2 Years After Gino's Horrific Accident

My 3 boys

We remember this day 2 years ago when Gino was in an accident. Yes, it has been a long 2 years. 

A truck took him down when he was cycling.He suffered skull and spinal fractures.

It is in our past. But we remember this day purely to see how much we've grown as a couple, as a family and as individuals. 

Borrowing the words of a wise friend, "Healing isn't a bed of roses, it isn't a fluffy fairytale. It is tiring, gruesome and painful." So true! We are very grateful that all has healed well. 

The positives that have come out of this experience are many. Firstly, Gino is back riding his bike.
Secondly, we have become lots more aware of what we eat as a family and how nutrient dense food is like medicine to the body. Thirdly, we saw how our families and friends rallied around us. Lastly, we learnt tremendously as physios in the rehab of an individual with spine and skull fractures.

Oh yes! And our precious gift of a second son early this year.

We are grateful everyday for our lives, our health and each other.

Playing Football At 11 Weeks After His Accident

Goal bound

Not so fast....

This is Gino. At exactly 11 weeks after his accident where he fractured his skull and lumbar spine. He's playing football with the kids at Botanic Gardens. How's that for recovery?

I had to yell at him to stop running when he tried to run after the ball. My heart skipped a beat each time he broke into a run, but at the same time I was really happy to see the progress he's made.

When I asked him why he ran, he said, "no pain what".  Well, that's Gino for you, always willing to push his timelines limits. Try telling him something cannot be done and he'll try to prove you wrong.

By the way, Dean and his cousins were just as, if not more competitive, at wanting to win.

Let's see how his CT scan looks in 2 weeks.

Who Joined Gino For Hydrotherapy Today?

Who?

Gino had company for hydrotherapy today. in fact he was good enough to teach 2 young athletes along with their coach today.

Can you guess from the pictures? Probably not. Have a look here then http://weloverunning.blogspot.sg/2013/06/who-came-for-hydrotherapy-today.html.

Time Lines

Spot the fracture!

6 weeks of healing since the accident.
2 weeks to taking off the brace.
6 weeks to the next CT scan.
6-8 weeks before paced return to work as a manual physiotherapist.
4.5 months to getting on the bike again.
4.5 months before he can lift weights above 5 pounds.
? months till he runs again.

We get lots of time lines whenever we visit the doc.
It can really get you down if you let it.

In the doctor's office you'll hear Gino saying, " Ok Dr Wang, the million dollar question is ..."
These are the questions that are very important to him.

I liked the response from his doctor today to one of those important questions.
"Gino there's only one you!"

And that I agree!
There are all these numbers but WE are all unique.

If there's someone who can push all the timelines it's Gino.
And I'll be there to reign him in ;)

Gino. 1 Month On.

Needled!

Today we celebrate 4 weeks of healing. 

Gino has had a painful week. 

Pain is a good thing in this instance. Without pain Gino would never know how much movement he can do without harming the fracture.

Gino has had  to teach me how to dry needle to help relax the tense low back muscles that are spasming in reaction to the fractured spinal bone.

Since he was not able to needle his back by himself, I had to do some quick learning. Since I've started dry needling his back last Tuesday he's been much more comfortable and more importantly in a much better mood ;-)

Check out my handy work in the photo above!

Hey Man I'm Alive!

I'm taking each day and night at a time. Yeah I'm down, but I know I'll get by - Bon Jovi in "Someday I'll Be Saturday Night".

Walking then deep water running..

  He can kick!

Is that all the range you've got?

Only broke his back and head, the arms still work..thankfully

Gino's down but he's definitely working to get back up. We started hydrotherapy this week.

We figured healing takes more than just the physical body. It needs the powerful mind to get on board. And getting out and working towards his ideal outcome is what is allowing us to thrive.

So Gino's working daily with the trigger ball and resistance band. And alternate days taking a slow walk with Dean, our son, to school and hydrotherapy. 

When asked, "What have you learnt in these past 3 weeks?", Gino says, "There are good days and there are bad days when it comes to rehab. Some days I feel like a million dollars and other days I have to tell myself to be patient and pace myself."

Also see http://weloverunning.blogspot.sg/2009/04/aqua-based-rehabilitation-deep-water.html and http://physiosolutions.blogspot.sg/2009/11/aqua-based-rehabilitation-after-knee.html.  

What happens in 2 weeks

This is the Xray image of Gino's spine 2 weeks after the accident. Now we monitor the fracture at the first lumbar spine bone (the squashed looking one right in the middle) every few weeks to ensure that it remains stable. His Xray films show that the fracture has not worsened.

The most critical period of bone healing is in the first 2 weeks. Inflammation and revascularization occurs in this time. Inflammation accompanies every injury. It is the way the body brings all the good stuff to the injured site to help with repair.

We should be in the callus formation stage at this point. This will continue for the next 4 to 10 weeks in the healing process before the bone remodelling phase begins.

There must now be a good balance of rest and weight bearing for good bone healing to occur. Gino's waiting impatiently to get hydrotherapy started. It's a no go from the neurosurgeon for now. Let's see how the Xray looks in end May.

A Milestone

Happy May Day everyone! We are grateful for all the little things everyday :)
Today Gino went for his first walk out of the house since the accident. That's a milestone!

1 week on..

It's been a week since the accident and Gino is home and on the mend. We have been Kinesio taping since day 1 of the accident.

This is how the his Kinesio taping looks like on day 7. It has evolved over the days dependent on where Gino feels pain and where we think that it would be useful to improve fluid flow. All this to help the body with the healing process.

I am grateful that we knew how best to help the body right after an accident. He received treatment on his neck as soon as we were certain that there were no fractures in the neck and thoracic spine.

I worked on the neck bones as well as Kinesio taped all the muscles that were hurting. The muscles around Gino's neck had worked really hard to protect him during and after the impact.

Whiplash injuries are well known to worsen days after the actual accident. As Gino had received physio treatment from the evening of his accident, his neck pain disappeared on day 4 which made him able to lift his head off the pillow without any discomfort.

Now for the hardest part of this healing process for Gino...resting for the next 7 weeks!

This is what happened to Gino

I am writing this post so that all cyclists become aware that the chain latch of a truck's tailgate may pose a hazard when it is left unlatched.

Photo courtesy of Gino Ng

Gino managed to take the above photo after the accident on Saturday 20 April 2013. The truck driver would not have stopped if not for a motorcyclist who went after the truck to inform the driver that he had taken a cyclist down. Sadly the truck driver maintained that it was not his fault.

Gino had almost come to a stop waiting for this truck to turn. When it turned the chain latch swung and hooked onto Gino's bike's handlebars which sent Gino flying.

As a result, he has a depressed fracture in his left skull which is impacting his brain. Fortunately, despite this, there is no brain bleed or swelling. There is a mild chance of epilepsy (fits) but fixing the skull fracture does not reduce the chances of epilepsy. We decided with the neurosurgeon not to operate.

Gino also sustained a fracture of his lumbar spine from the fall as he landed on the road in a hyperflexed position. It fractured three quarters of the way through from the front not disturbing the spinal cord. No surgery for this fracture too. He has been fitted with a brace that does not allow bending forward at the level of fracture. He needs to wear the brace for 6 weeks.

He is currently recuperating at home, keeping walking, sitting and standing to a minimum for at least a couple of weeks.

It would be best in terms of healing if he returns to work only after 2 to 3 months due to the nature of a physiotherapist's job. 

The photo below is how the chain latch should have been done up when a truck is moving. Cyclists please be vigilant.

Photo courtesy of Jason Kirshman.webs.com