Well this sucks. Thursday night I got in my first real bike wreck… a guy a few riders ahead of me swerved like complete moron into someone else, caused a wreck and 3 of us went down hard (and … he stayed upright).
Diagnosis is broken scaphoid, I’m in a cast, and planning on surgery next week. 12 week recovery is what dr google says
I have been working hard towards IM CdA in 3 weeks which I doubt is possible now. I’m shattered and haven’t mentally resigned to the fact that I’m not going to race. I’m still telling myself it’s Possible. IM won’t let me transfer to another race. Said it’s against policy and they won’t make exceptions
I know my diagnosis could’ve been worse. I know the race isn’t everything. I know I shouldn’t have been racing 3 weeks before IM.
Still I feel shitty. Who’s gotten hurt and had to miss an important race? Am I stuck on the couch for 3 months or have you guys trained through a similar injury? Tell me to HTFU… tell me something to make me feel better
I got strep and a wicked chest cold 3 days before my first IM. I was coughing up colors of green and yellow that I didn’t know existed in the Crayola box. Still, I got the IM ticket a few months later so it ended well.
I’d offer this: If you are in a car accident and you end up being annoyed with the insurance claim process, the rental car BS, and the cash outlay, your outcome was pretty good. Your ability to be “annoyed” really means in the long run, this isn’t so bad. Said another way, if you can sweat the small stuff, what has happened to you is small stuff.
Your wreck could have been worse. Take comfort in that. You’ll be out riding and training soon enough.
I know how you feel. Just got into my first real bike wreck. Broke a collar bone and 4 ribs. Three weeks before Victoria. I got into Vineman this year finally. Dr says no way I can race by mid July. Maybe by September they say. I’m 2 weeks post op and I can’t move the arm and it hurts to laugh or cough. I’ll start biking indoor soon. Running in maybe 2-3 weeks. But I won’t swim for months.
Well this sucks. Thursday night I got in my first real bike wreck… a guy a few riders ahead of me swerved like complete moron into someone else, caused a wreck and 3 of us went down hard (and … he stayed upright).
Diagnosis is broken scaphoid, I’m in a cast, and planning on surgery next week. 12 week recovery is what dr google says
I have been working hard towards IM CdA in 3 weeks which I doubt is possible now. I’m shattered and haven’t mentally resigned to the fact that I’m not going to race. I’m still telling myself it’s Possible. IM won’t let me transfer to another race. Said it’s against policy and they won’t make exceptions
I know my diagnosis could’ve been worse. I know the race isn’t everything. I know I shouldn’t have been racing 3 weeks before IM.
Still I feel shitty. Who’s gotten hurt and had to miss an important race? Am I stuck on the couch for 3 months or have you guys trained through a similar injury? Tell me to HTFU… tell me something to make me feel better
Training thru injury usually just makes it worse in acute situations like this. It sucks, but it is what it is. Forget about the race, use it as mental fuel for the next one - you can’t unscramble these eggs - stay positive and move forward
You mentioned surgery - are they placing a (hebert) screw through your scaphoid?
I shattered my wrist in a bike crash, which also broke my scaphoid in half, and put a fracture in one of the halfs…
But the surgeon put it back together with a screw, and a t-shaped plate on my wrist which had several breaks, both styloids broken, etc (his initial words when he saw my x-ray after the crash were ‘wow, well done…’).
ANYWAY, he knew I wanted to still train, so because most of the important stuff was being held together with hardware, he let me use a tight fitting store bought splint instead of a cast, and I was allowed to resume training. That said, I was mostly bike racing then, so wasn’t swimming. I’m not sure how easy it would be to swim with a splint on, and I’m guessing you’d want to use a sleeveless wetsuit…
Can’t hurt to talk to the doc/surgeon about options.
Here was my scaphoid/wrist after surgery. It was 5 or 6 years ago. Hardware is still in there and I have full flexion/strength (3 months of physio was involved…):
Are your legs ok? Can you ask for a waterproof cast? Can you handle the pain? A couple years ago in kona one competitor had a broken leg, she walked the whole marathon. I had AC separation grade III two years ago and I did an OLY 6weeks after the crash, wasn’t pretty but I did it. Just keep riding the trainer for what you are going to lack in swimming and running. I’m sure you aren’t going to forget how to swim and run. Speedy recovery!
