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Beasty's sweaty plaster cast - the road to recovery 2014/5/6/7.....

  • 16-03-2014 10:28am
    #1
    Administrators, Social & Fun Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 74,687 Admin ✭✭✭✭✭


    OK, so far this year I've been too focussed on training to do a log. That all changed a couple of weeks ago with my first race of the season at Newry. Alas it didn't end well - further details can be seen here

    Since the crash I've been in and out of various medical establishments/hospitals with no opportunity for actual training. I'm due back in for surgery on my cheekbone and jaw on Tuesday

    Anyway I see this as an opportunity to document and share my recovery process, so here is my 2014 log.

    First off a summary of my injuries:
    2 broken wrists - the right one in plaster the other in a temporary splint
    several breaks around the cheekbone on the left side of my face
    a break to the jawbone on the right side of my face
    double vision
    and to finish it off a chipped front tooth!!

    The broken wrists and double vision rule out any riding (or indeed driving) for a while, leaving me with the pleasure of the Wattbike and turbo to train on (I also have rollers but would not trust my control given the state of my wrists)

    The problem with the Wattbike is that it induces prolific sweat, which is not a particularly good mix with the plaster cast. However I can bear it and tbh I don't really have much choice

    What I've found with previous operations is the fitter I am when I go under the knife the easier my recovery is. With that in mind I've planned a 20 minute Wattbike session this morning and will try and go a bit longer tomorrow, as much to turn the legs over as anything

    Anyway the first 20 mins is now done. The arms were very painful unless I sat upright or crouched down on the TT bars. Putting any effort in was painful in the wrists as it essentially required a tighter grip on the bars

    So after 5 mins I tried a short "sprint" to get the power as high as possible - result was an abysmal 717w (I can usually put out 1100w+ in such a session, occasionally getting over 1200w). After 10 mins I tried again - slightly higher gearing resulting in a bit better result - 869w. My final effort was after 15 mins - this time I got it right hitting just over 950w, so it's heading in the right direction

    The one bit of really good news is I've been suffering a lot of pain due to the broken jaw. However getting the HR up and adrenaline flowing seems to have improved things and I hardly noticed any pain in the jaw during the second 10 mins.

    Let's see what tomorrow brings....


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Comments

  • Administrators, Social & Fun Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 74,687 Admin ✭✭✭✭✭Beasty


    Everything's in small doses at the moment (alas including sleep with what I think was a record 3 hours or so last night, meaning concentration during the day is "limited" and even Boards is taking a bit of a back-seat.)

    It's nearly 4 weeks after the accident and I still have not had the arms fully assessed and for all I know (indeed even suspect) more "intervention" may be required on the left - hopefully I will have the cast removed from the right before they do anything with the left.

    So what does this mean? In the absence of some positive information training in any form is completely out. The only exercise I can get is via a walk into town for a coffee.

    On the positive side I now have specialist appointments lined up when hopefully I will finally get some answers to all my questions. Tomorrow I should get a "steer" on my vision problems with a trip to an opthalmic surgeon - may even discover if I'll ever be able to close my eye fully/properly/naturally. Then on Tuesday the maxillofacials guys will hopefully confirm everything's going to plan in that "area" (and again maybe get some assurance that all the numbness I currently have around the face will fade over time)

    The thing I'm most looking forward to is on Thursday when hopefully I'll get confirmation of how many breaks I have in the arms, with only 2 confirmed in one hospital, and 2 confirmed in another, but only one of those being "common" - the right wrist which is currently in plaster. I've seen an x-ray of the left elbow confirming it's fractured, but there still seems a question over the left wrist (although based on the pain I suspect there is a fracture). The problem is I've only had a decent splint on for the last week which only covers the elbow, and the fear is more "work" will be required before I will be able to undertake any strenuous exercise. Hopefully everything will be a lot "clearer" this time next week


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,885 ✭✭✭pprendeville


    You're a brave man Beasty. Keep us informed on how you get on. Great to see you seem to be keeping positive and pro-active in your recovery.


