that actually looks alot better than it did before. you back on crutches?

6/20/2007 5:00:06 PM

^I agree. Hope all goes well Good Luck!!!

6/20/2007 5:09:17 PM

^^yep, unfortunately. the bone graft just hasn't healed well enough (largely due to the infections) to support any weight without the rod in there.

6/20/2007 5:32:27 PM

the PICC line in my arm for administering the IV anti biotics. it goes from this point of entry just above my elbow and ends in a main artery in my chest. i'd be one happy camper if i was a heroine addict, lol.




[Edited on June 20, 2007 at 10:08 PM. Reason : .]

6/20/2007 10:06:34 PM

wtf no more pictures

6/20/2007 10:32:38 PM

you can see it up close and personal saturday.

6/20/2007 10:36:54 PM

Dang dude. I would treat you to breakfast, but I don't normally eat at Ihop.


...sorry...It is the gimp joke thread afterall.

6/20/2007 10:37:37 PM

^^ you gonna do some tubing you just gotta hang on with your arms

[Edited on June 20, 2007 at 10:38 PM. Reason : ]

6/20/2007 10:38:22 PM

^^lol, yes it is.

[Edited on June 20, 2007 at 10:45 PM. Reason : .]

6/20/2007 10:38:24 PM

There seems to be plenty of heroin down here. I'll send you some.

6/20/2007 10:38:56 PM

^ how much have you smuggled in lately?

6/20/2007 10:40:03 PM

^ Not my bag these days. Ba dump bump!~

6/20/2007 10:42:35 PM

What the hell man, just give up and get it cut off already.

6/21/2007 2:25:06 PM

more lovely pics! these are some good shots of the skin graft. the outside is where the skin was harvested, the inside is where it was placed. got a fly new bright orange cast.

surgeon said everything looked good. about another 2 weeks until the next surgery. i go for my weekly appt. with the infectious disease doctor in a few minutes. just routine bandage changing on the PICC line and blood tests to monitor the anti biotic levels, etc.

7/3/2007 10:01:28 AM

Hey, Ivan...hopin' and prayin' fer ye, man...You've got a lot of testicular fortitude.

Are you in town for the 4th? Enquiring minds want to know.

7/3/2007 10:57:03 AM

Glad to be hearing good news man, leg looks... good? You know what I mean.

7/3/2007 11:07:30 AM

good to hear that f00!

7/3/2007 11:09:01 AM

^^^pm sent

just got back from the infectious disease doctor. everything they look for in the blood tests is looking. good. the numbers they look at are coming down, which is a good sign the anti biotics are working. still not where they'd like for them to be, but progress is progress. it's nice to hear a bit of good news again.

7/3/2007 1:11:34 PM

woo hoo!

7/3/2007 8:29:05 PM

good luck man!

7/3/2007 9:12:25 PM

geez man, get better soon

7/3/2007 9:14:09 PM

glad to hear you're doing good. man i know that shit fucking sucks. however, it's still an amazing experience especially when you're conscious after the accident. it amazes me to see how mangled an arm or leg can be and the doctor can fix that shit. unfortunately it'll never be right again and you'll live in pain for the rest of your life.

7/4/2007 10:52:30 AM

Glad to hear things are turning around for ya. Youll be kicking Ed in the nuts soon.

7/4/2007 11:45:03 AM

^hahaha Yea man glad to hear it is getting better man!

7/4/2007 1:35:29 PM

No way he can kick my nuts. They now belong to some 19 year old slut.

7/5/2007 9:42:12 AM

Ed, you live the charmed life, man.

Does she keep them on a chain around her neck?

7/5/2007 12:10:56 PM

hell yeah, glad to hear some good news

7/5/2007 12:30:57 PM

is that still open flesh in the last picture? or is this a now and before kinda deal...

7/5/2007 12:42:03 PM

that's what a (~4 week old) skin graft looks like. the little part in the middle is just some light bleeding from pulling the covering that was over it off.

an incision there was neccessary there to re close the original opening from where it was ripped open at impact. they've cut it open so many times there for surgeries and so much scar tissue has grown there wasn't enough skin left to pull it together properly. making a cut there relieved alot of the tension, and a skin graft was needed to cover the area that became exposed from stretching the skin back around to the top of the leg.

i was curious as to why they couldn't just put the skin graft on the shin area where they really needed it vs. cutting elsewhere and stretching it. it has something to do with decreased blood flow there from the scar tissue and also there is no muscle tissue in that area.

7/5/2007 12:59:18 PM

^ My girlfriend is a medical student (just starting her 3rd year clinicals this week actually) and we've been following your case with interest...pretty cool stuff from a medical perspective.

