Hello everyone!
I would like to have your feedback/experience regarding what I am going through at the moment.
I participated to a Grand Fondo race in Aachen, Germany, on May 12th. I fell after 38kms and broke my left collarbone and my right wrist (double fractures- triquetrium and ligament tear with bone tearing from the scaphoid (2 millimeters)).
It has been almost 5 weeks. My collarbone is recovering very well and the triquetrium is consolidating as well.
The bummer is with the scaphoid. The wrist fractures were not visible on the radio so I had to do a scanner. We were expecting to see the triquetrium one but not the ligament tear and scaphoid.
The surgeon assistant was not really sure about the next steps and what is possible or not. (I am actively looking to get a second opinion from another surgeon)
I had two different casts and now have a splint.
I normally have a half Ironman on June 30th (exactly 7 weeks after my accident).
Is there a parallel universe where I can do it or is it crazy?
Thanks a lot for your feedback
PS: sorry for any grammatical/vocabulary mistakes - non native English speaker
PS: sorry for any grammatical/vocabulary mistakes - non native English speaker
Sorry to hear about your accident.
I don’t really have any advice for you other than you can probably take this disclaimer off your posts in the future. Any grammar/spelling mistakes that are there are no worse than anything a native speaker might make when their fingers can’t quite keep up with their brains.
You’re German and you had a crash in a fondo race? In May? In Aachen? Is that you Sebi?
Jokes aside, I’m sorry for the damage that happened to your body. 1) Be practical, 2) take the loss, 3) clear your mind, 4) don’t stress, 5) don’t push the start. I really mean those. Even July & August seem unreasonable. If you recover well, you’ll have a decent 2nd half of the season. If you recover mediocre, you’ll have 1-2 races in October-November. In any probable case, you’ll have years or racing ahead of you - you don’t want to have a 95% functional arm for the rest of your life.
gute Besserung
I broke my radius and scaphoid in a bike crash. Also shattered my clavicle but that was a different crash. Don’t do your own stunts.
I was in a thumb spike for about 6 weeks. In that time I still ran, rode on the trainer and did a few duathlons and running races.
Riding outside was sketch. Not a lot of control or braking power on the hand with a cast. thankfully didn’t need surgery on the scaphoid.
Is there a universe where you can do the race? Yes. Also be prepared for no though.
Heal well
I broke my scaphoid. I had to wear a plastic brace until it healed (6+ weeks, I don’t remember exactly). I could swim, ride on the trainer and run with it on. I did have to miss some races because I couldn’t race with it on (they don’t let you whack people with hard plastic during the swim 
and cycling outside would have been dicey) and I didn’t want to risk re-breaking it or otherwise extending healing time. Once I got the ok to take the brace off, I was pretty much ready to go.
Be well.
And, be prudent.
PS: sorry for any grammatical/vocabulary mistakes - non native English speaker
Sorry to hear about your accident.
I don’t really have any advice for you other than you can probably take this disclaimer off your posts in the future. Any grammar/spelling mistakes that are there are no worse than anything a native speaker might make when their fingers can’t quite keep up with their brains.
Thanks mate!
You’re German and you had a crash in a fondo race? In May? In Aachen? Is that you Sebi?
Jokes aside, I’m sorry for the damage that happened to your body. 1) Be practical, 2) take the loss, 3) clear your mind, 4) don’t stress, 5) don’t push the start. I really mean those. Even July & August seem unreasonable. If you recover well, you’ll have a decent 2nd half of the season. If you recover mediocre, you’ll have 1-2 races in October-November. In any probable case, you’ll have years or racing ahead of you - you don’t want to have a 95% functional arm for the rest of your life.
gute Besserung
Nope, it is not me. I am from Belgium btw.
Thanks for the feedback, I really appreciate.
I broke my radius and scaphoid in a bike crash. Also shattered my clavicle but that was a different crash. Don’t do your own stunts.
I was in a thumb spike for about 6 weeks. In that time I still ran, rode on the trainer and did a few duathlons and running races.
Riding outside was sketch. Not a lot of control or braking power on the hand with a cast. thankfully didn’t need surgery on the scaphoid.
Is there a universe where you can do the race? Yes. Also be prepared for no though.
Heal well
Thanks for your feedback! It helps!
Did you receive the greenlight from your doctors?
How did you manage it?
Was it painful to run and ride?
Thanks for your response Omelette, that helps a lot.
Was it painful to swim? Or as long as the pain was manageable you kept going?
How did you manage it during your recovery?
The plastic brace did not suffer from the water?
