What Do You Say?

[gobles]

At the end of August, I had a mountain bike accident that caused a broken collarbone, sprained neck, crushed brachial plexus, cuts, bruises and a mild concussion. People told me I should give up riding and I just laughed at them. Eleven weeks after that accident, I had a road bike accident that only caused road rash (bad thing to have on your legs in the wintertime), and a very bad concussion. Now, all my friends, doctors and complete strangers laugh at me and tell me I have fallen on my head one to many times if I get back on a bike. Well, I was on the road bike three days after the accident and I will not give it up. I argued with the physical therapist today because see insist I give up riding and I said NO. What can I say to these people that will make them understand that if you take my bike away, you take my soul away?

[Kalidurga]

People told me I should give up riding and I just laughed at them...

What can I say to these people that will make them understand that if you take my bike away, you take my soul away?

I think you answered your own question. Until they can grasp what it's like to have a passion for something, they're just being silly when they try to tell you what you should or shouldn't do. So, laugh away. It's your body, you're responsible for it, you should make the decision whether or not to continue pursuing your potentially harmful passion.

Though I might spend some time figuring out how I could ride more safely, if I were you...

[hirakukibou]

I think when people don't share your passion they have a hard time seeing that the risk is worth it. It does sound like your friends and family are worried about you and that is where their insistance comes from. One idea might be to take a safety course for riding or something to appease those who are worried about you. However, like Kali said, it is your body and your life. I also think it takes some courage to get back up on the bike after two serious accidents. I say, follow your heart. Be safe and heal well.

[bcipam]

As someone who has also had her share of accidents, injuries or illnesses and has had to be off the bike longer than expected or desired, I share your pain and understand your anxiety but... it sounds like you need to stay off, rest, and heal properly. Take up another sport. I started hiking again after my collarbone surgery (which btw was necessary because I did not let the fracture properly heal). Also I was able to do spin classes to keep my legs moving. The doctor and therapist are just concerned about you falling again and getting hurt further. Give it the proper time. You'll be biking soon enough.

[margo49]

You gotta be a bit nuts to recover from serious medical situations.
A good physical therapist knows that there are some of us who have to be restrained a bit from overdoing the recovery *but* that we are also the best rehab cases 'coz we are *motivated*
My experience is that my community know that when they see me on my bike I am *well* and *happy*. They *like* to se me recovering against odds.
I think people like to see someone *really* recover. People love a fighter who will never say die. It gives the courage too and also they tend to prefer to support a fighter, rather than pity someone who is sidelined for ever.
Go for it!

ps sorry about all the *'s for emphasis, this is one thing I really get on a soap box about

[KnottedYet]

I'm surprised your PT wants you to give up riding. Does she just want you to lay off riding for a while, or really want you to give it up? Ask her what she meant?

We often encourage our patients to take up riding, because it's such a good sport for folks who've been injured. But then our clinic owner is a huge biking goddess...

If I had a patient with a situation similar to yours I might ask her to try switching to a recumbent bike for a while to allow everything a chance to heal. Not a flat-out supine recumbent, something more like a RANS or a BikeE, Rush, TourEasy, where your spine is more upright with a bit of a lean back and a fully supported spine. But only if there were no lingering balance impairments from the injuries. If someone's balance and proprioception haven't recovered yet I don't encourage biking.

I would also reccommend my patient take some of the really good bike safety and handling classes we have around here, not because my patient doesn't know how to ride, but because after a brachial plexus injury a person's body needs to relearn some skills that have been taken for granted in the past, and a class with an instructor who can watch a person's body is a great place to retrain.

[annie]

At the end of August, I had a mountain bike accident that caused a broken collarbone, sprained neck, crushed brachial plexus, cuts, bruises and a mild concussion. People told me I should give up riding and I just laughed at them. Eleven weeks after that accident, I had a road bike accident that only caused road rash (bad thing to have on your legs in the wintertime), and a very bad concussion. Now, all my friends, doctors and complete strangers laugh at me and tell me I have fallen on my head one to many times if I get back on a bike. Well, I was on the road bike three days after the accident and I will not give it up. I argued with the physical therapist today because see insist I give up riding and I said NO. What can I say to these people that will make them understand that if you take my bike away, you take my soul away?

