The Root Won - Part 1
Sometimes, you know before impact that this is going to be bad and its going to hurt. My crash on Nov 13th was one of those times. I knew as the series of events unfolded that this might finally be the one that takes me out. It all started with a root. A slightly damp root covered in about six inches of leaf debris. I hit that root at just the wrong angle and with just a little too much speed. My rear tire slid out, shooting me to the left. I was almost able to correct, just upright and ready to pedal out of it. And then... My left hand hit a small tree, sending me careening back to the right. There was no coming back from that one. I was airborne - the only question remaining was what the leaves covered as I plummeted towards the ground.
The pain upon impact was immediate. I’d landed hard on a series of roots, my entire right rib cage perpendicular with the roots. Along with the pain came the scream, like that of a dying animal as everything registered in my brain. Nick was at my side in seconds, trying to help me up. I snarled at him “Don’t touch me!” I was still doing my mental inventory of what had happened and what was hurt. Ribs for sure. At least one broken rib. Legs felt good, arms and hands good, I hadn’t hit my head at all. So just the ribs. I accepted Nick’s help and gradually stood up. Damn - I couldn’t breath outside of short gasps and trying to stand upright was nearly impossible. And we still had to get out of Swope Park. Nick took my bike, I hobbled behind him and Cam, moving slowly and trying unsuccessfully not to moan the entire time. Finally, we reached the top of the hill and started heading down the easy trail to the road. I decided to ride - it was easier then walking and much faster. At the road, another choice. Cam offered to ride back to his house and come get us, but that would take 40 minutes. Or we could try pedaling back, which might take 30 minutes. I opted to pedal. It was damp and cold. I didn’t have the clothes with me to stay warm for 40 minutes. If I didn’t keep moving, I would quickly get hypothermic in addition to the broken rib.
Once we got back to Cam’s it was time to find an urgent care. I knew there was nothing we could do for the broken rib, but wanted to make sure there was nothing else going on. I wasn’t struggling to breath, there was no gurgling so I hadn’t punctured a lung. But I didn’t know about internal bleeding or anything. After a little driving around, we found one. I checked in, told the tech what had happened. They took vital signs, reviewed history and such. The NP listened to my lungs and did some feeling around before sending me over for x-rays. Those initial x-rays looked normal, so normal in fact, the NP asked the radiologist to read them twice! With fears about internal bleeding assayed, I could relax a little. The broken rib, which hadn't even shown up on the x-ray would hurt like hell, but I would be fine. Once we made the long drive back to COS, that is!
Friday - two days after I crashed. We got home mid afternoon. Nick unloaded the van and I slowly started putting things away, one thing at a time. It was a long process! You forget how easy it is to do things until you can't. We'd finished getting everything put away and were settling in to watch a movie when I started feeling faint. It was more then faint - it was vision going blurry, stars in the background, need to sit down NOW before I fall. Nick said my color faded and I was turning grey. After sitting down, the feeling slowly dissipated. I chalked it up to trying to do to much and increased pain, but registering the episode in my head. That was a classic hypotensive/diaphoretic episode. Why would my blood pressure be dropping? Nick and I talked briefly about going to the urgent care nearby, but opted not to. I was feeling better. We went to bed - and let me tell you, the motor planning for getting comfortable in bed with a broken rib is no small task. When I woke up early Saturday to go the bathroom, I didn't make it past sitting. Same thing - faint, pj's drenched in sweat and blood pressure 80/52. Numbers that would make me call the nurse if I was at work! We decided to go the urgent care when they opened. Get a second set of x-rays and maybe some stronger pain meds so I could sleep.
The urgent care was a classic case of treating the numbers instead of the patient. My heart rate was in the mid 70s, my pulse Ox was in the mid 90s and my BP was 110/68 - all numbers well within the normal ranges for adults. Another listen to the lungs, feel the ribs and the doc said she'd give me something stronger and to take it easy. No need for another set of x-rays because the numbers were fine. It was obviously just a broken rib and there's not much that can be done for that. Feeling off-put and slightly blown off, we collected my new pain meds and headed home. Maybe my general sense of unease was just because of the rib pain. It would go away as the ribs started healing.
The pain upon impact was immediate. I’d landed hard on a series of roots, my entire right rib cage perpendicular with the roots. Along with the pain came the scream, like that of a dying animal as everything registered in my brain. Nick was at my side in seconds, trying to help me up. I snarled at him “Don’t touch me!” I was still doing my mental inventory of what had happened and what was hurt. Ribs for sure. At least one broken rib. Legs felt good, arms and hands good, I hadn’t hit my head at all. So just the ribs. I accepted Nick’s help and gradually stood up. Damn - I couldn’t breath outside of short gasps and trying to stand upright was nearly impossible. And we still had to get out of Swope Park. Nick took my bike, I hobbled behind him and Cam, moving slowly and trying unsuccessfully not to moan the entire time. Finally, we reached the top of the hill and started heading down the easy trail to the road. I decided to ride - it was easier then walking and much faster. At the road, another choice. Cam offered to ride back to his house and come get us, but that would take 40 minutes. Or we could try pedaling back, which might take 30 minutes. I opted to pedal. It was damp and cold. I didn’t have the clothes with me to stay warm for 40 minutes. If I didn’t keep moving, I would quickly get hypothermic in addition to the broken rib.
Once we got back to Cam’s it was time to find an urgent care. I knew there was nothing we could do for the broken rib, but wanted to make sure there was nothing else going on. I wasn’t struggling to breath, there was no gurgling so I hadn’t punctured a lung. But I didn’t know about internal bleeding or anything. After a little driving around, we found one. I checked in, told the tech what had happened. They took vital signs, reviewed history and such. The NP listened to my lungs and did some feeling around before sending me over for x-rays. Those initial x-rays looked normal, so normal in fact, the NP asked the radiologist to read them twice! With fears about internal bleeding assayed, I could relax a little. The broken rib, which hadn't even shown up on the x-ray would hurt like hell, but I would be fine. Once we made the long drive back to COS, that is!
Friday - two days after I crashed. We got home mid afternoon. Nick unloaded the van and I slowly started putting things away, one thing at a time. It was a long process! You forget how easy it is to do things until you can't. We'd finished getting everything put away and were settling in to watch a movie when I started feeling faint. It was more then faint - it was vision going blurry, stars in the background, need to sit down NOW before I fall. Nick said my color faded and I was turning grey. After sitting down, the feeling slowly dissipated. I chalked it up to trying to do to much and increased pain, but registering the episode in my head. That was a classic hypotensive/diaphoretic episode. Why would my blood pressure be dropping? Nick and I talked briefly about going to the urgent care nearby, but opted not to. I was feeling better. We went to bed - and let me tell you, the motor planning for getting comfortable in bed with a broken rib is no small task. When I woke up early Saturday to go the bathroom, I didn't make it past sitting. Same thing - faint, pj's drenched in sweat and blood pressure 80/52. Numbers that would make me call the nurse if I was at work! We decided to go the urgent care when they opened. Get a second set of x-rays and maybe some stronger pain meds so I could sleep.
The urgent care was a classic case of treating the numbers instead of the patient. My heart rate was in the mid 70s, my pulse Ox was in the mid 90s and my BP was 110/68 - all numbers well within the normal ranges for adults. Another listen to the lungs, feel the ribs and the doc said she'd give me something stronger and to take it easy. No need for another set of x-rays because the numbers were fine. It was obviously just a broken rib and there's not much that can be done for that. Feeling off-put and slightly blown off, we collected my new pain meds and headed home. Maybe my general sense of unease was just because of the rib pain. It would go away as the ribs started healing.
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