good luck

6/5/2007 7:36:55 PM

Yea man I hope all goes good for you!

6/5/2007 7:52:21 PM

good luck

6/5/2007 8:06:47 PM

good luck

6/6/2007 9:12:16 AM

well, i got all kinds of bad news today. the leg is completely eaten up with infection, and it's gotten into the bone which is NOT good. in addition to the same old psuedomonas infection, there is also something new in there. it takes a couple of days for the cultures to grow, but they're thinking it's some sort of staff related deal.

unfortunately, this puts me back at a high risk for amputation. i was told bluntly by the infectious disease doctor that i've got 6-8 weeks to show improvement, or it's coming off.

i'll be back on crutches fully for this time. in an effort to pack the bone with as much antibiotic cement as possible, they left the rod out. the bone graft area isn't healed enough to hold weight without it, plus alot of it was taken out in an effort to remove dead/infected bone.

they're putting a port in tomorrow so i can administer iv anti biotics to myself from home over the next few weeks. it's a plug type deal that goes in my arm, and runs up into a main artery in my neck.

needless to say, quite a crappy setback to have gone through all this and find out it might all have been for nothing if things don't improve. it's a hurry up and wait game now. the only good news is that the skin graft went well. not that it matters if they cut it off.

i did get to keep to rod they pulled out, which is a pretty cool souvenier. i'll post some pics tomorrow.

6/6/2007 9:45:05 PM

oh man, son of a bitch. i'm sorry to hear all that, man.

look, there's still a long way to go between here and there...do everything you can to stack the odds in your favor, and if the worst case materializes, attack again from there.

and hey, worst case, it's your clutch foot...better that than the other one. you can live with a slushbox off-road, and auto-clutched SMGs are on the way for the hot stuff.



[Edited on June 6, 2007 at 10:00 PM. Reason : asdf]

[Edited on June 6, 2007 at 10:03 PM. Reason : asdf]

[Edited on June 6, 2007 at 10:03 PM. Reason : aasdfa]

6/6/2007 9:55:40 PM

yeah, it sucks. nothing i can do about it but keep on keepin on though....

6/6/2007 9:59:19 PM

good luck with it man, i shoulda brought back some of that chinese herbal tea that cures infections, cancer, leprosy, and unexpected pregnancies

6/6/2007 10:04:24 PM

keith called me earlier to tell me about all that was going down. i'll be in to see you sometime this weekend if that's cool. i can bring some of my mom's cookies

6/6/2007 11:19:16 PM

damn, sorry to hear of the setback. Best wishes for the surgery and for things to take a turn for the better...

6/6/2007 11:40:25 PM

you know you couldn't go out on 9 surgeries, ivan. you needed to hit double digits.

but shit, you pick the hard way to do just about everything...

not that i have any room to talk.

[Edited on June 6, 2007 at 11:58 PM. Reason : sfadf]

6/6/2007 11:58:28 PM

damn

6/7/2007 12:01:56 AM

^^haha, yeah i'll have a 10th surgery any way you look at it. it'll be to reinsert the rod, or an amputation. definitely shooting for it to be the former...

it's definitely a hell of a change of events, but honestly there's always been a chance for amputation the whole time so it wasn't a complete shock. we had just assumed the risk had gotten small, and was getting even smaller.

i was also told it was pobably going to be amputated the night of the accident, and dealt with a high risk of it for a few weeks after that. here it is 8 months later with it still attached, so that's definitely a positive.

^^^^hell yeah, your mom's cookies are awesome.

6/7/2007 6:42:51 AM

good luck man. hopin the best for ya. you'll pull thru. youre the toughest person I know.

6/7/2007 8:40:50 AM

Good luck man. I have to admit, I think about your situation a little bit every time I get on my bike...riding out west where I could see someone coming from 5 miles away with no side streets was definitely a lot cooler.

I was riding behind a buddy (who was in a car) the other day, and there was this old dude in a beat up POS old American car waiting to turn left who didn't look like he saw me at all. I just started revving the shit out of my engine until he looked right at me and saw me. Shit's scary after seeing what happened to you...ah, if only it were an ideal world where there were no idiot drivers, bikes would be ideal transportation...

6/7/2007 8:57:07 AM

just got back from wakemed, that damn place is confusing as hell, took me 20 minutes to find the room

i think the entire orthopedic wing staff personally knows him

6/7/2007 5:50:31 PM

^lol, yeah alot of them do. most all of the nurses in the pre/post operation areas and the anesthesiologist people too.

^^true that... the large majority of the danger is from other people not seeing you. areas like raleigh that have gotten so congested just amplifies that even more.

i'm definitely not trying to scare people out of riding, but like you said i hope people will at least keep it in the back of their mind what can happen, and that the sharing of my experience in all this will remind everyone here to stay alert and ride defensive.

[Edited on June 7, 2007 at 6:02 PM. Reason : .]

6/7/2007 5:58:09 PM

thats why i pack heat and drive offensively, though it's impossible to shoot with your right hand while riding without cruise control, and i'm not a good shot with my left

6/7/2007 6:05:04 PM

wear full leathers

wouldn't have helped ivan much, but they've saved my ass big time on several occasions.

6/7/2007 6:32:16 PM

yeah, pants (short of steel ones, lol) wouldn't have done much for my legs. hell, they might have actually complicated things having to deal with getting them cut off, etc.

wearing a jacket probably saved me some road rash, but i didn't really do any sliding. it was more flying through the air and landing on my butt/back...

full leathers are definitely a good idea though, and will save your ass in alot of situations. i know they're a hard thing to force yourself to wear for normal day to day riding though. a decent textile jacket will typically do well enough for low speed stuff, and protects your "major" areas. rash on legs/arms is liveable, but on your back, chest, etc. is pretty miserable.

