Putting Right, What Once Went Wrong

Back IN The Swing of Things

2009-03-03T10:05:00.000-08:00

So as of yesterday I am back to work.
I made to about 3pm we I became exhausted. I was home about 10min until I was out and drooling on the couch for 2 hours.
I eventually made it up and functioning, went to the grocery store, got some dinner, ate and was in bed by 9pm(asleep by 10pm).
Yesterday at work I was about 50/60% today I am a about 70%.
I go back to the doctor this afternoon to see how I am progressing.
The only strange thing is that when I lay on my left side I feel like something inside me is drooping and it feels uncomfortable.
It has caused me some pain since returning to the bed Sunday night.

A tour of the new me

2009-02-28T14:46:00.000-08:00

After getting up to pee, I give you a tour of the changes on my body. I am shaved and have a blood bag and looking good. I no longer completely loopy I am just looking for a way to pass the time and not think about the pain.

Post Surgery Excitement

2009-02-27T16:03:00.001-08:00

So the wheeled me out of surgery and my first words to Courtney were "Take Pictures" Well she was all ready all over it. Don't I look good. The Doctors had wrapped in swaddling clothes to keep my bald head warm.
I don't remember anything from this time period. This video really is just as I am coming out of the OR.

All I have on my mind is taking pictures, wondering if the wi-fi in the building ever started working and going home.
Then I seem to remember that my stomach is in a lot of pain.

I am doing pretty well today. People have been stoping by the Recovery Cam and checking me out and some people even stay a while and talk. It is great.
Eric and I went to lunch today. It was nice to get out of the house and walk around for the first time. I have been a bit nauses from time to time and sore some.
Lunch wore me out, I came home and had a BM and the an attack of the diarrhea.
Still, that is all felling better than when I still had gallbladder!

All Druged Up and Ready to Go Now!

2009-02-27T15:36:00.000-08:00

This is what a guy doped up on drugs right before surgery looks and sounds like

Don't you want to be friends with a guy like this?

I am sure this guy is a blast at parties!

Success!

2009-02-26T10:42:00.000-08:00

Thanks to this special lady I just accomplished something that I have done done since last week.
Over the course of the day yesterday she feed me 6 fiber pills and made me drink a TON of water.
Well it finally worked; I did something that everyone does...I just had not done it for a while.
It was very refreshing to get over that hump in my recovery process.
Soon I will be turning cart wheels and doing jumping jacks just like the good ole days when I still owned a gallbladder.
But for now I am just going to keep on recovering and trying to eat and hoping I don't run across food that I once loved that I can not longer eat.
It sometimes happens...to my dad it was bacon.

Walking into impending doom with a smile on my face

2009-02-26T08:16:00.000-08:00

This me Walking into the Tuscaloosa Surgical Center where my gallbladder is about to be taken from me. I am in pretty good spirits here.

I am doing pretty good right now. I have been staying on top of my pain. Because of that I have been able to sleep consecutive hours in through the night.
Sleeping through the night is something that I have not done in a while so that is very nice.
Courtney is taking great care of me, feeding and making sure I am ok. She has also been forcing me to drink tons of water and take fiber pills in hope of me making a poo.
I have not made a poo yet, so I hear that stool softeners are next up!
I'll keep you posted.

Gallbladder Tour '09: End Of The Line

2009-02-26T02:08:00.000-08:00

I was in good sprits on my way to have my gallbladder taken out.
There are more videos, keep coming back the net few days and there will be more.
The good stuff is me all doped up before surgery and video just after.
you have to stay tubed for those.

My new look

2009-02-25T11:12:00.001-08:00

So just in time for Mardi Gras I got this new look. A shaved chest some beads and holes in my stomach.
This is the look of 2009!
Mark my words, shirts are out in 2009.

So I am back at home and Courtney is taking care of me. Poor girl spent the night in an uncomfortable fuax leather recliner, every time she tossed and turned he skin stick to the chair sounded like velcroe pulling apart.

