My Ribs Are Healing

Submitted by Bill St. Clair on Wed, 24 Sep 2014 13:54:41 GMT  <== Webmaster stuff ==> 

As I noted on 23 August, I broke seven ribs on 18 August after hitting a deer on my motorcycle. It's now five and a half weeks later, and I've been free of pain meds since the weekend. Still a little pain, but not enough to stop me from sleeping or distract me too much to work.

I can also finally lay on my back in bed, so I no longer have to get up every two hours to let my right side recover. Praise the Lord for small miracles!

The doctor said the whole process would take 12 weeks, so I'll wait until the middle of November before I start lifting heavy objects, but I appear to be well on my way to healing.

I took a look at my scooter yesterday. Something is obstructing free motion of the steering, so I'll have to fix that before I can take it on short rides around home. I was hoping to replace it and my old Saab in the spring with an Elio, but they won't be shipping until fall of 2015. So I'll have to fix the leak in the Saab's power steering fluid line so that I can use it until then. Sigh...

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Comments (3):

broken ribs

Submitted by MamaLiberty on Sun, 28 Sep 2014 19:29:24 GMT

Why do you want to lift heavy objects? You'd be well ahead of the game if you forgot about doing any of that any time soon. Breaking that many ribs is a big deal! You can easily resume normal daily activity 8 to 10 weeks after breaking bones, but heavy weight lifting would not be among those suggested.

I broke ONE small bone in my left foot about 25 years ago. I went back to full time work after only a week and figured I'd just "work through" the pain until it got better. I guarantee you that was a piss poor decision, and it did not heal properly so I have continued pain and problems with it to this day.

ONE TINY little bone in the middle of my foot.

Don't mess with it, my friend.

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Thanks for the suggestion.

Submitted by Bill St. Clair on Sun, 28 Sep 2014 19:36:41 GMT

Thanks for the suggestion. I'm in no hurry to lift heavy objects. Just thought my doctor's 12 weeks would get me back to normal activity, which occasionally involves lifting stuff. If not, I'm sure the pain will limit me. I will resist the temptation to "work through" it.

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Excellent!

Submitted by MamaLiberty on Mon, 29 Sep 2014 14:22:32 GMT

Glad to hear that, Bill. I've known too many guys who just can't accept "No pain, no gain" as a myth. Acute pain, especially from an injury, usualy indicates tissue damage and is the natural signal to stop whatever is doing that damage. Pain causing one to withdraw their hand from a hot surface is an easy example. Nothing at all gained by leaving your hand there.

Pain signals CAN be overridden, of course, as anyone who's performed under the influence of adrenalin can tell you, but the damage continues and does not ever heal right in the end. If you are in a fight for your life, that damage might be an acceptable trade off to death, but it's a piss poor trade for some imaginary "gain."

Chronic pain, from a source that is vague or not identified, is a whole other subject, naturally, and there are times when that pain must simply be ignored. It's important to recognize the difference.

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