Somafunk wow, just wow. You sound like both a survivor and a fighter 🙂

Well folks given all the above Somafunks advice seems the best course of action. Easy to say tough to do, but the right way forward.

Have had my own serious very serious injury but what knocked the stuffing out of me was the injury to my partner. You can fight for yourself but its impossible to mend who you love.

My own minor aches and pains are really put into perspective after reading through this!
Take care of yourselves, everyone.

Have had my own serious very serious injury but what knocked the stuffing out of me was the injury to my partner. You can fight for yourself but its impossible to mend who you love.

mt _ I am so sorry to read this.
Healing hugs from the North West. J. x

Countzero +1. My 8month+ shoulder injury is put well into perspective. Ironically as a teen a car I was in hit a roundabout at 70+, somersaulted numerous times up the road until it landed on its roof. People from the local pub had to pull me out. All three of us got out with not even a scratch. I had loads of cubes of glass in my (sockless) slip-on shoes but no cuts.

My story is pretty much the same as Jamj1974. Complete breakdown in 2005 aged 41 followed by another in 2009, due to I suspect work stress, but there had been milder episodes going back to my late teens, and mid to late 20’s.

I probably lost 6 years of my life to depression and anxiety.

I have been good for the last 5 years or so, but I still worry more than most people. Oddly I have been under considerably more stress at work for the last 3 years, than ever in my life, but I seem to be coping well enough.

All that said the GP suggested last week I needed some time out, her view was my recurrent viruses and general physical unwellness is down to chronic stress, I haven’t heeded her advice and now have another damn virus.

Either way stress screws you up one way or another.

MTB crash at 19 did for my knees, screaming down Bamford Clough in the Peak my pedal clipped a rock and unclipped so i went off a drop on one foot and went OTB hard, took a lot of skin off my legs and mh kneecaps took a battering. Not been right since, i seem to get fitter then all of a sudden it flares up and thats another year over.

22 I walked off a 6ft drop in a car park and landed on my face, my lower back bent round as i crumpled up, never been the same since and gets ‘tired’ really quickly if doing any heavy lifting.

Broke my arm 3x in quick succession, as a result of that the alignmet of the wrist is out, no doubt that’s going to cause some painfull problems.

You sound like both a survivor and a fighter

Cheers Hora but i’m no different than anyone else, I do have the mental tools such as transcendental meditation which i was taught/coached when in the spinal unit by one of the therapists, this has enabled me to immediately recognise any negative thoughts or suchlike and accept them in the moment then move on – 10-15 mins twice a day and it feels like i’ve taken a steam cleaner and a scrubbing brush to my brain, my thought process is clearer and i can physically feel the difference throughout my body. It has been shown to change brain chemistry when practised daily/over a period of time and if i get pain i often take a minute during the day to just remove myself from the experience and dive into my brain for a root around and flick a few switches to stop the discomfort – saying that i sometimes resort to tramadol or gabapentin when i get immobilising pain/muscle spasms so i’m definitely not saying it’s a panacea for all lifes ills n’ troubles 😀

Sounds a bit hippy-drippy but i believe it to be true so that’s good enough for me, I guess any sort of deep relaxation techniques would have a similar effect.

Wiki on TM

Obviously absolutely minor compared to the previous comments but..

Got hit HARD in the face with a football last year, knocked me sparko. Woke up with blurred vision in my left eye now I have a dead spot in the middle of my vision. It’s incredibly difficult to get work done as I can’t see ’round it’ if that makes sense. Considering wearing an eye patch to work. 🙄

Hippytrippy? If it works its a viable and powerful recovery tool. 🙂

Okay, this isn’t going to be easy to write but here goes…

I badly broke my thumb on a dry-ski slope about 10 years ago – this meant that I had to have it pinned back into position. After I woke up from the operation, I found my left hand and wrist covered in a massive theatre cast – which was suspended above my head in a sling to reduce the swelling, and I’d also had a nerve block in my left armpit so I had no feeling in my left arm at all.
I woke up in the night, feeling a bit uncomfortable, moved in the bed, and my arm fell out of the sling and started to fall towards me – because of the nerve block I couldn’t control the muscles to stop it falling, and so I moved out of the way – this didn’t work, as my arm was still attached at the shoulder and so it came with me and kept falling -and promptly broke my nose!

This meant that after my nose healed it leaned to one side a bit – and so, for the rest of my natural life, I will always have to live with *takes deep breath*…

Slightly wonky sunglasses – the horror!

I hear you brother.

*high-fives with flappy finger*

This is so cathartic isn’t it? I’m saving a fortune on therapy here…

My forum name doesn’t quite cut the mustard with Somafunk and similar but I still earned the name. Loads of trivial shit with broken arms, fractured skulls, snapped fingers and toes but the one that got me was snapping my foot off. They bolted it back on but still in pain 3 1/2 years later and the ankle was fused last September . Hopefully the last operation.

Like Somafunk I bought an e bike. In fact the same model but that was coincidence. 4 day in and loving it.