  • Administrators, Social & Fun Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 74,687 Admin ✭✭✭✭✭Beasty


    The last few days have been a bit of a pain, quite literally, in the arms. The face and eyesight have been OK, but the discomfort from the forearms has been a little worrying. Most nights I've only been getting 2-3 hours sleep, meaning I've tended to be reasonably alert for a few hours then requiring a snooze for a hour or so to re-charge the batteries.

    Last night was a bit more positive though - going to bed around 2 and getting to sleep within half an hour or so, but I stayed asleep until just after 7 - that's 4.5 hours which is quite a bit longer than any night since the crash.

    So this lunchtime I was off to see the maxillofacial specialist - the good news is everything is going to plan and the bones should knit together over the next 4-5 weeks. I was advised that a plate was inserted in my jaw, which was news to me. I understand it was inserted via the mouth which explains why there were a number of dissolvable sutures. The only other thing is I have some numbness in the jaw and hardly any feeling below one of my eyes -apparently that could take up to 18 months to settle down. I'm still on soft foods and will remain so for a few weeks.

    Then this afternoon it was off with trepidation to the orthopaedic surgeon. This was my first opportunity since the crash to discuss the breaks in my arms with someone who knows what they are talking about, and I had a real concern that further surgery would be required given all the pain I've been getting. However after a few more x-rays I was told there was only the elbow break in the left arm and the discomfort in the left wrist was referred pain. More importantly the elbow brace I've been wearing for up to 23 hours a day is not now required - hopefully even more sleep and a lot less discomfort will result. I need to head off to get an MRI scan on my left arm given in particular the "confusion" over my left wrist, but with a bit of luck I may also be getting the right cast off in around a week or so (which has become a real, itchy, irritant over the past couple of days).

    So overall it's turned out a much more positive day than I expected. I now really think things are starting to look up, and I can start planning some Wattbike sessions. I suspect my plan to be back racing by mid May could be rather optimistic, particularly given my ongoing double vision, but I would hope to at least be back on the road by then


  • Registered Users Posts: 5,096 ✭✭✭nilhg


    Between yourself, myself and Yop, this is starting to look like the medical wing of 410.......

    Best of luck with the recovery, I know you're probably mad to get going again but remember patience is a virtue, especially when bones are mending, I had a broken metatarsal a few years ago (pre cycling) felt fine at home, took a chance and went back to work and finished up learning a painful lesson.


  • Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 15,665 Mod ✭✭✭✭smacl


    Best of luck with the recovery Beasty. Had a few breaks myself over the years but never than many at once. Don't know if its the same, but I'd loads of nasty twinges in the arm after an elbow break, possibly down to the metal rods being inserted for support while the bone knitted. The twinges disappeared and range of motion came back to normal after the rods were removed and physio was completed, enough to let me resume competitive wrestling as my main sport. Unfortunately, pain seems to be a normal part of the recovery process.


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  • Administrators, Social & Fun Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 74,687 Admin ✭✭✭✭✭Beasty


    Just discovered a carrier bag with HR strap, mini pump, 2 x tubes, 2 x tyre levers, 2 x cleat covers and 2 x CI numbers, together with a checklist from the hospital noting I was unable to sign for my possessions as I was "sleeping":)


  • Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 11,667 Mod ✭✭✭✭RobFowl


    Beasty wrote: »
    Just discovered a carrier bag with HR strap, mini pump, 2 x tubes, 2 x tyre levers, 2 x cleat covers and 2 x CI numbers, together with a checklist from the hospital noting I was unable to sign for my possessions as I was "sleeping":)

    "Sleeping" like the parrot :D

    Good to see you coming back...


