broken clavicle
 

Ok. I parted way from my GasGas on Sept 13th. I was on a dual-sport motorcycle ride up in NH and crashed big time. The crash happened in a remote area and was taken out of the woods in a jeep to a truck and then loaded onto some 6 wheeler. That then took me to where the helicopter had landed. Then I flew to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. I don't remember the scenic helicopter ride. Bummer. I'm not really sure how I crashed and no one witnessed it. I was in the hospital for two days. I can barely remember the hospital or the two weeks after the accident. I'm pissed that they cut off my jersey, bike pants and my armor. I already deep 6'ed the helmet and goggles. My subframe on my bike is a little tweaked. I have been out of work since the 12th of Sept and I can't drive. The reason I can't ride/drive is not the broken clavicle...it has to do with my brain injury. I can't hit my head again for some time. Trust me...I don't want to do that again. It sucks being home all day. Remember boys and girls to wear ALL your equipment. If I hadn't, I would have been an organ donor. Thanks Jimmy and John for staying with me the whole time. Angelo and Dave for getting ever thing home and for hiding the bike...LOL. To the fire department and EMTs that helped my out of there. Thank you to all that have stopped in to see me. I'm happy to be alive and to hold my family.

Now the update. I am starting to feel somewhat better. My head wound is just about healed. My brain injury will take quite a bit longer, months, I've been told. My broken collarbone is starting to come together, I think. I have a bump where the break is, but I am told by several doctors that this is 'normal' and it will heal. I don't like it. Still feel like I am one step back from what is going on, but am told that is normal too. I can't go back to work until at least Nov. 5 when I have a follow up appointment with the neurosurgeon who at that point may clear me to go back to work. I have started OT but find it to slow for me but I have to stick with it.

Here's a few pics.

Taken in the ER
Here's a few pics.

Taken in the ER
http://i675.photobucket.com/albums/v...collarbone.jpg
I have a newer clavicle x-ray coming soon. I can tell you it doesn't look like this anymore. Grrr...

http://i675.photobucket.com/albums/v.../ammorun09.jpg

http://i675.photobucket.com/albums/v...0913091310.jpg
A faster ride then the bike.

I'll PM you my cell#, I learned too much about this the last year and a half to type.

i had a nice getoff on a street bike in may this year - broken clavicle and surprising brain after effects from the hit - i developed positional vertigo - which thank god was only temporary, but 3 months of vertigo was enough...

get well soon.........and take it easy..

Thanks for the info. We are looking into it. I personal think I'll be taking a ride to Houston soon. Again. Thanks!

Hope everything works out OK for you.
Dirt riders are a great group of people, as you can tell by your buddy's quick reactions to your situation.

Boomhauer and myself will give you the Texas welcome if/when you come to Houston, like we did GMP.:D

If it needs to be fixed, its a very wise move.

Edit:

Steve,

The first XRays don't look bad like Dr. Mark said on TT, but if you have a sharp lump now something must be causing it. What counts is what its like now. The clavicle is a PIA as it is always under some tension and just about impossible to keep in place. The parts of mine moved all over before it was plated and I'm sure in some positions looked better than others. Maybe you will get lucky, mine looked a lot worse, like it exploded.

Boomer and gasgasman are great people, it was great knowing someone in town and having them help me out. If you fly down and stay across from the clinic, all you ned to do is get a cab from the airport to the hotel, and hotel to the hospital. There is a shuttle from the hotel to the medical building where the clinic is located.

Thanks guys! It means a lot to me!

I have the X-rays from the 21st coming by the end of the week. I'll post those when I get them. I can tell you it doesn't look like that anymore. The ends of the two bones are pushed up more in the middle. They meet but I have this wonderful bump. I'm not sure if this goes down or not. Maybe the broken rib is causing this...got me.

Thanks you all for the info. It means a lot.

Steve

I got the newest X-ray! This was taken on Sept 21st.

http://i675.photobucket.com/albums/v...collarbone.jpg

To me this doesn't look good but then again I ride a dirt bike. LOL

Ok Steve that's looking pretty darn ugly now to my untrained eye. MUCH different than the original x-ray you showed me in the hospital (top left pic) which looked really good at the time. IMHO that need surgery. When is the next x-ray going to be taken?

I also have to give kudos to the on-site medical attention you received. Considering the slightly remote area they had arrived in force from all over by the time I got there. Very impressive. After I rode the next small loop trail section the chopper had just landed as well. To bad you don't remember that!

Tell me about it!

The next X-ray is Nov 5th and I think that is crazy!

I called my PCP and I'm looking for a referral. They are getting back to me.

Here's the real kick. There was a radiology report with the X-ray it says " Unexpected Finding: Left mid clavicular fracture now displaced and angulated significantly."

What does that tell you? Tells me it should not be like this...

