Good News!
Today I went to Oregon Nerology for an EMG of my Brachial Plexus. Basically what they do is stick needles in my arm, run some electrical current through them and listen to the sounds that this machine makes. It's actually kind of cool but some of it hurts a lot.
The results are good, not great. Nerves in my shoulder are not dead! Now they are not working at all but they are alive. The doctor who performed the test said that he is hopeful that they will all come back, however he's not hopeful for the next month. So it looks like more waiting for me and more getting around with just one arm, at least for the time being.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Monday, March 26, 2007
More Movement and Tests
So I continue to recover, SLOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWLLLLLYYYYYY. This weekend I discovered some more movement in my hand. I can now extend my fingers from the second knuckle up. Now this may not seem like a big thing but I am stoked about it since its the first major change in about a week.
Today I went to the Neuro Surgen, Dr. Soldevilla. He looked at the arm, my muscle responses and what I can do, can't do, etc. He determined that the main problem is probably a particular part of the brachial plexus. The current prognosis is a long wait and see. I am going in for more tests Wednesday when they are going to put needles into my arm and measure the electrical responses in the muscles. That test is probably going to "buy" me another MRI. So more tests to come more time to wait and see. But we're still looking at a long road and a long time.
Today I went to the Neuro Surgen, Dr. Soldevilla. He looked at the arm, my muscle responses and what I can do, can't do, etc. He determined that the main problem is probably a particular part of the brachial plexus. The current prognosis is a long wait and see. I am going in for more tests Wednesday when they are going to put needles into my arm and measure the electrical responses in the muscles. That test is probably going to "buy" me another MRI. So more tests to come more time to wait and see. But we're still looking at a long road and a long time.
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Released to Work!
Yes! I've taken the next step and have been released to do work. It turned out to be harder than thought. I had to convience the doc that I was OK and here's what we settled on. I can return to work with "the following restrictions: Limited ability to use the right arm and hand" Part time starting 3/22/07 and full time 3/26/07.
Apparently because the accident happened on a company function it's worker's comp. I never thought that I would have any use for worker's comp but here I am using it.
Also here are 2 pics Matt took of me with the ski patrol fixing me up.
Apparently because the accident happened on a company function it's worker's comp. I never thought that I would have any use for worker's comp but here I am using it.
Also here are 2 pics Matt took of me with the ski patrol fixing me up.
Saturday, March 17, 2007
First Work Out!
This Weekend I got my first real exerisze since the accident! Woo Hoo! Saturday Jeff and I went to REI and picked up a bycicle trainer, climbing block and a cheapo tire. We put the cheap tire on my rear wheel to save my nice expensive race tires from the trainer there's just no sence in wearing it out.
So now the bike is kind of dominating part of my living space. It's a good reminder to stay active. Yesterday and Sunday I got in about 1/2 a hours worth of ride time. I'm going to try to get that much in each day to keep in shape. Athough it really does make me tired and tring to ride with just one arm is a little awkward.
Friday, March 16, 2007
Long road to recovery (6-9 months)
Yesterday and Wednesday were doctors appointment days. On Wednesday my brother Tim was in town so he got to drive me around to various things including me Physical Therapy appointment where I got the run around from the PT people. Turns out that I need the doctor to write me a prescription to get physical therapy even though on my hospital discharge papers it says to make the appointment. Bummer.
Yesterday Heather drove me to the trauma clinic where I got the PT prescription, had the stitches from the chest tube wound taken out and got some bad news. Doc (different attending this time) says 6 to 9 months recovery time for the right arm and there are not any guarantees about how much movement will come back, bummer :( This whole brachial plexus thing is turning into a nightmare.
The have me scheduled for another MRI next week to make sure that there is no spinal damage so hopefully that turns up clean.
Today's Friday before St. Paddy's Day and there is a happy hour @ Jive. I'm going in to say high to people, check out whats going on in the office and see about getting back to work. It's been rather boring the last few days and I really need something to do besides Blog.
Yesterday Heather drove me to the trauma clinic where I got the PT prescription, had the stitches from the chest tube wound taken out and got some bad news. Doc (different attending this time) says 6 to 9 months recovery time for the right arm and there are not any guarantees about how much movement will come back, bummer :( This whole brachial plexus thing is turning into a nightmare.
The have me scheduled for another MRI next week to make sure that there is no spinal damage so hopefully that turns up clean.
Today's Friday before St. Paddy's Day and there is a happy hour @ Jive. I'm going in to say high to people, check out whats going on in the office and see about getting back to work. It's been rather boring the last few days and I really need something to do besides Blog.
Friday, March 9, 2007
I'm Out!!
Note: This post was written while high on pain killers and other than this note is not edited or revised in any way after it was written
I'm Out of the hospital! This afternoon I got released and now I'm at my parents house. The plan is to live here for a while till I can get back on my feet. I don't feel super strong and only having one functioning arm is very difficult. There are a lot of things that you don't even think about doing where you really need that second arm. Well I'll talk more about that later. Here's the point though, I'm OUT!
