View Full Version : Broken collarbone
Well the mountain bike demon finally got the better of me last Sunday. I was riding my mountain bike in the mountains and took a spill breaking my collarbone into 3 pieces. It was a fluke that I broke it. Normally you hit and roll on something like this but I hit just right and slid only on my shoulder for 10 feet before I rolled. All the energy went into my collarbone. I was scheduled to leave for basic June 6th on an 18X contract but looks like I'm going to have to postpone that until I recover.
I'm going to look at this as an opportunity to work on land navigation (no pack of coarse), do some reading, and work on my running once I can. I would appreciate any suggestions on other workouts one can do with a broken collarbone. For the first two weeks the doc said to not do anything at all so my body works on healing my bones and not everything else. I guess that makes sense but I’m already going crazy. LOL
How much time do you guys think is a reasonable time to recover from this? My doc said I should set my ship date to 6 months from now. That seemed a little long myself. Does that seem right to you guys?
Kyobanim
04-19-2006, 17:44
Best bet is to do what the doc says, that's his job.
What, may I ask, were you doing mountain biking this close to your ship date? Now you have to deal with the docs at MEPS.
Bill Harsey
04-19-2006, 17:50
I've broken mine before.
What Kyo says.
If you think healing up the first time is hard, see if it goes any faster the second time.
I remember leaving Iraq behind and only a few hours prior going out and doing work. Some of my co-workers thought I was crazy/stupid for exposing my behind so close to me leaving.
Listen to the Doc, can't say it enough. You might run into other problems with your enlistment due to the severity of the injury. Fluke or not it's broken, best thing to do is study as many different things as possible. I'm sure you'll exhaust your docs mind with questions about what you can and can't do. Take this opportunity to read as much as possible. Land nav is good but think of the chances of you falling and aggravating the injury further.
Best hopes in a speedy recovery.
Peregrino
04-19-2006, 18:04
I was scheduled to leave for basic June 6th on an 18X contract but looks like I'm going to have to postpone that until I recover.
For the first two weeks the doc said to not do anything at all so my body works on healing my bones and not everything else. I guess that makes sense but I’m already going crazy. LOL
My doc said I should set my ship date to 6 months from now. That seemed a little long myself.
Now you get to learn two important lessons the hard way.
#1 - Do what your Doctor tells you or pay the price for the rest of your life. Where do you think rucksack straps are going to apply pressure? What about LBE, body armor, parachute harnesses, etc.? Think carefully before answering.
#2 - Why do you think we discourage "high-risk sports" while students are in the pipeline? Students in the Q-course are prohibited from skydiving, scuba diving, etc. and discouraged from participating in a wide range of other "hazardous" activities. The Army is considering investing a lot of resources into your training. If you get damaged as a result of that training, it's considered the "breaks of the game" and you will most likely be compensated. If you get "bent, folded, spindled, or mutilated" on your own time as a result of poor judgement (almost any activity you can imagine that derives from an inverse ratio of testosteron to common sense), the resulting investigation is likely to return a "not in the line of duty" ruling. Then you are out in the cold and the Army has wasted a lot of time and money for zero return.
Hopefully the required delay won't cancel your contract. Not to mention that now you also have to figure out how to get in shape without impeding your recovery and do it in whatever time you have left between the Dr's OK and reporting to OSUT. My .02 - Peregrino
BTW - Don't get me wrong. We want ballsey characters - we just require them to temper it with good judgement. Otherwise you're just another candidate for the Darwin Awards. And the bursting radius of "Oh F**K" almost always includes somebody who didn't deserve it.
To clarify. I went mountain biking where 50 and 60 year old people go mountain biking as well. A more accurate term would be foothills biking. I do it on off days because it's different and I enjoy it. I didn’t go drinking with my buddies the night before I shipped and get a DUI. According to my Garmin Forerunner I was going a wopping 12 mph which is not anywhere near crazy or high risk. It was a freak accident caused by loose gravel on hardpacked dirt. I slid a long ways becuase of all the gravel I think.
As far as the 6 months, like I said it seemed long to me as I’ve always heard it takes like 6-8 weeks to heal a broken bone. I figured after the time it was fully healed but I’m guessing that’s not the case. I didn’t mean that I think my doc is stupid. I was curious as to what kind of experiences others have had with a similar injury especially with rucking. The doc I went to see works with the local college football team so when he says 6 months that’s probably fairly accurate. He doesn’t deal with guys running around with 100 pound pack on their back though so I thought I could get some insight on that kind of stuff from those who do. I guess football really stresses the collarbone though.
I know all the problems (meps, heal time, ect) associated with breaking my collarbone. It’s easy to find and point out the problems. What isn’t so easy is coming up with the solutions or suggestions on how to take advantage of the situation and make the best of it. The later is what I’m looking for here.
All that has changes is my 25m target. The end goal is the same.
NousDefionsDoc
04-19-2006, 21:16
"Hold on there"? Do you have any idea to whom you addressed that command?
If it doesn't heal right - from something you do or just because - you are out.
Yes, you are correct, you didn't go out drinking, you had an unfortunate accident. Now, either listen to those that know and are answering your question or don't. Doesn't matter to us either way. But don't be disrespectful. You asked and were told - you don't like the answer, don't ask the question. If you were expecting sympathy, try HERE (http://www.usachcs.army.mil/).
If and when you get back on track, PM me.