The biggest effect can be on those around you. MrsWCA felt physically sick with worry when I rode out on the new bike. She cried with joy when I returned smiling. I owe that woman so much for supporting me emotionally over this time. She has been amazing and I wouldn’t have blamed her at any time for leaving me as I went through pain, depression and anger.

But hey ho, the sun will still rise tomorrow so smile and get on with it I guess.

Gabapentin is a life saver – without it I can’t walk.
Well I can but apparently it’s hilarious to watch – it’s not hilarious to do though as by **** does it hurt!

@ pictonroad – I was hit in the eye with a hockey ball around ten years ago. After the initial blindness wore off I was left with a blank spot in the vision of my left eye: it’s caused by a scar to the macular, which is the list of the retina responsible for sharp focusing.

Sounds like you have the same. After a while my brain had retrained itself and now I only “see” the gap in my vision during an eye test (I already wore glasses).

The repairs to my face took longer to heal but TBH I’ve pretty much forgotten about it.

Currently I, along with various specialists, are keeping an eye on me to see if I will develop a pretty serious condition. Sadly this has meant giving up nearly all exercise for the last four years. I think I grieved for the loss of cycling for about three of them. More tests recently – let’s see what they bring. I live in hope and without diagnosis.

Perhaps we should start a STW Cripple Club 😀

WCA : I can understand where Mrs WCA is coming from as my mother was/is similar, i can only imagine what i put them through all those years ago and even to this day she freaks out if i don’t give her a quick call/txt every night or pop into see her, some folk would prob think that’s too much but if it keeps her happy and sane i’ll go along with it

Like hammyuk watching me attempt to walk is also quite entertaining, i can hold it together for about 10 steps then it all goes to **** in a basket of oiled up frogs, i trip over my own feet, stumble then do a splendid impression of a drunk losing his balance whilst attempting to juggle a carry out as i throw my arms out to stabilise me which has led to quite a few heated confrontations when i’ve been pulled over for suspected drunk driving (after i’ve staggered to the car whilst latching onto inanimate objects for support) – attempting to hold a sensible and intelligent conversation with certain personality types of police officers who approach you with a preconceived scenario in their mind is nigh on impossible (some are perfectly civil and very accommodating btw) but i guess it’s par for the course.

P erhaps we should all get together and enter as a team into mountain-mayhem (or similar 24hr event) – it’d certainly be a giggle for everyone else as we drag our limp n’ crippled carcasses round a muddy field in the manner of zombies on acid 😀

I’ve been following this thread closely, always trying to find an apposite statement but never being able. My hip hurts a bit some days and I can’t do what I used to be able to do. I grin and bear it and take the meds.

But you lot- you are pretty inspirational to be blunt. There has been some serious sh1t thrown at all of us from a whole load of places, some of it self-inflicted. The strength of human spirit has kept you people going.

Reading your tales has given me a bit of a boost, I thank you all.

PS- how can I get an honorary flappy finger?

Is it bad that I laughed at Tarka?

My dad copped it when I was 2. That and it’s aftermath scarred me a fair bit I know see, but I’m trying (meditation among others).

Perhaps we should all get together and enter as a team into mountain-mayhem (or similar 24hr event)

I would suggest the Big Bike Bash (predictably) as it has a variety of different length races depending on your preferences and battery charge. Good charging facilities and a number of modified or specialist bikes so if you want to try something different or even if you want someone to pedal you around on a bicycle made for two.

Somafunk – if you do want to come but don’t fancy lugging your big heavy bike with you I will lend you mine so you can still compete (or just arse about in Turbo mode)

Humbling thread.

An ill-judged five hour ride through snowy Japanese mountains in 2006 left me with frostnip in both hands*, and I have arthritis in most of my finger joints now.

*When I finally got home I had to pee on them to get enough feeling/dexterity back to unlock my front door 😳 .

I just had a look at the big bike bash website and i was sold on the idea then i had the foresight to see where it is – 415 miles away and a 7hr drive according to google 🙁 – spending that long sitting in my van would cripple me and i imagine the journey would take much longer than 7 hours – damn & bugger.

I’ll see if i can get a mate or two to agree to it then it’s do-able as we could share the driving.

Fly down to Southampton and I will drive you from there. That is why I suggested borrowing my bike.

If you make it there will definitely be the “Raspberry Ripple Race” only open to those who have had life changing injuries 🙂

Wow lots of brave tales!

i hit a car last year and broke all my ribs in right side, most in 2 pieces, good old NHS plated them back together, 2 months off work, riding is finally getting back to normal, think i will always have some feedback from them, small lung capacity decrease

has taught me to follow my dreams, racing can wait, leaving work in 2 months to become a roadie guide in the french alps, then off to southern hemisphere to decide about the next step

Nah, I think a mtb road trip wi a couple of mates would be far more fun 😀 , I wouldn’t like to borrow a bike as i have a propensity to fall off at the stupidest moments and the thought of damaging anothers pride n’ joy is mortifying. My bike is a medium and i guess yours is a large.

Off to work on the bike now, taking the scenic route along the riverbank and then through the woods – a glorious day in Galloway so i’m making the most of it.

Nope. I did too.