Paul George Injury:

[clydepepper]

This was too bad to post a photo of...someone called it 'Theismann-esk'...and it CERTAINLY is.

If you do find the video or the still frame shot, prepare yourself.

[Prof_Plum]

I was watching the game and very glad they only showed the replay once. Horrific. Initial reports say there was no nerve or ligament damage. Hopefully he has a full recovery.

[the 'stache]

I really feel badly for Paul George.

From watching the video, and reading the stories today, it looks as if Paul George suffered complete mid-bone open fractures to his tibia (the larger bone) and his fibula (the smaller bone). That means the force exerted on his leg was enough where both bones fractured all the way through, but they did not protrude through the soft tissue. That's the second worst break one can have in the leg. I had the worst kind last June, so I know his rehab is going to be long and very painful. My rehab's goal was just getting me back to the point where I could walk again. He's a professional athlete playing probably the second-most demanding sport as far as legs are concerned, with tennis being the only sport that places greater stress on the legs.

He's probably looking at about six months of rehab and conditioning depending on his rate of bone growth. It looks like there were no significant soft tissue injuries, so that's good. Regardless, the next week or so is going to be really hard on him. The pain medications will help, but whenever he has to get up to move around, he's going to hurt something awful.

[clydepepper]

Originally Posted by the 'stache

I really feel badly for Paul George.

From watching the video, and reading the stories today, it looks as if Paul George suffered complete mid-bone open fractures to his tibia (the larger bone) and his fibula (the smaller bone). That means the force exerted on his leg was enough where both bones fractured all the way through, but they did not protrude through the soft tissue. That's the second worst break one can have in the leg. I had the worst kind last June, so I know his rehab is going to be long and very painful. My rehab's goal was just getting me back to the point where I could walk again. He's a professional athlete playing probably the second-most demanding sport as far as legs are concerned, with tennis being the only sport that places greater stress on the legs.

He's probably looking at about six months of rehab and conditioning depending on his rate of bone growth. It looks like there were no significant soft tissue injuries, so that's good. Regardless, the next week or so is going to be really hard on him. The pain medications will help, but whenever he has to get up to move around, he's going to hurt something awful.

Bill- there is a link to the frame where the actual break occurred - it is too gruesome for me to share, but it reminds me of some similar MMA injuries I have seen. I was sorry to hear that you had suffered a similar injury- I wish you a full recovery.

[the 'stache]

Raymond, firstly, thank you for the well wishes I'm about 13 months out from the injury, and still improving.

I saw the video of Paul George's accident before posting in this thread. As soon as I saw what happened, I knew what he'd done. And as I said, I can relate. Here's what I did.

Last June, I had my injury coming down the stairs from my bedroom. Our black lab was sleeping on the landing at the bottom of our stairs. Well, as I tried to step over him, my left foot slipped, and went off the edge of the landing. I came crashing down, too. I ended up cracking the fibula right where it connects to the tibia below the knee. The major part of the injury happened above the knee. I had what's called a distal femur fracture, meaning the break is of the femur, the largest bone in the human body, right where it connects to the knee. I'd snapped the femur straight in half, and the force was so great that the bone actually shattered into five different pieces. The surgeon that had done a complete ACL reconstruction the winter before had to go in and rebuild my leg.

I'm 5'9" and 173 pounds. My leg swelled up to more than twice its normal size. Can you believe that I actually slept with my leg like that? They shot me up with morphine overnight, put me in a type of immobilizing brace, and I had surgery that afternoon. He needed a foot long titanium plate and 12 screws to put my leg back together. As you can tell, I can't go through the metal detector at the airport without telling them about my surgery, lol. I had about 3 months of therapy. Once that was done, I started getting shooting pains in the area of my leg where the injury had occurred. Those were nerves, and they hurt like hell. They put me on Lyrica, and after a few months, that pain went away. I'm able to walk a good distance, though bending the leg to come down the stairs is still slow going. I've lost a good amount of flexibility, even with all the therapy I did. But anyhow, if you or somebody else says something that I somehow don't catch, like something that is meant to be humorous, please forgive me. The pain medications I'm on for my back and my leg make me a little loopy, and sometimes I miss things I would normally get.

[clydepepper]

Brian Reagan has a bit available on youtube in which he shares his experience going to the ER and answering the question, "On a scale of 1-to-10, with 10 being the worst, how would you describe you pain?" The bottom line of his bit is that '10' is reserved for femur fractures.

Pretty funny if you are up to it.

Personally, I have had kidney stones which I thought was bad, but now I have two arthritic hips which will be replaced soon - and I think hip pain is much worse. I empathize greatly with elderly folks who have this issue.

All that being said, I cede the sympathy crown to the man with the bionic femur!