I have been riding on the trainer and running for 3 weeks already so I am not afraid for these (except maybe for the grip on the road for the bike).
My main concern is for the swim and to make sure the pressure on my hand from swimming will not impact the scaphoid injury.
I am still waiting for the race organizers if they will allow my plastic splint for the race.
Thanks for your feedback! It helps!
Did you receive the greenlight from your doctors?
How did you manage it?
Was it painful to run and ride?
For the clavicle yes, I got cleared to ride inside about 2-3 week before I got cleared to ride outside and I was cleared to ride about 10 weeks after the crash. I was in a sling for 2 weeks after the crash and then about 3 weeks post op for a total of about 8 weeks. Had a bit of delay between the crash and surgery since I was at a training camp in NC and flew back to AZ for surgery.
When I was in the cast for my wrist and scaphoid the doc gave me the all clear to run anywhere and ride inside all I wanted. I was doing outside sales at the time. Every morning I drove around with my cast out the window trying to get it to dry on my way to see customers.
I had a fair bit of pain with my clavicle both pre and post op. They kept 8 chunks of bone and threw the rest of it away including my AC joint. The post op pain dissipated over about 2 weeks or so.
The wrist was fine after about 3h which is how long it took to get it casted from the time I crashed my bike. Fortunately I worked in & outpatient cardiac rehab at a hospital. I went to the hospital, showered there then went in the ER through a different entrance than the front door, chatted with the RN’s working, got into x ray, then went and chatted with the ER doc and got casted. Was in and out in about 45 minutes.
I can’t help but I wish you the best for healing.
I didn’t have any issue with pressure from swimming or water. The brace was fine with the water. Doctor gave me extra Velcro for it in case the water lessened the stickiness.
Good luck!
Best of luck to you. I had a crash about two years ago in which I broke my right wrist. I was somewhat lucky in that it was generally a clean break of both bones.
The bad part was I had just started the 3rd semester of my nursing program and having a broken wrist was very inopportune at the time. I was fortunate to make it through that.
I did have a tri five weeks after the injury. At that point, I had healed enough I was prepared to do the entire event with a soft brace on. Once again, fortunate in the respect that wind conditions caused cancellation of the swim portion, so I only had to ride and run with the brace on. Aside from just being hot, I had healed enough the brace had little impact on my ability to perform.
Can? Should? How much pain can you tolerate?
I’ve broken my collarbone and wrist. Both in bike crashes but not at the same time.
I would say the bigger complication is the ligament tear. Bones heal pretty easily and relatively quickly once they are set IME. Soft tissue is slower to heal.
I’ve not torn that particular ligament. But several tendon and ligament injuries tell me that may be a tight timeline, especially if you need surgery.
If it were me … I’d skip the race. Unless it’s your livelihood. It’s not worth the pain and potential for further injury. And it probably won’t be much fun.
Welcome to my world - I crashed & broke my schaphoid in April. Doc was adamant that the standard treatment was 3 months in a cast - surgery recovery was roughly half that but no guarantees. I opted for the cast - finally got it removed last week after 10 weeks & am in a splint for another 2.5 weeks.
X ray looked good but doc doesn’t want to take any chances. The scaphoid is a notoriously slow bone to heal - has a poor blood supply. Pogacar broke the same bone last year. I would try to find a good hand surgeon if I were you, but there are no quick, easy cures unfortunately. That stupid little bone is a real pain in the ass. You really need to be patient & get it healed right. I started riding the trainer a couple of weeks ago with the cast & now with the splint, so that helps. Good luck - just be patient and make sure you see a good hand surgeon.
Disclaimer: MD here (but not an orthopaedic surgeon)
I don’t want to be too much of a downer for you, but at the moment I would advise you against doing the race on the 30th June.
The scaphoid is a particularly tricky bone (as others have mentioned) and you have to be careful with scaphoid fractures as you don’t want to get a non-union etc.
There will always be more races and sometimes it is best just to take your medicine so to speak and have the proper time off to allow it to heal.
Whilst you may well be able to finish the race, there are all sorts of things that could happen because your arm is not working as well as it could which could lead to longer term issues for you. Triathlon will be around for the rest of your life if you want it to be!
Scaphoid fractures can turn into nonhealing fractures, the wisest move is to wear a cast 2 to 3 months and be patient, many schaphoid fractures can be surgically repaired so less cast time, not sure on yours, The races are not going away. Having gone through a scaphoid fracture for a summer was miserable but I was able to bike, mainly on a trainer, run and swim in a cast, knowing that a refracture was even longer healing time. Be safe and smart.