What Do You Say?

[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!