Just recovered from fracture rib 6 weeks ago from crash at crit race, to go down again breaking the clavicle in 2 spots at yesterdays race. So now retiring from that. Ambulance took me to out of network ER, who took xrays and sent to in network ortho. ortho didnt want to do sameday surgery… “call to make out patient appointment during buiness hours.” so 2 days of waiting, for another unkown period of waiting. is this normal? they said because im and “athlete” i will be fine waiting. thats not a brag but sounds like they told me to HTFU and im pretty insulted. anyways what are your experiences? already hopped on indoor trainer which was tough doing sitting up
When I shattered my clavicle I was in Asheville. I flew home to Tucson for the surgery 2-3d post crash. It was another 8-9 days post crash when I went in for surgery. I was somewhere between 8 -14 days post crash when I had my ORIF
Heal up
Broke my clavicle, saw the ortho two days later and was told it probably didn’t need surgery. Saw him two weeks later and was told things were moving so now needed surgery. Back to everyday life in a week, probably could have started working out but it was the fall so I just took it easy until thanksgiving. Least painful broken bone/surgery I’ve ever had, but two years later its still sensitive so made need another go at it.
Broke mine in 2021 up in Cabrillo on a Saturday, taken to Sharp ER, I was told to call Ortho on Monday, I think I saw the Ortho on Wednesday, confirmed I needed surgery and I was schedules for it the following Monday.
I did the pre-surgery tests on Saturday and tested positive for COVID, and my surgery was canceled.
After that it was all kinds of fighting with the Ortho and the hospital to get my surgery, they retested me about 10 days later and still positive, so more fighting ensued.
Finally got my surgery almost 4 weeks later. I may be a wimp but I thought it was super painful to have a broken bone for that long.
Good luck, Rog. I hope you have it soon.
Pretty common unfortunately. I was lucky and got my surgery within 48hr but no many do.
Also, I have retired from crit racing too. I suck anyway, but not worth it to me.
I broke my clavicle when I was younger and they didn’t do surgery and I re-broke the same one last year and again no surgery. It looks funny but no range of motion issues.
Broke mine in 2021 up in Cabrillo on a Saturday, taken to Sharp ER, I was told to call Ortho on Monday, I think I saw the Ortho on Wednesday, confirmed I needed surgery and I was schedules for it the following Monday.
I did the pre-surgery tests on Saturday and tested positive for COVID, and my surgery was canceled.
After that it was all kinds of fighting with the Ortho and the hospital to get my surgery, they retested me about 10 days later and still positive, so more fighting ensued.
Finally got my surgery almost 4 weeks later. I may be a wimp but I thought it was super painful to have a broken bone for that long.
Good luck, Rog. I hope you have it soon.
Also on sharp insurance. Ok a bit relieved this is common, but really sucks as I need this to work. Currently doing things by car to get by
This sucks sorry. (Both the fracture and the waiting)
Often there is a wait for some lower limb injuries as the swelling can make it too difficult to go in surgically, but for other areas the waiting just essentially adds additional time to your complete recovery process. It is incredibly frustrating, I don’t work in your health care system as I am based in Australia but issues like this are relatively universal. The only advice I can give you is to be persistent and be annoying.
Shattered clavicle in 5 places and 11 rib fractures riding in a tight paceline and the lead guy missed alerting us that about the object on the road .(fluke accident)
11 months later just have 75% ROM in my shoulder , ribs were a bitch to deal with .
No more fast riding in groups , enjoying solo riding and the occasional 2-3 man group
Headspace takes a while to heal and definitely longer than your body .
Be well .
2015 race crash landed me in the hospital for 5 days or so, 7 ribs, clavicle, punctured lung. They released me. Few days later went to the ortho, who wide eyed showed me the x ray and said “why didn’t they fix this??” Few days later for the op, so all told about two weeks. Very painful ones. The relief after the surgery was massive.
Good luck
Sorry to hear this. Hope they get it fixed soon.
ok finally going into surgery tomorrow. but many redflags.
- made me get xrays again, saying they couldnt get them from ER hospital
- tried to giveme another sling, when ER hospital gave me one already
- most insulting… someone called me when I got home tryng to sell me the insurance plans credit card
is this normal?
ok finally going into surgery tomorrow. but many redflags.
- made me get xrays again, saying they couldnt get them from ER hospital
- tried to giveme another sling, when ER hospital gave me one already
- most insulting… someone called me when I got home tryng to sell me the insurance plans credit card
is this normal?
1 and 2 yes, completely normal.
I don’t know what #3 means.
