December Update on My Knee Situation
Once again, it’s been a while since I’ve made an update. A lot has changed. A lot hasn’t. I’ll try to be clear about everything, but it’s even all muddled in my head. This is a long one.
The wound on my knee hasn’t healed yet. I’m missing quite a bit of tissue below my knee cap and while most of it has scarred over, due to how thin the remaining tissue is, most of my sutures that were used to repair my patellar ligament are now protruding outside of my skin. So what looked like a giant scab on my knee turns out to be a knot of sutures with dried blood all mixed up in the tangles of blue surgical rope.
I can visibly see the ligament tissue and the sutures that wrap around it underneath the scab. It’s a very uneasy feeling when you can see your ligaments outside of your own body, lemme tell ya.
It’s been bleeding lately too, whereas it hadn’t been. And the smell..ugh. I wash it nearly every day with antibacterial soap. I’ve even taken a semi-soft scrub brush to it, like you would with road rash. But it still smells of rotting and decaying flesh though my surgeon assured me it’s not infected. Just another strike on my already ailing self esteem. I feel like at any moment, a swarm of flies will be circling around me like a Peanuts cartoon strip.
Last week, I spoke to my surgeon, Dr K, on the phone and he says he wants to get me into surgery next week as soon as possible and he referred me to another surgeon that he wants to collaborate with in my next surgery.
So I saw an oncologist skin graft surgeon specialist at my surgeons behest. Dr G says I need a skin graft and muscle flap from my calf to cover the thin and failing tissue on my knee.
2 Months Since My Last Update
It’s been over two months now since I made an update on how I’m doing since I got hurt on July 3rd. I’ve been wanting to post something. I just don’t know what to say anymore. I feel like old news. A burden.
“That’s just Joe again, whining about hurting himself. Don’t worry about him. Fuckin broken record…”
Such a wimpy little tip over turns into this life changing event for me… and it might seem silly to everyone; “Oh you broke your knee? Feel better! Heal up!”
Hell, that’s what I would have said. In fact, I pretty much HAVE said that before to at least two friends who have had a similar type injury. I didn’t know any better. I had no idea. I had no idea that 0.02% of people have the type of injury I have and that it’s so severe I’d be down for at least six months.
I had no idea about any of this. And I’m still struggling to come to grips with it still to this day. It’s fuckin bad. Everyone that messages me asking for an update and when I tell em, they’re always surprised. I guess everyone just thinks I broke my leg or something. I fuckin WISH I’d have only broken my leg. I’ll take 2 pair of broken tib/fib over this shit. Hell, even throw in a broken arm and I’d be happier than I am now.
After all I’ve been through already, right here, right now, this exact second I would trade it all for two broken legs and a broken arm if my knee injury could be magically undone. I’d be all better in 6 to 8 week that way! At current rate of success, I might not ever be all better with my knee injury.
My last surgery was the beginning of August…the 5th, I think? I don’t know for sure. I was in such a drug induced state that I feel like my entire life was only a few weeks ago. Everything. All of it.
“When was it that you…?”
“Just a couple weeks ago,” is my reply.
“What about the time forever ago that we were…?”
“Yeah, that was a couple of weeks ago too. You mean you don’t remember?” I’ll ask incredulously.Read More →
Injury Updates via Facebook
TL;DR:
On July 3rd, 2022 I looped a slow wheelie on my friend’s YZ250FX dirt bike. I missed the rear brake and stepped off the back and fell onto my left knee at 12-13mph. My knee disclocated doing a bunch of damage and was medically labeled as an open compound tibial fracture. The injuries listed below put me into a 0.02% category of occurrence. Basically, it’s about the worst you can have with not losing your leg entirely.
My kneecap fractured and patellar tendon was severed. My kneecap recessed itself into my quadricep. My femur crushed down onto my tibial plateau, breaking it off. In that process, my tibial spine was crushed, severing my ACL and my MCL and tearing my PCL, and my tibia saw daylight. My meniscus was damaged, flipping upside down.
I’ve been out of work since July and was unable to save up any money to get my family through the winter off season. I generally save up around 15k to last us from mid November through mid March of the next year.
If you’d like to help us out, you can donate through gofundme or you can buy photos through 4theriders.com or donate directly through my paypal link.
www.gofundme.com/f/he-yeeted-when-he-shouldve-yutted
I can’t even begin to thank everyone enough for the outpouring of love and support over the last 3 and a half months. I still can’t walk yet and I’ve only got 30 degrees of flexion so far…It’ll be January or February before I can walk again.
The entries below are copied and pasted from my facebook feed.
//End TL;DR.
July 5th, “Put me in, Coach!”
0800 wake up call from the surgeon… Just updated me on what he’d done yesterday as well as what he intends on doing tomorrow…
In my best Aussieman Review voice, “destination fucked!”
He said in 27 years, he’s never seen so much damage. He was talking reconstructive surgery as my patellar tendon is severed and my tibial spine is also crushed (taking the ACL with it). My MCL is also torn.