Scaphoid is a slow healer due to blood supply, many non-union fractures of scaphoids leading to bone grafts, no fun. Go with a hardware option and down time will be less, if it is a complete fracture it is not a discussion. I have hardware in one and a graft in the other.
I ran easy about a week after surgery, wasn’t biking at the time but a trainer good be pulled off, although weight bearing restrictions on wrist are likely. I would preach a visit to an occupational therapist (certified hand therapist is best) for a visit or two as loosing range in the wrist is a real bummer; especially extension.
BTW, the wrist with the graft is from me pushing it too soon and that one got casted for 8 weeks with complete immobilization of the wrist and thumb…my arm came out looking like a toothpick left in the rain to rot.
You mentioned surgery - are they placing a (hebert) screw through your scaphoid?
Glad you have recovered well. That was a concern of mine. I go see a hand specialist tomorrow to confirm the plan. It was the orthopedic surgeon I saw on Friday to give me the original diagnosis and likely outcome. Mine isn’t as bad as yours, just a fracture and mildly displaced.
Ortho is a good cyclist and knows about IM aspirations. Let’s see if I can make it work.
I’m sure I can tough through it, but if there’s a likely risk of hurting it further then I probably will skip
Well this sucks. Thursday night I got in my first real bike wreck… a guy a few riders ahead of me swerved like complete moron into someone else, caused a wreck and 3 of us went down hard (and … he stayed upright).
Diagnosis is broken scaphoid, I’m in a cast, and planning on surgery next week. 12 week recovery is what dr google says
I have been working hard towards IM CdA in 3 weeks which I doubt is possible now. I’m shattered and haven’t mentally resigned to the fact that I’m not going to race. I’m still telling myself it’s Possible. IM won’t let me transfer to another race. Said it’s against policy and they won’t make exceptions
I know my diagnosis could’ve been worse. I know the race isn’t everything. I know I shouldn’t have been racing 3 weeks before IM.
Still I feel shitty. Who’s gotten hurt and had to miss an important race? Am I stuck on the couch for 3 months or have you guys trained through a similar injury? Tell me to HTFU… tell me something to make me feel better
First of all, HTFU, you’re not the only triathlete that has been injured and will miss a race.
I broke my scaphoid and yes, it will take 12 weeks. You!ll still be able to use the bike trainer and run a little.
Ask the surgeons for a water proof cast?
I ran the Chicago marathon with a cast on up to my elbow after breaking my scafoid (non waterproof cast no less). Stuck a big fat HTFU sticker on the cast. 9 weeks in the cast and another 4 in I hard splint. Missed one run total (morning after I did it I thought I was gonna pass out when I woke up). That’s it. The cast stinks. So what. Get a cast cooler and suck out the sweat. Spray it with deodorant. Get on with ur day.
I broke my scaphoid about 8 weeks before a 70.3 and 12 weeks before an IM. The surgeon repaired it with a screw and then I was in a moulded waterproof splint for about 8 weeks. I couldn’t swim for about 2wks until the skin incision had healed but could run and ride on the trainer. The initial splint included my thumb in extension so I couldn’t really grip anything, but I got used to riding with 1&1/2 hands.
Later they staged down the splint so I could move my thumb which made everything easier.
Because of the risk of non union with these fractures you need to avoid trying to lift things with this arm, but generally my surgeon was happy for me to train with the splint on. I raced the 70.3 with the splint (and no wetsuit) and just made sure I had plenty of clear water so I didn’t get kicked in the hand.
Talk to the surgeon and let them know what you want to do, hopefully they can make it work for you.
For you guys with the same break. …Can you tell me what your healing was like after the dr said the bone is fully healed?
I had 8 weeks in cast (4 in plaster, 4 in removable plastic molded cast) and just got it off Wednesday. Dr said keep stretching and it should be pain free in 2-3 weeks. No problem cycling or swimming as pain allows.
I did an easy ride on Thursday and my Palm is really sore still. Generally no pain in the wrist which is good though. Going to try and do a long ride tomorrow - 8 weeks is too long in the summer to not be outside!
