It's been almost two weeks since my crash and burn at Midtown Alley and I'm doing surprising well. As of today, I'm down to one Tough Pad (right elbow), some bruising, and lots of new pink skin. While none of my injuries were that severe, there were plentiful: right arm--two inches of road rash and softball size bruise. left arm--road rash from my shoulder to mid forearm, with two deep divets at my elbow. right leg--small road rash and bruise at my knee. left leg--road rash from my hip bone to mid-shine with a deep spot on my knee and a nasty bruise on the inside of my knew. Bonus: bruise on the tip of my left pelvis. UGH!
Sleeping was rough for the first few days. I couldn't get comfortable. I was worried about oozing on the sheets. And everytime I rolled over, I woke up. Showering also sucked during that time. I was in and out quickly, doing only what I needed to do so that I wouldn't offend anyone.
The first Monday I afterwards I went to see the wonderful Dr. Matt for an adjustment and stim. He popped me back into place and taped my pelvis to help the bruise dissapate. I felt instant release. I also ruined one of my favorite skirts on Monday because my knee and hip were draining terribly. I had to cover my Tegaderm with gauze and compression bandages to try to control it.
By Tuesday I took my first good shower. I actually felt clean for the first time since Friday morning. I also started using the Tough Pads on a few of my wounds. Those things are awesome--much better than Tegaderm.
I actually ran on Wednesday. It hurt when I began, but by ten minutes in I was able to find my stride and enjoy the workout.
I saw Dr. Matt again on Thursday for another adjustment and got my left knee taped. On Friday I was able to remove my compression bandage on my knee because I was able to switch from the Tegaderm to the Tough Pad.
I raced on Saturday. It gave me a chance to see how much ooze mixed with sweat the bandages would hold. My race was a less than stellar performance. Although my legs felt fine, I could hang with the attacks. My heart rate was out of control. I'm not sure if it was because of my injuries or because the pack was small or something else. I ended up with great tan lines from my bandages.
This Monday's run was much better than the one on the prior Wednesday. I had no pain and good splits on my miles.
I had one more trip to Dr. Matt on Wednesday. My back had bothered me a bit on my Tuesday ride and that's unusual for me. He was amazed by my healing.
I changed my bandages today and am pleased with my progress. My elbow will take a little more TLC because of the depth of the wounds. The only other lingering problem is my weight. I gained seven pounds within four days of the crash. I've dropped three of those, but am still working on the last four. I don't know if I'm holding weight because of the bruises and lingering swelling or because I'm not going hard enough on my workouts because of recovery. I'll get rid of it soon though.
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