  • Administrators, Social & Fun Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 74,687 Admin ✭✭✭✭✭Beasty


    Better update this with what I've actually been doing

    First go on the Wattbike was a couple of weeks ago during the bank holiday weekend and just ahead of heading back into hospital for the operation on my face. Essentially I treated it pretty much as a 20 minute warm-up, just to get the legs turning and blood circulating. It still felt like hard work, particularly given the pain in my arms. Average power was a measly 160w with a max of 959w

    Last Thursday I tried something similar - this time I managed to average 173w but the max was 924w. The issue I'm having continues to be with the arms and in particular the left one where they never confirmed a break in the wrist, and the brace for my broken elbow was removed earlier in the week. I continue to get some pain in the wrist area when holding the bars in the traditional manner, when I'm out of the saddle to push hard though it feels a lot worse. I've tried with and without a removeable splint but it does not make much difference. The right arm is uncomfortable but that feels like the cast is simply a little tight. Everything settles down though when I adopt the TT position. The other point is my HR hit 173 (max is aropund 186) - a level I rarely see except when racing - I guess it's highlighting how far out of condition I've become over the past 5 weeks.

    Then earlier today I gave it another go - it's still painful but everything is heading in the right direction - average poweer 199w, max 970w average HR 156, max 170.

    Probably try another 2-3 sessions next week and hope I can get this cast off sooner rather than later (which should give me more training options)


  • Administrators, Social & Fun Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 74,687 Admin ✭✭✭✭✭Beasty


    Was at the Sports Surgegy Clinc yesterday for an MRI scan on the still troublesome left wrist. Alas they turned me away when I mentioned all the (titanium) metalwork inserted in the face 3 weeks ago.

    They asked me to come back this morning once they had checked a few things and were happy to proceed this time. Alas it was a quite torturous experence having to keep my arm stretched out straight for gettimng on for 20 mins - the break in the elbow was particularly sore as was part of the wrist.

    Then it was up to the Orthopaedic consultant, with this:
    1620718_637457806309145_2804171194620167077_n.jpg

    To depart like this:

    10157356_637457872975805_3660776127064539718_n.jpg

    There was actually a plaster under the cast covering a bit of (still unhealed) roadrash - still a bit sore there and in various other places, and there is some bruising confirming the cast was a bit tight (and indeed abrasive) in places.

    Anyway, glad to get rid of it, although I've got to keep a splint on it for a couple more weeks.

    In terms of the left wrist the scan showed a lot of bruising in the wrist area. However some of the exercises I've been doing seem to be paying off and the consultant was pleased with the progress. I can now cut down on wearing the splint on that side.

    Once I get the 2 splints off completely I should be able to drive again. Didn't ask about cycling though;)


  • Administrators, Social & Fun Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 74,687 Admin ✭✭✭✭✭Beasty


    So I managed to get nearly 6 hours sleep last night and I thought I would make the most of the rest by getting out on the bike today ...

    Should have realised when suffering the pain of putting on the lyrca gear, socks, gloves and shoes that perhaps it was not the best idea at present (and getting it off again later was even worse!).

    5 minutes in I was in pain in both arms, and any thoughts of getting to Balscadden to watch today's open race dissipated. Every defect in the road was painful and I had to swap hands regularly. Even approaching a corner was challenging, as to stop would rquire a firmer grip on the bars which was only going to add to the pain. So I decided to keep it very local, and only did just under 30 mins at an average speed of less than 10mph!! Normalised power was a mediocre 140w or so, and the Strava "Suffer" score was 8 - mentally it felt more like 80+! The only good news was I could use the brakes properly so I never felt as if I could get into a dangerous situation.

    So what does that mean? Really I am not in a state to ride on the road and cannot see things improving enough for a couple of weeks minimum (which is a little unfortunate as I am definitely not allowed to drive either for those 2 week, meaning I'm pretty much reliant on walking and taxis). It also means that any idea of racing has got to be put on the back-burner. Indeed I really cannot see me doing much if any road racing this season. I may be able to do some shortish TTs later on (the TT position is definitely a lot less painful that trying to grip normal bars in any position). The only other realistic option this year may be a bit of track league, but even then I think I am realistically talking late July (after a holiday break) at the earliest.

