trekmogul 

Ok guys was not going to say anything but knowing me, i have to tell things. Week ago Thursday 25 miles into a early 40 mile bike ride I was taken out by a raccoon at about 20MPH. 10 stitches to the coconut, lots of nasty road rash, fractured left collar bone and quite bruised and battered...I must not have been to bad after about 3 hours in emergency room they had my wife pick me up and take me home.. I am on the mend very well then about 5 days into my healing process, I tried getting up to fast out of bed from being so crazy dizzy. So for the last 3 or 4 days I get some occurring vertigo spells if I get up to fast or bend my head way down to the ground to pick something up... Tuesday I get my stitches out and will tell the doctor about it..

Anyone else have this type of issue about 5 days after a crash...? They did a CT Scan and never said anything about a concussion etc..

Sure missing my biking guys..!

kissTheApex

Ouch. Heal up soon.

WhyFi

Ooof. Gotta watch out for those trash pandas, eh?

Heal quickly and heal well!

AlmostTrick

So sorry to hear. I'm wishing you a full and speedy recovery. Take care!

CAT7RDR

I hate raccoons! Little bast@@@@ hiss and even swipe at me from a wood fence I frequently walk by. Hope you get well soon and get back at it.

trekmogul 

MoAlpha

Oh, boy. Sorry to hear! Vertigo is very common after concussion, which has to be assumed in your case. Concussion is a clinical diagnosis, not something that shows up on imaging. CT is good for one thing only, i.e.,ruling out relatively large collections of blood in the noggin. For God's sake take it easy, don't even think about getting on a bike until cleared medically, and get a referral to a neurologist who treats post-concussion syndrome in athletes if the symptoms don't improve in a couple of weeks.

Clyde1820

Sorry to hear about the crash. Have tangled with a squirrel while riding along, a time or two, but never (yet) a racoon.

Have had a couple of concussions, as an adult. What you're describing was typical for me, for a couple of days. Wasn't a crash on a bike, in my case, but still a jostling of the noggin. Just made sure I got plenty of rest, plenty of fluids and decent nutrition, and worked slowly back into the routine of physical activity. In my case, it wasn't more than a few days, then everything was back to normal. Your case, here, looks more severe than I ever had. Definitely follow the doc's advice and take it slow. Everyone's different, and it'll come back to "normal" when it comes. Hard to predict, in my experience.

Back in the day, I often used taking a few dozen golf swings (on the range) as a test of whether I was back to normal or not. The macro- and micro-motor control required along with the stability and balance thing ... well, it's a fair test. Took almost a week, once, before various swings felt normal again. But that was after several days of sitting and occasional walking around, lots of sleep, occasional stretching and minor muscle challenges, but all while supported and being very careful.

rousseau

Raccoons are stupid.

Q: Why'd the chicken cross the road?
A: To show the raccoon how to do it.

They're the most common roadkill, I think. Skunks rank second.

trekmogul 

thanks so much for your awesome input as you pretty much hit the nail right on the head. I would never evener consider trying to get back out until i am sure about what going on. Quite honestly I am healing very very nicely with just sore ribs, left scapula, and left collar bone but the vertigo is the one that sure has made a believer out of me.. I have been on a strict nutritional diet for over 12 years so no need for any change there but I have stopped all beer intake and will continue to do so till things get better. I sleep very very well but setting up out of bed is brutal with this sometimes vertigo....I am more inspired then ever to be back out and doing what i love most and thats on my bike...Thanks again for your nice words...

trekmogul 

Germanrazor

First off.....glad you lived to tell the story and hope you heal quickly. Critters.......what do you do with em! They make riding interesting for sure. I have to ask because I did not see it in your post, what happened to the raccoon?

Sy Reene

Crashes suck. Looking at the above damage, I can only hope you have some spares.

Wileyrat

Wow, that sucks! Good to see you up and around.

Bah Humbug

First off, I'm glad it wasn't worse, and heal up!

After my last crash, by the time I got to the ER they didn't bother with a CT scan (I was up to reciting the "scanning my cat" joke from Varsity Blues) and they didn't think I had a concussion. Around 160 hours later I was parking at lunch from work, and in a shopping complex I knew very well (besides one of my favorite restaurants, at that point it was also the location of my bike shop), I suddenly couldn't remember where to go in the parking lot to get to the restaurant, and trying to remember hurt. That never happened again, and was my only concussion symptom, but it also never happened before. So it can happen. Fingers crossed it gets better.

shelbyfv

They are saying concussions can cause mental problems later in life. Ooops, never mind....

OldTryGuy

DANG, you got messed up!!! How's the bike???? Looks like you hit the road instead of dirt. Take time healing and follow doctor's orders.


14 weeks ago this coming Monday riding 20.1mph(computer) @ 1:25AM and mile 33 of 100 MILE OVERNIGHT RIDE a 150 pound wild hog hit me. $75,000 for 2 hours in ER, $1,200 for 55 mile Ambulance ride to Trauma Hospital and no bill from hospital yet. I landed on dirt so no stitches or road rash or concussion ONLY a cracked scapula, 2 cracked ribs, punctured lung, shoulder damage and other minor boo-boos. Bike was FINE and I rode it home 4.5 miles not knowing the injuries I had. Wife took me to ER and that was the last I saw her until she got me from the Trauma Hospital. I got the OK to get back ON THE BIKE 10 days after the crash.


Advice --- land on dirt and make sure it's a bigger animal.


GOOD LUCK!!!

cybirr 

Indeed, heal soon, ride soon!

But I must admit I'm having fun with the image of a suicide squad of trash panda terrorists out to get roadies.

genejockey 

I have hit deer with cars 3 times. In my family, they call me Deerslayer. Sometimes, they try to jump out in front of me while I'm riding, which would be a lot worse. For me, I mean. Getting hit with 240 lb at 20 mph is probably a lot better than getting hit with 4000 lbs at 60 mph.

dmark 

Hope the racoon got the worst of it. I had one move into the soffits of my house this year and cause $850 to repair. My Jack Russell/ratdog caught the baby under the our grill and broke it's neck. He was quite proud since he runs out of leash before catching a squirrel.
Best wishes for a rapid recovery.

LAJ

Heal well!

trekmogul 

quite honestly at that stage of the game , I was not looking to see what happen to him but most likely he was just sore for the day and back at it.......I really have a distaste for these buggers..

trekmogul 

Yes I am good on helmets but that black GIRO will never see the top of my head every again as its going to recycle..

trekmogul 

Thanks... As I said, , I am healing really really well but this all of a sudden vertigo episodes as kind of taken the wind out of my high hopes sail. Tuesday I go to have stitches taken out of the top of my coconut and will tell doctor about it for sure...I will get through this sooner or later hopefully..

Germanrazor

LOL....I bet. Just wondering if you took him home to mount as a memento of the incident.