You have to remember something, to a lot of these docs, the old school non-surgical approach is acceptable, even for severe cases (like mine) because thats the way they were taught, its not their shoulder, and they are not riders . There are reports of studies in medical journals now that conclude plating is the prefered treatment for displaced fractures. Plating clavicles is relatively new, and the Ti clavicle specific hardware is very new(they started with stainless steel pelvic repair plates that had to be bent to shape), so unless the doc is on top of his continuing education and experience, you get old school. A lot of these guys have no business marketing "Sports Medicine" because all they do is discourage you from risky activities and make no extra effort to get you back in the game the way you were. The bread and butter of these guys seems to be in replacing trashed hips and knees in old people, common, accepted procedures insurance pays for, and the patients are almost certainly to be happy with compared to what they had.

Boy Steve, that looks painful! What are the Doc's waiting around for? From what GMP stated, Ti plating makes sense to me. I wish U a full recovery man. Sorry U have to go thru all of this.

I got my answer from Dr. Mark. He said to come down and visit him next week.

Now to find out if I can get ready...

Well, I'm still working on getting to Texas. My PCP wants me to see a specialist and let them refer me to TX. I guess it has better weight if it is done like that. Got me. I do have full motion of my shoulder. OT is a little shocked I can move it that much. Same here.

I got a nice bill from the Woodsville ambulance service. Over 500 bucks! I tried to submitting it but that was a no go. I guess I would rather pay for this then the Helicopter ride. I wonder if I can deduct the riding equipment they cut off me... :mad:

That sucks Steve. Referals are a PIA. I never had a doc that was eager to give a referal, I'm glad my insurance does not require them. Good luck. Yeah, ambulance rides can be pricey. My little adventure in PA when I got impaled cost me a lot more than that for a ride to the hospital. The thought of paying for a chopper ride motivated me to ride most of the way out.

Some real expensive bills are for low level flights of diving accident victims requiring re-compression treatment.

I would have road out if I was with it. :rolleyes:

I found out that the coding was wrong on the paper that was sent to the insurance. Now I need to get the ambulance service to re-send the correct code. Insurance said they would cover it but I think I still have a deductible of $500. I also found out what the bill for the helicopter "ride" was. Try $13,800! Thank God for insurance!

My wife just told me the hospital bill was over $32K WOW!

32K+14K+500=$46,500 And that doesn't cover the OT and my PCP visits which is around $120 and growing. All for a still screwed up collarbone...this sucks!

Somewhere someone is making some serious money. It's like play money or Monopoly money. Crazy!!

Is not happy...I'll post later. Is it to early to start drinking?

So where to begin… I saw the “specialist” and he said that because of the amount of time that has past, he would not do surgery. The X-ray’s he says show that the bones are starting to come together and that’s why he would not to do it. He said I had an 80% chance of everything coming out all right. Umm...what about the other 20%? He said surgery would require a bone graft and that takes longer to heal. I then asked him what he would do if it was his kid. He said nothing…now. I pushed the issue and he said he would like to see me in 4-6 weeks. Great…the run around begins again. Time wasting away…

http://i675.photobucket.com/albums/v...vicleOct20.jpg

http://i675.photobucket.com/albums/v...icleOct202.jpg

Let us know what Dr. Mark's opinion is. If he thinks U should still go ahead with the plating, can U insist this other Dr. to ok it? After all, it's your body.

Same old crap. My first doc said the same thing, if it was his shoulder he'd leave it alone and not plate it a second time. Yeah, the ends of my clavicle had fuzz between them on the XRay, but that ended up being fiberous scar tissue that was like a cartlidge, and the bone moved constantly. He dosesn't want surgery because he probably hasn't done many, especially with a bone graft. Even if it does heal, it will not be straight. Search on TT, Dr. Mark makes reference to a study in a medical journal recently done that concludes the surgical approach yields better results.

This is a preview of whats in store for more of us if that Ahole Obama gets his way. Sorry, I really hate that guy.:mad:

He did talk about that study but he still would not do it. I'm calling my PCP and see if I can force them to refer Dr Mark.

And I agree about Zero...I mean Obama.

I forgot. The doc said he wouldn't do the surgery because of my head injury. He said there could be a problem.

Run that one by Dr. Mark, I'll bet he calls BS. Good luck. I've been there and feel for you.

Ok. I called my PCP and they said that they would write the referral. Now I hope and pray that is passes.

The referral to TX is in with the insurance company. I called the insurance and the lady said they review it in 2-3 business days. That's not what the other lady said...I'm not holding my breathe.

My shoulder blade and shoulder socket area is really hurting when I using the sling. I also feel this pain if I have been standing a lot and haven't rested my shoulder. I've pretty much stopped using the sling...unless I go to the docs. The break point isn't to sore but my neck is. There's still a nice point on the collarbone. I wonder how my riding gear is going to feel rubbing on that if I can't get this fixed. I know my clothes feel terrible on it.