    In the meantime it can only be back to the Wattbike, and getting the new indoor training facility completed to allow me to concentrate on at least building some fitness in a far more comfortable environment. Hopefully once I can do a decent stint on the roadbike I'll start using the commutes to build the fitness more. From a practical perspctive any racing objectives for this year are pretty much abandoned, and the main focue will be getting in a state where I can race again at a decent level next year


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  • Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 11,667 Mod ✭✭✭✭RobFowl


    Beasty wrote: »
    So I decided to keep it very local, and only did just under 30 mins at an average speed of less than 10mph!! Normalised power was a mediocre 140w or so, and the Strava "Suffer" score was 8 - mentally it felt more like 80+! The only good news was I could use the brakes properly so I never felt as if I could get into a dangerous situation.

    Have awarded you a suffer score of 410 on the basis of exceptional effort, well done.


  • Administrators, Social & Fun Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 74,687 Admin ✭✭✭✭✭Beasty


    RobFowl wrote: »
    Have awarded you a suffer score of 410 on the basis of exceptional effort, well done.
    Did have the Boards jersey on, but decided, rather than disgrace it further with my slowness, I'd better head back home ...


  • Registered Users Posts: 4,338 ✭✭✭Lusk_Doyle


    RobFowl wrote: »
    Have awarded you a suffer score of 410 on the basis of exceptional effort, well done.

    And as his doctor you're going to prescribe sleeping pills to stop him being daft and trying that again!


  • Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 11,667 Mod ✭✭✭✭RobFowl


    Lusk_Doyle wrote: »
    And as his doctor you're going to prescribe sleeping pills to stop him being daft and trying that again!

    He has more sense than to have me as his doctor ;)


  • Administrators, Social & Fun Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 74,687 Admin ✭✭✭✭✭Beasty


    Managed to get back on the Wattbike for another 20 mins on Sunday, and this time managed to break the 200w barrier with an overall average of 208w, and also breaking the 1,000w barrier, with a new "post-crash peak" of 1,075w which was particularly pleasing. HR averaged 139, and perhaps not surprisingly given the extra effort I felt I could put in hit a new peak (again post-crash) of 175

    Getting the cast off is helping a little, as is using the TT bars. The exercises I've been doing on the left have significantly improved my grip, although I can still feel quite a bit of discomfort in the left elbow on occasions. The right wrist remains very swollen and quite painful (often more painful than when I had the cast on), so I'm being quite careful not to use that one too much.

    Not sure whether to bother too much over the next week - perhaps another couple of 20 minute or so sessions, as I've just discovered I'll be back in hospital as a day case next week to have the wiring removed from my jaw/teeth. The good news is the consultant is pleased with progress of the cheek and jaw, although there remain a number of other issues I have some concern with which may result in some visits to yet more specialists.


  • Administrators, Social & Fun Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 74,687 Admin ✭✭✭✭✭Beasty


    Beasty wrote: »
    Really I am not in a state to ride on the road and cannot see things improving enough for a couple of weeks minimum
    Saturday was 2 weeks after I wrote the above, so I gave myself a bit of breathing space and left it until yesterday to give the road bike another go.

    The good news is I manged 50% more time-wise (45 mins) as well as speed (24 kph). NP was up just above 200w which was a significant improvement. I had enough grip to feel confident getting out of the saddle on hills, although trying a sprint effort was a different kkettle of fish

    A lot of the time I found myself steering with one hand while resting the other - one arm was difficult to straighten and the other difficult to bend!! Both were quite painful after the ride - probably should have taken some painkillers beforehand!

