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Wasatchman

over the hill
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Ah hell. Sorry about your injury. Best of luck and speedy recovery!

Pretty crazy that it didn't seem like much of an extraordinary event when it happened. I wasn't really aware of this type of injury, especially skiing. I'll be thinking more about those pole plants, just wish it wasn't due to your misfortune.

Again, speedy recovery to you.
 
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Dang! Shouldn't this be renamed the "old guys' subforum?"
(If I am not careful, I will spend all my time on PugSki in this forum...)
Does your biceps look like the picture of this one which I pulled from the internet?
ed6d1664044456e81993b1b2cd3c9b67--biceps-tendon.jpg

If so, welcome to the club! I have two of them, both popped while doing hard forward strokes trying to stay on a wave while whitewater kayaking. When I look at how the long head of the biceps attaches, I can see why 30 years of whitewater kayaking would wear through the attachment.
Yep, mine looks just like that. You can see pictures in this post.

So you're living with two unattached biceps tendons? Wow, please do tell! Has the weakness bothered you? Did you think about getting them fixed?

Now I'm scared for my other one. What I read is it usually happens in your dominant hand, middle age men typically. How long between the ruptures? Thanks!
 
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Don't you have two little kids?!?! lol
Yep and an overdose of optimism and overconfidence! What could go wrong?
full


Seriously, the worst of this is we've yet to break it to our son that we are not going to Copper for closing weekend. He was sick and couldn't ski a couple days during spring break. We were going to make it up with a boys weekend together next week.

Both of our ski seasons are done. He just doesn't know it yet. :(
 

Ron

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remember, you don't need good luck, or prayers; it's the OS and the Anesthesiologist. :).

Seriously, all the best to you. See ya' on the other side.
 
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Thanks so much for wishing me well!

My arm is feeling much better. It's looking really ugly, though. It's become very clear where it was bleeding internally on each side of the rupture.

IMG_20180411_082219_1.jpg


Thanks again!
 
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Kneale Brownson

Making fresh tracks forever on the other side
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Aren't you glad you didn't also get the knee repair?

About 50 years ago, I learned I had four wisdom teeth turned sideways and growing along the jaws toward the roots of the molars. At the same time, I was going to have a second surgery for pilonidal cysts at the base of my spine. I was going to be "taped up" on that end with a soft diet, so when the surgeon was done, they flipped me over and the dentist started chopping out those wisdoms. That surgical combo worked out OK except I lost some wisdom.
 
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Yeah, it would've been bit ridiculous to get my arm done the same time. I'm already active and reasonably functional. I think my recovery could have been a disaster if I did both, but I do love a challenge :)

I'm bummed I can't use ice for the first week. They don't want me to get my splint wet for fear of infection. Even sealed ice packs can cause condensation. Makes sense, I guess, since it was an open surgery. When I go back next Friday they will take off the splint and fit me with an immobilizer. I can then use ice but hopefully it will be too late for pain control.

Pain seems totally manageable now. Wasn't too bad at the time to take my first at home meds. I can definitely tell she drilled a hole in my bone, though. We'll see what happens tomorrow when everything wears off. No nerve block needed. They said they would do it post-op if necessary and it wasn't. The plan is to move to Tylenol and Aleve as quickly as possible. Hoping tomorrow. I hate the way opioids make me feel. Setting the alarm tonight to stay on schedule.

They used an endobutton device to attach the tendon to the bone making a super solid repair:

endobutton.jpg


Thanks again for all the well wishes. And thanks to all the medical professionals who dedicate their lives to making us better. I have no doubt I received world-class care today at the University of Colorado Hospital, and once again grateful we have such an amazing facility in our cowtown!


.
 
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Quick day two update: I'm doing awesome and pain is not bad. I'm off the opioids. Tylenol and Aleve are handling it just fine. Didn't set the alarm last night and slept an hour and a half past the Tylenol running out. Pretty uncomfortable but not excruciating when it woke me up. This pain stuff is obviously different for everyone, but my experience seems consistent with others I’ve seen that this surgery isn't as bad as many, thankfully.

Not having my dominant arm Is annoying for sure. My wife and kids think I'm grumpy. Trying to open a new bag of coffee just took me 5 minutes. I was thinking how glad I was I wasn't on crutches too. :thumb:

I set up Mac OS dictation, and it's pretty poor, like Siri. Google assistant is much better, but there is no dictation in Gmail or Chrome. I discovered Google Docs has dictation that works great, so I'm just copying and pasting from there and it's wonderful.
 

Mendieta

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I set up Mac OS dictation, and it's pretty poor, like Siri.