OT says I've come along way...would have been better with a plate. Right now I have full motion if I raise my whole arm up over my head. From the side I can only go about half way. It is also very hard to go across the front of my body. I have one finger that feels numb...that is better then the 3 I had a few days ago. Fun Fun Fun. :mad:

Updated: I found an orth doc up here that does work with the Acumed plate. I'm seeing him this Friday. Maybe he gets it more then the others... It seems crazy when I'm trying for TX but I have to have a backup plan.

on my last break, the doc said 'here's a sling' - after a week of the sling, i switched to the shoulder brace style.
i hate the way the sling heals. the brace is infinitely more comfortable..

That figue 8 brace is useless. It would have to be super tight and not removed for the entire time it takes to heal. As soon as you remove it the bones move. You cant straighten a broken clavicle without surgery, it just does not want to sit straight by the nature of its function. You feel pain because the shoulder geometry is screwed up. Muscles that are normally relaxed are now under tension. The brachial plexus (nerve bundle to arm) is also likely affected as it can be compressed. Once its plated and straight this will all go away, but the longer it sits crooked like it is the longer it takes to feel normal later.

Once you have been through this, and spent time in a sling, brace, and plated, you will understand and beleive that the non-surgical approach is old school crap that has no place in 2009, except probably in the Obama care plan.:mad:

i have done all three... plated is the way to go. on this last break i had no coverage, so i went the old school way. either way, the figure 8 was infinitely more comfortable for me.

All that you said makes total sense and I agree. The OT has also told me the same thing. That nerve bundle, if compressed can causes cold/numb fingers. Don't get me started on Zero...sorry I mean Obama.

Hey Steve,

On a lighter note, a local bar is having a costume contest Halloween party. Now, I usually do not participate in this type of thing, but if I could find a bullet hole riddled Obama costume I'd go. My wife wants to go as Octo Mom, that psyco with all the kids thats trying to look like Angelina Jolie, and asked me to go as the doctor wearing a lab coat and carrying a turkey baster!

Enough with the political BS guys. Our fine medical system was totally F'd up LONG before it was dropped into Obama's lap. From my experience nothing has changed for better or worse. Steve you would have been dealing with the same BS Obama or not and you can't tell me different.

Yes, your correct, nothing has changed, YET. Also correct on Steve's unfortunate issue with a lower quality insurance plan. BUT, the point of the dig is, is that Steve's problem is what can be expected for all of us, if the insurance industry is regulated to be on par with a govt plan. Now, I happen to be one of the lucky ones with a great plan that would be considered a "premium" plan and be taxed to the point of the employer likely moving to a lesser quality plan or the govt optioin if it passes. Plus, much of my family income comes from the health care industry, that will be regulated to the point of moving disposable mfg for one company off shore to cut costs, and likely affecting my wifes employment and that of many others. So, I have a large personal stake in this experiment in socialism that will end in disaster, and if I can get a laugh out of it occasionally and maybe make another guy laugh who needs a laugh, I'll do so. There is no political or off topic discussion forum here and thats probably a good thing, but as long as it does not get out of hand or nasty there is nothing wrong with the occasional comment or joke. This is a close knit group and this site is tame by comparison, I think we can handle it.

Hell, if I said what I really think I'd have to ban myself.:eek:

Well, bad news. Dr Mark was denied by my insurance. I figured it would be. I'm changing health plans from HMO to PPO. Yes, I have to pay more but I don't have to deal with this craziness anymore. Tomorrow is my last try at getting it fixed up here...wish me luck!

Good Luck Steve!

Damn it. The thought of someone making decisions like this about health care services angers the hell out of me.:mad: How bad do you have to suffer before they pay for surgery? I was talking to my wife about this and HMOs work on a "minimum standard of care" principle to cut costs, like the proposed govt regulations will. That standard is from the '70s in this case.

Worst case is you tough it out until you can switch plans and get it fixed then. Its still fixable at any time, it just takes longer to heal if you need a bigger bone graft.

Good luck today, if this doc is up to date and comfortable with the procedure maybe he can get something done with the insurance co.

Thankfully we have the PPO plan where I work. For how long, we will have to see...

OKay. Good news. Surgery this Monday! I'm happy but a little nerves with the doc telling me what could go wrong. Scary...but the has to do that just in case. :(

This doctor said mid-shaft clavicle breaks take a very long time to heal...if at all. He gave me an 60/40 % it would be okay. We could wait another month and see how it is or just do it. Hey said it is up to me. He also talked about the bone graft and the protein type injection. He told me he hasn't done a 100 of these...a little scary. I know he did my brother and he's is fine. I can tell you this place was very different then the others. I didn't feel like a number or that I was being rushed through.

Well, wish me luck.

Steve

Good luck Steve.