Tracy!

Sunday that dreadful feeling finally came....the one that comes but flys away so quickly once you finally see her in the group. They went by all gaped and looking like a bunch of club riders that don't know how to ride in a line. But this time she was not there.

As many of you know Tracy and Katie Norton crashed out of the Timpani Crit last Sunday. They were setting up with five laps to go and really pushing the pace. The field was being shred to pieces when a rider in front of Katie swerved and there was a touch of wheels and she went down. With no place to go Tracy collided with Katie and was thrown down hard on her right side smashing her helmet and taking a hard shot to her right hip.

Tracy was taken to El Camino Hospital in Mt View where they diagnosed her with a pelvic fracture (one xray taken from the front) and sent on her way after a dose of morphine. She was still in incredible pain and was screaming bloody murder as the hospital techs lifted her into our car. The drive home was rather uneventfully, but once home I still didn't know how we were going to get her in the house and on the bed. Any movement sent shock waves of excruciating pain into her right hip. Tracy's mom drove down to the Fig Garden Fire Department and brought back three extremely helpful fire fighters to help with the task. We lowered all the seats in the Toyota and brought a backboard in from the back. Using the sheet still underneath her from El Camino we lifted her onto the backboard and carried her into our room and on the bed.

With a full prescription of Vicodin in hand she began to sleep the next day away as I scrambled to get her x-rays to our orthopedic Surgeon and friend Eric Hanson. By Monday evening he had taken a look and I knew from his voice we had just begun the process. An ambulance picked her up and she was admitted to the hospital on Tuesday morning. CTscans, X-rays, and blood work ensued.

General surgeon, frequent participant in the Tuesday morning world championships, and all around good guy, Ming Lee was notified by Eric of our status and he was there to evaluate the results of the blood work and to take a first look at the pictures. It is important to look at what is happening inside since many pelvic fractures result in internal bleeding and damage to the GI track and bladder. Often times these type of injuries result in an Illeus, or a general shut down of the GI track that can limit the ability to digest and process fuel.

Ming came in and the first thing out of his mouth was, "oh Man, what a hit, how fast were you going?"

I am thinking, "This is not good."

Ming goes on to explane that Tracy has multiple complex fractures of her pelvis that may require surgery and transport to a specialist at Stanford or some other far away land.

Ok....

I am sent over to Eric's office and together with Dr. Thomas, their PA and Cat 2 racer Greg Mellor, we start going over the X-ray's and CT Scans. She has broken her Iliac crest from the top all the way down to the asetabulum (hip socket) leaving a huge gapping space. She has also fractured her pubic bone, or the lower portion of the pelvic ring. The combination of the breaks creates an unstable situation that may need to be repaired with surgery. She is in an extreamly fragile position. Surgery would definitely be required if the cup that holds the femur (asetabulum) was offset, or uneven. If the bone is allowed to heal in the offset position major issues arise. Fortunately this is not the case with Tracy, but the instability of the Iliac may require some work.

So I ask, "What are we going to do?"

A flurry of conversation ensues and ideas, discussion and thoughts spoken aloud are shared, "What about Motta?"

The guru of hip reconstruction (Joel Motta) works out of Santa Nella Hospital down in So Cal.

How are we going to get to him?

A rep that happens to be at Saint Agnes Hospital in Fresno works directly with him and a meeting was arranged to get the films to him and he would get them to Motta to advise on the possible options.

So Tracy sits and waits.........in the Hospital for two days now, we should know her fate tomorrow afternoon.

I will report on what happens in the next couple of days.

There have been a few requests for our address to send thoughts and encouragements. They are all appreciated.

Thanks

Tim

505 E. Swift Ave

Fresno, CA

93704