Ha. You are gonna love this little anecdote. They migrated my work phones to Apple. Whatever. The sucker is sitting there on my desk, I have a person asking me something on corporate IM, This is while I am responding an email and someone calls me. I am about to pick up the (regular) phone and I hear a lady talking to me. Quickly figure it out as I get my headset on and I say "sorry Siri, I am busy right now", she says "That's ok", and I start talking to the person. Someone nearby (it's an open floor plan) starts laughing at the whole sequence. It was hilarious!

Anyways, thank you for sharing your story. I am sure it will help lots of people finding this post via web searches.
 

François Pugh

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Quick day two update: I'm doing awesome and pain is not bad. I'm off the opioids. Tylenol and Aleve are handling it just fine. Didn't set the alarm last night and slept an hour and a half past the Tylenol running out. Pretty uncomfortable but not excruciating when it woke me up. This pain stuff is obviously different for everyone, but my experience seems consistent with others I’ve seen that this surgery isn't as bad as many, thankfully.

Not having my dominant arm Is annoying for sure. My wife and kids think I'm grumpy. Trying to open a new bag of coffee just took me 5 minutes. I was thinking how glad I was I wasn't on crutches too. :thumb:

I set up Mac OS dictation, and it's pretty poor, like Siri. Google assistant is much better, but there is no dictation in Gmail or Chrome. I discovered Google Docs has dictation that works great, so I'm just copying and pasting from there and it's wonderful.
Good luck on the recovery.
I can relate to missing the last day of the season:(, but like you, at least I had a full day of skiing:ogcool: (sans poles) to end my season after my season ending injury.

You are fortunate Tylenol and Aleve work for you. Booze (après ski and first three nights), hydromorephone (one night only - prefer pain to side effects), more booze (two hot toddies for night 5) and Percocets (at night when going to bed only) got me through the first week, Aspirin helped a bit during the next three days, but I'm med free now. I can also relate to opening things. Between my discomboomerated left thumb and broken right femur, every simple thing (e.g. doing dishes tying shoes, buckling a seat built) takes longer and causes pain; some things don't even seem worth the effort. I still haven't been able to unplug and recharge my new (used one day) Sidas boot heaters.

You should take your kids skiing (at Copper if it's still open). If you do, LEAVE YOUR SKIS AT HOME! You've invested too much in the recovery so far to risk a fall.
 

François Pugh

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Good luck on the recovery.
I can relate to missing the last day of the season:(, but like you, at least I had a full day of skiing:ogcool: (sans poles) to end my season after my season ending injury.

You are fortunate Tylenol and Aleve work for you. Booze (après ski and first three nights), hydromorephone (one night only - prefer pain to side effects), more booze (two hot toddies for night 5) and Percocets (at night when going to bed only) got me through the first week, Aspirin helped a bit during the next three days, but I'm med free now. I can also relate to opening things. Between my discomboomerated left thumb and broken right humerus, every simple thing (e.g. doing dishes tying shoes, buckling a seat built) takes longer and causes pain; some things don't even seem worth the effort. I still haven't been able to unplug and recharge my new (used one day) Sidas boot heaters.

You should take your kids skiing (at Copper if it's still open). If you do, LEAVE YOUR SKIS AT HOME! You've invested too much in the recovery so far to risk a fall.
Too late to edit, it's the humerus, not the femure. Third time I've made the mistake, and I know the difference very well!
 

Kneale Brownson

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Copper closes today, I believe. Breck closes Peak 9/10, but Peak 8 is open another week.
 
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@François Pugh , thank you for setting a disagreement with my wife. Continuing to ski without poles after an arm injury is what everybody does! :roflmao:

You take the cake was your break! I thought mine was just a sprain but should have known better given the pop. Not sure if I could have done a whole lot more damage per my MRI report:

IMPRESSION: Complete tear of the biceps tendon, with 5 cm of retraction of tendon fibers. The lacertus fibrosis is also torn.

I was unnecessarily freaking out about the torn lacertus fibrosis when I saw the report. No need, as that's normal with the injury. It's the stuff that covers the biceps tendon and they don't bother fixing it... just in case anyone is Googling. I couldn't find anything definitive in PubMed.
 

François Pugh

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I was seriously wondering how you skied the rest of the day w a broken femur!! :roflmao::golfclap:
My one ski skiing is not good enough to be a pleasure yet; I keep going too fast and messing up the carve into a smear on the little toe side. I think I would have called it quits for the day with a broken leg, but I don't ski on my arms. Choice was simple: be in pain at home feeling sorry for myself, or be in pain, but skiing perfect conditions. I don't think the delay did me any harm - the only treatment was a sling. I didn't know the HUMERUS was broken until the x-rays revealed the fracture, starting just below the ball, progressing into the ball and finishing just below the ball on the other side. It feels like I have some other soft tissue damage to go along with the break; stuff seems to painfully click in and out and around when I forget not to use my arm - I remember not to use it fairly quickly!
 

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