Bike Ride/Crash - Tue 23 Aug 2016
NC Museum of Art -> House Creek Trail -> Crabtree Creek Trail -> Anderson Point Park -> Neuse River Trail -> Falls of the Neuse Dam -> Falls of the Neuse Dam Visitor's Center -> Falls of the Neuse Road -> Durant Road -> Honeycutt Road -> Honeycutt Park Trail -> Strickland Road -> Cannonade/Forum Drive -> Old Lead Mine Road -> Allyn's Landing (Home).This was the plan, my estimate was about 70k. The ride started great, I left Evelyn pruning her roses at the NCMA and headed out. Going up and down the hills at the art museum and making may way to the I440 bike overpass near Wade Avenue is a beautiful segment. Down House Creek Trail to Blue Ridge Road is also a very nice segment. I even got to trigger the solar powered bike crossing lights at Blue Ridge Road. It was then onto Crabtree Creek Trail.
The Crabtree Creek Trail ends upstream from where I joined it about 2-3 miles and ends downstream at Anderson Point Park 14-15 miles.
I have biked all the bits of this trail many many times. I knew that the construction on the trail along the creek from Capital Blvd to Raleigh Road was ended and I looked forward to not having to leave the trail for a detour. Well: There still was one near I440 underpass and Yadkin Drive, but that was almost not a detour since I usually leave the trail near there and take to the streets to get to Lassiter Mill.
I made my way all the way to crossing Atlantic Avenue and noticed a 'Greenway-Closed-Ahead' sign. I thought, well perhaps they are not yet finished with the section from Capital Blvd to Raleigh Road.
When I actually arrived at the barrier I found this was not the case: The greenway was closed over the course of the last few hundred yards before even getting to Capitol Blvd. This section is a wood trestle that climbs the face of what is almost a palisades of Crabtree Creek.
So I backtracked to Atlantic Ave crossed the creek and headed down Hodges St to Capitol Blvd, back over the creek and onto Yonkers Rd. This was where I knew I could rejoin the Crabtree Creek Trail by cutting through a now empty construction site. The construction crews had filled in some of their mud holes with coarse, loose, deep gravel.
9:35 Tuesday 23 August 2016:
Right there is where I should have dismounted and walked my bicycle to the greenway trail. Instead I picked my way along convinced that would make it or have enough warning so I could dismount safely.
Instead by the time I realized that the patch of gravel I had entered was too deep and loose to get through it was too late.
I started to unclip my left foot and the front wheel jerked as it sunk into the gravel causing the bike to fall to the right.
I started to unclip my right foot and the torsion on my leg combined with the force of impact as I struck the gravel was just right to snap my right hip.
At the time I thought wow that hurts I bet I bruised my hip. I did unclip and just lay there thinking, I need to get up. Instead I called and text'ed Evelyn that I had crashed and where I was. I did get on all fours and stand up and using the bike as a crutch got over to the shade and propped the bike against a post of the shelter over the greenway where it goes under the railroad trestle.
Evelyn drove over and rescued me and we got the bike on the back of the car and headed over to Raleigh Orthopedic Urgent Care Clinic.
They X-Ray'ed my hip and it was broken. (See before/after pictures below). I was going to continue on to see Dr.Chiavetta is my knee doctor (who was in their Garner office that day) so they said I should get some crutches to get around with. When I got fitted the crutches and took my first attempt to walk with them I said, 'I better sit down right now!'. I did sit back in the wheelchair and the next thing I knew it was 30-45 seconds later and a doctor was taking my pulse. I had undergone "syncope". I then broke out in a huge sweat and they called 919 and the Wake EMTs transported me to Rex Emergency. (The total drive time was about 2 minutes since Raleigh Orthopedics is just down Edwards Mill Rd from Blue Ridge Rd.)
Dr Chiavetta and Dr Wein the Dr from Raleigh Ortho who was on duty that day at Rex decided that the break only required screws to hold it together rather than a replacement so Dr Wein put me on his schedule for early evening, since I had not eaten anything since breakfast.
The folks at Raleigh Orthopedic are really super. The fellow who got me fitted for crutches and got me in the wheelchair instantly when I started to go woozie said as we left: 'You owe me a beer!' and I told him, 'You got one coming, how's a pint of Guinness when I get healed up?'
The folks at Wake Emergency were super too. I talked with all the nurses, the emergency doctor and Dr Wein and the anesthesiologist and they wheeled me right from the emergency to the OR. The anesthetic they went with was something called a 'spinal-block' and another that would just put me 'lightly-under'. I recall looking at the clock in the OR and it said 6:07pm (eight and half hours after I fell).
It was then as if someone reached over and clicked off the lights, I do not recall them going off but the I do recall them coming back on: The clock on the wall of the recovery room read 7:40pm.
