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sudsmaster

sudsmaster

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 23, 2004
Messages
15,034
Location
SF Bay Area, California
Just wanted to let my friends here know I broke three ribs and a shoulder blade in a motorcycle accident over the weekend.

Should be a full recovery, just a little painful in the meantime.

Won't be carting any vintage appliances around for a week or two... but I do enjoy following the efforts of others. Keep up the good work!
 
OUCH!

Hope you are on the road to recovery and that the painkillers are "good" ones!

Relax and get better soon!
 
Oh, too bad!

Here are wishes for a speedy recovery, as well.

If you have to go through Physical Therapy, do exactly what they say.

Lawrence/Maytagbear.

Heather, you have email.
 
Thanks, folks. Right now I'm having a nice cup of 100% arabica Columbian... ummm good.

Have had a variety of pain killers... currently taking vicodin and ibuprofen. Can't really wait till I can get back to work and rearranging/sorting/cleaning up things at home as well.
 
Geez, Rich, I hope you were wearing a helmet.

Motorcycles. Those things make me nervous.

Tom, don't read this thread! Whoops, too late.

veg
 
Thanks, yes they are painful. I didn't want to downplay the extent of my injuries - the impact was severe enough that I couldn't take a breath for about 15 seconds, and then only with great difficulty thereafter, and then only partially. It was a bit scary, but I'm breathing ok now. Luckily there was no puncture of the lung or internal bleeding, so I'm out of the woods.

It was a hit and run, but the negativity of that was balanced by the great help offered by witnesses and passers-by. A lady doc stopped and was very helpful in the initial diagnosis and in getting me prompt medical help.
 
Rich, I"m very grateful it wasn't any worse than it was. And thanks for taking the time to let us know!! A gentle hug. Bob
 
Rich I am just thankful that you were not hurt any worse than you were. Here's to a speedy recovery!! Terry
 
Rich

Sorry to hear of your accident. Hope you have a speedy recovery. If you have to cough, hold a pillow to your chest and give yourself a big hug when you cough to support your chest. If you suddenly become short of breath or cough up blood, go to the ER or call 911. Did they give you a shoulder sling? Eat something when you take the ibuprofen. It can be rough on the stomach. If you smoke, don't for awhile. No heavy lifting or exercise. Take Care, Marty (+( :-)
 
one broken

rib would be one too many for me, I can't imagine three with
a side of scapula. I hope you're on the mend and somebody saw
at least a partial license plate # and make.
 
Thanks for all the well-wishes and advice.

I'm keeping the little bottle of Vicodin by the bedside so I can get out of bed in the morning without waking up the whole neighborhood ;-). I tried weaning myself off it last night but when I couldn't lie down in bed I realized I still needed the pain relief.

Don't know about the license plate. Fortunately there was an eyewitness who saw the whole thing. He says the other driver was reckless, and paused briefly after the impact so it's likely the other driver saw what they had done, but took off anyway (or because of it). Bastard. But I have no idea if the other driver will ever be identified. Right now I'm mostly concerned with getting well and "doing the right thing" to the best of my ability.
 
Rich

When you go to bed , which ever side is the non injured side, sit on that side of the bed then slowly lower yourself onto your good arm until you are lying on your side then roll onto your back. Get out of the bed by rolling onto your good side then push yourself up on your elbow and lower your legs as your upper body sits up. Try sleeping with alot of pillows behind your back so that your head and upper back is elevated. My patients at the hospital are more comfortable when the head of the bed is elevated a little bit. Helps with the breathing too. Take care, marty
 
Thanks Marty.

The only problem is that there really isn't an uninjured side. The broken ribs and shoulderblade are all on the right, but the blade break is close to the center of the back, and rolling to either side causes it to flare up. Additionally the joint between my left collarbone and top center of the rib cage appears to be sprained, so that causes left side pain as well.

My solution has been to commandeer a wedge-shaped back cushion from the living room couch, and with some extra pillows sort of duplicate the slope of an adjustable bed. I find I can sleep much better in this semi-reclined position than flat on my back, which is still painful, and can get out of bed much easier as well.

