting close to where I was before the break, I'm getting better every week. My limp is slight when I'm having an occasional bad day but nearly undetectable otherwise. I do get tired easily when out walking, my legs feel heavy most times but I hope that over time I will get back to where I was when walking was like 'floating on air'.

I hope the above is of some encouragement to you and that things will get better for you as I'm sure they will, just takes time and patience. There is a thread over on BikeRadar forums that may be of interest to you link why not grab a cuppa and have a read, lots of riders in our boat on BikeRadar.com

4 comments:

  1. Hi Mark

    Thanks for taking the time to so eloquently describe your experience. 'It could have been worse' has been my mantra through the tough days.

    It does make me feel better to hear of your similar aches and pains - sorry!

    I am a little concerned that I was made to wait nearly some 40 hours post accident before the operation (at Croydon hospital) and that time seems to have some impact on the possibility of avascular necrosis.

    Watching the Giro and the sad death of Wouter Weylandt and the resulting tributes has been incredibly moving as a fellow cyclist, and some of my tears in the last few days are for my own accident and all cyclists who have ever suffered something bad.

    I sometimes struggle with how something that I love so much and that gives me so much pleasure could work me over so badly. But that is life eh?

    You have had a lot more to deal with than me and I congratulate you for that.

    Are you going to have the metal work out? My consultant said that leaving it in can lead to the early onset of arthritis in some people - my biggest concern would be falling on it in the future.
    I will be a very cautious fellow on the bike when I get back on the road that is for sure.

    When I was bored a few weeks ago I plugged my Garmin 705 into my computer and was amazed to see the day of the accident still in the history. It was all rather spooky, I could see the exact speed at time of impact then the ambulance route to the hospital and then my friends journey home with the bike in the back of the car.

    The ambulance crew were very cool, taking my bike and finding somewhere safe for it while I was in A and E.

    So enough about me - lets talk about bikes!

    I liked viewing you 'quiver' of bikes and wish I had the shed for that many!

    I ride a fixed 48/17 Pearson for commuting and London based training (I live in Peckham). Starting riding fixed way before it became uber trendy, as I was intrigued by the concept and feel in love with the direct drive train 'feeling.

    Defo made me a stronger rider. No resting! Don't think I could push that gear combo at the moment though!

    My out of town hill bike is a 5 year old Wilier Mortirolo running a mix of campag centaur, chorus and record.

    I am now considering a present to myself as I turn 50 in August and had been thinking about a new bike or at least a frame and gruppo with bits from my current bike.

    For the last couple of years I have been a big fan of Phillipe Gilbert who rides for Omega Lotto.If I could ride like anyone it would be him.... They ride on Canyons - German mail order only.

    This is what I am considering http://www.canyon.com/_en/roadbikes/bike.html?b=2141.

    So we shall see - you are only 50 once or should I say you only break your hip once?

    OK my 16 month old son is waking from his nap and I am minding him today.

    Cheers

    Gordon

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Mark
    Thanks for that, posted a lengthy reply which I thought had appeared on your blog and then it vanished.
    I will post it again if this goes up or can I just email you?
    Cheers
    Gordon

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sorry Gordon you are so right, I don't know where it's disappeared to however I still have your e-mail so I have re-posted your comment...

    Hi Mark

    Thanks for taking the time to so eloquently describe your experience. 'It could have been worse' has been my mantra through the tough days.

    It does make me feel better to hear of your similar aches and pains - sorry!

    I am a little concerned that I was made to wait nearly some 40 hours post accident before the operation (at Croydon hospital) and that time seems to have some impact on the possibility of avascular necrosis.

    Watching the Giro and the sad death of Wouter Weylandt and the resulting tributes has been incredibly moving as a fellow cyclist, and some of my tears in the last few days are for my own accident and all cyclists who have ever suffered something bad.

    I sometimes struggle with how something that I love so much and that gives me so much pleasure could work me over so badly. But that is life eh?

    You have had a lot more to deal with than me and I congratulate you for that.

    Are you going to have the metal work out? My consultant said that leaving it in can lead to the early onset of arthritis in some people - my biggest concern would be falling on it in the future.
    I will be a very cautious fellow on the bike when I get back on the road that is for sure.

    When I was bored a few weeks ago I plugged my Garmin 705 into my computer and was amazed to see the day of the accident still in the history. It was all rather spooky, I could see the exact speed at time of impact then the ambulance route to the hospital and then my friends journey home with the bike in the back of the car.

    The ambulance crew were very cool, taking my bike and finding somewhere safe for it while I was in A and E.

    So enough about me - lets talk about bikes!

    I liked viewing you 'quiver' of bikes and wish I had the shed for that many!

    I ride a fixed 48/17 Pearson for commuting and London based training (I live in Peckham). Starting riding fixed way before it became uber trendy, as I was intrigued by the concept and feel in love with the direct drive train 'feeling.

    Defo made me a stronger rider. No resting! Don't think I could push that gear combo at the moment though!

    My out of town hill bike is a 5 year old Wilier Mortirolo running a mix of campag centaur, chorus and record.

    I am now considering a present to myself as I turn 50 in August and had been thinking about a new bike or at least a frame and gruppo with bits from my current bike.

    For the last couple of years I have been a big fan of Phillipe Gilbert who rides for Omega Lotto.If I could ride like anyone it would be him.... They ride on Canyons - German mail order only.

    This is what I am considering http://www.canyon.com/_en/roadbikes/bike.html?b=2141.

    So we shall see - you are only 50 once or should I say you only break your hip once?

    OK my 16 month old son is waking from his nap and I am minding him today.

    Cheers

    Gordon

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hmm don't know about having the metal work out, one to ask the doc the next time I see him...

    I have a feeling that fixed of yours will come in handy at some point in your rehabilitation, I've got to the point now where my cardiovascular fitness is somewhere near where it was pre break but my strength is untested however I have a feeling I'm only 2 thirds as strong as I was. I've only ridden my SS once (standard gearing) and that really worked my legs, a great feeling the next day and one I intend to re-visit once the suns out.

    Becoming 50 is a great incentive for a nice prezzy and that Canyon looks really good, just tell your better half it will help you stay young and more up for it if you know what I mean ;)

    ReplyDelete