She got me home and made me soup for breakfast and then we crashed. It has been a long 2 days.

I got to talk to the doc when he was discharging me this morning. He said that most of the time the procedure take 35min to 45min. Mine lasted 1:45 min.
My gallbladder was infected swollen and packed with stones, the exit hole, the one by my belly button, had to be made bigger to get it out. Apparently it was hard to even get to, the gallbladder was stick to other stuff inside me and had to get off the duct that connected it to the liver.
The bad new is they did not tape the procedure or keep my gallbladder, so we will never know what it looked like.
But thats ok. When I get some strenght I will post some videos.
As for now I am going to stick to laying around in my recovery chair.

Pain (the stuff that hurts not the band)

2009-02-25T00:06:00.001-08:00

Don't get me wrong, I'm in some pain and it hurts when I get up but I
feel pretty good.
Ya, I know I am on the loratab, but I can tell a driftine already in
my new altered state. I fell better.
The nurse told me that some peolple fell so god that they did not
relize how bad they felt. I am sure that is going to happen to me.
I still can't get over the fact that I should have had this thing pit
a year ago. I am sure with all the pain I had last year with a broken
arm that I never noticed the discomfort in my chest. Then I it got so
bad that it hurt worede then my broken arm.

Hour 13!

2009-02-24T19:32:00.000-08:00

So we have been here 13 hours. Who would-a-thunk it. I did get to eat
"solidish" food. I got some jello and Popsicles. Good times.

More Blood!

2009-02-24T18:32:00.000-08:00

So a while ago the came to let the blood out of my collector. They say
I am doing pretty well and have not got sick. The new word is the
apprentley I should have had this done a year ago, maybe it would have
not been so bad.

Over night

2009-02-24T15:34:00.000-08:00

They are keeping me over night. The surgury took a lot longer than
they thought.
The doc almost had to cut into me the old World stlye. My gallbladder
was impacked. It was doing a little damage to my liver. The sack on my
side is keepind the blood from entering my liver.
The doctor told courtney be could not belive that I was walking around
with that with that In me for so long. I guess I was in alot of pain.
The doc told one of the nurses that it was like pulling on duct time.
Because I keep saying oh it does not hurt that bad, they are keeping
me loaded up knowing that I am lying.
all things being said I'm doing ok. People are waiting fore me to be
nauseous but it has not happened.
I can not eat and am on a clear liquid diet. Did you know lemon-lime
gatoraid is a "clear liquid".

After surgery

2009-02-24T12:00:00.000-08:00

Spending the night at the hospital

Getting ready

2009-02-24T07:44:00.000-08:00

This is my gown and my deep vain throunbpusis panty house to keep me
from blood clots.
I'm in the back IVed up read to go!

On the way!

2009-02-24T06:05:00.000-08:00

Courteny is driving and we are ok the way. I hope to fell better soon!

Last Meal

2009-02-23T20:39:00.001-08:00

The last meal I eat with a gallbladder: toasted bread and turkey-
plain. My gallbladder served me well for a long time but now it has a
new master. I can't even send it off right with a steak b/c the master
it serves is evil and will turn on me.

Long overdue update

2009-02-23T16:17:00.000-08:00

Thanks for asking my arm is doing pretty well. It has some pain from time to and 14 months later I am almost back to full strength.
I have had a few medical run ins recently, in October I was playing flag football and collided with my teammates shoulder and resulted in this.

Nothing a few stitches could not take care of.