Seems typical, unless it’s a compound fracture. I pulverized mine on a Saturday around 11am. ER said, “on Monday, call the ortho. Here’s a sling. Try not to move it too much.†I call first thing Monday morning. “Shoulder specialist can see you at 3pm.†After more x-rays and such, ortho says, “I can get you in on Friday.†“Friday!!??†“Yes, I’m booked up until then. Try not to move it too much. Keep it in the sling as much as possible.â€
Other folks I’ve talked to who have done this all say days until surgery.
ok finally going into surgery tomorrow. but many redflags.
- made me get xrays again, saying they couldnt get them from ER hospital
- tried to giveme another sling, when ER hospital gave me one already
- most insulting… someone called me when I got home tryng to sell me the insurance plans credit card
is this normal?
It’s “normal” for a healthcare provider that is trying to maximize profit at your expense. The profit margins on DME (eg, the sling) are insane. Personal example: recently fell and broke some bones in my thumb/hand. Cost of the splint at the ortho (if not covered by insurance/DME provider–not the ortho–out of network): $165; my insurance paid $67; cost on Amazon: $15.
Not sure that there’s anything you can do about it now without being willing to cancel the surgery. I would be extra vigilant to any paperwork you sign, and affirm in advance that all providers are in-network for you (ie, not just the surgeon, but the anesthesiologist, radiologist, etc.)
And yep, those healthcare “credit cards” are yet another way healthcare is profitting.
Sorry you have these worries when you should be left alone to focus on healing. Hope it goes as well as it can.
Good news about the surgery and hope the x rays weren’t too painful
I know for my surgery, it wasn’t a typical “sling” but something they put on and I wok up with, to keep the arm fairly immobile and secure. It was a pretty substantial piece of kit with spacers etc.
I hope your surgery went well.
I fell in a trail race a couple of months ago and injured a pinky finger that requires wearing a splint for 6 weeks. Instead of giving me one of the plastic splints for mallet fingers you can buy on Amazon for less than $10 the ortho doctor I visited sent me across the med center to his physical therapist who built me a couple of splints. They were difficult to put on and take off without bending the finger which is a big no-no with a mallet injury. I had been given one of the pre-made plastic splints like the ones on Amazon when I had the same injury on a thumb from a bike crash a decade ago so a couple of days later I bought a pair for the pinky on Amazon which have worked well, including during 2 tris (with the help of some duct tape and a rubber glove). I go back to the doctor next week to see if the finger has healed properly. It will be interesting what he says when I show up wearing the Amazon splint.
The insurance co. has processed all my bills from the visit (x-ray, doctor exam/diagnosis) except for a couple of bills totaling $919 (no details provided) which they are still processing six weeks after the visit. I’m guessing that those bills are for the physical therapy visit and the couple of rolls of athletic tape and small pieces of velcro the physical therapist gave me.
thanks all for replies. so its normal to be bent over while you are in most vulnerable state. sickening.
well im out of surgery… so how soon can i move? indoor trainer is ready…tomorrow am? running? maybe im too optimistic as my arm is on numbing drugs. was stated no vigorous exercises to prevent sweat near incision for 2 weeks
thanks all for replies. so its normal to be bent over while you are in most vulnerable state. sickening.
well im out of surgery… so how soon can i move? indoor trainer is ready…tomorrow am? running? maybe im too optimistic as my arm is on numbing drugs. was stated no vigorous exercises to prevent sweat near incision for 2 weeks
Bro, a broken bone and surgery it’s pretty traumatic for the body. It’s fine if you take some time off.
Rather than focusing on training, focus on getting your butt into PT as soon as the Doctor allows it. You are about to go through the very bureaucratic process of Health Care.
I too was told to not get sweat on the incision area, I took two weeks off the bike, and no running until about 3 weeks post-surgery. I was also instructed to not ride my bike outside for 1 month.
I honestly can’t understand why age groupers are so obsessed with getting back to training immediately after an accident, and not letting their bodies heal from the traumatic event.
thanks all for replies. so its normal to be bent over while you are in most vulnerable state. sickening.
well im out of surgery… so how soon can i move? indoor trainer is ready…tomorrow am? running? maybe im too optimistic as my arm is on numbing drugs. was stated no vigorous exercises to prevent sweat near incision for 2 weeks
I am glad I practice medicine outside of the USA, those sorts of things you describe are a pretty sad indictment on aspects of those very much for profit systems.
The x-rays not being available to them is somewhat understandable but we are used to dealing with imaging across various different systems and institutions here so again pretty annoying.
As for the recovery now…
Sweat wise 2 weeks is especially cautious, but then again infection around any metalware in a bone is a disaster so they always tend to err on the side of caution.
If this is one of the first times you have been injured in this way it can be very difficult to not take the hit and follow the orders re resting and recovery and seeing your fitness slide away. However, you really don’t want to mess this up because you will then be out of action for a long long time…so take the time to focus on some other things, catch up on life admin and all that jazz.
Good luck with the recovery!