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betzilla

how do I know when I'm ready to jump again?

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HELP![:/] I can't tell whether my urge to jump is foolish or not. I'm nine months post tib/fib fracture, can walk without a limp and without pain, but am not allowed to run for another 2 months.

Would i be foolish to make a jump on a moderately large canopy? I'm jonesing but scared....

Anyone with similar injuries who could share their experience, please do!

thanks....

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i havent had an injury, but i would say that if you cant run, i wouldnt risk it. you could wait a couple of weeks and be fine or you could hurt it worse and be out longer....



Here's to the Breezes that blows through the Trezzez.....

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A week after I broke my ankle, I jumped.

I jumped a FRIGGIN HUGE canopy, and did an intentional butt slide landing. Getting up off the ground and into my crutches was the hardest part. Oh, getting into the plane was fun, too.

A tib/fib is a whole lot more complicated then an ankle break, though.

I'm not answering your question either way, ultimately it's your body, and only you can decide the level of risk you're willing to take.

However, butt slide landings are pretty easy on your legs. ;)

_Am

__

You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

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Thanks man. I am planning to jump a huge canopy, but my immediate decision has been made for me by the weather -- it just started to rain.:(

At this point I plan to be REALLY picky about the weather. I want to land standing up -- the ground is either still frozen here or full of giant mud puddles (that's the case today). I don't want a bruised tailbone, and I don't want to sit in a puddle on landing.

I'm lucky, in that I work at a gear store and can have my choice of the various demo canopies to make my jump. And that my leg is the right length, and my foot still points forward ;).


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My DZO has offered me my choise of the student canopies to jump my first jump back (we have Sabre2's up to 260 ft2). And I could always dot eh old soslo recurrency jump on a tandem rig -- if I can't land softly with 370 sq. ft. of nylon over my head....

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To take a tandem rig on a solo should'nt you be really current since there are about 150 new mals that are possible? The drogue alone is a whole new experience if your not a TM from what I've heard.
Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

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Why can't you run for 2 more months? If it's because the fracture was unstable, you probably don't want to risk displacing it.

But 9 months out is a long time. You could jump a big canopy, put on some knee pads, and PLF. Yes, you get muddy. Then you get right back up and jump again.

Wendy W.
There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

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If the Doc says you shouldn't run for another 2 months, then I wouldn't jump either. You could aggravate the injury and be grounded even longer.

After you are cleared by the Doc, then you can start back by jumping a big canopy and working your way back down to your own rig.
Arrive Safely

John

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Quote

A tib/fib is a whole lot more complicated then an ankle break, though.



Actually, a tib/fib is a kind of ankle break. If you want to get technical about it, you can't break your ankle, only the bones around it. Its all about the severity of the break(s), and every one is different, as you know.

Betsy,

If you can't run, or jump off a bench without pain, I would say wait a while, and keep up with the PT. You've invested a lot in your recovery so far, are you prepared to risk further injury and even more down time just because you are jonesing right now?? The fact that you raised the question seems to indicate you already know the answer. Besides, its still really cold in Illinois right now and the conditions will be much nicer in a month or two!

Good luck with whatever you decide!

maura

by the way, I had a tri maelial (spelling?) tib/fib fracture almost 5 years ago, with a dislocation and 3 fractures. 7 screws, a plate and a pin. I had a cast for 6 weeks. I jumped again after 4 months, with my own canopy, but I also picked a day with perfect conditions. I was also jonesing and probably should have waited, but............

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I was 2 jumps short of my rating when I broke my leg (on the 13th jump with a student). Relative Workshop woudl never allow someone who's not trained to jump one of their tandem rigs to use one, solo or with a student.

But I need to do a solo on it before I take another person along anyway, SO...

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The fracture's stable (there's tons of pretty new bone, and the screws are staying right where they belong -- no haloing, or any of that), but my Ortho suggests waiting until a full year after the injury to start running for fitness. Other than that I can do what I want, But running out a landing might be a little much.

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Why does he suggest a full year? Is he naturally very conservative? That can make a difference. Ask him why specifically -- you really need to be able to trust him. If that's his universal answer for broken legs, or if he's naturally conservative, then it makes a difference.

Wendy W.
There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

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He's very conservative and has worked on many skydivers before (he's right down the road form our DZ and did an interneship near Quincy -- poor guy!). As a result, it took months for him to believe that I was actually following doctors' orders, as opposed to walking on my leg early, and so on. It didn't help, of course, that when my fiance was being treated for a broken foot in the same office (but a different doctor), he did a jump with one of the therapists who works there[:/]. Apparently he's treated a lot of boneheads (non-skydivers mostly) who literally wear their casts down to the skin when they're not even supposed to be walking yet.

Anyway, I think it's more the repetition of, say, a mile run aon asphalt that he's worried about. My muscles aren't quite strong enought to trot more than 2 steps right now anyway.... But I have no pain, so yay for me -- I'm getting there.

But he's a great OS. if anyone near Skydive Chicago needs one, he's the guy!


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I broke my leg(femur) in July at Chicagoland. I waited five months to the day to jump again. I did everything the doctor said to do, right up to the minute before I jumped. By the time I jumped I had been released to work out in the gym. I was able to leg press more than my body weight so I decided that I was able to jump. I also increased my canopy size from a 135 to a 190. I have made more than 60 jumps since I broke my leg, and I may have stood up 10 landings. I use to stand everything up, but now I tell everybody I checked my pride in at the ER.;)Yes I have worn out my jumpsuit but I don't care as long as I can jump. In the end its your decision and only you can say if your in physical condition to jump.

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Hey Betsy,

It's 10 degrees. What are you in a hurry for?;) Two months now in Illinois isn't giving up alot. Go ahead and wait. Your's was bad enough that you should give it the time to get more solid. Now this is the case of do as I say, not as I did.B| You didn't see me in my butt slide days.

Look at it this way. How stupid is it to risk breaking it again, screwing up the whole year or the rest of your life, for March and April jumping in Illinois?

The old conservative fuddy duddy has spoke.:P

Later,

Terry

I'm old for my age.
Terry Urban
D-8631
FAA DPRE

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Well, the buttslide is not always easy on the legs. One of the jumpers at my DZ did a but slide last year and his foot hit something while sliding across the ground. It broke his leg above the ankle. (Sorry, I don't know the medical term for this bone. He had to have pins put in his leg, and was told he would not be able to jump again, ever. Just my $.02
Blue Skies

Blue Skies
Steve
Ok, so it's pink, but I'm secure in my manhood, and I still look cool coming in under it!

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That's actually how i broke mine, Except that the tandem student on my front them fell on my leg. Thank god she wasn't injured (although I can't say I hope she didn't have a great big bruise [>:(])

i had a nurse tell me I would never jump again. I asked never to have her in my room again, and my OS thinks I'll get back to 100 percent. He's right, of course :)
There's always the good old PLF (on my good side, of course). But this is why I'm waiting for 8-12 mph steady winds.


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