The other medical problem I have had has been by way of an internal problem. I have been battling for months what I thought was heartburn. At times it would flare up out of the blue, sometimes cereal would make it happen, some times a glass of water, some times wings. There was seemed to be no cause of the problem. I tied Prilosec OTC it did not help. I got put on Nexeum I drank a lot of Mylanta.
No Dice.
The problem was I would go days a weeks feeling fine. The doctor thought it may be a ulcer. I had a GI appointment scheduled in October. The date was accidentally booked the same week I was to be in Hawaii. I had a hard decision to make…Hawaii and cross the Pacific on a Navy ship or go to a GI appointment.
After some soul searching I went to Hawaii and had a great time. Read about it a HERE. I felt better for about two months and never re-booked the GI appointment.
Come February I stared to feel awful again. It the pain was as bad as it had ever been.
I rescheduled the GI but that was not going to make me feel better. The pain got worse; it feels like a flaming softball in my chest. It aches burn for hours. I would vomit and be in more pain than when I broke my arm. Soon my right side stated to be in pain and my back would hurt a lot.
Long story short, thanks to good advice from my mother, father, girlfriend and my girl friends mother I took action.
Last Friday after a bad attack I went to the ER. I could not handle it any longer. The ER doctor asked about my symptoms and he replied, “Do you still have your gallbladder?” When I told him “no” he said, “well we will see how long that lasts.”
I had some blood and urine work done and had an ultra sound.

The doctor gave me the results “You have a gallbladder very packed with stones”
More About Gallstones.
My mom and my girlfriends mom where right. Gallstones. Come tomorrow morning I will never be able to make gallstones again. They are taking my gallbladder from me. I invite you to come along for Nick Rymer’s - Gallbladder Tour ’09: Road to Recovery.
And a very special thanks to Courtney who twist my arm and made me/took me to the ER.

I know it has been a while

2008-05-15T08:58:00.001-07:00

I have been doing pretty good recently. I am out of physical therapy and I have full range of motion. That does not mean full strength by any means. Just because I can put my hand over my head does not mean I can pick up 15 lbs. But soon enough I will, soon enough.
My arm still aches from time to time and when I use it to much the next day it is pretty dead. I am still mousing with my left hand, but I am shaving and brushing my teeth right handed.
I go back to the doctor monday, so I will know more then.
Last time I was there he took me out of my brace, and told me I was looking real good. There is a lump on the top side of my arm with new bone growing (it is strange b/c when I lean against a wall, the lump sticks out enough I rock like a teeter totter) and a crack on the bottom side.
Heres hope the crack is not as big.
No good pic, so I will leave you with chuck d and me

i slept in a bed

2008-03-14T08:18:00.000-07:00

I slept laying down in a bed last night for the first time since Dec 21 2007.
I tossed and turned a lot of the night and my upper back feels a bit strange.
I don't think I am ready for full time bed sleeping. But it was nice to lay flat for the fist time in 83 days.
Physical therapy is going pretty well. The rubber band stuff is still the hardest, but I am up to 4 pounds on my curls. It does not get better then that.
I go back to the doctor on the 24th and we will see how it is all going then.

i can lift my arm...a bit

2008-03-06T15:37:00.000-08:00

So I have limited motion now and it is very exciting. I can sometimes turn keys in a door and hold a beverage in my hand. It is all very nice. I am able to get to this point mostly because of physical therapy.
I am going two times a week for about an hour. It is helping me build strength and letting me see just how far I have to go.
I have been bested by rubber bands and 2 pound weights.
I can also, with help from the trainer extend my arm past zero. Which means stretching it out straight and hyper extending it just a bit. I started at some place near 20 so that is pretty good. I can also bend it back, with help to 136 (my left arm goes to 150). It will happen soon.
Lots of this work it terriblely painful but it is all part of the risk of snowboarding I guess.
So things have been pretty good. I think I am going to try to sleep in a bed next week, my back is starting to get mad at me for not laying down flat. Other then the bed there are lots of things I still can't do, I mean I was doing curls with 3 pounds today and it about killed me.
I am no place close to getting my arm over my head, I am hoping to get stuff to my mouth soon.
All that being said, i feel like it could have still been a lot worse.
This is what one of the stretches is, it is called the prayer stretch it is real fun!

i have baby bone

2008-02-21T11:33:00.000-08:00

So I have gone from making bone 3 weeks ago to having baby bone. The bone in my arm is coming along, it is not very thick and and kinda of fragile. But I not so week that I have to wear that green hunk of fiberglass any more. no sir re!
I got my cast off!