Additionally when the 'lights-came-on-again' I distinctly recall that my visual field presented itself as a tiled set of images of the same scene: The ceiling of the inside of the OR each tile persisted as they wheeled me around to the recovery room where the tiles resolved themselves to a single image. Wierd!
The anesthesiologist said that I would not be able to 'feel' anything from the waist down and would first be able to wiggle my toes but not feel anything. That was just how it went. By the next morning I was back to normal as far as feeling goes.
I even got out of bed the next day Wednesday and took a step or two on a walker. They were already discussing whether or not I should go home or to rehab. The next day Thursday I again met with the PT/OT and Admin person who said if they recommended rehab she was looking for a slot for me somewhere and said she was trying for Rex Rehab which is right there on the Rex campus. By that afternoon they had decided that rehab was the best course and there was a slot for me at Rex Rehab. I took another very short ride in a Rex ambulance to the Rehab building.
The folks at Rex Hospital were so good and professional and correct I was super impressed. The hospitalists described what she felt was the reason I 'fainted' when trying to walk on crutches: I had been sitting since I got in the car to come over with the very short time of getting out of the wheelchair and on to the x-ray table, and standing up for the first time combined with trying to move the weak leg to move on the crutches was too much for the body and it said, 'You are trying to do what? I'm shutting you down!'.
My stay at Rex Rehab, working with the PT team, working with the OT team and interacting with the Dr., the PAs, the Nurses the Nurse Assistants and all the staff was completely seamless and easy. That therapy is excellent: The got me in shape to go home very quickly. I arrived on Thursday afternoon and the following Thursday they said: 'You are headed home Saturday!' I felt strong enough and agile enough by Saturday morning so that I knew they were right on the mark. A wonderful bunch. (My insurance would have paid for 20 days but I only used 8 or 9 of them).
The recovery from having my hip pined has three parts according to how much weight I put on my hip:
[Toe-Touch-No-Load] This last 5-6 weeks and next Tuesday will mark week three of this. I get around on a walker. And can put my foot down but not to bear any weight.
[Light-Load] This is when you can put weight on you leg but it is not to bear its full load. Weight bearing actually causes bones to knit together stronger.
[Full-Load] This is when the leg can bear its full load and is the end stage of the healing process.
All three stages together take between 4 to 5 months.
So I am marking my calendar 125 days in the future from 23 August 2016 which is 25 December 2016 as the first day of not having a broken hip. With the understanding that this may be optimistic. Here is my countdown timer url.
I am writing this from a super nice rehab: UNC Rex Rehabilitation Center. It is just a few yards down the way from Rex Wellness we're I swim five days a week and do a spin class two days a week.
Here are the before and after pictures:
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| About half way from the knob to the ball the faint line is the break. |
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| Three Screws |
Bike Ride - Sun 21 Aug 2016
Neuse River Trail: Falls of the Neuse Dam to the Glenburnie Dam of the Neuse River. This is a great place to turn around. I also brought a peach and some tiny tomatoes. I was a bit slower coming back because I got a phone call while I was riding and had to slow down.
Total Time -------- 2:11 h:mm
Turnaround Time --- 1:02 h:mm
Distance ---------- 48.0 km
Turnaround Dist --- 24.0 km
Average Speed ----- 22.0 kph
Turn Around Speed - 24.0 kph
Average Heart Rate 107 bpm
Max Heart Rate ---- 145 bpm
Calories ---------- 2080 (8703 kilo joules)
Nike Fuel --------- 5899
Click This Link for some pictures.
Bike Ride - Fri 19 Aug 2016
Neuse River Trail: Falls of the Neuse Dam to the suspension bridge and back. A nice cool morning with the temp in the 70s. I did have a flat just a couple of miles down the trail on my back tire. Fortunately I had one last intertube. I'll need to visit the bike store and get some more.Total Time --------- 1:50 h:mm
Distance ----------- 42.5 km
Speed -------------- 23.2 kph
Max Speed ---------- 41.0 kph
Average Heart Rate - 108 bpm
Max Heart Rate ----- 143 bpm
Calories ----------- 1864
Nike Fuel ---------- 5899
Click THIS-LINK some pictures:.
Bike Ride - SAT 13 AUG 2016
Neuse River Trail: Falls of the Neuse Dam to 0:58 minutes and 13.5 miles down river then 1:00 hour back to the dam
Total Time --------- 1:58 h:mm
Total Distance ----- 43.5 km
Average Speed ------ 22 kph
Average Heart Rate - 106 bpm
Max Heart Rate ----- 133 bpm
Calories ----------- 1809
Nike Fuel ---------- 5719
Bike Ride
Red Cross Building to Anderson Point to Falls of the Neuse Dam
Total Time ----- 1:46:59 h:mm:ss
Total Distance - 35.66 km
Average Speed -- 20 kph
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