After I broke my nose on Sunday 10th July (see gpsteamchallenge.com.au/sailor_session/show?date=2011-07-10&team=16 for gruesome photo) I posted, I think on the Monday, that it seemed under control. Well things went dramatically worse the next day - I ended up being rushed to hospital by ambulance on Tuesday night as I had lost so much blood with repeated bleeds that I was near losing consciousness, and the bleed that night seemed unstoppable. I blacked out in the emergency room which was handy as I took me to the front of what the ambos warned me was about a 4 hr queue!

I ended up spending four hellish days in hospital, lost an estimated 2.5-3L blood all up, had 5 units of blood tranfused back into me, a general anaesthetic on Wednesday night and surgery to clamp off the small artery causing all the bleeding. I was allowed to come home on Friday night feeling very weak.

Probably the worst part was their repeated attempts, before the resort to surgery, to block the bleeding by ramming tampon-like wads far up my nostrils. This was excruciatingly painful. It was also pretty horrible on the repeated bleeds having blood flow down the back of my nose into my throat so fast I had to spit it up every few seconds or risk drowning in my own blood if it went into my lungs!

A month later I am still coughing up small clots of blood in the mornings and my nose is still tender and a bit swollen. I have been advised to give it 6 weeks after the surgery before sailing again - so 2 weeks to go. But I still don't feel back to normal energy levels and get a bit puffed and light headed if I run up stairs.

I was wearing a helmet when the accident happened but the impact was just below the brow of the helmet. So I will be buying a Lacrosse helmet or something similar for future speedsailing - something with a full face guard. In hindsight it was lucky the impact wasn't a bit lower as it could have knocked out a lot of my teeth.


Thanks again for all the kind and supportive comments on GPS Team Challenge! And congratulations again to team mates who pulled off some awesome speeds on that epic day, including Spotty's world record!!

Sorry to hear you had such a tough time.
Hope you're 100% soon!

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Windxtasy said...

Sorry to hear you had such a tough time.
Hope you're 100% soon!

+1

get well soon mate, thanks for the update. happy I had my dinner first... sound horrific !! will be bidding against ya on ebay for sure

Get well soon mate!
Good to hear you talking about your next session!

youch

Get well soon

OMG!!

I think we should all look into better helmets

Hope you get well soon mate.

Cheers Russ

All the best from the Roach's Pete.

Pete, thats sounds awful!...
The Southerly Busters crew are right behind you for a speedy recovery.
Take care
Mick

Thanks guys.

Izaak, I was thinking of one of these: http://www.playersedgesports.com.au/Mens-Lacrosse-Helmets_cid105.aspx

- full face protection in case of a hard knock. From the one I have looked at it would be possible to wear sunglasses underneath but googles wouldn't be possible. So for dark stormy days with lots of sand whipping around (normal good day at the PiT!) maybe clear glasses under the helmet?

Hey Pete

Hope you feel better real soon. Having had surgery for a broken nose before, I know how painful that wadding can be to insert and remove.

Take care
Pat

He,s still complaining about all that meat eaters blood he got though
Maybe a few extra vegan muffins at dinner to balance out the ratios.

Here's a suggestion. My son uses one for inline hockey. I've thought of using it a couple of times.

www.hockeymonkey.com/equipment/helmets/hockey-cages-shields/brand/reebok-ccm.html

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Mackay said...

Here's a suggestion. My son uses one for inline hockey. I've thought of using it a couple of times.

www.hockeymonkey.com/equipment/helmets/hockey-cages-shields/brand/reebok-ccm.html

wow good price too!!

hi Pete glad to see thing's are looking up and hope to see you posting again soon.

Pete was'nt aware of post accident complications :-(
Glad you pulled through. Did they try cocaine laced packing? Supposed to vaso-constrict....
As a nurse I saw a nasty nose bleed come into Emergency. Yeah it was nasty, when patient was moved out the room itself was blood smeared:-( Amazing how much we have:-\
Eat plenty of food with iron...

Regards and best wishes. Peter

could have been worse Pete... I could have picked you up in the ambulance[}:)][}:)][}:)]

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red said...

could have been worse Pete... I could have picked you up in the ambulance[}:)][}:)][}:)]

now that would have been scary!! Living as close as I do to your work Red, I think I will keep a DNR in my wallet

This seems like it might be ok:

www.hockeymonkey.com/equipment/helmets/hockey-cages-shields/brand/reebok-ccm.html

Thanks for recommending that Hockey Monkey helmet Mackay and Mat - I have just ordered one. Cheap helmet but $70 postage from the US also! Still, it is better priced than the Lacrosse helmets and if it fits will keep out sand also.

Thought this might be more your style Matt, maybe yours as well Peter???



The ensemble is completed by a new type of weight jacket.

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mr love said...

Thought this might be more your style Matt, maybe yours as well Peter???



The ensemble is completed by a new type of weight jacket.

Wicked! Is that you in disguise Martin?

Yep, the one in black