my arm is also a bit on the skinny side for a while

I have a brace on my arm now, shoulder to elbow, with Velcro straps, that I have to wear for the next six weeks. Thats when I go back to the doctor again. The healing part of my arm is not what hurts the most, it is my elbow.
It feels like, when you wake up after having slept with your arm behind your head. Numb and sore, my has now felt that way for 4 days. So yesterday I stared with my physical therapy, that I am going to twice a week.
Maybe be the time I am done with that I can bring a glass of water to my mouth and drink from it.
heres hoping!
But it is nice to have the cast off. tuesday morning I stood in the show for 30 min, it was nice to soak the arm, it was also nice to scrub a lot of the dead skin cells off, my arm had some bad dandruff.

i turned 28

2008-02-14T13:51:00.000-08:00

So some my and some friends stormed the beach last weekend for my birthday

The whole event went pretty well and there was a nice little party that followed. Good Times. Thanks guys, Tuscaloosa Polar Bear Club 2 was great.

The arm hung in there pretty well. No water, the sleeve thing keepth my dry. I could not make it all the way under the water, fiberglass floats. My arm was pretty much a little boat.
But I go back to the Doctor on Monday, 8:30am, I hope to get the little boat off my arm. But I have thought that one time before. So I am trying not to get my hopes up.
I still can not lift my arm up all the way but I can hold a full bottle of water at this point!
I am moving on up in the world.
So we will see, I will keep the world posted.

i am makeing bone

2008-02-05T14:01:00.000-08:00

I still have a cast on, that is b/c i am doing so well. i went to the doctor last week and it took all of about 30min. Thats right 30 min. I have been in there for 6 hours waiting. I got x-rayed for about the 20th time since dec 22nd. the doctor came in and showed my the side by side of the x-ray and the x-ray from 2 weeks ago, the bone had not moved and i was making bone. So b/c i am doing so well in the cast we are keeping the bad boy on! Next doc visit, 2-18-08!
so i am jumping in the lake Saturday at 1pm with this bad boy on! come and join me!

i could get my cast off soon

2008-01-20T08:30:00.000-08:00

i went to the doctor wednesday. i got x-rayed had the results checked out and was told by the doctors that i was looking really good. it felt like the doctors were doting on my arm. all the sitting around and laying low is paying off.
they also told me that if in 2 weeks i keep progressing as i am now, they might cut me out of the cast. when that happens i will be in a sling for a while with limited range of motion.
But for now i am still in old green.

thursday i got to eat lunch with my godson Han (we had entirely different meals) and his parents rob and amanda. Amac was nice enough to cut my meat.
maybe soon i can hold the boy for real.

i have a new "bed"

2008-01-15T21:26:00.000-08:00

So sleeping has been a major problem recently. I can not lay down in a bed. the bones bend all around and hurt like the dickens. so since dec 31st i had been sleeping propped up on my couch. I was wakening up about every 20 to 40 min though the night from arm pain or just being uncomfortable. My couch has two cushions and from the way i was propped up my posterior would slide between the cushions. my left leg was getting craps and knots from trying to hold on.
BUT NO MORE
I was talking to my grandmother and then my parents who offered to help by me this!

my new bed. matt king smith drove me around on saturday and we went shoping and sunday we went bsck and loaded up the new recliner in my car, it was mine. Eric St. Clair Came over to help matt get in in the house and set it up. i thank them SO much.
Now i am only wakening 1 time at night. it is so great.
thanks to grandma, mom and dad, and eric and matt.
People are already telling me that in the afternoon i sound a lot better. it is true, i dont feel like death warmed over. b/c i can do this!

