Crash!

[Philip B]

Crashing a bicycle is never a pleasant experience regardless of whether the cyclist has had valve replacement surgery or not. I managed to survive a header on Sunday afternoon.

I'm approaching my fifth month post-op and I've been doing a lot of cycling (both mountain & road) this summer. My mountain bike ride on Sunday was a 14 mile trip with an elevation gain of just over 2,000 feet. These kinds of rides usually consist of a lengthy uphill grind on the trip in and a speedy, exhilarating trip out.

I don't know what I hit on a steep stretch on the way out, but over the handle bars I went. Thank God my body was there to cushion the bike when it landed on me.

On a serious note, I was probably lucky and my helmet undoubtedly saved me from a nasty head injury. I rode away after re-setting three dislocated fingers. Later, I noticed major bruising on my legs. The bruises were the result of the bicycle landing on me.

I'm often asked if AVR surgery has resulted in restrictions in my activity level or altered the quality of my life. My answer is of course a resounding, "No!" I still seem to bounce as well with a new aortic valve as I did before it was replaced.

-Philip

 

[MarkU]

Philip,
Glad to hear that you're okay. Unfortunately crashes are inevitable if you ride a lot.
Would strongly suggest that you look at replacing your helmet if it took any of the impact.
Mark

 

[hensylee]

Phillip, we all remember when Mark U took a bad fall, too. Y'all guys gotta be careful - well, we know you are. Enjoy and do like Mark says and replace your helmet. I'm glad you are ok. Blessins.......

 

[WayneGM]

Glad to hear you're ok. Take care and keep the rubber side down.

 

[Karlynn]

I rode away after re-setting three dislocated fingers.

Ow!!!!!!

I'm glad you're just a little banged and bruised.

 

[kodi]

Been there, done that, too. Glad you're doing okay. After something like that it's kind of hard to get back in the saddle the first time, but do it AND replace the helmet!

 

[Granbonny]

Philip

Philip

I am glad you just came away with a few bruises, ect..However, seeing that you take Warfarin/coumadin..I am glad that you did not break your leg..like my age 15 year old Grandson did..this summer..The ATV landed on his leg..breaking his femur bone He just spent this week with me and showed me the 2 incisions they made to insert the rod..hours later.....What if that had happened to you on warfarin?......waiting to bring down your INR before they could cut you?.Be careful.....Bonnie

 

[Nancy]

Keep a good eye on your internal bleeding and look for any major swelling. You could continue to bleed inside. So if it does not look good to you, get in to see your doctor right away. Don't fool around with it.

My dear husband took a nasty fall on some ice several years ago, and had to be hospitalized due to continued internal bleeding. He ended up with a bruise that went from his foot to above his waist and covered that half of his body. He had to go off Coumadin for a while. And had to have rehab to walk again.

 

[musician2k]

Nancy - I'm surprised your husband had to go off Coumadin...I didn't think they'd ever do that. Perhaps they did some kind of bridge therapy to keep him anticoagulated, then?

And Philip - I'm glad you're only bruised but other wise no worse for the wear. It is proof we shouldn't be afraid to be active as long as we take precautions, which it sounded like you did.

 

[67walkon]

Philip, they tell me bike riders fall into 2 categories--those that have fallen and those who are going to fall.

Your riding is pretty good for 5 months out. I'm 5 weeks out now and hope to be back on my road bike in about 3 or 4 weeks. Fortunately, I won't have to be on coumadin long term and I'm hoping to be off it by then.

How long do you think it will take to get back to pre-surgery levels? I hit 500+ miles in April, but was then advised to back off until I had and recovered from surgery. Right now, I can't imagine doing a 25 mile ride, which I used to knock off before work!

Take care and you probably should replace the helmet.

John

 

[Nancy]

Nope, no bridging. He was off Coumadin for 2 weeks or more. He was bleeding so much internally that his blood count was too low. They might have even given him Vit. K, can't remember.

Joe had to be of Coumadin totally three different times for extended periods, weeks: this nasty fall; when he had a total bleedout after gallbladder surgery (surgeon error); and when he had a brain bleed. No bridging any of those times.

They were all life threatening situations, and the bleeding had to be stopped.

It was very scary for us and for his doctors, but had to be done, or he would have died. He was hospitalized in all of these situations. Fortunately, he did not have any dire consequences from all of that.

 

[mntbiker]

...Thank God my body was there to cushion the bike when it landed on me...

-Philip

The true biker, using his body to protect the bike no matter the cost.

Glad to hear you are OK, keep the rubber side down.

When can we expect to see some carnage pics?