Well my 2017 was an ok season. On August 8, 2017, I was practicing after the race at Charlie's BMX, which is my home track, and us young adults got permission from our track director that we could go backwards on our track. So I was like ok, since there isn't alot of kids on the track, I'll just go around the track backwards once. So we have rollers, a small table top, and a small step up on our last straight. So I got thru the 4 rollers before I hit the table top. Well out of no where, I thought I heard my chain pop. So I was trying to get to my brakes to stop before I could fall off my bike. But I was to late. I flipped over my handle bars and hit the side of my upper left thigh. I started screaming because I could barely move it. At that moment, I thought I had broken a bone and that I was screwed. A couple people that are EMT's came an checked me out and one suggested that I needed to go to the hospital and the other one said that I probrably brusied the muscle and that I should be ok. Well my mom said to my dad to bring his truck over. So he brought it over, got me in the back end, and took me over to our registration building. Got into the building and my mom and dad looked at it after I slid my pants down just a little past the injured sight and they saw that it was already starting to swell up and I was still in pain. So we got a couple Ice Packs and my dad took me up to my sister and brother in law's apartment so they(their EMT's) can check it out. We got up there and I stayed in my dad's truck and they checked my leg out and they got me out of my pants(I wear jeans) and into some shorts. They then checked it out again with the shorts on and they short of had a puzzled look on their faces. So they did a manual leg traction on my leg and when my sister started pulling my leg towards her, the pain went away. But when she let my leg go, my leg went back into pain. On the pain scale, with the manual traction, it was at a 2 and when my sister let my leg go, my pain went back up to an 8. So they called a Paramedic friend that was like 10 minutes away, to check out my leg and get her suggestion on if I should go to the hospital. So she checked it out and touched it and said that since I was in so much pain that I should go to the hospital by ambulance and not in my dad's truck because they had to put me in the actual Traction Splint, cause there was a possiblity I might have slightly broken that part of my leg and to give my some pain meds and some meds for nausea. So the paramedic called it in. The ambulance got there. They got the strecher out and got me on it. they started buckling me up and they started and IV(I hate needles and yes I have a tattoo on my right forearm, but I still twitch when a needle pokes thru my skin. So they got my to the hospital, my sister rode with my in the ambulance and at least she was there, gave me some more pain meds and meds for nausea and they asked me some questions to update my hostpital profile. Then they took me to xrays. They took like 12 xrays at different angles. Then they took me back to the room I was in. By the this time, my parents and my brother in law were there. Then about 10 minutes later my doctor came in and looked at the xrays and thought he saw something. But wasnt really sure cause I still had the traction splint on. So they took the traction splint off and they took me back to xrays and by this time, I was back in pain cause of them taking the traction splint off. So they did about 3 or 4 xrays this time around and when they brought me back to my room again, I was almost literly bauling my eyes out because I was hurting that bad. So the doctor came back in and checked the xrays that were just taken and said that him, himself, didn't see anything broken. But we had to wait until the radiologist looked at them. So until then, the doctor order a dose of some stronger pain meds(and I mean some strong ones and I still have the IV in). So the nurse came in with the pain meds and cleaned the IV tip, where you put the needle in, and then she started to put the meds in, the doctor order 4mg of this pain meds, and then all of the sudden it felt like I was going to throw up, and I was still loopy from the pain meds that I still had in my system, and I literly almost kinda yelled and said I wasn't feeling good like 4 or 5 times. So my nurse stopped and grabbed a hospital puke bag and gave me it and then looked at the needle and she only gave me 2mg and then she went back out and got the nausea IV meds put that in and I started feeling better like 5 mintues later and the doctor came back and said the xrays came back negative. But since my leg was so swollen, they xrays could have been off. So he order to have xrays done 2 weeks later. Then the doctor told me that I will be sore for awhile. Then told me the nursing assistant would come in and put an ACE wrap on and give me some cruches. The doctor then came back and gave me some pain meds and a nausea pill to take home just in case my leg got in really bad pain and said I can only take tylenol for minor pain. Then the nurse assistant came in, put on the ACE wrap and gave me the cruches and at this time my mom went and got her car and pulled it closer to the Emergency door to I wouldn't have to go far and get tired really quick and plus I was really loopy. So then the nurse went and got a wheelchair and took me out in that to my moms car. Before we left the hostpital, the doctor told me and my parents that I need to rest for a week or so and not to race for that length as well. So I was like in my head, dang it! At this time, my sister and brother in law were already gone. So I got in and then we left the hospital and head back to my sisters house because my bad left his truck there and went to the hospital in my brother in laws car. So me and my mom dropped my dad off to get his truck and then me and my mom left for home and I told her to try and avoid the pot holes the best she could and she did pretty good. Then we got home, and at this time it was close to midnight. I got into our house got to our couch and then told myself I need to get up(and I was careful) and go get my pillow and blanket from my bedroom(my bedroom was like maybe 10 to 15 steps away from our living room. So thank goodness it wasn't far and at this time my dad went to bed cause he had to go to work in the morning and my mom stayed up and made sure I got back to the couch fine after I went to the bathroom and made sure I went to sleep.) So the next day, I was in pain. But not as bad as I was the day before. On the pain scale I was at a 5. So my mom got me a couple of drinks and some food and put it beside the couch, so I would have to walk alot that day. But the only thing I got up was to go to the bathroom. So that coming Saturday, it was another race day, so I kinda ignored the doctors orders to not race for a week and to rest it, but all I did was rolled the gate to at least get points. I rolled the gate twice ever since the accident and raced with acctually pedalling. This past weekend, August 26, I did fine the first round, was starting to slow down the second round, and when it was main time, I raced slow cause I was starting hurt again. Then when I finished, I just sat a little after the finish line, layed my bike on the ground, took off my helmet, and then I layed my head in my arms and started crying saying I couldn't do this anymore because its either my asthma, my knee hurting, or my allergys. My dad(he's our gater operator) came over gave me hug and told me it was going to be ok and that we will figure it out and then my mom(she's our scorer and track clerk) came over gave me a hug and told me the same thing my dad said and I was still crying and then I finally stopped. Then I was putting my bike away and one of my best friends came over and started to talk to me and asked me what was wrong and I told her and I started crying again and then she gave me a hug and told me she will help me out on the track either yesterday (August 29) or this coming Saturday. So she came yesterday and helped me and figured out that I'm gonna race my crusier for the rest of the season(the four saturdays we have left, possibly the Ohio State Championship Race @ Akron BMX, and possibly the Black Cat Chilli Cook Off and Halloween Race @ Akron BMX. But as of yesterday, I only got a little bit of pain. Today(August 30), I have another follow up appointment with my regular doctor to see how I have been doing and see if the hematoma that I got on my leg in the injured area had gone down, which it did go down alot. But I am determined to come back to the 2018 season stronger and hopefully a little bit faster.
Riders
Dakota Graham
Girls Expert
9
DIST
Cruiser
District
District
- Age
- 28
- Hometown
- Bemus Point, NY (USA)
- Track
- Charlie`s BMX Track, Inc.
2017 Racing Season!
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