Ambush Master
04-19-2006, 21:46
I broke mine on a terminal velocity cut-away from a streamered main. The "Little Parachute" that had saved my life, after I departed an aaircraft at about 100 feet, tied a knot in my ass at terminal!!! Six months will be really pushing it for where you are attempting to go. After you are healed up enough to get back to PT, and conditioning, it will take you at least that long to build up what has atrophied from now till then!! Don't push it!!
Later
Martin
I didn't mean it as a command, I didn't mean as disrespect, and I didn't ask for any sympathy. I appreciated the responses I got but I wanted to clarify what I was asking for because I didn't think I was clear. It also seemed to me that some people though I was acting reckless and I wanted to clarify. I didn’t realize how long it took to recover from something like this.
Don't let it get you down. I just finished being in a cast for 21 weeks after my trip to MEPS and, assuming that you heal okay, you shouldn't have any waiver issues so long as it doesn't require surgery to fix and you get full mobility back.
When the doc clears you for light exercise, find a recumbent stationary bike to use for your aerobic work. You won't have the bouncing of running to deal with, and won't need to support your upper body with your arms.
You may also consider long fin swims in the pool, it will help keep you loose and is also a good aerobic workout. You can either fin on your side with one arm extended, like the guys over at specialtactics.com tend to do, or on your back holding a kickboard at waist level to help you plane properly. Maybe even consider alternating the two. I recommend the red Zoomers, if you don't already own good fins.
BTW, it was a mountain bike that did me in, too.
I didn't mean it as a command, I didn't mean as disrespect, and I didn't ask for any sympathy. I appreciated the responses I got but I wanted to clarify what I was asking for because I didn't think I was clear. It also seemed to me that some people though I was acting reckless and I wanted to clarify. I didn’t realize how long it took to recover from something like this.
And thus you have learned a valuable lesson in resisting temptation and keeping your mouth shut when presented a golden opportunity to do so. Was the need to 'clarify' your post important enough to you to make you seem disrespectful or whiny? You saw the response here; now imagine the long-term results of doing something similar at OSUT to a Drill Sergeant, or to a Black Hat at Airborne School, or--God forbid--an SF NCO serving as cadre at SFAS or the Q. A simple 'roger' and nothing follows can sometimes be more valuable to you than gold.
Peregrino
04-20-2006, 10:13
All that has changes is my 25m target. The end goal is the same.
Nuke - Now that we've (hopefully) gotten your attention, listen and think. You've just gotten an expensive lesson in risk management. Mountain biking is a high(er) risk activity. Loose gravel on hard-packed dirt is an acknowledged risk factor - not a "freak accident" (though it was probably a little embarrassing at 12 mph). While you're healing you need to refine your focus. From the time you signed your contract the 25m target should have been: pushups, situps, and 2-mile run. For variety add in other exercises, longer runs, and rucking as recommended in the "Get Selected" book (yes - W-M bikes, IIRC it's a road bike, relatively low risk if you choose the right area to ride in and don't wear headphones that block out traffic sounds). Anything else exposes you to unnecessary risk - if you want to accomplish your stated goals. Purely recreational pursuits are something to save for after you've achieved your goals - and even then you have to consider consequences. If something like this were to happen prior to a deployment, you would get left behind - working for the SGM/B-team or "padded" to some necessary (if you're lucky) but otherwise unrewarding detail. If whoever replaces you on the mission does a good job, you could even find yourself looking for a new home. That's reality.
Now for the rough stuff. It's not the mission of the QPs here to give you a personalized workout to aid your recovery. We don't care what you do to recover, so long as you meet standards. Most of us probably think you make a good object lesson for other "sluggos" in the pipeline. If you don't follow competent medical advice and fail to heal correctly you will definitely be an object lesson. We are not your peers. Forgetting who you're talking to is poor SA and bad judgement. (See Eagle5US's thread about what 18D is not.) All of us have paid dues. Many of us have been team sgts/leaders. Most of us see our primary purpose as mentoring your psychological development. For the majority of you that means encouraging you to develop and demonstrate exceptional maturity. Maturity is usually evidenced by good judgement. You get good judgement by exercising bad judgement - and surviving/learning from the experience. I personally don't believe in a "zero defects" philosophy. God (and my peers) knows I would have never survived my first enlistment/team if zero defects had been the rule. But I also remember the effort (mostly kicking my ass) my first Team Sgt put into my development and I will forever be grateful that he did his job when I needed it. He made sure I never got away with stupidity and making the same mistake more than once. Eventually I learned to think my way through cause & effect/consequences without having him looking over my shoulder all the time. Since I survived to reach a similar position in SF it's my turn to "pay it forward" to the next generations. My peers on this board feel the same way. So don't expect a lot of sympathy for what we consider poor judgement. Nuff said - Peregrino
The Reaper
04-20-2006, 14:29
To reiterate what has been said, you have to face a two-part process.
First you have to heal.
Then you have to recondition yourself.
At the risk of having you tell me where to go as well, since there is a lot of rucking and running at SFAS and the SFQC, and not a lot of mountain biking last time I checked, I tend to agree with the assessment that you were engaged in some risky personal activity at the time and have an opportunity to discover what 'big boy rules" really means. If you had spare time and are really dedicated to SF, you should have been rucking, running, swimming, shooting, working on your PT weakness, learning a language, or any of the other myriad tasks we will require you to demonstrate to excellence during the Course, when there is not a lot of spare time.
You claim to be a smart guy, now show it.
Get well, get in shape, and try to stay uninjured till you are on a team.
TR