I also have a "live in nurse" for a bit. Lydia is in germany for seven months and robb just graduated from library school and is looking for a job, robb is couch surfing for a bit now b/c robb and lydia are sub-leasing their place.
Robb already helped me get my arm apparatus on so i could bath myself. Robb is gonna help out around the place, doing so things i can't(pick up, carry laundry, wash dishes). good times.

i have good friends

2008-01-09T19:28:00.000-08:00

so this is what my arm looked like when it broke

while recovering from this, i had nice friends who supported me while i was in my time of need. i got encouraging words from them like these:

We say your a wuss. You should have gone and got a shovel, dug a few feet down to the dirt and rubbed it on your arm. Then got back up and kept going. Wuss.

Matt and i are drinking beers...... With our right arms.

good work! like i always say - snowboarders are the people lying with broken arms that we have to avoid while skiing

merry christmas jackass

i wonder if your new right hand will be dyslexic also.

my friends are good people.

at least my arm looks kinda like this now.

i felt the wind blow through my hair

2008-01-07T19:43:00.000-08:00

the breeze in my hair, it was the first time i have experienced that since October 1st, 2005. now my hair is getting "long".
now that it is growing it gets greasy and i can not wash my head with just face wash, i need to shampoo it. i have had some offers to cut it, but i cant go to a hair stylist every two days to shave my head. so tonight it was time to bath all by my self.
i finally got this thing to work.
last time courtney and i tried it to no avail, we both just scraped our knuckles a lot. tonight i cut a bit off the end and it took me 20 min and a lot of pain to get the thing on my arm.
once it was on, it hurt a lot and worked. i was abale to clean myself and wash my hair. the thing worked!
watch me get this crazy thing off me.

i have a neon green cast

2008-01-05T09:28:00.000-08:00

so matt and i got out of the andrews clinic at 7:30pm. We started or adventure in the hospital at 12:30pm. The doctor i had was Dr. Dugas,

he treats all types of orthopaedic sports injuries, including injuries of the shoulder, elbow, knee, ankle and foot. Dr. Dugas has contributed significantly to the research of sports medicine. He has published articles and textbook chapters related to injuries of the shoulder and elbow in throwing athletes, vascular injuries in throwers and rotator cuff injuries.

i trust this guy a lot more than i trusted ole Bony Barrineau. Thats right his first name is Bony.
So I am not going to have the surgery. He likes the way the set looks. And took me out of the contraption Bony puy me in and put me in a hanging arm cast.

The cast is made a bit extra heavy so it pulls everything down. If things are not looking right, this allows for surguery to be an option. I go back on the 16th for my first follow up.
I feel a lot better than i did. the swelling is going down and the color is very slowly coming back to my hand. the top is still discolored but my palm is looking good.
I even went back to work thusday and friday for half days. i came home and crashed both days but i am geting in the swing of things.
i even went out for a bit last night and eric was there to step up and be the first to sign the cast (followed by page, matt, bo and then a slew of others).

i went to an ER

2008-01-02T14:15:00.000-08:00

So on the advice of courtney,s nurse mom, friends and peoplw who told me how much of an ass Dr. Barrineau is, i went to the ER today. I went to the big city of birmingham that has one of them big truama centers. Now I am at the Andrews Sports Medicine and Orthopedic Center at St. Vincents Hospital. All of this is thanks to MATT KING SMITH who drove me into the big city this morning.
I went b/c my hand was swollen, black and blue...well this is what it looked like.

So the er people took of the crappy brace that Buddy made for me that was makeing my fingers tingle and caused me more pain then i had been in since the day of the spill. Thet put me in a splint much like the one Dr. Jackass had thought was dumb. But before thet did that, they put me in the wrong kind of splint and it hurt...A LOT! Matt caught the action for me.

