Out of commission for a while.

I had a close call while riding my motorcycle to work yesterday.  I didn't go down, but I did some serious damage to my right leg.

I was going on the on ramp to get on the freeway.  It is a very curvy ramp.  As I was approaching one of the corners, I noticed some loose gravel in the curve.  I was going my normal speed which was too fast with the loose gravel.  I hit the brakes hard to slow down.  The anti-lock kicked in to help, but when I hit the gravel, the front tire locked up for a split second.  I put my right leg down out of reflex.  I was probably still going about 15-20 mph.  When my foot touched the ground, it must have twisted around plus the impact which caused the damage.

At first, it didn't feel too bad.  I could feel some pain, but thought I had just sprained it.  I was only a few miles from work, so I continued riding and made it to work.  When I got there, I almost fell over.  By that time, I could barely move my right leg.  I was stopped with my left foot down, but needed to get the kick stand down.  I tried putting my right foot down, but the pain was excruciating.  So I reached down with my left hand and got it on the side stand.

I was stuck there and couldn't move.  A few minutes later, one of my coworkers came by, so I asked him for help.  He went and got a chair, put it beside my motorcycle and helped my off and into the chair.  I just wanted to rest a while, but the pain was getting worse.  Then a few more coworkers came by and started gathering around to see what was going on.  Soon, most of the shop was out there including my supervisors.  When it was determined that I wouldn't be able to move, they called the ambulance.

The ambulance came and took me to the local hospital emergency room.  There I got some x-rays and found out how bad it really was.  I have crush fractures in both bones of my lower right leg right below the knee.  The doctor said it will need surgery.  The hospital I was at was a civilian hospital, so I asked to be transferred to the Bethesda Naval Medical Center, which is the largest military hospital in this area.  So they transferred me in an ambulance and I checked into the ER.  After several hours of waiting, I finally saw the orthopedic surgeon who told me I would need 2 operations.

The first operation, they would put some pins and screws in my bones with some rods on the outside of my leg to stabilize everything until the swelling goes down.  Once the swelling goes down which should take a week or 2, they will do another operation where they will remove the hardware from the first operation, then repair the damage to my bones with some metal plates and screws.

They were able to get the first operation done last night.  It went just fine with no complications.  It looks like I have an erector set attached to my leg.  I should get to go home today or tomorrow where I will wait for the swelling to go down so I can have the second operation.  The doctor says I won't be able to walk for at least 3 months.  I have no idea when I will be able to race again.  I will start physical therapy after the second operation to work on range of motion and start building up some strength.

The wife says I have to sell the motorcycle and I reluctantly agreed.  I love to ride, but this was a wake up call on how dangerous it is.  I didn't even go down, but I will probably have problems with my leg for the rest of my life.  Time to let it go I guess.  I'm not getting any younger.

Here are some pictures showing the hardware from the first operation:

[IMG]http://imageshack.us/a/img266/9756/m3rk.jpg[/img]

[IMG]http://imageshack.us/a/img6/552/8ifw.jpg[/img]