Biceps Tenodesis surgery...

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thearthurdog
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Re: Biceps Tenodesis surgery...

Postby thearthurdog » Tue Jun 30, 2015 6:02 am

Had a big day on Sunday. Rode to a local club time trial, raced, and rode home, for a tidy 215 km. I couldn't use my time trial bike as I still can't get down on my aero bars (even with the arm rests spaced out a bit). The time trial was 16 km with a solid berg right in the middle. I managed to come 6th out of 9 starters in A grade, which I am pretty happy with. A grade in Toowoomba is pretty solid with a big group of QRTS riders and some excellent juniors. There is no way I could do a road race yet as I can't put out much power out of the seat (attacking, steep climbing, sprinting, etc.) but time trials are okay. I have entered the Mooloolaba half-ironman in a team in 12 weeks time, so it is my goal to be on my time trial bike and having a decent 90 km in my old legs by then.
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gabrielle260
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Re: Biceps Tenodesis surgery...

Postby gabrielle260 » Tue Jun 30, 2015 7:23 pm

That's fantastic- well done!! I'm riding 4 or 5 days a week and the longest ride has been just over 100km. I did Melburn Roobaix on the weekend but the cobblestones left my shoulder sore. Helluva lot of fun though!!
I'd love to be able to do 215 km....

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Re: Biceps Tenodesis surgery...

Postby moosterbounce » Tue Jun 30, 2015 11:28 pm

Good efforts you two!! :)

I managed 20km @24.9kmh moving speed on the weekend. Biggest ride so far (out of 2!!) which seems short, but not considering my 6 month "rest". Hurt every part of my body!! Next time it will be easier I'm sure. I too don't have the strength to stand on the pedals yet so need to watch where I ride as my flat land gears will not be friendly. I stopped every 5kms on my ride to stretch and have a drink, and the last two "starts" were very noticeable for lack of arm strength. Had to do a slow walk afterwards to get rid of the shaky wobbly feeling I had. Slowly slowly.

Exercises were revamped by Ms Physio last week after I admitted to being bored and not having done any in the last week. It's hard to stay focussed for such a long time but I'm happier with the changes made.

And I've got to admit it...went for a very slow jog last night. Arm happy. Heart and lungs not pleased. Legs still trying to secede. Conscious that running is not really recommended for my knees, I was cautious with 8x100m jogs with 100m walk in between. Can't believe how hard that was!! I suggested trying a swim to my physio and I think she's still ROFLing.

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Re: Biceps Tenodesis surgery...

Postby gabrielle260 » Sun Jul 05, 2015 11:49 am

Had (another) fall this morning. Not sure if the cause was the right pedal axle snapping or the front Zipp wheel failing. The result was the same; Andrew in a whimpering mess on the bitumen!! My first thought was the repaired shoulder but all is well there. Instead I am off to the doctor shortly to see if I have cracked ribs on the other side. Other injuries include a corked thigh, bruised glute and a bit of bark missing.
This is going to set me back a bit!
Andrew

thearthurdog
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Re: Biceps Tenodesis surgery...

Postby thearthurdog » Sun Jul 05, 2015 12:47 pm

Oh that sucks massively ! Heal fast.
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Re: Biceps Tenodesis surgery...

Postby gabrielle260 » Sun Jul 05, 2015 5:47 pm

Saw doctor, had X Rays... They don't show a break. I'm not convinced- it hurts like hell to cough, breathe hard etc. It's gonna cost a saddle, tyre, tube, Zipp front wheel, Time RXS pedal and probably more that I haven't found yet.
Haven't had a fall in years then 2 in 8 months.... Starting to feel a bit fragile.

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Re: Biceps Tenodesis surgery...

Postby thearthurdog » Sun Jul 05, 2015 9:07 pm

Kinda good news then? Although I reckon rib injuries (break or not) are hideous. I broke two and punctured a lung in a crash July last year. The two weeks afterwards were absolutely horrible.

Funnily enough, I broke a pedal on a Time RXS pedal once as well. I still use them. They are cheap enough to replace pretty regularly.
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moosterbounce
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Re: Biceps Tenodesis surgery...

Postby moosterbounce » Sun Jul 05, 2015 10:39 pm

That sucks Andrew, but lucky the shoulder held up :) I have heard that sometimes a cracked rib doesn't show on X-rays, or it may be that they bent a lot but didn't break which hurts just as much!! You can ride a trainer using some pillow supports after a few days

Weird how all the cool people with dodgy shoulders all use Time RXS pedals!! Have them on all 3 of my bikes but they look especially good on the Time :)

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Re: Biceps Tenodesis surgery...