6/7/2007 7:43:30 PM

and by God, don't get anything bigger than a 600 until you've been riding a while (like at least a year or two) on SPORTBIKES. and i wouldn't even start on a modern 600, but I guess I'll never talk most people out of that (it's tough enough to explain to them that they don't need an R1 just because they're 6' tall and 200 lbs).

and in any case, get leathers and wear them. if there's a lesson that I've learned the hard way in every conceivable manner, it's that wrapping it up is always a good practice.

6/7/2007 9:08:16 PM

Quote :

"if there's a lesson that I've learned the hard way in every conceivable manner, it's that wrapping it up is always a good practice."

HAHA, ftw...

6/7/2007 9:22:06 PM

LOLZ

6/7/2007 9:32:36 PM

few more random pics. warning, graphic images...


























the black thing is a sponge and wound vac. that's where the skin graft was placed. that's where they made up the slack for the strip of infected tissue they had to cut out of the center (and original) incision. the bloody area is where the took the graft from. hurts like hell, feels like road rash x10.

the smaller tube w/ blood in it just drains blood, fluid, etc. from inside.

metal piece is the rod they took out...















[Edited on June 8, 2007 at 11:37 PM. Reason : .]

6/8/2007 11:36:43 PM

that rod is pretty cool, it's weird how it looks so clean and not infected outside

6/8/2007 11:51:06 PM

yeah, they definitely clean and sterilize the stuff to death before it leaves the operating room.

doctor said it had a nasty slime of infection all over the outside and inside.

6/8/2007 11:58:41 PM

i meant your leg in general.. but yea the rod too, would like to have seen pics before it was cleaned..guess that sounds nasty lol

6/9/2007 12:12:51 AM

ah... yeah, the main sign of infection externally was an open hole about the diameter of a pencil that drained nasty looking fluid constantly. there was also some redness, and it would swell like crazy and get really hot to the touch sometimes (fever).

that's why this has all be a pretty big shock that it was so wide spread. we were definitely expecting some infection, but just in a localized area around the hole.

6/9/2007 12:18:08 AM

yuck nigga hahaah

6/9/2007 11:58:46 AM

good to see you yesterday man. that wound is pretty nasty. Hope you're doing better.

6/9/2007 2:00:44 PM

good to see everything went well. you have a pm

6/9/2007 7:14:38 PM

so are you back home yet? i just got back from the mountains last night, i went by Jeepman's house, but i think that faggot went to bed before 10 last night

[Edited on June 12, 2007 at 8:06 AM. Reason : blah]

6/12/2007 8:05:51 AM

nah, still here. might be going home this afternoon. tomorrow morning at the latest.

6/12/2007 11:20:58 AM

Ivan...wanted to shoot you my best, man.

6/12/2007 11:25:44 AM

thanks y0.

6/12/2007 11:44:42 AM

I think that Rod needs to become a shifter for the yarrr charger

6/12/2007 3:27:01 PM

yo big blue you back yet? we drop you off some wings if so holla

6/12/2007 4:50:48 PM

after seeing all this, it has definitely convinced me to not buy a bike (or at least confirmed/validated my hesitance to buy one). i was on the fence for a few years, but never got one. i was always worried i would hurt myself.

anyways... hope you get better soon.. let us know if you need anything.

6/12/2007 5:06:39 PM

Keep on keepin on man

6/12/2007 6:19:47 PM

^^^yeah, i made it back a little while ago. probably gonna be crashing out pretty soon, not feeling too great. i appreciate the offer though.

6/12/2007 6:40:44 PM

that good. wings for vicodins sounds like a deal lol

6/13/2007 12:13:23 AM

hehe

6/13/2007 7:16:55 PM

BB how you doing man?

6/13/2007 8:16:50 PM

what's the latest man?

6/20/2007 12:39:40 PM

doing pretty well. had my post op doctor visit yesterday. they put my leg in a cast, because i was getting alot of movement/flexing in my shin where the original break was and the bone graft is. it was pretty crazy looking. took out all the stitches and staples also. i wish i had a running count of how many stitches/staples i've had total, it's got to be hundreds.

the skin graft looks good and has taken well. one little section that's still bleeding some, but nothing major.

anyway, other than that it's just a wait and see thing now for the infections until the next surgery in about 4 weeks. i'm on two pill antibiotics and i do a bottle of antibiotics by IV twice a day. the only way they can really tell for sure about the infections is when they open it up.

6/20/2007 12:54:09 PM

Good luck man. Been worried about ya.

6/20/2007 3:21:08 PM

^i think that rod is destined to be a shifter for a derby car.

6/20/2007 3:26:08 PM

The Pinto is an auto and still in good condition. I, pwnt, do hereby surrender that sucker to thee.

[Edited on June 20, 2007 at 3:29 PM. Reason : to der]

6/20/2007 3:28:48 PM

couple more pics from the hospital and my fancy new red cast. i could have gotten some nice pictures of the skin graft exposed yesterday, but forgot my camera. maybe at my next appointment in a couple of weeks.









[Edited on June 20, 2007 at 4:49 PM. Reason : .]

6/20/2007 4:40:49 PM

Jesus. Get a red soccer sock so you'll match.

6/20/2007 4:59:28 PM