The good news is that I've gone off the narcotic painkillers for the whole day now, without incident, and am feeling much better. Still need to sleep a lot, which I suppose is understandable since about half my chest was more or less crushed just a few days ago. Lots of soft tissue damage to repair in addition to the fractures.
 
Rich

The patients on the floor i work on have either been burned, shot, stabbed, been hit by a car been in a car, motorcycle or ATV accident, fallen off a cliff or off a horse or out of a palm tree (tree trimmers) so after taking care of these people i'd tell you to get rid of the bike, although you probably don't want to hear that. I'm glad you are doing better. Sorry to be such a downer right now.
 
Well, Marty, I can see that. However I've gone a full 12 years without a bike accident, so that's not too bad a record. As you can guess, I'm not inclined to part with it, although I admit I'm not as enthused about riding it as I used to be.

What I think I *should* do is get in better physical shape so if I do have another tumble or spill - and there are lots of ways off a bike to do that - my injuries will be less severe.

I visited the accident scene today, just to refresh my memory, and as the eyewitness told me, there really wasn't anything I could have done to avoid the crash - other than not being in that place at that time.

And yeah, I'm on ladders and the roofs here from time to time. I work with potentially dangerous powerful metal cutting machines. I try to take as many precautions as possible, but there is always the possibility of a mishap. I guess I'd rather live an interesting life than a boring one.

But I can't argue that one isn't much more likely to be injured in a bike accident than in a car accident. It goes with the territory. I promise, however, never to go quail hunting with Dick Cheney.
 
Rich,

It sounds like you might be doing a bit better - glad to hear that. I never once in my life did any sports or physical fitness until after I broke my horse's fall...poor thing, despite the soft landing on me, he still broke a leg.
We are both just fine today...but my doctors told me I would have recovered much faster if I had been fitter.
I still ride horses, still ride motorcycles...etc. But one thing I have noticed in my circle of friends: The reports of hit and run accidents involving bikes (all types), skate-boards, inline skaters is way up. Either we are all getting more careless or...
 
Panthera,

I would guess the prime problem on our roads today is the cell phone. People are inattentive enough already to other traffic without having their attention diverted by phone conversation. A conversation with someone in the car beside you is different - they can see what's happening on the road and will generally have the sense to pause or shut up when things get dicey. Not so with a cell phone conversation - it generally removes the driver's attention from the road and transports it to the other party on the line. Perhaps the technology is here to make all cell phones used in automobiles have their cameras activated so the other party can see what's happening on the road. But implementation of such a solution would probably take years and might not resolve all the issues anyway.
 
favorite bumper sticker

Or more cars could display the best bumper sticker i have seen in years: "Perhaps You Would Driver Better With That Cell Phone Shoved Up Your Ass!"
 
Hi Rich, wow I'm so sorry to hear that, it sounds really scary. Glad you're ok though. I had no idea you rode a motorcycle.
 
Marty,

LOL! I have often wanted an electronic LED display screen, which could display useful messages for other drivers, such as "Hang up the damn phone, and DRIVE!".

Robert,

Thanks. I've been riding motorcycles for about 25 years now. Had my share of accidents, three that resulted in relatively serious injury - this was one of them. Luckily my helmet, work boots, and leather jacket with hard foam padding on the arms and shoulders helped to prevent even more serious injury this time. The helmet, and jacket, especially. I didn't slide far but I think when the car nudged the front wheel of my bike it sent it down hard to the pavement. I wound up landing mostly on the front of my right shoulder - ouch! Planning on returning to work on Monday, although I'm finding that I have to keep up the Aleve if I want to be able to do almost normal daily activities. So it will be interesting. Of course rototilling my garden with lots of pull starting to diagnose an engine problem isn't exactly taking it easy, either.

I love motorcycles but I am really tired of the risk and the potential for injury. If it's not an errant driver, it's a deer or a slippery spot in the road. And sometimes it's just my own damn fault ;-)

But they sure are fun - amazing acceleration on even a small engine bike.
 

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