Postby piston9 » Mon Jul 06, 2015 2:19 pm

moosterbounce wrote:I have heard that sometimes a cracked rib doesn't show on X-rays,
Yeah - they don't. I had a go-kart accident (well, someone else did - spun over a kerb, flicked into the air and landed on my chest) in 2008. X-rays showed nothing. 2 days later ended up in hospital again for muscle relaxants as I coughed and ended up in a muscle spasm, and 7 years later still hurts in the exact spot on occasion - so, I am guessing x-ray just didn't catch it!

Rest up, it gets better!

(funny, I was reading this thread as I have torn my left rotator cuff - if anything I can still cycle, but lots of things hurt like (AT)#$#(AT)$##(AT))
Another one of those high-vis commuter types. Ultegra equipped flat bar is my weapon of choice - with panniers :D

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Re: Biceps Tenodesis surgery...

Postby gabrielle260 » Mon Jul 06, 2015 8:38 pm

Thanks guys! Yesterday I was pretty down - battered and bruised. This thread has been amazingly supportive since the start and it continues still.
Today I am still sore but improving and a helluva lot more positive, largely due to everyone's comments- thank you!

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Re: Biceps Tenodesis surgery...

Postby thearthurdog » Tue Jul 07, 2015 1:24 pm

That's cool ! Similar adverse experiences bring people together; that's for sure.

I remember when I did my ribs last year, they stopped looking for breaks after they spotted one big one, one smaller one and then they basically said, 2, 3, 4 whatever, treatment is still the same (the small ones are reportedly very hard to find on an X ray).

When I was a week off my first surgery this year, I slipped over while emptying my kids inflatable pool and managed to re-break one of the ribs. Five days later I had to do an 80km time trial (in the Hell of the West at Goondiwindi) with that rib bothering me and my poppy / slippy / painful shoulder that was a few days off the surgeon's knife. I still remember that one of the best things about my post-op shoulder drugs was that my ribs stopped hurting as well. Rib injuries are the worst !
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Re: Biceps Tenodesis surgery...

Postby gabrielle260 » Thu Jul 09, 2015 10:20 pm

Took the bike to the mechanic... He was able to reconstruct what happened; pedal axle snapped and steering jerked to the left where front Zipp wheel hit curb and buckled. Not the wheel's fault but a very expensive result!

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foo on patrol
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Re: Biceps Tenodesis surgery...

Postby foo on patrol » Sun Jul 12, 2015 6:31 am

gabrielle260 wrote:Had (another) fall this morning. Not sure if the cause was the right pedal axle snapping or the front Zipp wheel failing. The result was the same; Andrew in a whimpering mess on the bitumen!! My first thought was the repaired shoulder but all is well there. Instead I am off to the doctor shortly to see if I have cracked ribs on the other side. Other injuries include a corked thigh, bruised glute and a bit of bark missing.
This is going to set me back a bit!
Andrew
WTH? Did you run over a Chinaman at some point time? :(

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Re: Biceps Tenodesis surgery...

Postby Mugglechops » Tue Jul 28, 2015 1:01 pm

Not good Andrew.

I have been back in the gym now that my back is getting better.

I can do 3 sets of 20 pushups on an angle from leaning on a bench. My aim is to be able to 25 push ups to pass my work fitness test for next year. Then the year after that I only have to do 6 :D .

I just hope my should holds up to the 25.

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Re: Biceps Tenodesis surgery...

Postby gabrielle260 » Tue Jul 28, 2015 1:18 pm

Keep practicing Mugglechops! Do some each night and pretty soon you will build up to doing the number you need to do.
I'm back to doing time on the home trainer - I'm doing 2 hours a day but the ribs remind me they are still there if I push it too hard!
Andrew

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Re: Biceps Tenodesis surgery...

Postby thearthurdog » Sat Nov 07, 2015 7:02 pm

hey guys it has been a long time since I checked in with this thread. I hope everyone is doing okay? Things are pretty good at my end. Still not 100% and to be honest I wonder if the arm ever will be 100%. It's nice to be riding and racing regularly again.
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foo on patrol
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Re: Biceps Tenodesis surgery...

Postby foo on patrol » Sat Nov 07, 2015 8:16 pm

Better to be able to ride, than not at all. :wink: Keep at it, you might get to the 100%. :idea:

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moosterbounce
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Re: Biceps Tenodesis surgery...

