It started out like most any day, except it had rained about an hour before my usual 10 mile bike ride through the neighborhood. I have been riding an all carbon road bike with the skinny racing wheels for about 5 months now and I really loved it. I could go fast and just stay winding through my own neighborhood and avoid seeing many cars if I left about 6:15 AM. I love getting out in the morning in the fresh, relatively cool air. I didn’t know I would like biking so much, but this was fun exercise. I could burn 300-400 calories in 30 minutes and get a great overall workout, but especially my thighs and low back, which needed the extra attention, since I injured my back several years ago trying to push up a fallen tree in the middle of a winter rain storm.
This Saturday, however, it had rained just enough that I could barely see any remnants on the pavement near my home, but a few streets over the rain was still sitting on the road in places, but it was not raining at the time and the what remained was only light and patchy. So, I didn’t think much of it. That is because I was still a relative novice, even though I looked like the real thing because I wore a helmet faithfully, and wear those aerodynamic biking shorts and racing shoes that clip me into the pedals so that I get continuous power from each peal stroke whether I’m pulling the pedals or pushing down.
I guess that was my downfall, I was perhaps just a little too competitive. I love to exercise, because of how good it feels to be in shape and feel strong and see your heart rate and blood pressure go down as I got in better and better shape. My resting heart rate was in the low 50’s and my BP was 110/70. Not bad for a grandpa. So this is what I saw in my head as I raced around the neighborhood ending back at my driveway, out of breath, but feeling exhilarated and accomplished, like I had just finished the last leg of the Tour de France.
But this day did not end so well. Just 3.7 miles into my usual 10 mile ride, just as I came down a hill the road went from dry to wet as I made a corner, going about 20mph, my bike slid out from under me like the road was pure ice. The impact felt like something had thrown me to the ground with a fury I have never known before. I hit so hard that I knew instantly that I had hurt myself really badly this time. I tried to move but couldn’t. My bike was only 5 feet away, but I couldn’t reach my phone, which was attached to my handle bars, so I just laid there in the middle of the street hoping someone would come by and find me soon.
In Need of a Second Opinion
I couldn’t move, not just due to the pain, but because I had no strength to move my right leg. It was not responding. I did a quick assessment and realized that I had not hit my head, nor had I broken my back, and I could feel that the head of my femur (the thigh bone) was perfectly intact, so I thought to myself, ok I’m just really really bruised and probably severely strained my hip flexors, or possibly tore the tendons, so I’ll just lay here till someone finds me and helps me up and then I’ll call my wife and she’ll come and get me, I’ll go home and take my remedies, rest up and be back at work on Monday.
That was over-the-top positive thinking, even for me. I laid there in the middle of the street for 5-10 minutes before someone finally came by. A very nice gentleman came along with his dog. He helped me up and to the curb, where I could only lay back down, but felt blessed that I had not hit my head and that I could still use my left leg, and both hands to call my wife, who soon came to get me, and with the help of a strong neighbor got me into my car and back home. Once home, I tried to walk into the house to find the couch, but even with crutches, it took me nearly 20 minutes to get inside, where I fell onto the sofa and couldn’t move for a long time.
X-Rays Reveal a 5 Inch Long Complex Fracture
Then a neighbor and very close friend came to see me. It just so happens that he is a radiologist and he insisted that he take me immediately to SMIL to get an X-Ray. He got in the car with my wife and took us right into the X-Ray room where in a few seconds he had the diagnosis. I was way wrong, there was a fracture: it was a doozy – my words – he called it a complex fracture of the Acetabulum (the hip socket). Apparently, my femur hit the asphalt so hard that the impact smashed it through the back side of the hip socket like it was a battering ram and cracked the socket into a v-shaped crack 5 inches long on one side and 3 inches long on the other, and the head of the femur stuck inside.
Well, suddenly this bit of news changed everything, there was going to be no laying around the house for me over the weekend. I needed to see an expert trauma surgeon right away and was most likely going to need a few screws to put me back together again. As a Radiologist, my friend knew I needed to go down to the Trauma Center at Scottsdale Hospital Osborn to get the attention and care that I would need for such a fracture, so we immediately packed up and headed downtown Scottsdale to check in to the Trauma Medical Center. My surgeon said I had ” a very impressive injury.” I was the only person with such an injury that she had ever known who came in on his own and not in an ambulance.
The next day I had a 4 hour surgery to put me back together again that included two 5 inch long incisions to insert a 7″ steel plate across the back side of my hip socket over the crack, fashioned in the shape of multiple attached rings, like the Olympic rings, which were screwed into my pelvis by 7 permanent screws. Amazing what the surgeon was able to do to screw me back together. Now I just have to stay off of it for 6-12 weeks so that everything has time to heal, before I start any Physical Therapy. Thank heaven for pain meds. Without them I would be a screaming lunatic. I know, however, that they can be addicting, so I started a plan to wean off of them almost as soon as I was put on them.
The Road to a Full Recovery
Additionally, I am taking multiple other supplements to speed the healing process, including preventing blood clots, bruising, and building bones. The keys are 1) Peak Advantage Multi-Vita/Min,which includes: Calcium, Magnesium, Boron, Vitamin K to build strong bones; 2) Symphytum (homeopathic bone-knit) to heal the fracture, 3) Vitamin D3 5000iu,to get the Calcium into the bone, 4) Flavinox + Meriva (curcumin) anti-inflammatory agents, 5) Progesterone, which is he key bone builder and 6) Sermorelin (GHRH – Growth Hormone Releasing Hormone) which stimulates bone and cartilage production.
After the Bones Heal then What?
After the bone heals, I will still have a lot of muscle, tendon, and cartilage to repair. The two key therapies I will need will be PRP (Platelet Rich Plasma) injections into my hip to rebuild the Cartilage that lines the hip socket and the head of the femur, which were undoubtedly severely damaged by the trauma of the displacement of the femur crashing through and cracking the back of the hip socket. It seems odd to me that neither the Radiologist nor the Surgeon were interested in seeing an MRI of the joint at all, even though they know that this kind of trauma frequently leads to Osteoarthritis a few years down the road, at which time the surgeon will just say, ok, now you need a total hip replacement due to all of the traumatic inflammation that damaged and wore away all of the cartilage. Unfortunately, they still are not treating this preventively. Instead, they just wait until it has totally worn away and the pain has become so bad that they can justify an amputation of the head of the femur and replacement with Titanium or some other artificial substance.
Fortunately I Have Trained Extensively in Regenerative Medicine
Fortunately, I know something better and have trained extensively in Europe and the US in Regenerative Medicine. The body is the real healer and I know how to enhance the body’s own natural Cartilage regenerating Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) Growth Factors and Stem Cells, which I will start receiving in 4-6 weeks to assist and boost my bodies own amazing regenerative abilities.
Physical Therapy Down the Home Stretch
And finally, once the bone is fully healed, I will be able to start physical therapy, and I will use ARP Wave assisted Physical Therapy which is like getting a years worth of Physical Therapy in 1 month.
Thank goodness for the healing power of nature and a few good Trauma Surgeons. Oh, and a little synthetic morphine really helped, but I know better than to over do it. I have already begun to wean off of the drugs as quickly as possible to avoid getting addicted.
And now that I have had two weeks off, due to the accident, I look forward to seeing everyone back in my office starting Monday October 24th. (Note: in the previous 30 years of practice, I have only taken 2 days off because of illness; here’s to hoping that the next 10-15 are as healthy!) Thank you for all of your kind thoughts, prayers and cards. I truly appreciate you all.