I've Been Busy...Hurting Myself, Of Course!!!

EllenD

New member
Aug 20, 2016
3,979
65
State College, PA
Parrots
Senegal Parrot named "Kane"; Yellow-Sided Green Cheek Conure named "Bowie"; Blue Quaker Parrot named "Lita Ford"; Cockatiel named "Duff"; 8 American/English Budgie Hybrids; Ringneck Dove named "Dylan"
Hey guys, just wanted to touch-base with everyone, as I got a couple PM''s from people asking me some questions regarding medical/health issues about their Fids, and I'm going to answer all of them now...Scott PM'd me to tell me my mailbox was full, which is just my bad habit of NEVER deleting any PM's, emails, or texts on my phone...EVER...Scott said he had a few members who tried to PM me and they got kickedd-back because my mailbox was full...I JUST FINALLY EMPTIED IT!!! IT'S A MEMORIAL-WEEKEND MIRACLE!!! So anyone who was trying to PM me or who still wants to PM me can go ahead, they'll go through now...

***ParrotGenie**** I messaged Scott back just now to give him the info you requested, so it's on it's way to you!!! Get a hole of me any time!!!****

I basically tore my entire left-knee apart last Friday, and have been going back and forth to different doctor's appointments getting different opinions on what surgical-repair is the best way to go...THIS SUCKS THE BIG ONE!!! I told Scott that it just couldn't continue that my left-knee didn't match all of the metal I have in my right-knee and right-ankle from high-school sports injuries, lol...I've been an avid Mountain Biker since around the age of 12 years-old, and I try to do at least 5-10 miles every day, even at nighttime after work, but on the weekends I usually do at least a 15-20 mile ride, more if I'm just doing a pavement/road ride, less if I'm working hard on the trails (one nice thing, actually one of the few things I like about living in central PA, are the endless forest/mountain trails for biking, hiking, etc.) All of this damn rain that we've been getting and that CAN STOP ANY TIME NOW has made doing much at all outside impossible, and has made everyone's yards, plants, trees, etc. either grow out of control or die/rot due to all of the dampness, with Farmers losing ALL of the crops that they planted after the last frost...It's really been awful for the Farmers, and all of the US is going to be effected in-regard to what fresh produce is available this year if the rain doesn't soon let-up a little...Personally it's driving me mad, I can't keep up with my yard-work, my backyard looks like a jungle, literally, and forget doing ANY Mountain-Biking at all, only road-riding. My frustration caught-up with me, and against my better judgement I decided to to on a really light, easy trail-ride down in Spring Creek Canyon two weeks ago...MISTAKE!

I hit what I would call a "mud-pit" in the middle of a trail that I decided to take but didn't know...I had biked through about 1,000 pits, holes, and mountains of mud already, but I didn't see this one at all, and it was in the middle of a 1.5 mile descent that was really steep and was allowing me to ride at around 25mph the entire way down it...So when I hit this mudpit in the middle of the trail that I didn't see, I was in 27th-gear and was cranking HARD. Had I seen that I was going to have to go through a pit of mud right in the middle of the trail, I would have either tried to go around it or down-shifted out of my highest-gear...But I hit it while in 27th gear, and immediately FELT AND HEARD my entire left-knee tear, crack, and pop apart...Basically the force of me cranking so hard and then suddenly hitting huge resistance that I wasn't aware of caused my knee-joint to be twisted in every direction at one time...I knew that I was in trouble and that this was no joke, not a Sprain, it was BAD...I ended-up being thrown-forward and off of my bike, which was probably the only thing that kept me from also ripping my ankle and my hip joints apart as well, because as it was I also twisted the hell out of my left ankle too, and I felt a huge amount of tension/force in my hip-joint, but it stopped immediately when I was thrown from my bike, luckily. I tore my ACL, my MCL, and my Medial Meniscus, which also flipped-over onto itself inside of knee-joint...This combination of tears in your knee-joint is called a "Pivot-Shift Injury", and it sucks. That's all I can say, it sucks.