It sure is shocking to date a girl who can look at the original wreck pictures without any queasiness and just objectively comment on what was wrong, lol

7/5/2007 3:20:29 PM

lol. yeah, i mean despite all the obvious downsides, the medical part has been really fascinating to me. it's amazing to see what your body is capable of doing/withstanding, and what surgeons are able to do with the available technology.

one thing in particular i've found really interesting is how similar alot of medical tools are to your basic power/hand tools used in the automotive and construction worlds.

7/5/2007 3:32:59 PM

for those who thought that the pictures of Ivan's wreck were gruesome please click on the link.

WARNING!!!

NSFW and NSF eating or the weak stomach.

http://forums.clubsi.com/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/1559234/page/1

7/5/2007 5:41:28 PM

^ god dammit, that is older than the damn internet

7/5/2007 5:47:37 PM

haha, i think that link has been posted in every recent bike thread on here and there is a thread dedicated to it also.

looking at stuff like that definitely makes me realize how much worse it could have been.

7/5/2007 6:13:38 PM

Yeah, they didn't find your foot in the ceiling.

7/5/2007 6:58:19 PM

I figured it was old but was worth a shot. Keith, I didn't realize that the 30 seconds it took you to click on the link and realize that you had seen it before was so critical to your life. I apologize.

Did the sandblaster stuff come in?

7/5/2007 8:11:54 PM

^ didnt check today, i was workin my ass off and managed to tear my rotator cuff again, i'll check in the mornin, what the hell do you need to clean anyway?

7/5/2007 8:20:30 PM

the 8274. How did you tear your rotator cuff and what did you come over earlier for?

7/5/2007 8:45:52 PM

^ its official clean out your truck in matt's driveway day

you gotta strip that thing bare and remove all oil and grease before it can be blasted, i dont want that shit all stuck in my cabinet

7/5/2007 8:47:29 PM

I can do that.

7/5/2007 9:54:06 PM

and you need to put your damn axle back together

7/5/2007 9:55:51 PM

okay, surgery #10 tomorrow! they will be taking cultures/bone reamings to check the infections and re inserting the rod. so, "hopefully" i'll be back on two feet again very soon. everything appears to be going well. skin graft is still healing great, and the blood markers they look at to guage infection have come down even further.

this is coming a week or two earlier than originally planned, but my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer this week (when it rains, it pours). i wanted to get this out of the way asap so that our focus can switch to her situation. both of us going through a surgery at the same time wouldn't be very good.

7/17/2007 1:59:04 PM

Good luck with all that man.

7/17/2007 2:06:04 PM

good luck w/ the surgery man, hope your rod goes in smoothly

and sorry to hear that ab your mom. like i've said before, let me know if i can do anything

i have some cookies if you want them!

7/17/2007 3:15:42 PM

Ivan, hang in, man (don't know why I'm telling you this, because I know you will). You know I have yer back if and when you ever need, even if you hardly see me otherwise.

7/17/2007 4:52:33 PM

good luck Ivan! let me know if you need anything

7/18/2007 6:16:43 PM

Good luck Foo!!!

7/18/2007 6:29:03 PM

well, not a very encouraging day. upon opening it up, there was still a lot of infection present and one pocket of puss/fluid. because of this, they were unable to re insert the rod. there was no noticeable improvement from 6 weeks ago.

there was a bit of good news in that the bone and bone graft is still alive, and there were no dead pieces like last time.

the plan now is to go back into surgery again friday. they'll be putting on an external fixator. basically a piece of metal equipment that has a ring just below the knee and another near the angle. rods connect them together and go through the skin and anchor to the tibia. this is supposed to provide enough stability that i can walk again as well as compact/compress the fractured area together in hopes of promoting fusion. since the infection has come back, there hasn't been much progress in the fractures healing.

as for the infection, the doctors plan to meet tomorrow and come up with a plan of action. the cultures should give a little more insight by then also. the risk of amputation has increased further, but isn't a definite yet. there are a couple of more options to exhaust first.

7/18/2007 10:46:47 PM

Can I get a Cliff Notes version of what happened to you? If you don't mind...

7/18/2007 10:50:08 PM

yeah, super pwnd by an oldsmobile.

-guy rolled through a stop sign and t-boned me 10/31/06.

-left leg completely shattered and only still attached by a bit of skin/muscle. i was VERY lucky to keep it. it actually died (no pulse and cyatonic) on the way to the ER. miraculously, a full pulse came back right after they had attached a tourniquet to amputate. broken right leg/left hand also.

-numerous reconstructive surguries. bone graft, skin graft, various hardware, debridement, etc. today was my 10th procedure.

-lots of nasty infections that won't go away and present a danger for amputation.

that's kind of the highlights.

7/18/2007 11:01:34 PM