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3/26/02 - February 24th I managed to break both bones in the bottom part of my leg (Tibia & Fibula) right above my ankle.Just in case this sounds like fun to you � it�s not, trust me.

I�ll tell you the story, you can live vicariously through me and not have to experience this yourself � I�m such a giver.

So I wake up on a beautiful Sunday morning, and decide to head to the drop zone. We don�t get a lot of >50 degree days in Ohio during February, so I was pretty excited to be able to jump.The first jump of the days went great.The second jump, not so great.Ok � the jump went pretty well, the landing sucked.The spot was a tad long, but not terrible.I still ended up coming in slightly crosswind - about 45 degrees to the wind line.This isn�t really that big of a deal.The winds weren�t that bad, and I�ve done many true crosswind landings (most intentional, to prepare for the unintentional ones)I was flat-turning my way into the wind a little more, let back up on the toggles for a second, then flared.Nothing I haven�t done dozens of times before.Couple things could have happened here � either I flared just a tad late,I caught a roller off a nearby building that just dropped me a foot lower than I wanted to be, or there was a slight rise in ground.See, it doesn�t look that bad.The people watching the landings even looked away after I landed, probably laughing to themselves that I just fell over for no good reason.Until they looked back, and saw I hadn�t moved.I didn�t hit the ground hard at all.The ground was muddy and my foot just dug in and stopped, while the rest of my body kept going.The ensuing twist is really what got me.I heard a pop, and knew I had twisted it bad as soon as I came to a stop.My first though was �Maybe I just sprained it really bad� then I tried to lift my leg.I knew right away this wasn�t a sprain.

Now, I�ve broken my leg before, and thought it was a sprain.About 10 years ago, playing paintball, I managed to break the small bone in my leg and not know it.My dad finally made me go to the doctors and get it x-rayed.The next day at school, I was told I had to go home because I broke my leg.I�ve also sprained my ankle before and thought I broke it (the doctor told me I was going to wish I had �only broken it�)There was little doubt this time.

I hammered out a few obscenities and sat there for a minute while people helped me out of my gear and my jumpsuit.Bobo grabbed his splint/boot looking thing and helped get that on me.Someone asked if I wanted them to call the ambulance or have someone drive me.I opted for a ride in someone�s car.In hindsight, I probably should have gone for the ambulance � might have gotten taken care of quicker at the ER, and they could have given me drugs on the way to the hospital.So a couple people (don�t even remember who) loaded me up in Harold�s car, and off to the ER I go with Carrie and Dave riding along for moral support.

I ended up sitting in the ER waiting room for almost 2 hours.Yes, that sucked, thanks for asking.I�m so glad Harold, Carrie, and Dave were there.Actually, Harold was a massive help through the entire thing � from making me put my jacket on while I was still on the ground, to making me breath deeply to relax while waiting.Dave and Carrie kept me talking to keep my mind off things.I honestly couldn�t tell you what we talked about.

The nurse finally gets me, and asked me a bunch of questions.One of which was �Which leg is it?� I looked at her and said �Uhh.. the one with the big boot thingy on it�Carrie and Dave found this hilarious and started laughing.They quickly stopped when the nurse didn�t even crack a smile.A few questions later she asked how I did it.I said �Well, I was dancing naked on a picnic table��At least she cracked a smile at that one.I thought better of being a smartass, and apologized (seeing as how this person may be sticking me with needles later)I thought I was doing rather well, considering the adrenaline buzz had long worn off and I was in considerable pain.

After sitting in a little room for awhile, the doctor came in.He poked at my foot a little, asked if I was in pain (well duh) and then declared we needed x-rays.They gave me a shot of something, then wheeled me off to x-ray.They really could have waited for a few minutes, because the shot hadn�t kicked in when the x-ray lady was twisted my foot all over the place to take the pictures.Now, every nurse or doctor that came to look at me went �ewww� when they saw my foot; but I knew I was in real trouble when the x-ray tech muttered something about �hope you don�t have any plans for the next couple weeks� or months�

