Pancreas Splitting Retrospective TR

[Dromond]

So in January I took a bad spill and almost did myself in as evidenced here. The short version is that I landed on a pointy rock, split my pancreas into two pieces, messed up all my organs and lost a whole lot of blood. Now, almost 4 months later as I weigh myself (I'm almost back to my normal weight again, yay!) I got to thinking about the whole thing. I went back to the accident site a month ago (skiing again!) and took some photos and souvenirs.

First of all here is a little diagram drawn for me by the surgeon. They depict my stomach and pancreas in a 1) normal 2) how-they-found-it and 3) how-it-is-now state. I'm running a totally custom setup!




This would be my last image before I messed myself up pretty royally. I hit something under the snow (maybe that stump?) and went flying. It's amazing how fast things can go bad with thin conditions and a little airtime, even on a very tame slope.




It doesn't look like it in the photo, but I had a lot more airtime than I remembered. 15' out and 3-4' down, directly to pointy rock. As I found out, really doesn't take that much! (Personaly trajectory noted.)




For reference:




Ah, my old friend, and almost murderer. What an unpleasant angle you happen to be sitting at!




Luckily we were able to put our differences behind us and become friends. I named him Herbert, and we have breakfast together every morning. Nothing makes for a good birthday party like being totally stoked to still be breathing. I'm aliiiive up in this biaatch.




So please, just be careful out there folks! Eating through a tube for weeks on end is not fun. I think that no matter what, next season is going to RULE.

cheers!

[Endlessseason]

Wow, what a somber TR to remind us all that this sport is not always the soft and graceful arcs of happy smiling people.

Your experience reminds me of this apropos passage I just made up:
"Speed, the seductress, easily enticeth but belieth her grievous consequences."
Doodyerontome; 5:14




BTW...great idea to tear that murderous rock out, take it home and party with it. What an awesome attitude.

[bklyn]

Damn!
...

[Z]

THAT.FUCKING.RULES.

"We meet again, Herbert."

Glad yer better...

[steve]

umm.. wow..
that's pretty hardcore.

Interesting that the doctor connected the intestine to the severed pancreas rather than attempt to reconnect it..
there must be a good reason for this. I'm not a doctor though..
and medical school maggots care to chime in?

[Dromond]

"Speed, the seductress, easily enticeth but belieth her grievous consequences."
Doodyerontome; 5:14

That is great. And totally true. It really doesn't take much speed at all to kill and I mean KILL you. Much less speed than we pretty much all cruise around at every day we are on skis, driving, etc. etc. I put a good amount of thought and analysis into my little mishap and have concluded that it was essentially a freak accident; that I had little or no reasonable chance of predicting or avoiding given the unusual combination of terrain. (i.e. a long laid out fall over a blind rollover onto the only - and keenly - protruding rock.) Even after almost eating it for good, I don't think this sort of constant risk that we all take is worth freaking out about. It just makes sense to continue to excersize a reasonable amount of caution, and realize that you never know what moment might be your last. That makes me enjoy them all a little bit more, anyways.

umm.. wow..
that's pretty hardcore.

Interesting that the doctor connected the intestine to the severed pancreas rather than attempt to reconnect it..
there must be a good reason for this. I'm not a doctor though..
and medical school maggots care to chime in?

All I know is that the pancreas was not torn cleanly, in fact it was pretty much pulverized, what was left of the middle was a giant blood clot. Oh and the surgeon was a fecking pro; a pancreas specialist who recently started transplanting the things. No side effects so far!

[Meathelmet]

Even after almost eating it for good, I don't think this sort of constant risk that we all take is worth freaking out about. It just makes sense to continue to excersize a reasonable amount of caution, and realize that you never know what moment might be your last. That makes me enjoy them all a little bit more, anyways.

Good toughts there,mang.


I was in remotely similar situation few years ago. Due to some freak derailer destruction on my downhill bike, i ended up coming short a quite large gap.
Well,not me,but my bike.

First i didnt even realize how bad it was for a day, doctor send me back home from hospital saying that i only had some air in my stomach after the crash.
Luckily i went to a private hospital,where from they sent me to university hospital for intensive care..
Internal bleeding with 1.5L of lost blood,lacerated kidney,pankreas and spleen.

I got extremely lucky in because the bleedings stopped in few days,so they didnt have to operate me.
In the same room there was a young chap,that had it´s spleen and pankreas removed after a car accident.

The incident got me thinking for a while.Well, still am,but i came to a very similar conlusion.

Go out.Think.Live.Do.Enjoy.



Ps.Herbert rules!

[iceman]

Wow - so cool you made it and Herbert is fucking awesome, thanks for the insights and the laugh.

[truth]

Herbert rocks!

Funny as shit ending to a not so funny story.

[iceman]

Since this came up in another thread...how did you get Herbert out of there? Do you still have him?

[Dromond]

Since this came up in another thread...how did you get Herbert out of there? Do you still have him?

He's currently chillin' on my bedroom shelf. Sometimes we joke that he might try to jump off and burst my spleen. He's a pretty chill dude though. I went up on the mtn 2 months after the accident and skied Herbert down in a backpack. It was tricky because he weighs about 30 lbs or so!

[irul&ublo]

So, I bet Herbert is a real stoner.

[Dromond]

So, I bet Herbert is a real stoner.

Ooooh. That one fell like a rock.

[lionelhutz]

Dude you need to put a sticker on Herbie and post in the sticker contest thread. Hell get a few strippers/whores/maggots sisters to pose with herbie and you have a damn good chance.

[ex-powderbroker]

fucking ouch dude.

[montanaskier]

wow....gimp central TR o the year.

[Dromond]

wow....gimp central TR o the year.

Heh, yeah. 2006.

[splat]

I don't suppose you ever thought of taking Herbert to a geologist to get checked out?

[SchralphMacchio]

Wow, didn't know about this ... how are you skiing and holding up 3 years later?

I had a somewhat similar freak crash last year which was a very lucky near miss. I think about it a lot ... but not when I'm out skiing ... at that point I'm too focused to think about where I might be bailing or my previous crash.

[happytimefunbox]

I came here to read gimp central gnar and that I got. But I didn't expect to get a new sig. Thanks Endlessseason....

[Dromond]

Wow, didn't know about this ... how are you skiing and holding up 3 years later?

Just fine. Better, even. I have zero side effects. Thank you Dartmouth-Hitchcock!

[Lev]

This is nuts man. I just stumbled upon this from your nursing thread.

Holy shit you are a lucky man.

I'm sure you've probably heard this a million times at this point, but the first rule of surgery is: Don't fuck with the pancreas. Guess what the second rule of surgery is: Do NOT fuck with the pancreas.

It's a funny little organ with a rich vascular supply and endocrine and exocrine functions. The fact that you completely severed it and survived has gotta put you into some kind of special category. They do any case studies on you?

[Dromond]

This is nuts man. I just stumbled upon this from your nursing thread.

Holy shit you are a lucky man.

I'm sure you've probably heard this a million times at this point, but the first rule of surgery is: Don't fuck with the pancreas. Guess what the second rule of surgery is: Do NOT fuck with the pancreas.

It's a funny little organ with a rich vascular supply and endocrine and exocrine functions. The fact that you completely severed it and survived has gotta put you into some kind of special category. They do any case studies on you?

Amazingly, no. I feel like some kind of modified sports car or something. Twin injection. My doctor friends have quoted to me the same two rules. I am very lucky. Dartmouth-Hitchcock saved my life. No doubt about it.