My Motorcycle Crash Report
Date of crash September 6, 2009
Well it finally happened - my first bad crash - broken scapula, broken collar bone, and 10, count'em 10, rib fractures, all on my left side.
So, what happened?
It was early September and I was approaching an intersection , about 80 yards ahead the light turned green and an suv proceeded through the intersection ahead of me - I was about 20-30 yards behind the SUV as I entered the intersection to turn left. Just as I enter the intersection, a Harley waiting at the red light to my left decides to pull out in front of me. I'm guessing he had been waiting for the light to turn green; he gave up waiting, and decided to run the red light - unfortunately for me. Since I was in the process of turning left, when I hit the brakes to avoid hitting the Harley, I low sided my ZR-7S, and I hit the ground hard on my left side. I could hear my bike slide away from me across the asphalt. I ended up on my back. As I lay on the ground, I couldn't move - the guy on the Harley got off his bike and I could hear him say things like 'oh shit', he came over to me and I could see him looking down on me as I lay on my back- I don't remember if he said anything to me as I lay there. Next a young woman came over and started to help me; and ask me question to keep me alert. At this point Harley guy then got on his bike and left me lying on the ground.
A few minutes later the police and paramedics arrived - I still couldn't move, my left side was in too much pain. The young woman that helped me was an angel - just when I needed one. The paramedics did their job well; they were able to get my gear off without cutting. The left side of my helmet is pretty well scratched - thank you Shoie for saving my head. The leather overpants I had on were nearly worn through on the left knee but I had no road rash. My Joe Rocket jacket looks fine, not hardly a scratch on it.
But when I low sided, I hit the ground so hard I shattered my left shoulder blade, broke 7 ribs in my back, my collar bone, and 3 ribs in my chest. The left side of my chest had nearly collapsed in the accident. I was in the hospital for a week which included 4 days in ICU. I was on both morphine and Vicodin while in the hospital, but the first time I was picked up to be placed in the CAT scanner, I nearly passed out from the pain. Pain ended up being my constant companion for a couple of months.
In the emergency room
Two weeks after getting out of the hospital, I still had a lot of pain, I
couldn't raise my left arm, and my left shoulder had a pronounced hump. I had
more CAT scans before my orthopedic surgeon referred me to
At Stanford, I had a 3D CAT scan, an MRI, and an EMG (electromyogram) to test nerve function in my back and left arm. The EMG showed that I had lost nerve function for many of the muscles in the left side of my back. The 3D CAT scan showed my left shoulder blade (scapula) was displaced and broken into about a dozen pieces. I went through four doctors who talked about shoulder reconstruction and possible muscle transplants. My orthopedic surgeon at Stanford told me she had recently done a scapula reconstruction and that the surgery was risky with a large blood loss. It was surgery to be avoided if possible. I was told the nerves in my back could recover with time and we should wait. She put me on more pain medication; I was referred to physical therapy. And I waited.
Broken collar bone
Three broken ribs in chest
Broken scapula (shoulder blade)
Seven broken ribs in my back
Five weeks after the accident, I went back to work part time, just 5 hours a day. After a few hours of work, the pain in my shoulder became unbearable, even when on Vicodin. I'd go home after work and lay down until the pain became bearable. I lost weight because I wasn't eating well. I still couldn't lift my left arm. Physical therapy felt like torture. I just wanted the pain would go away.
Finally, about 2 and a half months after the accident, I started to regain the nerve function in my back! Over about a week, the muscles in my lower back pulled my shoulder blade back into place. The hump on my left shoulder went away for the most part. Over about 2 weeks, muscles that hadn't worked in 2 months came back to life. I had painful muscle spasms. I had muscle pain from my atrophied muscles as they tried to regain their strength. I regained the use of my left arm. The surgeon at Stanford was right! She said I get better. I guess that why she's a professor of orthopedics.
By early December I still had pain but it was much less, I no longer needed to take 8 Vicodin everyday - only about 4! My shoulder was still very stiff, and I could only raise my left arm up about half way. But I was regaining a little more strength in my arm and shoulder each day. I knew I had a long way to go before I could recover, but I could tell that I was on the road to recovery.