Now that i am in the right splint and i had an anti-inflamitory injection i feel a lot better. The ER got me in to see an orthopidic that i had called this morning and they had said they could not see me until the end of the month. Well it may take 3 hours but i am getting worked in today.
no more dr barrineau!
thanks to matt for being in for the long huall today. we left t-town arond 11am here we are, waiting in a hallway b/c the waiting room is full, at 4:30 with no end in sight. matt wins the friend of the day award.

i went to a good ole boy doctor

2007-12-31T20:42:00.000-08:00

i went to the doctor today. he was a good ole boy who took his sweet time giveing me crappy advice. i went in at 8am and got out at 11:30am the doc was a redneck goodile boy who does not think it needs surgury. i told him i had a doctor tell me i needed the surgery and that he would plate it. he replied with something like "thats easy for another doctor to say. they might do it at one of them big truma centers, but we need to just let it heal on its own"

He also cut me out of my splint with out knowing if they had a hourmoral fractor brace. if you watched the video you know. the docs buddy Buddy came in with one that did not fit my arm, so i had to go to his shop to have a custom one molded.
Dr. Barrineau had about 0 bed side manner. i heard him tell his associate while he was in the hall that "we dont want to do the surgery, we dont want that kind of responsibility, you know we dont want to be sued for malpractice"
this doctor sucked, i am not going back. i dont trust him and i do not want s lifetime of a crocked arm. no one should ever see this jackass.

the doc my buddy had recomended was not threre. i am not going to this building agian. i am going to go to "one of them big truma centers"
anyone know any good orthos?

i went to seattle

2007-12-31T20:26:00.000-08:00

i went to Seattle to meet courtneys mom, liz. we had a great time - despite the fact my hand swolled up like a purple blimp. We went to the seattle art mussem, it was great. the next day liz drove us all over the city and we saw all the sites.
and the last day we went on an awsome food tour though pike place market. With a little help i even took a real shower. i was a bit stinky. it had been a while sine i had bathed for real.
it was an amazing trip despite my mallity. i rested a lot and courtney and liz took wonderful care of me and got me though the trip. got me out for great coffe, tai food and great pizza.
thank you.

i flew on a plane

2007-12-28T11:03:00.000-08:00

Well you are not going to read this for a while b/c I am above you, 30,000 ft flying to SeaTac. It was hard to leave my family today, they were so wonderful taking care of me. I cried a bit hugging my mom and dad goodbye and I think they did too. I can not wait to see my girlfriend but t is hard to say bye to the people you hardly ever get to see when they took such good care of you (even when you were acting like a wounded jack ass) and you are not sure when you will see them again.

I went into the doctor today b/c my splint was a bit on the loose side. He wrapped me up a bit better and he also did me a solid by taking a picture of my bruised arm. The new wrap job allows me to put on a shirt, which is real boss.

He told me about the surgical option and recommended I have the surgery when I get home. He said some older docs will not do the surgery simply b/c the arm will grow back on its own while inside the plaster splint, the down side is that it will grow back crocked. That is the chance some doc are willing to take over the surgical option. The growing back takes 3 months and as the doc put it, “it is very unnerving b/c for the first month you can feel the bones moving around. “ I totally know what he means. It is creepy feeling.
The draw back of the surgery (very small as with all surgery there is a risk/reward) is the radial nerve. It goes from your spine down the back of your arm. There is a chance after surgery that you can lose feeling in your hand and it will be limp for 3 months or you may lose feeling all together.
All that being said I go to a doctor in Tuscaloosa on the 31st and I will hear what another doc thinks. I want the surgery to get over this a soon as I can and not flop around for 3 months.
Here’s to not flopping around.

i had a nice christmas

2007-12-25T18:31:00.000-08:00

Christmas was nice. santa brought me an xbox 360. my arm is doing ok, well enough to fly to seattle tomorrow. i can't wait to see courtney and meet her mom.
In arm news my wrist and thumb are turning a nice shade of purple. i bet the rest of my arm is that color but i wont know for a while. hopefully tomorrow i can make an appointment for a doc on the 31st. i know iam going to need pain meds by then

the question for today is...
nick, what about going to, well you know...the bathroom?

