Story with x-rays

[pBASEtobe 0]

I was doing my first night jump from the Potato Bridge on the evening of the 15th. I was packed slider down and decided I would take a 1 sec. delay. I accidentally took 2 sec. and also ended up a little head low. At least I felt like I was but no one is really sure because it was at night and there was no video. I had a hard opening and was whipped around enough that my legs swung up and my knees just lightly touched my nose. I instantly got a pounding headache and could also tell all my muscles (the ones I can feel) had been pulled. I had just given myself an insane case of whiplash. I landed in the water where the boat picked me up. I got on the boat and knew right away I had injured myself because of the pounding headache I had due to dysreflexia. I went to the emergency room where I was given a CT scan of my head because that's what the doctor thought was causing the headache. They also gave me some morphine as well. The CT scan came out negative and the dysreflexia went away because of the morphine. I went back to my hotel and woke up the next morning to see my right knee very swollen and my headache was back. I said to myself, "So that's what is causing the dysreflexia!" I went back to the ER and they drained some blood from the knee, took an x-ray of it (nothing wrong), gave me more pain meds, and told me to see my doctor about it when I got home. The following morning, the 17th, before driving back to So. Cal. I went back to the ER to get more blood drained from the knee.
When I got home I saw a few more doctors trying to find out exactly what I had done to my knee. I eventually saw an Orthopedist on Thursday the 21st. The right knee that was swollen in Idaho was actually much better but now the other knee was swollen. The doctor took an x-ray of my left knee and that's when he noticed the break (non-displaced) in my femur just above the knee. More x-rays were taken and that’s how the other break was found. The ball at the top of the femur that goes into your hip had broken off and was displaced. We also found my right ankle was broken as well. It had started to swell a few days previous. It had been 6 days since the hard opening and a few of those days I had gone to work! The Orthopedist was very shocked and said I should go to the emergency room right away. I went to Cedars-Sinai Hospital where they said they'd have to do surgery. I had surgery on the 25th.

Because the lower break in the femur wasn't displaced they said they would just pin and plate it to keep it from moving but the ball that had broken off of the femur couldn't be pinned so they needed to replace it. I ended up getting half a hip replacement. (ball part only, no new socket) and they pinned and plated the entire length of the femur. The doctor said he wanted to run the plate the entire length of the femur to help prevent further breaks. The surgery was about 2.5 hours long and went well.

I’ve attached pictures of the femur in question, both before and after. I’ve also attached a picture of the other bits of hardware I have in me from a previous surgery. X-rays are cool! I’m slowly becoming Wolverine!

The three springs in the x-rays are not in my leg, although the other lops are. The springs are from an external drain I had at the time. I just happened to be lying on it when they took the x-rays.

For some reason I think the 37 staples look kind of cool in the x-rays as well.

It’s been two weeks since surgery and my leg is still pretty swollen. I get my staples taken out in two days. I’m guessing it’ll be a few months before I’m back to normal. I can look on the bright side and say I guess I did get two weeks off of work!

Thanks again to everyone for all the support, and thanks to Jaap for my get-well-carrot!

Cya,
Russel

P.S. Damn, all that from a hard opening!

[cesslon 0]

dam $hit
how high was the bridge ? maybe you were better off not pulling haha j/k

I hope you heal quick,
does that plate running along you femur stay in you for ever ?

[cesslon 0]

how did you break your back/chest ?
is the steal on ya chest or ya spine ?

little hard to work out the xray

[pBASEtobe 0]

That one is on my spine from my motorcycle accident 5 years ago that left me as a paraplegic. They just took that x-ray this time around to make sure nothing had moved I suppose.

And yes, all that will stay. They don't plan on removing any of the hardware.

[cesslon 0]

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That one is on my spine from my motorcycle accident 5 years ago that left me as a paraplegic. They just took that x-ray this time around to make sure nothing had moved I suppose.

ahh your russel.

good to see ya out of hospital
I checked out your site a week back
pretty cool.
today when I first read this thread, I found it strange that ya were walking around at work on that leg and didnt know lol.
but now everything has falling into place

[Zennie 0]

We're slowly turning you into Bionic Russel. Muahhhh...

Glad to hear you're healing and in good spirits. With all that hardware, pretty soon you won't be needing any sort of body armor. It'll all be pre-installed.

How long before you can jump (slider up) again?

- Z
"Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

[elduderino 0]

ouucchhh!!!
strange...what kind of canopy do you use on this jump?
i know a person that made 7 sec. ( SEVEN!!) whitout a slider, also accidently....it only caused backpain for 3 days...