    Anyway, I'm more than pleased with the power output given my current condition and the fact I've hardly been able to do anything for 8 weeks. Average cadence was up from 53 to 76, but really needs to be moving into the 90s - that way I hope to improve heart and lung conditioning a bit quicker, although it's getting clearer all the time that this is going to be a bit of a long haul. Maybe I'll be able to do a TT or two and perhaps a track league night towards the end of the season, but I really cannot see me being able to race much this year.


  • Registered Users Posts: 4,338 ✭✭✭Lusk_Doyle


    Marshal duty beckons so...


  • Administrators, Social & Fun Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 74,687 Admin ✭✭✭✭✭Beasty


    Lusk_Doyle wrote: »
    Marshal duty beckons so...
    No comment - may see you on a corner on Wednesday mind ...


  • Registered Users Posts: 4,338 ✭✭✭Lusk_Doyle


    Beasty wrote: »
    No comment - may see you on a corner on Wednesday mind ...

    No giving out to me and you'll be most welcome!


  • Administrators, Social & Fun Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 74,687 Admin ✭✭✭✭✭Beasty


    My current symptoms include irritability and general grumpiness - tends to be later in the day when I'm getting tired though...


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  • Administrators, Social & Fun Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 74,687 Admin ✭✭✭✭✭Beasty


    Back out again today when I managed just over 50 mins and 21.4km. Average speed was up again - this time 25kph, and average power was 202w (last time 189w) including zeros - NP was again slightly up at 207w. I also managed to do an out of saddle effort, hitting 1,055w which was 66% higher than I managed last week and not far off what I've achieved on the Wattbike since the crash. I was definitely focussing more on cadence this week and pushed the average up to 85rpm. So in terms of performance everything's heading in the right direction - even managed to take 3rd place on a (relatively soft;)) Strava segment!!

    One slightly odd thing is that both last week and this week my L:R power balance has been around 47%:53%. Before the crash I was pretty close to 50:50 on virtually every ride I've been able to get measurements for (including the Wattbike) - maybe that's indicative of losing more power from my weaker left leg, or possibly that I had trained the legs to put in similar effort but my lack of riding over the past couple of months means I need to work on this further to improve the left leg output to its former level.

    I was surprised at how easy it was to get the HR very high. I hit 182 and was at 180+ for about a minute at one stage - the maximum I've ever recorded is 186 and I would normally struggle to get near to 180. Again it's an indication of how much conditioning I've lost. Maybe a few high cadence turbo sessions will help with that.

    Unfortunately though it's not all good news. The arms are still suffering both during the ride and after. My right wrist seems to be a particular issue with it being almost impossible to rotate away from the thumb to a great extent (that's where having Di2 helps - pressing a button to change gear is a lot easier than using levers!). There is also quite a bit of deformity apparant on the of the wrist side opposite the break. When taking into account all the pain I suffer in various places around the lower arm/wrist I do wonder whether further "intervention" may be required - hopefully I'll be getting a steer on that the week after next when I return to the orthopaedic surgeon.


  • Administrators, Social & Fun Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 74,687 Admin ✭✭✭✭✭Beasty


    So Tuesday I was travelling - over in Manchester and, amongst other things, had my annual medical at BUPA

    Now, of course, in my current state I was not expecting to set any PBs, although I was slightly surprised that I even managed to do some testa such as the "grip strength" one, when my left arm was not too far adrift from where it was last year

    Then there was the VO2 Max test - the way they do it is never going to give an accurate result, as they only take you to 85% of the max HR as predicted by the 220-age calculation (and then extrapolate to 100%). Given the HR I hit on Sunday I do suspect I would get above the 186 I have recorded previously if I really pushed myself in my current (relatively unfit) state. So they assumed a max HR of 167, an understatement of at least 10%. Then there was my weight - up 5kg, or over 5%, since the crash. A couple of years ago I "hit" a VO2 max of around 44 and last year it was 40.2. The important thing though was the testing protocol was pretty consistent, so I was staggered when the informed my that they measured it at 42.3!. All other things being equal I should have expected a 5.5% reduction due to my increased weight and another 0.5% as they reduced my perceived max HR - so I had a 6% "hill" to climb just to maintain last year's fitness, but actually exceeded that by over 5% - an 11%+ "positive swing" when I've been injured and pretty much off the bike for over 9 weeks!!