I'm Out of the hospital! This afternoon I got released and now I'm at my parents house. The plan is to live here for a while till I can get back on my feet. I don't feel super strong and only having one functioning arm is very difficult. There are a lot of things that you don't even think about doing where you really need that second arm. Well I'll talk more about that later. Here's the point though, I'm OUT!
Thursday, March 8, 2007
What the hell happened to You?
Note: This post was written while high on pain killers and other than this note is not edited or revised in any way after it was written
Skiing is Dangerous!
Before I start let me just say that there are inherent risks to everything. It's possible that this lap top's battery could malfunction and burn me to death (possible but not probable). There are however certain activities which are inherently more dangerous. Being a single male, in my mid-20's I enjoy many such activities. (Wakeboarding, Biking, cliff jumping, motorcycle riding, etc). Skiing is one of them.
An Unfortunate Event:
I was skiing in Heather Canyon at about 1:30pm Friday March 2nd, 2007. I stopped just before the run out at the bottom of 1/2 Moon Bowl. To keep my speed up for the heather canyon run out I decided to drop the last portion. It's what I do and everyone else does every time. This time however was different. As I went to make the final turn in between two trees my uphill ski separated from my boot. Maybe I let it sink too much in the snow, maybe the snow stuck to it, maybe it hit some snow covered branch, but for whatever the reason it came off. This caused me to drop my uphill boot (right) into the snow catapulting me forward and sling-shooting me up hill, head first into a tree.
I hit the tree first with the top right portion of my head. The tree then struck my scapula (shoulder blade), shoulder, and back. I ended face up under another tree totally stunned, fighting for consciousness. I was unable to breath or move at all for what felt like an eternity (I'm sure that it was only seconds but it felt like forever)
Post Tree:
The first thing that came back was the ability to take shallow gasping breaths. Slowly I was able to gain more control of my body back so that I could call for help. I'm still not exactly sure who heard me first and what all transpired as I lay in agony in the cold snow but I believe that Matt was the first "on the seen" and I remember telling people to get someone to call ski patrol with a sled and have them come to 1/2 moon bowl and cross my skis in the run. While we waited for the sled and ski patrol I regained motor control of all my extremities except my right arm. At this time we thought that it was pretty broken up.
Ski Patrol:
When the patrol arrived one of the first things the did was call for O2 and start an ambulance rolling (Both really good calls in my estimation). Here is where things start to fade for me. The pain in my right hand, arm and side had become excruciating. I'm sure that they got me on some morphine and I think that the started me on an IV drip as well. They looked over my body for bleeding (I didn't have any external) and eventually got me on a backboard and into the sled for my free toboggan ride.
Patrol pulled the sled to the HRM parking lot and then loaded me, still in the sled, into the back of a pickup truck. The truck drove me from the HRM lot to the clinic at the main lodge. All in all I as highly impressed by the efficiency, level of care and everything that the ski patrol provided. Guys I didn't get a single one of your names but you all frekin rock!!
Clinic, Ambulance and Trauma Center
where I have At the clinic began the attempts to warm me up. I was really, really really cold. Hot water bottles, blankets, getting me out of wet cold gear, etc. And then the initial assessment: Joel's status = not good. I remember taking xray's and maybe a cat scan too. The morphine was really setting in and I remember telling some of my co-workers how to contact my parents, where my stuff was, and various things like that. I remember asking to go to a specific hospital friends who work in the ER. The ruled my trauma too severe and just sent me straight to Legisy's Level one Trama Center. Eventually the ambulance arrived at Meadows and the wheeled me out into the cold, into the warm ambulance and we were on our way to the Trauma Center. Let me tell you that the drive from Meadows to Portland seems a lot shorter when you are either sleeping after a hard days skiing or bull-shitting with your friends than when you are flat on your back with broken ribs, messed up arm and shoulder breathing with the help of a tube.
At the Trauma Center:
Again here are parts I don't remember all that well. There were lots of people doing lots of things. The thing that stands out the most in my mind though is when the inserted the chest tube. By "inserted the chest tube" I mean that the zapped me a few times with some local anesthetic and then spread my broken ribs apart and jammed a tube under my right are into my chest cavity, yes that hurt a lot. This concludes must of what I can remember from the first day after the accident. I'm sure that other people will have more to add as well and I'll end up editing this some too.
Total Damage:
Skiing is Dangerous!
Before I start let me just say that there are inherent risks to everything. It's possible that this lap top's battery could malfunction and burn me to death (possible but not probable). There are however certain activities which are inherently more dangerous. Being a single male, in my mid-20's I enjoy many such activities. (Wakeboarding, Biking, cliff jumping, motorcycle riding, etc). Skiing is one of them.
