X-Rays and Photos

Everything takes just a little bit longer, or in some cases a lot bit longer. I had planned on posting these images last week sometime, but unfortunately I wasn't up for it yet. The good news is I am basically off my pain meds (Vicodin) with the occasional need for one or two in the evening to help with sleeping. I have gone back to work Mon-Thrs with the occasional missed day for a doctor's appointment and I have my next checkup the week after I go to Arizona for James' wedding. Ky and I have settled into a groove and for the most part Kona is doing what he can to not be a pain in the ass. It seems Kona understands that I am in a weakened state and he has decided not to exploit me for it. Now, what you really want, photos...

My broken leg, prior to any medical treatment. Trust me, the photo doesn't really do justice, my foot is basically hanging free bellow my leg bones. If it weren't for most of my ligaments remaining in place my foot would look more like a sock of quarters at that point.

The First x-ray showing the three breaks. Obviously my Fibula shouldn't overlap and my Tibia shouldn't be so far to the right and yes the bone bellow it is suppose to be part of it. The third less obvious part is the small rectangular bone bellow and to the right of the Tibia is called the Talus and should be rotated 90 degrees counter clockwise and part of the whole ankle, it's the inside of your ankle structure and is the obvious protrusion. Like I said the previous photo doesn't do justice to how out of wack everything is.

My new stainless steel plate along with 6 new screws that look like they came from home depot, but upon seeing the bill, they clearly did not. My Fibula is back to being a single bone and at full length. Rumor has it that my Doc had to enlist in help to get those bones back in place, apparently I have strong muscles in my leg, who'd figure that?

My repaired Tibia and Talus takes care of my Cankle (at least on the X-Ray). Note the three screws that again look like they came from Home Depot, but cost a whole lot more. I was very disappointed that they weren't titanium or that metal they used in Wolverine. One screw has fixed my Tibia to my Fibula to hold it in place as my ligament reattaches (this screw will be removed). The other two screws at the up and left angle will remain in place and currently hold my talus bone to the Tibia.

The splint that was on my leg for two weeks to allow for swelling to go down. This basically made it impossible for me to shower or take a bath, so Ky set me up with some over-sized towelettes that are used as a modern day sponge bath. However, she wouldn't put on the sexy nurse costume for the bath, so it wasn't quite what I was hoping for.

My new air-cast, still not allowed to walk on it (hence the crutches), but at least it is removable for showers and photos. Ky recently was given a shower chair for me (not pictured) so I can now take a shower on my own, something that is highly underrated.

The inside of my ankle 3 weeks after surgery, still very swollen, but healing nicely. The larger scab is from the abrasion on my ankle from when I fell (visible in the first photo). I am kind of surprised I still have a scab for that since it was really just a scrape, but I guess being in cast with other more important things to heal, that is gonna take a bit.

And the outside of my ankle, looks swollen, but otherwise good. If you enlarge the photo you can see the long incision on my leg where they inserted the plate and below where there seems to be a horizontal line we have the location where they inserted the very expensive stainless steel wood screw. If I chose to have it removed they will cut me back open there and screw it out, hopefully the Doc doesn't strip the head, cause I would hate for him to have to drill it out. But his name is Dr Pro, so I think he'll do just fine.

THE ACCIDENT!!!

Sorry it has taken me a few days to get to writing this post, as you can imagine heavy narcotics do not make it super easy to focus a train of thought. Although, maybe some of you are wishing I wrote a post from deep inside the land of Morphine and Valium?

Since the number one question so far has always been, "What happened?", I'll focus this blog post there. Future posts will include the x-rays and recovery efforts.



Saturday morning I made an early start up Mount Hood to Frenches Dome, a volcanic uprising on the flanks of Mount Hood just bellow Lolo Pass. Frenches Dome is setup for what is known as sport climbing, whereas the climbing routes are setup with bolts every 10 to 12 feet. The lead climber (me) will clip one side of a quick draw into the bolt (two carabiners tied together with a short sling known as a dog bone) and then clip his rope into the other end of the quick draw. So as the leader goes, he will limit his fall to double the length of rope above the last bolt.



So the higher above a bolt you go, your fall would be double that distance. The added complexity, if you fall while you are pulling out rope to make the next clip you add one times that rope length to the distance of the fall. Falling while clipping is the most dangerous place you can fall while sport climbing and should be avoided at all costs.

So naturally, I fell while I was clipping into the 6th bolt placing me roughly 50-60 feet up the rock. However, since the bolt was at head height I was probably about 6 feet above the previous bolt with the added rope slack of about 4 feet to help with the clip , I fell 20-30 feet (the rope stretches up to 34% of the length of the rope out).

As I fell my right leg clip an outcropping of rock on the right side of my foot causing all of my energy to be transferred onto the left side of my ankle. Breaking my Fibula mid leg on the right, sheering my Tibia just above the ankle pushing it inward breaking off my Talus bone (the inside knuckle).



Once my fall came to a rest, help was requested by screaming to nearby climbing parties and I was lowered slowly to the ground. Once on the ground I was stabilized and assessed by a couple volunteers with PMR (Portland Mountain Rescue) and 9-1-1 was called for extraction and transport to a Portland Hospital (Providence Portland).



The ambulance team and the Reach and Treat (RAT) team arrived on scene together, drugged me with Morphine and Valium and put me in a specialized litter and took me down the mountain. By my estimates from time of impact till time of extraction I was on the ground for approximately 1 hour, pretty fast if you ask me.



My thanks goes out to everyone that assisted in my rescue, help keeping me calm and safe.

September Fitness Fun

There is a pattern that seems to repeat, some years stronger, some years weaker. Unfortunately, this year the pattern has come back a little stronger than last. So what is this mystical magical pattern? Well it goes something like this; January I start training for crew or bike racing or whatever it has been for the last decade, I lose weight and get in great shape by late spring early summer, I carry that conditioning through the summer. Then in August I get tired and lazy, stop working out, and put on the lbs totally losing the conditioning I worked so hard for. By early October I realize what I have done and fight the losing battle until Thanksgiving and then all hell breaks loose in the form of holiday celebrations of pie and strong holiday beverages. The holidays clear and I repeat the following year.

So this year I am taking a different approach, even though August brought on the Lbs, hopefully I still have some conditioning left. My new approach is to make September a month of exercise, mixed exercise. It is my goal to get 30 mins of exercise EVERY DAY, not strenuous every day, just take Kona for a walk, go to the climbing gym, a nice jog, a bike race, whatever...

Also, I have started the 100 push-up workout. If you are not familiar, it is a 6 week push-up workout with an end goal of doing 100 straight push-ups on the last workout. I am partway through week one and I already have improved in my push-up ability and I am having fun with the workout. I am anxiously anticipating the completion of the 7 weeks to 50 pull-ups workout. I've never been able to do more than 5 straight pull-ups so 50 would be something amazing!

In other news, I am still looking for a new career, and wedding season is upon us. First up, Colorado...