In the span of less than three years, I experienced the following bike accidents:
1. Broke my pelvis in a pace line accident (My fault.)
2. Suffered concussion and mild road rash when hit by another bike and knocked into ditch. (NOT my fault.)
3. Major road rash on face (my Dr. compared it to third degree burns) and mild concussion. ( Run-in with a car - NOT my fault.)
4. Another mild concussion and much bruising and swelling of left ankle when struck by hit-and-run driver on RAGBRAI 2004.

After each accident, I was back on my bike AS SOON AS MEDICALLY POSSIBLE! Can you imagine the comments I got from people who didn't get it?? I guess I could almost understand their point of view even when they didn't understand mine. You said it, exactly and precisely, gobles!!
What can I say to these people that will make them understand that if you take my bike away, you take my soul away? There really is very little you can say to them to make them understand. I asked them what it was that they were passionate about and how would they feel if others told them they should give it up. Sometimes that worked, usually not. So I would just laugh, thank them for their concern, inform them that if I couldn't bike, they might as well shoot me, and then I'd change the topic of conversation.

Does your PT have a sound reason for insisting you give up riding? Does she just want you to take a break till you heal? That's reasonable. But I would insist on a valid medical explanation first. Good luck. Keep us posted.

annie

[Susan Otcenas]

Gobles,

A very good friend of mine had two cycling accidents fairly close together. She had a moderate concussion on the first one, that causes her vision to be doubled only when she looks down. After a month or so off the bike, she started riding again. Soon enough, she hit a patch of gravel and conked her head again.

This time, her doc insisted she stay off the bike for a longer period of time. Basically, he told her a concussion is a brain injury, the outward manifestation of which is her persistent double vision. Just like you wouldn't jog on a broken leg, another fall would be/coould be seriously detrimental to the healing of your brain. And it's likely that her second accident was a result of her vision not being quite right after her first fall.

Soooo, she's taken up tandeming with a variety of friends who own them. She trusts them as captains, and can get all the fun, exercise and exhilaration of cycling without having to rely on her own vision and balance to keep the bike rubber side down. She'll go back to riding her single eventually, but in the meantime she can still ride while giving her brain a chance to heal with less likelihood of a fall.

I don't know if this is an option for you or not.

Regardless, I hope you heal soon!

Susan

[LAB]

Gobles - I thing Susan is giving you some great advice. To just take it easy for awhile and consider a tandum (if anything) until your head is healed.

I am, however, appreciating your passion for bicycling. A golfing friend of mine is a commuter biker and within the last 5 weeks, had a serious bike accident when she went head over heals (with bike still attached) after a car pulled out in front of her. She was VERY VERY lucky to have escaped paralysis after fracturing 3 cervical spine vertebrae. The good news is that the vertebrae didn't move and she had an operation to fuse her spine with cadaver bone and some temporary screws and a plate put in to ensure stability until the cadaver bone fuses with her own. I saw her less than one week after the accident and her words to me were "I can't wait to get back on my bike!" Her family is encouraging her to give up biking all together, but there is no way she will give into their wishes because she is so passionate about biking. She loves it even more than golf! Can you imagine?

I wish you a speedy recovery!

[Chimiska]

Proprioception is a lovely word. It means that your body parts (arms and legs and things) give you feed back as to where they are and what they are up to. You know where your hand is without looking at it. When you wreck or have surgery, you lose that sense of where your parts are. It takes time to re-learn. Be sure and give it time. If you don't, you will wreck again all too soon because your sense of where your parts are will be off a smidgen.

Ask your PT for exercises to improve your proprioception. In the mean time, be a stoker, go to spin classes, etc.

It takes time to heal. More time than you will have the patience for I promise you!! And if you are 40 it will take more time than when you were 30, etc.

You will be back on your bike.

One of my favorite sayings is:Lord give me patience, and I want it NOW.

[IFjane]

Her family is encouraging her to give up biking all together, but there is no way she will give into their wishes because she is so passionate about biking. She loves it even more than golf! Can you imagine?

What's golf?

Gobles - hang in there and do what you love, but be safe and don't push yourself. I know what would happen to me if I HAD to give up cycling - I'd drop into deep depression and probably wind up weighing 500 lb!