Surfski Knowledge Base

busted old guy update / was 50 shades of paddling
Reivers Dustin
02/25/15 #16945

Me and mr Bulleit are going head to head. Soon. For now my strongest drink is mint tea. We finally saw the orthodoc. and the short version is:
no surgery/ no P.T. for another three weeks/ *IF* nothing moves from where it is now - expect full recovery in time. No paddling for 3 - 4 months. I'll be wimpy for a couple of seasons. This is a very unusual injury.

Longer version:
breaks associated with ribs #3, #4, #5, #8, one break is displaced (left 3rd rib displaced by one shaft width, with bony overlap). Rib #3 has the two fractures. None of these are of long term concern. No evidence of pneumothorax (important: flail chest - might have had to be carried from the incident.)
“Highly comminuted” (think of the mick jagger song, “Shattered”) fracture of blade of scapula with mild displacement of fracture fragments. Also non-displaced fracture of scapular spine. No problems with acromion, glenoid, coracoid (important: no joint involvement).

They found joint arthritis and small calcification from tendonitis at supraspinatus, evidence of rotator cuff impingement & tear. (ancient murrellette stuff).

Going forward: Avoid movement: there is no practical way to improve scapula stability. Due to support from vascular tissue (muscle-mass) in the area, the pieces have general support. If I do nothing to displace the joint, then in 3 weeks start P.T. after the bones are knit.

Just for grins, it turns out the ortho-doc is a recovering mechanical engineer. So we had some bonding over our common associations and were able to speak the same version of english. pretty cool.

rd

Re: busted old guy update / was 50 shades of paddling
duncanhowat
02/25/15 #16946

RD thats a nice list of things for a fall onto a soft road. At least it wasn't going down on a 900cc kawasaki ninja super bike on chuckanut. Also as I'm sure you have noticed as we hit that 60+ age range, time really starts to speed up, so this recovery time will go by fast. On the other hand, lost days paddling in the 60's are tough, so some of us, in our 60's and 70's will try to put in more days and time paddling, thinking of your minor set back. Are you going to hang the new boat up in the living room in that new mansion to help inspire recovery? D

Re: busted old guy update / was 50 shades of paddling
John Rybczyk
02/25/15 #16947

My race strategy in any given year is absolutely built upon who's injured when. For example, I've shamelessly used other's joint replacements, concussions, pneumonias, heart palpitations, wrist and spine discombobulations, pregnancies and bowel surgeries to consistently (but temporarily) beat a wide variety of racers whom I cannot normally beat. RD may be injured now, but all is fair in love and surf skiing and that crafty son-of-a-gun will be beating me again soon enough. For now I will take full advantage!

Johnr.

Re: busted old guy update / was 50 shades of paddling
Reivers Dustin
02/26/15 #16948

hey baby, all part of the sport. Maybe its karma payback from my doing well at Canadian Champs. Recovery is going well. strange pains come and go. and of course I've picked up a cold, so the occasional sneeze lights up my christmas tree. mostly I'm crazed for poor sleep and bored spitless. Perhaps some amoung you will note: the currency of matrimony is moral superiority. So healing the wounds is one thing, but living down stupid is on a whole other calendar. I'm getting cooked for and dressed and cared for.

As my brother suggested, now is the time to work on my still life technique… just be like a bowl of wax fruit. My still life technique is lacking.

Re: busted old guy update / was 50 shades of paddling
Dennis Mowry
02/26/15 #16951

RD. We feel ya, but we are considering putting a cross up at the crash site with dead flowers, especially with the “ I'll be wimpy for a few seasons” comment. Be deaf to the doubt, your doctors said you will recover 100%, PT in 3-4 weeks, back in that new boat in a couple/few months, (giving you the benifit of doubt), and also back on your saddle of your new bike heading up to remove the cross.

You “may not” make it back to your record time this year but I believe you can still make good progress to be the legit challenge we were all looking for, and easily with effort be the man to beat next year.
You can't get off that easy.

Be encouraged, your head wasn't broke, use it, a big part of paddling and winning is mindset. Take the rest you need but not a few seasons.

We're all cheering for you,

Dennis

Re: busted old guy update / was 50 shades of paddling
Rick Lingbloom
02/26/15 #16954

Reivers, I can't figure out why you're holding off on the Bulleit?! You gotta take care of yourself!
Yours was the first ski I ever paddled … a long time ago. A big part of why I paddle is because you let me borrow a ski 12 or 13 years ago. Thanks for being a great leader in our paddling community. Heal quickly!
Rick L.

Horror Show at Marine Park
duncanhowat
03/20/15 #17061

Hilde is not to read this. So we're just down at MP unloading boats, getting dressed etc (I now see gusts at Locust to 50 ) Reivers is there, arm in sling, talking ,looking longingly at the white caps building, I set my boat out and go into the van to change, then a big gust hits and my boat starts to roll, now I know we all hate that sound of “thump thump” rudder and bow hitting the ground, dirt etc and it's a instinctive reaction in all surfskiers to stop the rolling, the damage,etc, so RD who is not supposed to move quickly or do anything to have his bad shoulder moves, like a cat, takes a leap towards my boat, trips on Bob's rudder, lays out horizontally in the air, spins to his good side shoulder, lands on the boat (minimal to no damage to boat), lays there for a sec, then gets up. I'm stunned, thinking oh no his shoulder that the Dr says he can't move at all for four weeks. Well, he says he's ok. Thats great, I called him later and he says he's OK. Had a couple of good runs with Simon, one was Gorge worthy. Another chapter.

Re: Horror Show at Marine Park
Reivers Dustin
03/21/15 #17064

argh! worst part was explaining to Hilde. She had that shocked and disapointed look that says, “…can't even trust the guy to walk around in pubilc…”.

Just glad nobody had their go pro on me. Thank goodness Dmow has the video to show that it was really worthy conditions. You guys have to rock the rides on my behalf.

rd