So add those to the tibial plateau fracture, the compound patella fracture, and the dislocation of my knee entirely.
My best guesstimate was that I was doing approximately 12 to 14mph when I looped the wheelie. I haven’t looped a wheelie since I was 14. And I’ve never before broken a bone from a dirtbike…
I guess I’m just getting real old. It was an awkward landing on my knee, for sure…but dang. This road to recovery is gonna be a little steeper than I realized…I got this shit. I’m still gonna send it!
Ps – Sorry, bribri! I love you!
Wee’n – NE California and Oregon – Day 2
Wee’n – Day 2
Tongs and I woke up bitterly cold and dry as could be, 8am’ish.
We we decided to share a nylon homestead (because we’re lazy). That and I was afraid of it getting too cold to sleep comfortably, so I forced Tongs to share a tent that evening. Good thing I demanded shared tent warmth, because it was pretty frigid during the night! I slept with a beanie on and multiple layers in my summer bag with a thermo-liner.
I will never learn… Ugh.
Early June rides should require a cold weather bag, not my summer sleeping bag!
Wee’n – NE California and Oregon – Day 1
Wee’n – Day 1
Well, it was that time of year again. That time of year to take out our Wee’s and play with them in the sunshine.
Let me introduce myself and my riding partner/best friend to all you internet strangers.
The Hack (me):
I received the nickname “The Hack” many moons ago after probably fixing something with wire nuts and liquid electrical tape (which still resides deep in my Wee). Or because of the plethora of my motorcycles labeled “shitbikes” over the years.
After the Crash
Hi, my name is Grant, and I am an addict.
I really love motorcycles. My dreams consist of brap noises, going on trips into the unknown and I even love commuting in dense bumper to bumper traffic.
But face plants, pavement love’n, concrete jungle yard-sales, flips into ditches and pitbike loops happen to the best of us. Some of us have these encounters with pavement far more often than most… But the point of this post is not in regards to the actual crashing aspect so much, or even the causes of said bone shattering blaps.
I want to dive into the “post crash” lifestyle of motorcyclists.
Pre-Crash Grant:
Keen, My Prefered Hiking Boot
As you might imagine, shooting photos at racetracks all over the country means that I spend a LOT of time on my feet over various terrain types… from muddy forests to dusty deserts and everything in between. Cactus, thorny bushes, sharp rocks, broken motorcycle parts…you name it, I step on it and over it.
I used to wear Merrell boots. They were great! I loved em! Then one day, I decided to give Keen a try. That was about 9 years ago and I haven’t looked back since.
I’m just now finally wearing out my 4th pair of Keen Voyageur Mid boots. I ordered another pair from Keen the other week as well as their Targhee Boot. I’ve stuck to what I know works (the Voyageur), but I wanted to give this other syle a test too. Usually, it’s the sole of my boot that wears out before anything else, and the Targhee looks like it might have a slightly more aggressive sole.
Three things I really love about em is how vented they are. They never get all smelly and stuff, as they breathe well when I’m out and about. I also don’t buy the waterproof ones (because I like the venting), which means my feet DO get wet if I step in puddles. Also, because I spend so much time on my knees *giggety*, I love that the sole wraps up and over the toe. Every other shoe/boot I’ve used for shooting pics, the toe of the shoe has separated like a clown shoe. Keen soles have never failed me outside of simply wearing out from so many miles of use. Lastly, they’re SUPER stable over uneven terrain. I’ve staved off many an ankle unjury walking over really garbagey conditions.
If you’re out and about hiking, walking, adventuring, I encourage you to try out a pair of Keen shoes. They aren’t exactly cheap…but you get what you paid for. :D
If you use my links above to buy em, I get a commission. But I promise, I wouldn’t be posting this if I didn’t seriously mean it.
The Yamaha Tenere 700…or BabyT as I call it
I haven’t yet made an announcement that I’ve put a deposit down on the 2022 Tenere 700. I mean, I may have flirted with mentioning it a pair of times in public, but nothing more than that.
See, I’ve never actually owned one of my dream bikes before. I’ve always just had whatever happened to be laying around, settling for “this is good enough. It’ll do.” I’m still a bit hesitant to post about it, because what if it doesn’t work out and everything falls through?
Read More →
It’s not 2019 anymore – AFM Round 4 Race Report (2021)
“Back in 2019….”
“I’m 5 seconds off place from last year.. well 2019 I mean…”
“I used to run…”
“My times are down”
I Have a New Favorite Rear Tire
After substantial testing of various brands and the likes, I’ve found a new favorite rear tire….the Dunlop Roadsmart 3.
I’m currently at 1600 miles on my rear tire, and it’s performed FLAWLESSLY. The wear is great, the grip level is great, and it looks like it still has at least 1000 miles left on it!
Yes, I still love the Shinko 009 Raven…thus far, the Shinko is still the longest lasting tire, but we’ll see where the Dunlop ends up.
I’ll keep ya posted! :D