Everything�s a little fuzzy from this point on (good drugs!) but I�ll try to remember what I can.The doc said they wanted to call the orthopedic surgeon and operate on it that night.I asked if it would be possible to get to a hospital closer to where I live (and maybe a little better than this one) he of course, advised against it.I said OK, fine, let�s just get it over with.I made a few more phone calls, my dad made fun of me (asked if I was tired of him getting all the sympathy � he had just had knee surgery 2 days before and was laid up as well) and somewhere in there got an I.V. stuck in my hand (by the nurse that I was trying to make laugh earlier).I remember a few people stopping by to see how I was doing.Bobo, of course, stopped in to take pictures � luckily they didn�t turn out.I had to call my parents back, because I had been given Demerol and you�re not allowed to sign releases.Somewhere in there I had to roll over onto my stomach so the nurse could put some sort of surgical splint/cast thing on.That hurt.Actually, I think that was the same nurse I was a smartass to earlier.I was pretty tired (and I�m sure the drugs helped) so I closed my eyes and fell asleep.I was jolted awake by some alarm thing buzzing in my room.Evidently, someone had come in and hooked antibiotics into my IV.Well, when this thing they plug into it runs out, it starts making all sorts of noise.Waking up to an alarm in a hospital is not my idea of a good time.A few minutes before I went to surgery, another nurse came in and ask if I knew why I was there and what they were going to do.I said �Uh, you�re going to put stuff in my leg� then she asked �Which one?� To which I respond (being the smartass that I am) �You mean the doctor doesn�t know!?He�s forgotten already?!�I might have thrown something in there about 8 years of school melting his brain.I don�t think she was amused either� I thought it was funny.And no, she didn�t really want to know, she just had to make sure I knew.

I finally got wheeled to surgery about 9pm (my little accident happened around 1pm)I remember telling the nurses I was going to come back and smooth out their hallways for them.It might have just been my attire, but the operating room seemed pretty chilly.Harold had actually warned me about that too.The anesthesiologist asked if I wants a spinal something-or-other or a general anesthetic.The spinal thing didn�t sound like a lot of fun, because you�re still kind of awake, you just don�t feel anything from the waist down.I�m pretty sure it was about 20 seconds after I told her to just put me out, that I was asleep.

About an hour or an hour and a half later I woke up.My stomach was really queasy (Harold warned me about that too � I�m damn glad he was around)A nurse noticed me waking up, and asked if I felt nauseous.About all I could do was nod my head.She gave me some pill that fixed that right up.About an hour later I was on my way home.Got to the hospital around 1pm, was home around midnight.

Chris baby-sat me that night and part of the next day.She even managed to find a 24 hour pharmacy to get my prescriptions filled.You�d be amazed how difficult the easiest things are to do.Try to do your laundry or just make yourself dinner with one leg (and the other in considerable pain) and both arms busy with crutches.Ick.I spent the next two days on the couch, actually went back to work Wednesday, but stayed home Thursday (Wednesday just wore me out) and have been working ever since.Luckily, my roommate works about 2 blocks from me, so he drops me off and picks me up.Just for future reference though � a Mustang GT with the �sport suspension� is not fun to ride in when you have a broken leg.I think �sport suspension� really means �sucker!No suspension!�I�m also pretty lucky that I have a job where I can still do most of it OK with a bum leg, and a boss that�s pretty cool about the whole thing.

The following Tuesday (D-Day + 9) I went back to the doctor to have x-rays taken and to get my staples removed.Ouch.Staples suck.I got a purple cast put back on � it�s a little better than the post-op cast I had, but it still sucks.He said everything looks good, just have to stay off it for a little while long.It�s looking like total cast time is going to be 6 � 8 weeks.4 of those weeks I�m supposed to stay off it completely.

For the experienced skydivers reading this � I�m not really sure what to attribute this too.It wasn�t a spectacular screw-up or anything.I jump a Sabre2 loaded at just over 1.3/1.I can�t blame it on lack of currency � I had made thirty-some jumps the week before in Florida.I wasn�t trying any kind of swoopy landing.I have almost 400 jumps, probably almost 100 on this canopy.Here�s a fellow jumpers view of it:

Your approach was fast and crosswind. Traffic was moderately tight and the landing area was busy.Kim was right in your path, so that explains being crosswind. My approach would have been similar. You flared for the spot where the dotted line met the ground and not for the area 10 to 20 feet beyond that point, which was higher by 6" to 1'. That small rise is actually what caught your foot. Also, had it been dry, you would have gotten away clean. However, the ground was wet, soft and subsequently grabbed your foot with obvious results. In summary you flared about 1 foot too low. The landing actually looked good from my perspective. I did see your foot drag the ground, but thought nothing of it, till you fell over in a very odd manner.

