Broken more

[sacredchao]

There's a night I seriously don't want to repeat. I was cycling up to Footscray train station after lovely singing when I found myself coming up behind a much slower cyclist. He moved to one side as I went to go around him and I had ot brake redally hard to avoid hitting him. I'm not sure exactly what happened next but it involved going over the handlebars really fast and landing on my right shoulder and the side of my head. The guy on the other bike favoured me with a sneering "Ya fuckwit!" and left me hyperventilating and shuddering on my back in the middle of the road. Charming. So after very gingerly riding the remaining few hundred metres to the train station there was a progression of stairs and changing trains (for a total of three), nearly passing out at one point before finally getting home about an hour later. The wonderful 10B took me to The Alfred hospital and stayed there until 3am for shich I am enormously grateful. Because I'd hit my head hard enough to crack my helmet in two places the staff quite reasonably feared for the state of my spine and put me in a neckbrace and admonished me firmly not to move. So flat and immobile on my back for the next 7 hours. That's sort of comfy at first but wears thin awfully quickly. A series of x-rays and a CT scan later (which occasioned the usual "Is there any chance that you're pregnant? ... Physically impossible, yes we hear that a lot." conversation.) it was determined after several hours that my spine is fine but I have a contused shoulder joint and a fractured scapula which explains why lugging my bike up and down several flights of stairs was so unpleasant.

As an aside, being trans, particularly pre-op or non-op in a hospital is exceedingly awkward. To their eternal credit, the staff were utterly lovely and made me as comfortable as possible the whole time. There was no hint of *them* having difficulty with the situation, the awkwardness was all mine.

This firmly confirms the destruction of any plans for bouting pre-surgery so I can now relax and let my knee heal properly. I am very sore and very grumpy.

Comments

[felinophile]

Ouch! My great sympathies. May karma come for him with 2x4.

Ouch! Glad you're OK

[villana.livejournal.com]

I really hope that other cyclist learns his lesson at some point - what a prick!

On the other topic.. Awkward or not, I love that you get asked if you're pregnant. Bless nurses and their unflappable attitudes.

Re: Ouch! Glad you're OK

[sacred-chao.livejournal.com]

I've had a couple of x-rays over the past year for chest infections and suchlike and I suspect that this is something that will never lose its ability to make the whole exercise so much better. Being asked if there's any chance I'm pregnant is awfully validating. Open skepticism from the the radiologist when I tell them it's not possible doubly so. Dude, I'm a trans lesbian who's been sleeping alone for a year and a half. If I wind up pregnant, call the pope, but only after having arranged someone to film his reaction.

[kateelliott.livejournal.com]

Glad it wasn't worse. Ouch! (and so good there was someone to take you to the hospital and then good nurses -- I always think that good nurses are what medicine runs on)

Agree

[paypabakwriter.livejournal.com]

... with Villana about the radiology nurse's concern. :))

I can't imagine how awkward that visit was for you but at least you're relatively okay. Not sure I could have managed so long on my back. When I fall alseep on my back (rare) I inevitably wake myself with snoring.

Sorry this has dashed your hopes over a bout. Relax and recover for your surgery!

You may protest that your posts are rough but you write well under stressful conditions. You own it all, good or bad, and so I think many of us reading your story find it inspiring.

[montjoye.livejournal.com]

The roads around here are pretty bad, that may have contributed. I'm with Villana, that other cyclist needs to get a clue or some karma payback or something.

So are you prescribed just rest? What is done for a fractured scapula?

[sacred-chao.livejournal.com]

I think rest is about all they can prescribe. Shoulderblades are awkward things to immobilise. Being that it's fractured rather than outright broken hopefully means it won't be too fraught an exercise. Except when I sneeze. I'm really learning to hate sneezes.

[f-m-r-l.livejournal.com]

I hope it's not allergy season for you there, and that you heal as quickly and painlessly as possible.