On December 6 I finally felt strong enough for the first time to try to ride again. I put on a helmet, my Joe Rocket jacket, leather overpants, and leather gloves. I was still stiff and weak, and I was exhausted just from putting on my gear. But I rolled my bike off the center stand for the first time in over 3 months. I wondered how it would feel to ride again. I started up the engine and rode out of my driveway. As I accelerated down the street, there was no fear, no trepidation. The accident was behind me. I felt exhilarated. I felt the wind blow across my face behind the visor of my helmet, it felt great. My ride was for about an hour. My left shoulder was a sore when I got home, but the ride was worth the pain. All in all, today was a good day.
BTW, my ZR-7S only had a small scratch on the left fairing and a broken windscreen. The Givi E21 saddlebag and engine guards on the bike took most of the impact when the bike went down. The E21 only had some scratches and is still usable.
By early February, I still had only limited motion of my left arm. My orthopedic
surgeon at
I now have a good range of motion in my shoulder, not 100%, but good. I've been told the range of motion in my shoulder will continue to improve and most of the pain I still have will become less with time.
Follow up
I never thought I would be a drug addict, but now I can say I was one.
While in the hospital, I was on Vicodin and morphine for pain. So I could sleep at night I was also put on Ambien. When released from the hospital, I was still in pretty bad shape. In addition to the broken bones, I had lost muscle control on the left side of my back due to the nerve damage. My broken left scapula had been pulled up on to my shoulder and was out of place – the muscles that would normally pull the scapula back down to the correct location on my back didn’t work any more. The displaced scapula gave me a lot of pain and I was on Vicodin for over 4 months until the nerves started working again and the scapula got pulled back into place. The pain I had in my shoulder made it very difficult to sleep, so in addition to the Vicodin, I was still on Ambien to help me sleep at night.
My doctor told me early on that she was worried I might get addicted to the Vicodin, but the Vicodin was for the pain and I needed it. There was never any mention of the Ambien being an addiction problem. After 4 or 5 months, the pain in my shoulder was not a serious problem and I was able to decrease the amount of Vicodin I was taking and eventually I stopped taking the Vicodin all together. I never had any problems with withdrawal symptoms from the Vicodin. Actually, I never got any kind of a buzz from the Vicodin or the morphine. They did help stop the pain, but that was all.
After I got off the Vicodin, I still had problems sleeping, so I continued with the Ambien at night. Sometimes I would try to go to bed at night without taking an Ambien, but I’d lay there for a while and finally get up and take 5mg of Ambien. After over 7 months of taking Ambien nightly, I decided I needed to stop taking it. This is when I found out I was a drug addict. I had become addicted to Ambien.
While I was being treated after the accident I had also been given Temazepam as a sleep aid, but I had never really used it. I had always taken the Ambien. When I came to realize that I could not go to sleep at night without taking Ambien I took one of the Temazepam to help me sleep. The next day I would feel nervous and agitated, I couldn’t focus, so I went back to taking Ambien at night thinking that the Temazepam was my problem. I was wrong.
Finally I decided I had to get off the Ambien. The first night I decided to stop taking Ambien, I took one more Temazepam. The next night I took nothing. I was quitting cold turkey. I had severe headaches and problems with insomnia, nervousness, anxiety, trembling in my hands, and difficulty focusing at work. After a week, the withdrawal symptoms finally started to decrease. Ambien is a sedative and now that I am going through withdrawal, I had the physical feeling like I was hopped up on too much caffeine all the time. It was an uncomfortable feeling.
I googled ‘Ambien withdrawal’ and I’ve found it to be a common problem. I have suffered many of the withdrawal problems I found listed. Ambient is advertised on TV as a sleep aid. They say ask for a sample from your doctor. That’s just what the maker of Ambien wants – you get a sample and after a while you are hooked, I was. It’s just what a drug company wants, you get addicted to a prescription drug, take it for the rest of your life, and they make a lot of money.
I still have some Ambien in my medicine cabinet at home. Every once in a while I'll look at it, and sometimes I'm tempted to take one. But I tell myself, ‘You don’t need that anymore.’
The moral of this is simple, be careful what medicines you take, you might get addicted. That's what happened to me.
One side note, I made it through the worst of the Ambien withdrawal. It took about 2 weeks to get through it. I am now back to normal.