I�m still unsure if I flared late or if I caught a roller off the hanger/clubhouse that affected my flare.No one else seemed to have any problems though, so I think I�ll go with Dave�s assessment that I flared a hair late.So what should we learn from this?As Lee put it, �Always remember skydiving and landings can always bite you in the ass when you least expect itWe can also learn that it pays to have good friends.My car and all my gear was actually home before I was (thanks to Treeboy and Robin), and numerous people have either helped out in some way or at least offered to.Not to mention Harold, Carrie, and Dave who gave up a day of jumping (which is rare with this weather) to just sit with me in the hospital.Good medical insurance is a plus too.My little trip to the ER cost me $50, it cost my insurance company around $8,000 so far.

So, that�s my tail of woe.It happens I guess.I�ve had people ask me if I�m going to stop jumping.Uhh� no.I could have just as easily done this skiing or skateboarding.Hell, I did it before playing paintball!I actually know a girl who has screws and a plate in her ankle because she was drunk, and she fell getting out of a car.Hey, if you�re sitting on the couch, you�ll never get hurt.I�m sure my first few jumps back I�ll be apprehensive, but I�ll get over it.Most of it will be because by then, I will have not jumped for a couple months!I�ve already had a couple people volunteer to make that jump with me� god I love this sport and the people that it brings.

4/3/02 - Things are progressing along. The doc said I could start putting weight on it about 2 weeks ago now, and I've been steadily increasing the amount of weight I'm putting on it. The other day I walked around a little with just one crutch, so that's a good sign I think. Of course, that night and the next day I was so sore and tired I didn't do much else but work and sleep.

Marsha thought it'd be funny to take a picture of me and my dad on crutches together. They did always call us Pete and Re-Pete. He had surgery on his knee Friday, two days later I break my leg. At least he has a brace he can take off and on.


Pete and Re-Pete

6 weeks down, 2 more to go. Actually, 15 days and about 2 hours from now, I'll be getting this thing off. But who's really counting? Right?

Speaking of casts - if you have a cast, and are tired of hanging your foot out of the shower, I'd suggest a "DryCast" from Drycast.com. It's basically a heavy-duty plastic bag with this rubber seal at the top. You put it over your cast and it keeps it dry in the shower. There's more expensive things out there that might work better, but this thing is great for only 20 bucks. I'd suggest you call or fax your order though. Their "secure" online order forms is bad for two reasons - it's not really secure, and it can mess up your order. Yeah, the little padlock shows up in your browser, but the results of the form you fill out get emailed to whoever (in plain text it looks like), right along with your credit card info. And since it's just an email, if someone reads it wrong, you could get more than you really wanted. I started ordering one of their "Cast Boots" by selecting my shoe size, but then decided I didn't really want one, and never put a "1" in the "Quantity" box. I got the boot (and charged for it) anyway. I guess I shouldn't complain too loud, I like the boot I got from them better than the one my doctor gave me. Bottom line - Prices, products, and delivery time = good. Online ordering process = bad. UPDATE! This was written some time ago, and they have since implemented secure online ordering... so now they get 2 thumbs up instead of 1 and a half!

While I'm talking about things only other people with broken legs would care about, I might as well mention mybrokenleg.com Yes ladies and gentlemen, just when you thought you'd seen it all on the web - there's a site devoted to people with broken legs. It's a good site for information - that's how I found out about the drycast thing.

Just under 360 hours and counting (and yes, I took into account daylight savings this weekend)

5/20/02 - Got the cast off on schedule. Got some pretty groovy scars (seen here and here) Those of you who may have found this page looking for information because you're in a similar situation - I'll be honest with you, when you get your cast off, it's going to hurt again. It hurts, and you can't hardly move it to walk. I was actually doing better with the cast on. I don't know what fantasy world I was living in, but I just assumed I'd get the cast off and be running around in circles right away. Nerp. I actually used a crutch the day after I got my cast off.
Let me tell you, physical therapy sucks. I'm pretty sure it's a requirement of a physical therapist to enjoy causing people pain. Man... after my first appointment, I couldn't walk back out to my car with stopping and resting. Here we are almost 4 weeks later, and I still can't move it like I want to. It's odd, the things you just take for granted that your body can do. I've been doing the physical therapy thing twice a week since I got the cast off. I actually made two jumps on 5/11. The wind and everything was right for it, so I did it. Felt good. I think I'll be ok jumping from now on, as long as I don't have any fast landings on uneven ground. :-)

 

 Last Modified 5/20/02
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