My trip to Utah didn’t go as planned

[Alexzn]

Ouch. Sorry to hear about your injury, heal well!

 

[scott43]

Take care! I've seen the external fixator a few times...motorcycle crashes though! Good effort on skis!

 

[Kneale Brownson]

My tibia plateau fracture was repaired internally with a plate and a handful of screws. Was your fixture because of the MCL? When I tore the MCL on the other leg, they gave me a soft brace.

 

[bbinder]

Heal well!

 

[PisteOff]

I'm not sure how I tweaked my knee. I had a few wipeouts over the course of the week but none where I went damn, there goes my knee..... I had only one ejection and it was the right ski. It is my left knee. Kevin and I did drop off a switchback on a cattrack at Snowbasin into what was a short steep powder field back off Strawberry where I discovered a rock that spun me out and took me down. There's no telling. I've had decades of knee injuries of all types from work, dirt bike racing, water skiing, skiing, etc. I heal exceptionally well. At some point down the road I imagine I will end up with knee replacements lol......I'm running low on cartilage...

 

[Wade]

View attachment 42117

Today I learned about something called an external fixator, which is the thing you see here. It is screwed into my leg bones. I managed to impress quite a few people with the x-rays of my tibial plateau fracture.

I’m so grateful for the wonderful Snowbird Ski Patrol who plucked me off a very difficult spot on the mountain and brought me down safely, as well as the EMTs who transported me and all the amazing people here at Intermountain Hospital.

That sucks.

It’s 5 years since my tibial plateau fracture / complete MCL tear / partial ACL tear injury, also in Utah. I got lucky in that the fracture didn’t displace, so no surgery for me.

I had a a long hard 7 months of 3 or 4 times a week physical therapy, on top of the exercises they gave me to do at home.

The fracture not displacing was huge in accelerating the time table to get back to normal. I had my first day back skiing 10 months after the injury, although it was probably 2 years before both of my legs felt pretty much the same again.

After getting through all of the range of motion and stability stuff so that my injured leg was fully functional again, the biggest challenge for me was getting the muscle mass back where my leg had basically atrophied in the few months after the injury. By the 2 year point, my legs functioned similarly and both felt strong, but I could still see a difference in muscle mass. By year 3, it was tough to tell any difference in size. At year 5, I struggle sometimes to remember which leg was injured.

This is a long winded way of saying do your work, make sure you have good doctors and therapists, and although it will take time, you will get back to normal.

Good luck with your recovery and please feel free to hit me up if you have any questions on the recovery process.

 

[Kneale Brownson]

I solved the muscle difference issue with recovery from my tibia plateau fracture by blowing out the achilles tendon on the other leg.

 

[LiquidFeet]

You made me laugh out loud, Kneale. Is the Achilles healed yet?

 

[Kneale Brownson]

Oh, yeah. Both the knee and most recent Achilles surgeries were several years ago. The other Achilles was repaired 30+ years ago.

 

[peterm]

Best wishes for your recovery Chris.

 

[Jim McDonald]

Damn, Chris, very sorry to hear this. Best vibes for a fast & full recovery.

 

[Doug Briggs]

I'm sorry to see your post, @Chris Walker. After surviving DH racing this winter you wreck on a little cornice drop. I hope you have a speedy and painfree recovery.

PT is as important as the surgeries but in the event you've never had an injury that required it, do what the PT says; not more, not less. It is really easy for eager folks to overdo it and create more trouble than they are remedying.

 

[Tony S]

Yuck

 

[PTskier]

A friend shattered his tibia plateau several years ago. The excellent orthopedic surgeons at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle (superb regional trauma center) got it fixed very well for him. That part of him is now 100%. On another note, he has some ligament injury in that area recently, and all the metal in there causes the MRI to be fuzzy. Anyway, the bone is fine.

 

[Seldomski]

Awful injury, thanks for sharing your story. I had been thinking lately that I wanted to learn how to drop cliffs... I had not considered this particular risk you experienced. So, I am now tabling that idea indefinitely.

Hope your recovery is quick and you get back to 100%, or better!

 

[AmyPJ]

TPF/MCL busters, unite!
OK, not really. I'm sorry, I can sure relate, although yours looks FAR worse than mine was. You're smart to get it all fixed right away. Make sure to follow up on other soft tissue injuries. My MCL tear flew under the radar for 3 years, and now I get to live with it.

And, biking is great PT for it, once you're cleared to do so.
Hang in there...

 

[Chris Walker]

I'm sorry to see your post, @Chris Walker. After surviving DH racing this winter you wreck on a little cornice drop. I hope you have a speedy and painfree recovery.

PT is as important as the surgeries but in the event you've never had an injury that required it, do what the PT says; not more, not less. It is really easy for eager folks to overdo it and create more trouble than they are remedying.

Ha, yeah that’s exactly what I was thinking. I should have been doing something safe like DH racing, LOL.

Thanks for the well wishes and especially the advice; I’ve never been down this road and am totally the kind of person who would try to overdo it. Very good point.

 

[Chris Walker]

TPF/MCL busters, unite!
OK, not really. I'm sorry, I can sure relate, although yours looks FAR worse than mine was. You're smart to get it all fixed right away. Make sure to follow up on other soft tissue injuries. My MCL tear flew under the radar for 3 years, and now I get to live with it.

And, biking is great PT for it, once you're cleared to do so.
Hang in there...

He he a club I never wanted to join but it is really helpful to hear from people who have been here and worked back from it.

 

[Chris Walker]

I solved the muscle difference issue with recovery from my tibia plateau fracture by blowing out the achilles tendon on the other leg.

I’ll try to find a different route

 

[Chris Walker]

That sucks.

It’s 5 years since my tibial plateau fracture / complete MCL tear / partial ACL tear injury, also in Utah. I got lucky in that the fracture didn’t displace, so no surgery for me.

I had a a long hard 7 months of 3 or 4 times a week physical therapy, on top of the exercises they gave me to do at home.

The fracture not displacing was huge in accelerating the time table to get back to normal. I had my first day back skiing 10 months after the injury, although it was probably 2 years before both of my legs felt pretty much the same again.

After getting through all of the range of motion and stability stuff so that my injured leg was fully functional again, the biggest challenge for me was getting the muscle mass back where my leg had basically atrophied in the few months after the injury. By the 2 year point, my legs functioned similarly and both felt strong, but I could still see a difference in muscle mass. By year 3, it was tough to tell any difference in size. At year 5, I struggle sometimes to remember which leg was injured.

This is a long winded way of saying do your work, make sure you have good doctors and therapists, and although it will take time, you will get back to normal.

Good luck with your recovery and please feel free to hit me up if you have any questions on the recovery process.

Thanks for sharing your story. I’m getting an idea of what’s ahead of me. I appreciate your kind words and support.