    I guess this is confirming what I had already suspected - that I had come into this season (significantly) fitter than ever before. What amazed me though was I was expecting a major fall-off due to the inactivity. However this, in conjunction with what I have managed over the past couple of weeks, is confirming I probably have not lost very much base fitness at all, and hopefully it will not be too difficult to regain it once I do manage to get out a bit more, both on the road and on the indoor trainers.

    Again though it's not all good news - 2 days travelling has really taken it out of me - way beyond what I had anticipated, and it's taking at least 24 hours just to get over that. I am still very easily fatigued (and getting back to a regular work routine is not helping on that front, although it's not yet full-time), although the pain in my arms after Sunday's road session subsided a lot more quickly than last week, which means that hopefully I'll be able to up my road sessions a bit going forward.


  • Administrators, Social & Fun Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 74,687 Admin ✭✭✭✭✭Beasty


    All good news this week. Orthopaedic surgeon slightly surprised me whan he said the right wrist (and indeed left elbow) was healing fine, and he said from his perspective I was OK to cycle again!! Having said that I do now need a scan on the break in my neck that was originally indicated as "possibly old" - the fact is there has been no other obvious cause than this crash. The break itself is very minor but its healing needs to be verified (and hopefully they will comment on the fracture lower down that was also identified immediately after the crash)

    I've also had my fiirst physio session. The pain was already reducing and since the physio has improved further (although the exercises I am required to do to regain motion can be quite painful anyway!).

    In terms of cycling I only managed 30 minutes on the Wattbike yesterday, although with the reducing pain I feel as if I should be able to do more frequent sessions now. The real test will be the next road session and whether the lower pain levels are apparent then also.

    One other bit of info - I've been trying to get to te bottom of exactly what happened at the crash, and today spoke to someone at the start of the Ras - he wasn't involved in the race but was friends of one of the other crash victims. I've already concluded that riders must have come down in front of me, as there is no other reason for my to fly over the bars (which I suspect is the only way I could have sustained the injuries I did) on a flat road without any potholes or other significant "imperfections". It now transpires that there is a view that someone moved quickly out to the right (possibly into the second lane of the dual carriageway), causing those behind to brake/crash and I'm guessing I must have then run into one of them.


  • Administrators, Social & Fun Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 74,687 Admin ✭✭✭✭✭Beasty


    Back travelling this week, which helps explain why I'm posting this at quarter to five in the morning - it's 8.45 in the evening where I am.

    So Tuesday was a complete write-off as my travelling took over 20 hours door to door. It certainly tested the current status of my recovery, and while I've been on the West Coast of the USA I've found myself getting fatiqued very quickly - clearly jet-lag is playing a part, but I do usually adapt very quickly to this particular journey.

    Anyway, in terms of what I've done, I was out on the bike for nearly 80 minutes last Saturday - 25 or so minutes than I've done on any other occasion since the crash. Both arms were still very painful and knowing I would be back on gym bikes after the break for the journey was a bit of a relief.

    I've now done 3 gym bike sessions this week, mainly being variations on what set out to be relatively easy interval sessions, although I have tried to up the effort towards the end of each session, usually hitting 170+bpm. I've also being, for the most part, keeping cadence at 100-105. Coming back to the HR figures, which is the only real data I have to go on, the pleasing thing is that at the end of a hard interval, even though I've kept working at a reduced rate, I've been able to get the HR down by 30+bpm within a couple of minutes - an indication that my heart is re-gaining efficiency. Not as spectacular as when I crashed mind, when my HR went from 160 at "point of impact" to 80 withn 70s, altough I was clearly unconscious at the time (a few minutes later I lost the "remaining" 80bpm also:eek: - the wonders of the Garmin allow me to track a lot of stuff which looks a little scary now!)

