Just a little fun fact about me

Someone asked me recently, what is something that most people don't know about you. I said, well, I live with a broken arm everyday. Their response was...huh! In November 2006, I was in a bad dirt bike accident and broke my arm in half in multiple places. I had surgery and my surgeon was amazing and put my arm back together. As you can see in the photos below, my arm has a ton of titanium in it and about 26 screws. My accident was no secret, lots of people know about that.

Well, in February of 2007, when I could finally walk again, I decided I wanted to skate. I blame it on Fuel TV cause I was laid up in bed with nothing to do but watch Built to Shred and American Misfits. After a few weeks of skating, I built a fun box with a ramp and was working on my 180 tail stalls. Sure enough, my trucks went over the coping and I slammed down on my elbow. I knew something was wrong but thought I may have just hurt my elbow. I took my shirt off and immediately could tell my arm was broke. Not having the same insurance that I had when I broke my arm, I went to Kaiser only to discover that their Dr's are idiots and were too afraid to work on my arm. They told me if they went in, they could cut though my radial nerve and I could loose all functionality of my arm. The Dr. advised me to leave it and see if it heals. After a year with no progress, I switched insurance. I saw a few specialists and they all said it was risky to go back in. I went and saw my original surgeon who said she could fix it and was confident everything would be fine but also said, there is always a risk. I tried to get several referrals to go back to UCSD and have it fixed but my insurance kept denying it.

So, here we are in 2010 and to date, my arm is still broken. As you can see in the X Ray at the bottom of this post, I still have all the metal in my arm but my humerous is in half.

It is very painful but I have learned how to deal with it. Obviously I can't skate, snowboard or ride dirtbikes anymore but I thank God that I at least still have my arm cause it could be a lot worse. One day when I can get back to UCSD, I will get it fixed.

So, there is a little fun fact about me!

Picture of my arm after surgery and an X Ray before surgery.

X Rays after my arm was fixed

X Ray of my arm currently.

Comments

[Carol]

Ouch! I'm sorry to hear about your arm. I can understand why you wanted to go back to extreme sports even after the first accident. I see it is your calling I don't believe anybody can deny that to oneself when realized. Hope you get it fixed soon. Good luck!