Postby moosterbounce » Sun Nov 08, 2015 7:38 pm

Timely checkpoint indeed. I'm about 6 weeks shy of my one year anniversary and still have another year of rehab to go going by current estimates. So where am I at? Still not normal :)

I stated riding in about June but it wasn't until October that I had enough strength and arm extension to be comfortable on the bike. Sure, I could have raised the bars etc, but I was deliberately leaving them there to push my range. So now that my bum doesn't want to secede after 10km, I've been building my longest ride each week and this week managed 45km. In October I was also given the OK to try paddling again and managed to work up to 3km total, with about 1km without stopping. I am using my lightweight boat at 12kg as I can get that on and off the car, but unfortunately it is a bit tippy. I don't have the strength to do things like a brace stroke so am very conscious that I need to avoid areas with boats or I'll be swimming (I figure I could do sidestroke as freestyle is out of the question).

I have found consistency the worst. I see the physio every second week still and a masseuse in the gap weeks. My physio usually needs to do some pretty intense massage as the muscles I have are still over worked and are as tight as a drum. So the physio has been working on some range for a few weeks, then exercises to build strength to support the range for the next few weeks. I'm now working on strength above shoulder height. It isn't fun. I do her exercises (mostly) but sometimes these, or the massage, makes me so sore and my muscles so tired, that I can't ride or paddle or anything. I Find it very difficult to rebuild fitness etc when this sort of thing happens regularly.

I have about 130 degrees lift to the front and side, quite a bit of rotation - lifting both hands behind my back they are finally now both level; and moving your hand to the side with your elbow next to your body is within 10 degrees of the normal arm. So that's pretty good. It's just that damn lift and strength. I am getting it back, but unfortunately it doesn't come back nearly as fast as you lose it when completely immobilised.

I had another round of X-rays during the week and saw the surgeon again. He was happy with how it was looking and there seems to be good blood flow (though it just looked like dark smudges on the X-rays to me!!). Although I am still at risk of things going pear shaped and needing the joint replacement for a period of 2 years from the bingle, he doesn't want to see me unless it starts hurting or I want the hardware removed. I asked about the hardware and he said they on;y remove about 20% as it's under the deltoid and quite deep (for an arm). So unless it is causing me issues, it can stay. Arm itself is still swollen and has zero muscle definition, but the scar is looking sweet (though I kinda wish it was still looking more like a shark bite!!).

So I suppose all that is quite good news, but I still have a long way to go. I can't yet put my arm in a position to use the TT bike and don't know if I ever will, but I've not sold the bike yet. It's a long slow process, but it is all moving in the right direction. And I'm starting to lose some of the weight I gained with all my couch hours which is also good :)

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foo on patrol
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Re: Biceps Tenodesis surgery...

Postby foo on patrol » Sun Nov 08, 2015 8:28 pm

^^^ You hang onto every little bit of hope and use that for the drive and determination to get back to being able to use the TT bike. You may have to change the position a little but never give up. :idea: :wink:

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Re: Biceps Tenodesis surgery...

Postby moosterbounce » Sun Nov 08, 2015 10:37 pm

Cheers Foo - a simple comment of support means so much. I can be pretty stubborn when I want so the TT bike may not get to retire :)

I think quite a lot of people underestimate the severity and impact a quite simple fall can have on their lives. I have to say that with me, the hospital didn't give me any indication that there was a very likely chance I'd never regain full movement. Perhaps they did but I was too caught up in the event to notice. I can't stress enough the benefit of having a regular GP that knows your history and what you are like as a person. Mine has been wonderful monitoring not only my progress but how I was coping with my world. So many people not only go to different GPs but different clinics, and so much history is lost. If your GP can't take a few minutes to look you in the eye and see how you are, then get one who can.

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Re: Biceps Tenodesis surgery...

Postby thearthurdog » Sun Nov 08, 2015 10:51 pm

I hope things continue to improve for you Mooster. I hear ya about the impact a fall can have. I haven't had anywhere near the negative experience you have, but I will always remember this year for all the wrong reasons.
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Re: Biceps Tenodesis surgery...

Postby gabrielle260 » Mon Nov 23, 2015 9:40 pm

Oh Moost! So sorry to hear what you are going through! I'm really impressed with how positive you are about it - that can't be easy. Keep working at it and pushing yourself- you will get there! I've been away from the forum for quite a while. This is the first time I've opened it in months and this was the first thread I went to. It's great to see the virtual community is still going.

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