    I'm going to be sticking to the hotel gym bikes for a few days yet, although when I get back I'm hoping the new training facility will be complete;)


  • Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 24,319 Mod ✭✭✭✭CramCycle


    Beasty wrote: »
    (a few minutes later I lost the "remaining" 80bpm also:eek: - the wonders of the Garmin allow me to track a lot of stuff which looks a little scary now!

    Congrats although efficient isn't the world I would use ;-)

    See you on the track in Autumn?


  • Administrators, Social & Fun Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 74,687 Admin ✭✭✭✭✭Beasty


    CramCycle wrote: »
    See you on the track in Autumn?
    You'll definitely be seeing me at the track. I would like to think I could do a couple of track league evenings before the season is out, but remain in the hands of (at least one of) the medics on that front...


  • Administrators, Social & Fun Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 74,687 Admin ✭✭✭✭✭Beasty


    Since my return from the States I've been commuting a couple of days a week. The arms are still very uncomfortable, although there was a slight improvement this past week. I've been doing getting on for 4 hours a week on the road, supplemented by the occasional Wattbike session. I'm finding there is a gradual improvement in the power output and I'm able to do some intervals which are helping improve things further. I'm not getting out for much more than an hour at a time and the arms will probably suffer more if I did much longer spins

    I am finding that when I commute I feel much better when I actually get into work. I feel more alert and can cope with the day's pressures much better. However this has also co-incided with my return to full-time work, and I'm finding the day in work following a commute much harder going.

    On Friday I finally got to see the "Head Doctor" - a neuro psychologist who would assess the impact of the bang I took to the head and any long term consequences. He initially indicated great surprise that I had been released from hospital the day after my accident. He also was very surprised that I was back to work full time, and believed given the extent of my head injuries I should probably only now be going back part-time!

    The assessment he did very very interesting. Basically my ability to take things in was greatly impaired - once something was into my memory though it stuck (which has always been a strength of mine, as is remembering numbers, which I excelled at during his tests, although I know it was still a bit down on normal). He reckoned it would probably be another year before everything returned to "normal" (or as near normal as it will get). He had some interesting comments regarding helmets and was of the view that in my case it probably did a massive amount of good in that there were no breaks to the skull, which would probably have caused further brain damage. The concussion though was largely unaffected by the helmet as it's essentially caused by the brain vibrating within the skull.

    His advice was to keep going with the cycling as the cardio-vascular work-outs would continue to do me good. However I suspect any road racing is going to be completely off the agenda for this year, given my impaired ability to react quickly in a bunch (and the much higher risk I run of further permanent damage should I suffer another bang to the head). I'm still hoping that I will still be able to do the odd TT and possibly a track event before the season is out. I am continuing to get very fatigued, and was advised this is very usual with this typoe of injury, given the amount of energy utilised in the continuing recovery process (particularly in the brain)

    I'm now on my hols, and hope to do some short road sessions over the next couple of weeks (the road surfaces are much better where I am than in and around Dublin!)


  • Administrators, Social & Fun Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 74,687 Admin ✭✭✭✭✭Beasty


    .... and error

    Since my last update I feel as if the road work has been coming along nicely. I get less pain in the arms and have been able to do some longer efforts and a few intervals. That's resulted in me experimenting a little more to try and work out where the boundaries currently are. Alas they still feel a bit too close to home

    Experiment #1 - hill climb repeats
    A couple of weeks ago I did 3 repeats of the local Ardgillan hill climb. All went very well and I was hitting the sort of power I would typically get in the middle of winter. I was very pleased with that, until it came to the following day. Basically I was completely zonked in work. I was almost walking round like a zombie, with the after effects of the previous night's efforts really hitting home. So the take-home from that was I do need to be particularly careful not to overdo it, as recovery from any over-exertion is going to be "challenging"

