smelt240
Active member
OK, another ridiculous thing ive done... I was cleaning up some scrap metal at work, there was a piece of angle iron, around 9/16 thick, 4x6 inch angle, probably 7 feet long. Figured Id throw it back on the rack, so I grabbed it with my good hand, then my screwed up right hand.... felt a little pop in my arm and elbow, but that's getting to be a normal thing at my age (38), everything pops and snaps..
Went home, my arm felt a little funny, but no big deal. When I took my sweatshirt off that night, I noticed my bicep looked really weird, kind of lumped up near my shoulder... figured I sprained it or something.
Saturday night, we went out, and I tried to play a game of pool. Nope. My arm wouldn't straighten out to shoot. Hmmm...getting worried now... felt around on my bicep, it was kind of missing right near my elbow.
Sunday was the long day. I knew something was really wrong, but it was Easter, and I didn't really want to worry anybody, my wife was about the only one that knew at this point.
Back to work on Monday, showed them what happened, went to the occupational doctor, they said it was sprained, and to see them in a week. Light duty til then.
Next Monday, I had a follow up for my thumb that I broke/ tore/ wrecked a while back...this doctor (a bone and tendon specialist) took one look at my black, yellow, and blue forearm, and missing bicep, and scheduled emergency surgery.
Distal bicep tendon repair surgery. They cut your forearm wide open for about 4 inches, starting right in the crease of your elbow. Then they reach up into your upper arm, and fish around up near your shoulder for the ripped off tendon (the big one inside your elbow when you flex your bicep). They pull this down, and drill a hole through the bone in your forearm. Push a big ol needle through the outside of your forearm, in the hole they drilled, hook the tendon, and pull it and some stitches toward the outside of your arm. Staple the cut shut, put a cast on it, and send you home for a week. After that week, you get a giant brace, so you cant even get a jacket on ( go buy a 3x sweatshirt ) then you get to wear the brace for the next 5 weeks. Im at week 3 of the brace. I haven't driven since the day before the surgery.(almost a month now) All of our cars are manual, theres no way I could shift with my arm like this)
Lucky for me, I did this at work. I'm out on Comp. When I go back to work in a week and a half, I get to scan papers into a computer for the forseeable future. Fun. The doc said this can happen from lots of stupid things. The biggest cause is stuck ATVs and snowmobiles. I bet a big breaker bar on some old rusty Subaru suspension bolts, or picking up a keg of beer, lots of things that a lot of people on here do- would do it too. I know 90% of people on here are younger than me, but you don't want to ever go through this. Trust me. Just be careful when you lift things that might be a little too heavy, or just hard to lift properly. The piece that did me in, I could normally lift with one arm. I WAS able to bench press 300 pounds. Now it will be 9 months til I can even work out with my right arm. I get to maybe pick up 5 pounds in 2 weeks though..... Id put some pics of it up,but its pretty gross looking still.....
Went home, my arm felt a little funny, but no big deal. When I took my sweatshirt off that night, I noticed my bicep looked really weird, kind of lumped up near my shoulder... figured I sprained it or something.
Saturday night, we went out, and I tried to play a game of pool. Nope. My arm wouldn't straighten out to shoot. Hmmm...getting worried now... felt around on my bicep, it was kind of missing right near my elbow.
Sunday was the long day. I knew something was really wrong, but it was Easter, and I didn't really want to worry anybody, my wife was about the only one that knew at this point.
Back to work on Monday, showed them what happened, went to the occupational doctor, they said it was sprained, and to see them in a week. Light duty til then.
Next Monday, I had a follow up for my thumb that I broke/ tore/ wrecked a while back...this doctor (a bone and tendon specialist) took one look at my black, yellow, and blue forearm, and missing bicep, and scheduled emergency surgery.
Distal bicep tendon repair surgery. They cut your forearm wide open for about 4 inches, starting right in the crease of your elbow. Then they reach up into your upper arm, and fish around up near your shoulder for the ripped off tendon (the big one inside your elbow when you flex your bicep). They pull this down, and drill a hole through the bone in your forearm. Push a big ol needle through the outside of your forearm, in the hole they drilled, hook the tendon, and pull it and some stitches toward the outside of your arm. Staple the cut shut, put a cast on it, and send you home for a week. After that week, you get a giant brace, so you cant even get a jacket on ( go buy a 3x sweatshirt ) then you get to wear the brace for the next 5 weeks. Im at week 3 of the brace. I haven't driven since the day before the surgery.(almost a month now) All of our cars are manual, theres no way I could shift with my arm like this)
Lucky for me, I did this at work. I'm out on Comp. When I go back to work in a week and a half, I get to scan papers into a computer for the forseeable future. Fun. The doc said this can happen from lots of stupid things. The biggest cause is stuck ATVs and snowmobiles. I bet a big breaker bar on some old rusty Subaru suspension bolts, or picking up a keg of beer, lots of things that a lot of people on here do- would do it too. I know 90% of people on here are younger than me, but you don't want to ever go through this. Trust me. Just be careful when you lift things that might be a little too heavy, or just hard to lift properly. The piece that did me in, I could normally lift with one arm. I WAS able to bench press 300 pounds. Now it will be 9 months til I can even work out with my right arm. I get to maybe pick up 5 pounds in 2 weeks though..... Id put some pics of it up,but its pretty gross looking still.....
