Today Was The 2 Year Anniversary of Me Breaking My Back

[ProudLib72]

For the second time! Very exciting!

Lesson learned: Do not ride your bike with your dogs running loose beside you. If you are bound and determined to ride your bike with your dogs, be absolutely sure that they do not have high prey drives.

My lab/rottie mix was running beside me when SQUIRREL! (yeah, that word has a special connotation for me). She darted after it, hitting my front wheel and knocking it 90 degrees. The next thing I knew, I had a familiar, deep down pain in my back. I had only felt that type of pain once before when I was 18. Yep, crushed T 10 vertebrae. Had to ride back to the car and drive 40 miles home. In fact, I didn't even go to the hospital until a couple of days later because I knew, I just knew, but I did not want to face that fact.

Oh well, two years down...

[cilla4progress]

1. Oy!

How are you now?

[ProudLib72]

3. I gained a bunch of weight since then, and that doesn't help

The thing about breaking your back is that you have to be in a brace for a few months. Then your core muscles atrophy. That's the worst part.

[TheBlackAdder]

10. Same here.

.


I had a Buick Grand National and was rear-ended by a K-5 Blazer doing 40-45 MPH. I've been throwing out my back several times a year. Now, I broke a metatarsal bone in my foot, which stops me from doing a lot of walking or running. It seems that every time I start to exercise, and start to show gains, my back goes out and I am laid up, where I can't exercise for a few weeks.

I'm at that age where diet alone doesn't help, and with extra pounds, it's near impossible to lose weight.

.

[ProudLib72]

11. I have a club foot. Had it operated on when I was a year old, but now it hurts

I read about it online, and most of the doctors agreed that one operation was never enough. Anyway, before I broke my back I had lost a bunch of weight. I was to the point where I could actually hike longer distances (4-6 miles) without my foot hurting. Then I broke my back, gained weight, and now my foot hurts after two miles. I have crappy health insurance that won't cover an operation (plus, I don't trust the doctors in the network). The only thing for it is to lose the weight again. What a pain! I was so proud that I was getting in shape.

[Demovictory9]

2. what is the cure?

[ProudLib72]

4. You have to wear a brace for ten weeks

It keeps you from bending over. It's like this sort of "O" shaped metal thing with pads at the top and bottom and a strap that goes around your back. These were compression fractures, which means the vertebrae were crushed along the front edge. They determine how "bad" it is depending on how far it was crushed. This is a percentage. Your vertebrae are supposed to be basically square, the front end being the same length as the rear. So when they are crushed, you loose a percentage of that height in front. The first time was a lot worse. I only remember that the percentage from two years ago was 10%, so not that bad.

Now here is the problem: Your vertebrae NEVER go back to normal. They will always be "crushed" along the front end. This can cause trouble down the road.

[Demovictory9]

5. yikes! hope you heal quickly.

[ProudLib72]

6. That was two years ago. I got out of the brace August 2016

While I was in the brace I had to sell a house and move. I felled three dead aspen trees, the tallest of which was 50'. That last break only slowed me down slightly. Couldn't ride my bike, though.

[StevieM]

7. I hope you have made a decent recovery, if not a perfect one.

I hope you can get back on your bike again.

[ProudLib72]

8. I was on my bike again as soon as I got that brace off

Because of the move, I was in the brace for an extra week. I knew the first doctor had told me that I could take it off after ten weeks, but I wanted a second opinion at the end of the ten weeks. It took awhile to find another doctor in the city I moved to, and I ended up having to wait extra long. Man, as soon as that second doctor told me everything looked ok, I took that brace off and never looked back.

Some people break their back and never realize it! It is very common in elderly women. Osteoporosis sets in, and simply walking down some stairs can put enough pressure on brittle bones that they get crushed. It's scary!

[malaise]

9. How is your back today?

Do you swim for exercise?

[ProudLib72]

13. It hurts

It's mainly the muscles that atrophied. When I exercise, they hurt. I don't belong to a gym with a pool. I guess joining would be a good idea.

You know what was really discomforting? Up to a year after I broke it, it would pop when I lay on my stomach in bed to read. It felt good when it popped, but I did NOT like the fact that it was popping.

[malaise]

14. Seriously you need to swim

Or it will get worse. :group hug:

[onecent]

12. Sorry t o hear about your back. That's not a good thing to have every year......Get Well Quickly!

[Niagara]

15. Holy Cripes!

I have no idea how you managed to ride back to your car and drive home after that.

I hope after 2 years that you're fully recovered.

[ProudLib72]

16. And went on a 4x4 road the next day.

Then went to hospital the following day because I knew I had to face the music.

The first time I broke it was really bad. They put a catheter in me for three days straight. 72 hours of catheter without a break. Think about that. It's because, when you break your back, your muscles tend to seize up. It's the body's way of protecting itself. That was worse than the broken back...almost.

[Niagara]

17. You must have an extremely high

pain tolerance lol

I have fibromyalgia and even with a gluten free diet, there are times where my lower back, hip and gluteal muscles spasm. It makes it difficult to walk when this happens.

I couldn't imagine how you went through all that. I hope your doing alright now.

[ProudLib72]

18. I have broken a lot of bones and had many stitches

But to be quite honest, breaking my back this last time felt more like a pulled muscle on the pain scale. The pain was enough to know that it was serious, but not enough for me to loose sleep or be uncomfortable sitting. There is this really strange pain that comes from breaking your back. It's an internal pain. This time it felt like it was coming from between my chest and back (which makes sense). But it is completely unlike the feeling of breaking a finger or leg.

The first time was my lower back, the lumbar vertebrae 1 - 4. That still hurts, but I think it's more to do with the lack of core muscle strength than the bones. This last time was in my thoracic vertebrae. These compression fractures happen when you bend over quickly and absorb a lot of pressure (like jumping from a balcony). But like I was saying in an above post, women with osteoporosis are particularly prone to compression fractures. It can happen from just walking down stairs! When I read about that, I felt like I shouldn't be complaining!