    Experiment #2 - the TT bike
    Got my wheel back (it had been supporting Mr Irvine to his bronze in the National TT championships;)) and got the TT bike set-up. So I went out just to see whether I could get into a comfortable position. Result - a hell of a lot of pain in the wrist. I could not grip the bar ends properly with my right hand, making shifting (even with Di2) very dificult. Motion in my right wrist remains severely restricted, and I really don't know how much more it will improve. Having said that I felt very similar when I started back on the road bike and that has eased over time - maybe it is a matter of getting a bit more practice, or probably more likely changing to "ski" bars from the current "s-bar" set up. I also had quite a stiff neck throughout the ride and getting down on the TT bars is increasing the strain

    Experiment #3 - the track
    Went down to Sundrive last week to take part in the junior training session. I did quite a bit of it solo, but built my confidence and joined in with some of the sprint efforts, which went well. However the need to hold onto the track bars continuously resulted in a lot of pain in the wrist. I deliberately tried to keep going as long as possible just to test things. I'm hoping/expecting that to improve over time

    So where are the injuries up to? As already outlined the right wrist remains, quite literally, a pain. Hopefully that will continue to improve with practice. The left elbow stiffens up quite a lot, and I've got some plans to try and regain strength in both arms

    I am continuing to get physio on my neck and shoulders. They basically deteriorate throughout the day, making it very difficult to turn my head even 90 degrees each way when it's getting late. Cycling tends to make it a bit more flexible, but there is no way I would feel comfortable doing any fast group riding at present, given the need to be aware of what's going on around.

    The other big issue (linked to but also beyond the cognitive problems I outlined in my previous post) is fatigue. I travelled over to Scotland on Thursday, and attended the 2 track cycling sessions at the Commonwealth Games on Friday. By Friday evening I was again totally zonked. I paced myself better through Saturday, but could feel it coming on again on Sunday morning - so I gave a couple of Rugby 7s sessions a miss and again just went to the velodrome. I could have gone to Athletics and Swimming on Monday, but just got in the car as I knew I also had a long drive that day. In the past combining all of this (as I did with the Olympics and Paraklympics) would not be a big issue. Currently though I know that anything involving significant effort and/or concentration is going to be a problem unless I pace myself


  • Administrators, Social & Fun Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 74,687 Admin ✭✭✭✭✭Beasty


    Back to the neuro-psychologist today. He went through the results of the tests I did just over a month ago. Basically it was in line with his initial comments on the day of the tests. In a lot of areas I am quite a way behind the "norm". Things worsened when put under time pressure. The number test results were a bit better - 3 standard deviations ahead of average - that's in the top 0.3% of the population, despite the fact I did still feel some impairment:D

    It looks like things will continue to improve for another year or longer. He indicated I should feel different again once the recovery is complete. However any ideas of racing this year are out of the window. The fact I struggle when put under pressure makes it difficult to react quickly - certainly when it's a situation where I need to mentally assess something.

    Interestingly I had some discussion with him about concussions in sport generally, and some of the examples in the World Cup when players should probably never have been allowed back on the pitch. He thought cycling is behind a lot of sports in it's approach to head injuries, and perhaps it's time that this was looked at a lot more closely, with doctors being required to pull riders out of races whenever concussion is suspected. Knowing what I now know, and having had a number of increasingly serious concussions in my life, I do think the authorities need to have a very close look at this

    I had hoped to do a track league evening or perhaps a TT or two. Even TTs are not going to happen though, unless I simply use the road bike, as I continue to have neck problems as well as quite a lot of discomfort in the wrist when on the TT bars

    Hence plans can now turn to 2015, when I move into another Masters Age category;)


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  • Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 11,667 Mod ✭✭✭✭RobFowl


    Beasty wrote: »
    My current symptoms include irritability and general grumpiness


    Good to see you back to normal Beasty ;)


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