So this is why I've not been on the forum much in the last couple of weeks, but I'll have all the time in the world to be on here, driving everyone crazy with my long responses, after I have the surgery. I've never torn a ligament before, well that's not true, I tore ALL of the ligaments in my right ankle-joint when I was 16 and suffered an open/compound Tib-Fib Fracture during pre-season Varsity Softball practice, but I obviously couldn't walk on that leg at all due to the fractures, so it was inside of a metal "Erector Set" for 6-months and the torn ligaments were the least of my problems during that injury and recovery (3 different surgeries for that one)...So this is a really weird and frustrating injury. It always hurts at least a little bit, like right now just sitting here on my bed typing it's a constant dull ache that I'd rate as a 2 or a 3 on that blasted "Pain Scale" they constantly ask you...But what is happening all the time is the pieces of the torn ligaments keep getting twisted around and in-between places they shouldn't be, so suddenly when that happens I'll feel and hear a constant andd continual "clicking" where my ACL or my MCL or both are, and the pain shoots to a 7 or 8. And the clicking and that constant 7 or 8 pain will continue until I get up and force myself to put weight on it and take steps around, until FINALLY I feel and hear a horribly loud clicking/popping that is an 11 out of 10, and after that happens the constant clicking back and forth around the ligaments and the constant pain stops immediately...I guess it's the torn pieces of my ACL and/or my MCL getting hung-up in places they shouldn't be, as well as my Medial Meniscus, which is torn almost completely away from or off of where it's supposedd to lay and be completely attached to, folding over or onto itself and needing to "unfold" and lay flat again...So it's a pain in the ass...But it could have been much, much, much worse, so I need to consider myself extremely lucky. (BTW, yes, I ALWAYS WEAR A HELMET when I Mountain-Bike, whether I'm trail-riding in the woods/mountains, or I'm doing a flat "Rails-To-Trails" trail, or I'm just doing full-pavement riding on the roads. Doesn't matter what you're doing, you should ALWAYS WEAR A HELMET whenever you are Mountain Biking, Road Cycling, Skateboarding (which I also do regularly), Rollerblading, Snowboarding (which I also do as much as I possibly can in the winter), Skiing, etc.
 

Scott

Supporting Member
Aug 21, 2010
32,673
9,789
San Diego, California USA, Earth, Milky Way Galaxy
Parrots
Goffins: Gabby, Abby, Squeaky, Peanut, Popcorn / Citron: Alice / Eclectus: Angel /Timneh Grey: ET / Blue Fronted Amazon: Gonzo /

RIP Gandalf and Big Bird, you are missed.
Wow Ellen, so sorry to know you sustained serious injury doing something of passion. Hope the docs and physical therapists are able to restore your left knee so you are able to resume biking.

Heal well and completely!
 

Aratingettar

New member
May 29, 2018
707
112
Poland
Parrots
Sun tΜΆeΜΆrΜΆrΜΆoΜΆrΜΆiΜΆsΜΆtΜΆ CΜΆoΜΆnΜΆuΜΆrΜΆeΜΆ terrorist Cytrynka (F),
Peach faced lovebird Fiona (F),
Peach faced lovebird Fionek (M)
Omg you Just beat my friend's making a hole in his belly with the handlebar broken in a middle of the hard downhill.. Just Reading your post hurt me almost physically

Get well soon!
 

Ellie777Australia

New member
Apr 12, 2019
1,280
98
Queensland, Australia
Parrots
SI Eclectus Female, Ellie; RS/SI Eclectus Male, Bertie (both adopted as rescue/re-home)
Glad that you are back but sad to hear the circumstances behind your absence. Wishing you a speedy recovery..
 

Amsterdam

New member
Sep 8, 2018
565
23
Turkey
Parrots
..
Ellen first of all i wish you a fast recovery and good health , for me you are a inspiration when it comes to the love of birds i really enjoy and learn from all your posts its good to have you here.
 

ParrotGenie

Member
Jan 10, 2019
946
19
Indiana
Parrots
2 umbrella Cockatoos One male named Cooper and female named Baby 1 Little Corella male named Frankie and have 5 Cockatiels three named Male named Pepper, Fiesco for the female and female named Wylie.
Hopefully your recovery soon.
 

WakaWaka

Supporting Member
Jun 27, 2017
415
Media
65
Albums
10
135
Baltimore Maryland
Parrots
Arika - Blue & Gold Macaw
Ellen,
So sorry to hear about your injury but glad to see you back here on the forum.
Also glad to hear you were wearing a helmet, guess full Kevlar body suit would have been a nice add on accessory :)
Kelly, Arika, and myself wish you a speedy recovery.
 

noodles123

Well-known member
Jul 11, 2018
8,145
472
Parrots
Umbrella Cockatoo- 15? years old..I think?
I'm sorry! How stressful! I hope things get easier!
 

SailBoat

Supporting Member
Jul 10, 2015
17,646
10,008
Western, Michigan
Parrots
DYH Amazon
I hope that you had Dr. Mac look at that knee. I understand that Mac's are great at shifting bones around. :D

I'm assuming that you had been traveling with another and not freelancing by yourself? Some of those trails can have limited traffic and just as limited access.

Glad that you are /will be recovering and working to regain your active lifestyle. Sports Medicine has come so very far in the last 30 years.

Our friends at Yellow-Nape Amazon Law suggest that suing mud is a slow dirty process that doesn't result in much beyond dried clay or worst dirt. :D

Warm Amazon Feather Hugs and Prays your way.
 

fiddlejen

Well-known member
Mar 28, 2019
1,232
Media
11
1,156
New England
Parrots
Sunny the Sun Conure (sept '18, gotcha 3/'19). Mr Jefferson Budgie & Mrs Calliope Budgie (albino) (nov'18 & jan'19). Summer 2021 Baby Budgies: Riker (Green); Patchouli, Keye, & Tiny (blue greywings).
Just Reading your post hurt me almost physically

Get well soon!

What that one said!!
(Also, horrible as it sounds, glad it wasn't worse too.)
 

Most Reactions

Latest posts

Top