An Unfortunate Event:
I was skiing in Heather Canyon at about 1:30pm Friday March 2nd, 2007. I stopped just before the run out at the bottom of 1/2 Moon Bowl. To keep my speed up for the heather canyon run out I decided to drop the last portion. It's what I do and everyone else does every time. This time however was different. As I went to make the final turn in between two trees my uphill ski separated from my boot. Maybe I let it sink too much in the snow, maybe the snow stuck to it, maybe it hit some snow covered branch, but for whatever the reason it came off. This caused me to drop my uphill boot (right) into the snow catapulting me forward and sling-shooting me up hill, head first into a tree.
I hit the tree first with the top right portion of my head. The tree then struck my scapula (shoulder blade), shoulder, and back. I ended face up under another tree totally stunned, fighting for consciousness. I was unable to breath or move at all for what felt like an eternity (I'm sure that it was only seconds but it felt like forever)
Post Tree:
The first thing that came back was the ability to take shallow gasping breaths. Slowly I was able to gain more control of my body back so that I could call for help. I'm still not exactly sure who heard me first and what all transpired as I lay in agony in the cold snow but I believe that Matt was the first "on the seen" and I remember telling people to get someone to call ski patrol with a sled and have them come to 1/2 moon bowl and cross my skis in the run. While we waited for the sled and ski patrol I regained motor control of all my extremities except my right arm. At this time we thought that it was pretty broken up.
Ski Patrol:
When the patrol arrived one of the first things the did was call for O2 and start an ambulance rolling (Both really good calls in my estimation). Here is where things start to fade for me. The pain in my right hand, arm and side had become excruciating. I'm sure that they got me on some morphine and I think that the started me on an IV drip as well. They looked over my body for bleeding (I didn't have any external) and eventually got me on a backboard and into the sled for my free toboggan ride.
Patrol pulled the sled to the HRM parking lot and then loaded me, still in the sled, into the back of a pickup truck. The truck drove me from the HRM lot to the clinic at the main lodge. All in all I as highly impressed by the efficiency, level of care and everything that the ski patrol provided. Guys I didn't get a single one of your names but you all frekin rock!!
Clinic, Ambulance and Trauma Center
where I have At the clinic began the attempts to warm me up. I was really, really really cold. Hot water bottles, blankets, getting me out of wet cold gear, etc. And then the initial assessment: Joel's status = not good. I remember taking xray's and maybe a cat scan too. The morphine was really setting in and I remember telling some of my co-workers how to contact my parents, where my stuff was, and various things like that. I remember asking to go to a specific hospital friends who work in the ER. The ruled my trauma too severe and just sent me straight to Legisy's Level one Trama Center. Eventually the ambulance arrived at Meadows and the wheeled me out into the cold, into the warm ambulance and we were on our way to the Trauma Center. Let me tell you that the drive from Meadows to Portland seems a lot shorter when you are either sleeping after a hard days skiing or bull-shitting with your friends than when you are flat on your back with broken ribs, messed up arm and shoulder breathing with the help of a tube.
At the Trauma Center:
Again here are parts I don't remember all that well. There were lots of people doing lots of things. The thing that stands out the most in my mind though is when the inserted the chest tube. By "inserted the chest tube" I mean that the zapped me a few times with some local anesthetic and then spread my broken ribs apart and jammed a tube under my right are into my chest cavity, yes that hurt a lot. This concludes must of what I can remember from the first day after the accident. I'm sure that other people will have more to add as well and I'll end up editing this some too.
Total Damage:
- 8 Broken Ribs
- Broken Scapula (shoulder blade)
- Punctured Loung
- Right Brachial Plexus (major right arm nerve damage)
Wednesday, March 7, 2007
So what's the deal with the blog
Note: This post was written while high on pain killers and other than this note is not edited or revised in any way after it was written
So, first post. Where to start and what to cover? We'll start with the reasons for blogging. I've been thinking about starting one for quite a while but didn't have any spectacular ideas about what to write about. The company which I work for just releases a new collaboration software suite which includes blogging functionality. So I've started to use that at work for Jive related things.
However due to my most recent accident (see next post) I want a way to keep everyone I know in the loop about my recovery. So here it is:
My Blog - What's happening to me, How the recovery is going, My PT and training goals, My emotional highs and lows, and hopefully my full recovery and 1/2 Iron man success.
So, first post. Where to start and what to cover? We'll start with the reasons for blogging. I've been thinking about starting one for quite a while but didn't have any spectacular ideas about what to write about. The company which I work for just releases a new collaboration software suite which includes blogging functionality. So I've started to use that at work for Jive related things.
However due to my most recent accident (see next post) I want a way to keep everyone I know in the loop about my recovery. So here it is:
My Blog - What's happening to me, How the recovery is going, My PT and training goals, My emotional highs and lows, and hopefully my full recovery and 1/2 Iron man success.
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