Lister Update

[Plawless]

Yup, broken collarbone. He is home now resting but is looking at surgery tomorrow.

A big TS thanks to Eric P. our fabulous on call physician for helping out. (I do note however that each year Eric is in attendance he takes someone to the hospital...... I am not saying there is a connection but....)

Anyway heal up Lister.

[steve]

Ouch, that hurts. Get better soon Lister.

[jeremy]

Get better soon Lister!!
Windsor park is not super tripleshot friendly, bill - broken hip, me - broken ribs, lister - broken collarbone.

[4827north]

Speedy recovery, Lister! And welcome to the broken clavicle club if you had not already joined this exclusive club. Free beer nuts await!

[AlW]

Get well soon Lister.

[Lister Farrar]

Hi all: thanks for all the help sunday. eric for the calm assessment, nancy (alex's mum) for the ride to the hospital, whoever (steve mackenze's wife i heard?) called emerg; they knew i was coming and whisked me in with no wait. alec walton who came down from his rounds to say hi, and my son liam for riding my bike home alongside his, sonya for rounding up my back pack, ian craib for calling the ambulance and then cancelling it (saved me $80 that will help replace my helmet (broken in three places), and all the other well wishers.

Surgery tomorrow at 8:15. apparently its getting more common to repair these, and healing is faster and better. also was lucky not to damage the ac joint, so actually the break and`surgery is the preferred outcome to this kind of impact.

for those wondering about age and racing, i asked the emerg physician if maybe i'm getting brittle for this sort of thing. he said no, the same break happens in all ages. I also asked if strength training might have helped, and he thought not, (other than general health reasons) the impact on the point of the shoulder means either the ac joint or the clavicle goes, and this is better. finally, it's broken in the outer third, which makes it easier to repair. so if i was going to fall on my shoulder, this was the way to do it.

ps sorry about the one-handed typing.

pps
interested in hearing any accounts. i think i got to the brakes, braced and turned fairly fast, but always want to know if there anything better i could have done.

[Lister Farrar]

Had the surgery, and just want to say how friggin' great our health care system is. Hands off Stephen Harper!

The shoulder is amazingly better. It's back out 'there', where it's supposed to be, instead of crowding my cheek. I can stand up straight, I'm typing with two hands, and no horrible grinding feeling. Tho I suppose the freezing could still be in effect, cuz the rib doesn't hurt either. But I'm enjoying the lack of noise.

Pete thinks they slipped titanium or carbon fibre into me to make me more appreciative of modern technology. I will ask when I see the surgeon in a couple weeks. If he's wearing a carbon fibre stethoscope, or a yellow bracelet, I'll know there was a conspiracy.

Still, no lifting, or riding for 6-8 weeks. But Eric P. brought by a wind trainer, so I might try watching some TV sitting up and spinning. 6 weeks just as the weather improves. Dang.

[RyanC]

Hi Lister,

I am thrilled you were able to get into OR so quick. I imagine Landell's was your surgeon. If so, that's also good as he did a pretty good job with my blasted clavicle a few years back. Mine was split into three pieces and now I have a titanium plate to match my bike, a sweet scar and a story. I am glad you're otherwise unscathed. Get well soon!

R

[Lister Farrar]

Hi Lister,

I am thrilled you were able to get into OR so quick. I imagine Landell's was your surgeon. If so, that's also good as he did a pretty good job with my blasted clavicle a few years back. Mine was split into three pieces and now I have a titanium plate to match my bike, a sweet scar and a story. I am glad you're otherwise unscathed. Get well soon!

R

It was Landells who saw me in the ER , but Zarzour whose time slot came up first. + Another surgeon was sick; all his patients got cancelled, allowing time. I got lucky. On both counts.

[Rob Mickelberry]

Lister, sorry to hear about the crash, but glad you are on the mend.

I left just before the crash, so I didn't see exactly what happened. I did, however, get a look at that bike of yours (was it aluminum?), with carbon forks & seatpost, and I'm pretty sure it had a 10 speed cassette. We were all a little shocked and surprised.

I've only heard sketchy details, and I'm sure it had nothing to do with all that modern gear, but I immediatly thought of the words sung by John Lennon: "Instant karma's gonnna get you, gonna knock you right on the head......"

Get well soon. Did the bike survive? I always had you pegged as a titanium guy, but not holding you together inside.

Rob

[Brian S]

Lister--glad you are healing well, and with regards to Rob's question about titanium and high tech 'upgrades,' did you do a "full Lance?"
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/armstro ... th-surgery

[JohnT]

Now I have an excuse for poor time-trialling: The sail-like shape of my raised left clavicle. Sorry to hear about the injury Lister. Can't believe you're feeling so good so quickly. That's great. I hope the others who went down are healing too.

See you all next week (assuming the volcano cooperates),

JohnT

[Lister Farrar]

Had my 2 week check-up today, sutures out, incision healed better than they expected. Xrays show everything's healing well, fragments too. Got 95% full range of motion, no pain in the shoulder. Rib still hurts when I sneeze or laugh, but I managed to cut the lawn on Sunday. Still not allowed to ride tho.

Here's the best part. The plate is steel, not titanium or carbon fiber. The surgeon did look a little weirdly at me when I asked if they had cromoly. So it's stainless.

I have met countless people who have broken their collarbone, and all, without exception, that did not have the surgery, had a much more difficult time, then lumps and misaligned shoulders. Go for it if they give you the option. Tell Christy Clark you'll be back at work paying taxes about 6 weeks sooner.

Trivia: One of the advances is in the shaping of the plates. Apparently the clavicle is an s shape in two planes, so fitting a plate to it is tough. I wonder if hydro-forming like frame tubes is used there? I have a mental image of Pinarello forks...

[Rolf]

Yeah, Lister! Steel is real. Glad to hear you're mending well.

[Lister Farrar]

Lister--glad you are healing well, and with regards to Rob's question about titanium and high tech 'upgrades,' did you do a "full Lance?"
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/armstro ... th-surgery

Well I did have the full plate and screws mechano set, but I resist any comparisons with anything Lance-ish. Except may be his book title, It's Not about the Bike, but now even that has another meaning.

Can someone remind me how to post photos again? Do I have to put them on a photo sharing website first, then paste a link?

[Roland]

Can someone remind me how to post photos again? Do I have to put them on a photo sharing website first, then paste a link?

It's the best way. Imgur.com works best. After you upload the photo, there will be a link on the left under the title 'message boards'. Hover with mouse then copy, and paste into forum post.