Yeah Im on strict bedrest for the next 3 weeks. I have a hospital bed in my living room.The bones just ripped through my flesh, that's an 8 inch gash, almost knee to ankle. I am going to do my best to follow docs orders

 

 

Glad you'er going to be ok. Be happier you'er alive! As for the pic. That was Awsome. too funny

 

I have a friend who was 74 and hit from behind while walking by a teen girl texting at 35 mph and drove off the road and took him out. His leg in addition to other things was compound fractured in three places and they got him through it and today, two years later, he walks a couple miles every other day. Be positive...take the pills as infection including MRSA from the hospital is a real possibility so do everything they tell you and you'll be okay. You will have some interesting rehab. My knees each are 8.5" scars and I could drive 4.5 weeks later but that isn't the same as "normal" knee function which took a year and lots of 2 hour at a time and 28 different exercise rehabs three days a week for a long time.

Who took the photos? Surely not you.

Lance

 

Thanks Brian..one thing I thought about was how much work you put into her...now gone. But I am here, and I loved her so much while I had her,my wife said everyday.."You are so happy" and everyday I smiled

 

I took the second one lol. I tried to take a pic while in the car but my phone was messed up. I did touch it though...the fireman were tripping out

 

I have regular car insurance guys. I haven't gotten that involved as of yet been sleep mostly. My brother is Insurance agent I gave him all info so far its in his hands

 

Sorry to hear about your accident. Your PT is your new best freind! It won't be easy, but DO YOUR EXERCISES!! Took me about a year to get to 100%, so don't get discouraged. Keep posting with your progress.

 

Mick is right, your physical therapist can be your best buddy. They tend to be a combination of Florence Nightengale (men or women) supporting you and then a concentration camp guard alternately pushing you. They do marvelous work quietly each day.

If you haven't been through it before here's how it will work over time. You do an exercise that is very hard for you at first and you sweat and grimace, maybe even really secretly hurt enough to be worried that it will never get better. An example with the knees from mine. They had me warm up with some exercises then there was one where they put a small traffic cone on a flat spot between my legs just in front of them while standing on solid ground between two hand rails sort of like a set of gymnastics parallel bars you hold for support. You stand flat footed with the 12" high cone in front and between in my case for exercise for knees. You pick your leg up and tap the top with your foot and alternate, do it 10 times then 20 times then 30 times as you get better at it (among many other exercises as you progress over the weeks). Then one day she is watching and sees that you can do it rather fast and without holding onto the railings so this Florence Nightingale smiling PT asks if you are doing okay with it. You say, "sure, this is easy!" feeling really good. That's the exact instant that she brings a new traffic cone out from behind her back that is 18" high along with a 2" thick foam pad for you to stand on while you do it and you are back to square one again being pushed to more flex, balance, muscle, performance. It's a task of a thousand tiny victories that adds up to real change over time.

 

No PT. Yet, all I can do is wiggle my toes for 3 weeks. My leg has to stay elevated and pretty much relaxed so that the muscles that were moved can fuse correctly

 

you got the order wrong................

FIRST ............ POST WARNING..............

SECOND..........POST GRAPHIC PICTURE..................

Hammadown

 

Ouch, kinda glad you posted the pics. Sometimes you need to see things like that to make yourself slow down and be a little more careful.

 

Man, I am glad you are ok, and hang in there.

 

Ever been on morphine,etc? With the pain he's having, he's doing good just to post.

 

Glad you're recovering well Brother.

 

Mmmmmmm.................morphine........ .......*drool*


I was once on a morphine drip for a week. People think I'm joking when I say it was the best week of my life, but I am serious. It was awesome!


Scott

 

I'm glad you are okay and hope you continue your recovery without more than the normal issues. We will all be thinking about you and sending positive energy to you.

If you are alert enough from pain meds and want to share, exactly what was the situation when you lost control of the car on the wet? Did the posi cause your rear end to spin and hydroplane on some water in a corner or did you hit a puddle straight on with too much speed and hydroplane? Maybe there's something others of us with these cars can learn from your experience.

Can you piece together what happened that you lost control of the car now or is that all gone given the trauma?

If it's too much to ask, just ignore it. In my case when healing up I ended up doing a lot of thinking once I was off heavy pain meds cause there wasn't much else to do for a while.

Lance

 

Sorry for your loss (the car) but celebrate that you're alive. Best wishes...

 

Lance,

I feel I've been trying to figure this out myself. This is what I remember...

Driving through a light rain, which becomes a downpour(imagine shaking salt out of a shaker and then the top false off)
Back end drifted to the left, I felt like gained control
Immediately after feeling like I had control I remember having an "oh fuc$" feeling because I then felt like all 4 wheels came off the ground and the car went into a helicoptor spin. I had to spin at least 3 times and would have kept spinning..if...well...yeah

At this point though this is all that runs through my head...I have felt a car hydroplane before....this felt like I was on ice.

Also to note...the street had been repathed within a week or two.

Some might wonder why I was in the rain,or other questions. I was at my shop my wife n I looked outside and said oh gotta get the car home its starting to rain...so I jumped in and headed home....my shop is 10 mins walking distance door to door less than one minute (56 secs)doing the speed limit with no traffic no light.

 

Dose11...Thanks for taking the energy and time to type what you remember. I can't comment on actual experience driving my 76 with posi rear end and 10" wide versus oem 8" or less wide tires front and rear in the rain because I've only driven it a couple times in sprinkles but I've always read that the first 15 minutes of a rain storm are the worst because it adds water to the natural oils, tiny particles of rubber from tires and other things, either left on the road or in your case possibly on the new tarmac materials until it washes away. I like my 255 mm wide tires as they grip terrifically on dry roads but if mine were at all smooth or less than brand new I've wondered how fast they could wick water out of that ten inch face to actually let the ribber touch and have traction. I don't know but I've been prepared to be cautious.

My reason for thinking about it initially was the VIR track day May 5 (turned out to be 70 and dry) with its 17 turns and the fact that they run Rain or Shine. Less throttle, smoother braking and shifting was the advice all the way around as posi under throttle will break the back end loose with less traction more readily I read when I asked others.

When you first started to lose the rear end if you touched the throttle or brakes at all in any of that sequence my guess is you could inadvertently have created an exxagerated swing in the rear end and if there was 1/8-1/4" of new gusher rain that hadn't washed away it might very well have felt like ice. Our cars aren't lightweights at 3540#'s...weighed mine on public scale without me in it two months ago....but with my 10" face width tires I've often though I could be driving a snowboard under certain circumstances in rain especially heavy rain, curvy roads and any braking or throttle in any gear that was less than the speed or put tension to the back wheels. Same thing might happen to me so you're probably not alone. Takes experience to even remotely anticipate it I'd guess that I don't have. I was going to practice on their big concrete skid pad if it was raining first but that didn't come up with a dry day.

There's probably somebody on the forum that knows the answers to all this but when I looked on the racing forum before the comments were general because there aren't a lot of races in the rain but there are some track days rain or shine like VIR was.

If someone knows, it would be good to share 'cause positraction rear ends combined with enough torque and independent suspension has to drive differently than non posi in a car with no torque on less than grip surfaces.

Glad you are well. Hope your day wasn't too tough and that you are coping. You will have some tough days but you will heal. Keep it clean and use antibiotics....

Lance