Well, as some people know, i do that 2 to 4 times daily.
I had gone the morning of the accident and i had stood up to use the rest room during lunch at the mountain resort around 2:00 on saturday. that was the last time i used the bathroom before i unwillingly became left handed around 4:15.
Once i was off the mountain no one would give me anything to drink in case i needed surgery. Via the chopper i got to the hospital around 6:45. I did get to use a portable urinal while in the hospital bed. As far as the other part that did not happen until monday afternoon. I think my body shut off the pipes for fear of the left handed wipe.
when it happened, number 2, the clean up was not nearly as hard as i thought i was going to be. It takes a bit longer to wipe and the stool is a bit hard (i hear trauma and stress can cause that) but overall not so bad. The pipes are no longer blocked, i have gone 2 times already today. not to shabby.
Merry Christmas from my family to yours

i cleaned my self

2007-12-24T22:15:00.001-08:00

today i finally made it out of the house. but before that could happen i needed no to stink. i had not had a shower since before traveling out to the snow board place. i started to stick from the sweating i did boarding before my big break. so i got myself up and cleaqned myself like this.

i got out and did some shopping with my dad for about 2 hours. and went to christmas eve church service with my family.

now i am beat going to bed hoping not to get woken up by santa.

and it snowed so rob made this

merry christmas

i dont need no stinkin doctor

2007-12-24T06:31:00.000-08:00

so called the recommended orthopedic doctor this morning about my follow up visit. he was not going to be able to see me until the 26th. i leave for Seattle that day at 7pm . When the doctor heard I live in Alabama and would be home on the 30th, he recommended i just wait until i get home to see a doctor b/c if they do surgery it is not going to be until after 5 days.
A second doctor here in the Pittsburgh area gave the same advice.
So now i am looking for an ortho guy in tuscaloosa. I got some recommended names from a buddy who knows these things(he did my cyst operation).
WARNING THIS VIDEO IS GRAPHIC AND AWESOME

so now i play through the pain. and with my moms left over meds from her neck surgery.

I rode in a helicopter saturday

2007-12-23T20:55:00.000-08:00

Hello Friends-happy holidays,
I am at my parents house in Pittsburgh.
So i went snow boarding yesterday with my brother in-law, Rob. It was first time ever for me. it was real fun, i was getting the hang of it. i was thinking of turning pro-on my 3rd time down!
So i was not that good....i fell down a lot.
watch me fall - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQrQ5qu2aWc

then while trying to stop I fell for about the millionth time.
I felll backwards and my right arm stayed behind me as my feet went forward, my hand went under me and my shoulder kept going.
it sounded like a shotgun went of in my head. i new it was broken immediately.
rob - the navy combat rescue swimmer, was there...he was great helping me and also by taking pics and video like i asked him too.
they got me down the mountain via a sled, after rob told them how to get me on.
me on the sled - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMh1ypu2T3g

from there to the ski patrol where they got my jackets off and cut off my shirts.
about 4 inches above my right elbow the =]medics found a "3rd hinge" 1. elbow 2. shoulder 3. my humorous bone in 2 pieces.
it looked like i had a huge rippling right bicep. that was just where the bones were overlapping.
goodtimes.
b/c there is an artery near the break and there were a few other people needing more serious attention at the same time, the small hospital near the slopes did not want me. after some red tape(the first helicopter would not fly me to pittsburgh we drove to it...i saw it) I was taken to the small hospital that did not want me and flown via helicopter back university of pittsburgh medical center. the drive that had taken 1 1/2 hours took 20 min.

long story short - i broke the humorous bone in my right arm. now i am in a big splint, on pain meds and still in pain and have to have surgery after a while.
(not to soon) i go back to the doc on monday.
here are the pics - http://www.flickr.com/photos/9730910@N05/sets/72157603522889346/

i am stuck in that chair for a while. it does not hurt where i am holding my wrist, just where it broke. b/c the lower part of my arm is not attactced to the bone I have been haveing this whole phantom limb thing. in the hospitas while the nurse, the ortho doc and my dad where setting it i thought my forearm was pointing right off my body, while it was actually laying on my lap!

i will keep you posted
left handed is the new right handed
merry christmas
nick