Category Archives: Injury Log

In the ER for a black widow bite

Posted on by

Why does this stuff always happen to me… I must have some black cloud following me around all the time.

Just got home (1:30am) from the ER – got nailed by a black widow trying to make its home in my life jacket Saturday morning. Little sucker really latched on good I had to slap em to get it off my arm.  30 hours or so later it still hurt like hell, had puffed up the size of a baseball and was still growing. By the time we got back from Tulsa (10pm) it felt like my skin was crawling all around it & it had spread another inch in every direction… Went to the ER just to be safe.   Doc said definite black widow bite has all the symptoms – said the sharp pain, redness, swelling, nausea, headache, minor disorientation & rough breathing is from the neurotoxin, very cool stuff didn’t know black widows had that. He put me on some antibiotics that should halt/slow the spreading of the redness. The bite itself was a very sharp & immediate pain unlike a bee or wasp sting where it takes a few seconds for the poison to set in. It bit down & didn’t release for a good 10 seconds or so.  A welt formed like hives about the size of a quarter followed by a lot of white fluid buildup & then a weird ring around the puncture wound which is still there 42hrs after the bite. An interesting experience to say the least.

20120701-232207.jpg

20120702-004456.jpg

20120702-004530.jpg

Early Evidence of Neck Curvature

Posted on by

I was looking through some old pictures and noticed a few that really stuck out.  All these years when a picture was taken of me that ended up with my head at an angle I had always just thought I slouched or had bad posture.  Check it out though, they all follow the direction of the curve. What I want to know is how in the WORLD this wasn’t detected before it got so bad that my disc is irreparably damaged.  I’m sitting here in my chair after 11 hours at the paintball field helping run the Stalingrad paintball scenario and the left side of my neck feels like its on fire. So frustrating.

I could go on through my entire photo archive and find probably 100+ front profile pictures of myself but I’m tired & it’s late. So far every.. single.. last.. one.. tilts to the left.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

This post relates to the MRI video – here

Injury Log Update

Posted on by

In addition to the whole hand impalement thing, my neck is acting up again. A couple months ago I went to the ER with horrible neck pain, they said I had a “muscle spazm”. While I tried to tell the ER folks that I could hear the joints in my neck making noise & that it has to be more than just some sore muscle they disregarded it, gave me some muscle relaxers & sent me home.

Fast forward to this last weekend, had a camp out with the guys, slept with a good pillow, but probably should have used two. Woke up with mild neck pain & by Sunday night I couldn’t even roll myself out of bed to go to the bathroom. Went to my normal doctor (Dr. Christopher Hayes great guy) and he immediately recommended an MRI after seeing the pain I was in & hearing the snap crackle pop of my neck while listening to my deep breaths with a stethoscope.

Now its Thursday, been in horrible pain for 5 days, still in a neck brace. Every time I make a slight movement at night it shocks me awake. Exhausted & tired of hurting. MRI is scheduled for 12:30 this afternoon. Will update later with results.

MRI results: disc protrusion (bulging disc) between C5 & C6 (see example picture below) on the INSIDE of the spinal column so that it’s putting pressure on the left side of my spinal cord & pedicle nerve off-shoots from the main spinal cord.. That explains the numb/tingly left arm & shaky left leg thing. Treatment is to continue taking anti-inflammatory, muscle relaxer & steroid pack till pain goes away, then to take it nice & easy as to not damage it again to where it bulges out real bad again. For the long term if it continues to be a problem and doesn’t completely go away there is some other steroidal treatment that will be done with a specialist.

I’ll try to get copies of the MRI scans & put em up.

(not my neck, just an example. bulging disc is between C5 & C6)

 

Injury Log

Posted on by

oook. gonna make this quick. chopped my thumb up in a circular saw trying to unjam a spinning blade, dont do that its stupid.

next day i was shooting my bow (70lbs redhead kronik) and my bow hand (the saw injury) was hurting after 50 shots or so of the bow tugging on the skin on my thumb.

i kind of wiggled my thumb in a small circle at full draw to eliviate some of the pain in my thumb and the bow slipped out of my hand, flew back & sent the blunt carbon fiber guide rod right into my hand lengthwise. it went all the way down to my wrist, while staying completely inside my hand.  about 3.5 inches impalement with no exit wound.

fun stuff.

20111115-082929.jpg

20111115-082939.jpg

20111115-082947.jpg

20111115-083004.jpg

20111115-083038.jpg

20111115-083050.jpg

20111115-083114.jpg

20111115-083315.jpg

ATA Taekwondo Tournament Board Breaks David Roberts 2.26.2011

Posted on by

Despite a painfully injured foot (cracked bone it turned out to be) & many people telling me I shouldn’t & shouldn’t have competed with it, I managed to earn a 3rd place medal in board breaks this Saturday.  It may not look like it in the video but each kick is very painful. I withdrew from the forms & sparring events after board breaks due to the big blood bubble forming on my foot, previous injury broken open again. Even now (Monday night) the bubble is still there & simply wearing a shoe hurts!

I never air-balled a board, but I did finger pop a couple of the 360’s, my thanks to my tough-as-nails board holders & their knuckles & my instructor Ms Hale for allowing me to do advanced content in the competition.

And thanks to my mom & wife for doing the video recording too!