[TomAiello 25]

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i know a person that made 7 sec. ( SEVEN!!) whitout a slider, also accidently....it only caused backpain for 3 days...

Russel's situation is pretty special. Since his bones don't bear weight, they are much weaker than most people's. I don't think the opening was much harder than normal--it's just that his body has more trouble with it.

-- Tom Aiello

[email protected]
SnakeRiverBASE.com

[truckerbase 0]

Cool, Russell. Get well soon, Man.

PS when are you and Jaap Suter getting married? He's a catch he is

[pBASEtobe 0]

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Since his bones don't bear weight, they are much weaker than most people's.

Tom's right. I have osteoporosis. So be careful all you over 70 yr. old BASE jumpers. No slider off/down jumps for you either.

[pBASEtobe 0]

Ok, so it's pretty sissy but I like my get-well-carrot.

[460 0]

Before long, you will have an exoskeleton too.

Looks like a death sandwich without the bread - Steve Deadman Morrell, BASE 174

[lifewithoutanet 0]

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PS when are you and Jaap Suter getting married?

Jaap's still having a hard time getting Abbie to sign the papers, so not until then.
-C.

[lifewithoutanet 0]

Good seeing you on Sat, man. Still in mild disbelief over the fact that you went through so much and didn't even know it for days. Your phsyical therapist at Cedar-Sinai was...well, WOWSER! I'll visit you there anytime.
Meant to ask you this on Sat, but is there any concern over the strength of the steel vs the relative strength of your hip socket and other bones surrounding the steel? I mean...that looks suspiciously like a 'wrecking ball'.
-C.
PS Damn those drunken friends of yours!

[pBASEtobe 0]

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Before long, you will have an exoskeleton too.

I kind of feel that my wheelchair already is my exoskeleton. I mean hell I crash into things (walls, cars, people...etc) on a consistent basis and my chair takes the hit not me.
That either sounds like I'm really not coordinated or consistently drunk. Take your pick.

[pBASEtobe 0]

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Your phsyical therapist at Cedar-Sinai was...well, WOWSER! I'll visit you there anytime.

Yeah, I'll have to look up her name on my medical records and track her down.

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...is there any concern over the strength of the steel vs the relative strength of your hip socket and other bones surrounding the steel?

Not quite sure. I'll ask the doc later today when I see him.

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PS Damn those drunken friends of yours!

Yeah, you guys are horrible!

[cornishe 0]

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Jaap's still having a hard time getting Abbie to sign the papers, so not until then.
-C.

dammit, i stay off dropzone for a week, and this is what I have to come back to!!

Anyhow, Jaap is coming to LA next week. So if he give me good head and answers to the name Collin, maybe I'll sign the papers.

-a

Abbie Mashaal
Skydive Idaho
Snake River Skydiving
TandemBASE

[JaapSuter 0]

It's only because GirlFallDown is dyslectic that I'm now sending get-well carrots instead of cards. I agree that it's not very manly, but I don't want to be the guy to stop a tradition...

[K763 0]

Hey Russel!

Wow, what a story! I haven't looked at the photos yet, but will do...and you're right, X-rays are cool!

I'm so glad you seem to be ok! I can't believe all you have gone through, and how great you sound about it. I guess you do have a benefit of not feeling it, except that you don't even know you've got broken bones...

So this metal skeleton is getting pretty interesting...and I won't say one more word....(biting tongue VERY hard to stop myself).

Maybe you could give us a call here when you feel like chatting...I'll call you back on our dime.

Love ya lots, take care and heal fast!
K

[Girlfalldown 0]

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It's only because GirlFallDown is dyslectic that I'm now sending get-well carrots instead of cards. I agree that it's not very manly, but I don't want to be the guy to stop a tradition...

HA! Very funny!

Russel that's some serious hardware! Take care of yourself and snuggle with your carrot when you feel down (or gay).

--------------

(Do not, I repeat DO NOT, take my posts seriously.)

[ImagethisPhoto 0]

glad I had already eat before seeing those pix. Made my entire body hurt! This is why I second guess every jump...
I could be wrong, but I thought I noticed a broken rib in the Xray of your chest???
Be well!
JM
BTW- I drank a few for ya in Cancun!

[mr2mk1g 10]

When I look at x-rays like that I just get that commentary: "We have the technology. We CAN rebuild him".

Keep it up man. Great site by the way - went through it murdering your bandwidth the other week when NickDG posted about your jump.