Team Garmin-Slipstream injury update
While the Argyle Armada had two successful races last week, including wins by Tyler Farrar and Christian Vande Velde, the other results were some riders hitting the deck. The Paris-Nice squad only finished with three riders total — such is bike racing.
The most serious injury was to David Millar, who went down during a climb on stage 8 after another rider crossed his wheel.
So I had what was my tenth consult the other night! The doctor is called David Potter and it turns out he is one of the leading shoulder specialists in the world. He has pioneered a new procedure which he is going to use on me. His prognosis was that this is about the worst clavicle fracture one can have, less than 20% are this type — not only is the AC joint of the clavicle broken into more than two pieces, but he is convinced that the ligament holding the remainder of the collar bone in place has been ripped off.
He gave me three options for the surgery, clearly the best was the last which is the ‘tightrope’ procedure that he has developed the last two years. This involves keyhole surgery and effectively replacing the missing ligament with a ‘tightrope’ stitch and fastening the bones together with thin titanium which can bend. This removes the need for a secondary operation to remove plates etc. He doesn’t think I’ll be able to get back on the road for another four weeks, but I will be able to be on the home trainer next week.
He was literally in a different arena when it came to his evident knowledge and experience with shoulder injuries and surgery. He was the first person to look at the x-ray and know immediately the type of injury and damage incurred and offer numerous solutions and scenarios.
Who’d have thought the worlds leading shoulder specialist would be in Sheffield, South Yorkshire!?
Cyclingnews featured an interview with Millar following a successful surgery.
Prior to this, team doctor Prentice Steffan reported that the main injuries from the year before last week came not from the riders, but from the staff!
This is my first ‘Injured Reserves’ entry for 2009 and I’m very pleased to report that it involves no riders whatsoever (ie, no riders were harmed in the making of this ‘Injured Reserves’ report!) In fact it is the team staff that took a beating during the off-season.
Director Sportif Johnny Weltz got the bad luck ball rolling with what we’ll call a ‘home repair incident.’ Something about plugged gutters, a ladder, and a fall from a considerable height. Johnny shattered his right calcaneus (heal bone) which is a truly nasty injury in that it is very painful and involves quite a prolonged recovery period. Three months later at the Tour of Langkawi, Johnny was still forced to use a crutch which is getting him a lot of attention which I think he rather enjoys.
Next is our stalwart Team Physiologist Allen Lim who was involved in what he describes as ‘a boating mishap.’ Something about a boat, and a swinging sail boom, and a really hard blow to the right shoulder. More team staff bones shattered. Allen went Johnny one better by requiring surgery (plates and screws) to put things right. In Silver City a couple of weeks ago, Allen seemed to be rehabbing nicely as he was spotted martial arts sparring the the hotel hallway with Assistant DS Chann McRae.
And finally (we hope) last week I managed to get myself into a ‘motor vehicle incident.’ Something about a motorcycle, an on-coming car making an illegal left turn, and more broken team staff bones (ribs; plus bruised lung and concussion). Yes, if I had a nickel for every time someone raised their eyebrows over an Emergency Medicine and Sports Medicine specialist riding a motorcycle (though I’d managed 22 years of regular riding without a significant incident until this one!)
