# spleen laceration recovery time



## SRacer (Sep 5, 2007)

i had a grade 4 spleen laceration (grade 5 is cut completely through) im going back to see how long im out for soon, but im very impatient, can anyone here give me an approximate recovery time? once i can just cruise around or build ill be fine.


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## Bull_D (Apr 9, 2008)

i had mine removed....looked like a burst water balloon. i don't have an exact timeframe for you, but if you look at some pretty tough athletes, peter forsberg, chris simms, they were out for a while. i had some other injuries as well...broke ribs, abdominal staples (from splenectomy), leg amputation. i snuck back in the gym after about 5 weeks. mostly because it took almost that long for my ribs to quit moving around :-( you may be feeling better, but won't realize until you look back some time from now, how weakened and anemic you are from the injury. you certainly DO NOT want to risk an opening of the laceration....this can be a very fatal injury. blood loss is very bad, but a coworker of my moms had a son who died (18yr old) after a "minor" traffic accident on his way back to college. he was pissed he scratched his car and decided to come back home, intending to head back to school the next day. that evening he became sick to his stomach, then he passed out. they rushed him to the hospital. did not wake up. they were scrambling for a diagnosis. he developed a very serious internal infection, and died within about a day. turns out he had lacerated his spleen. the "poison" in his spleen leaked into his abdominal cavity. with the all the commotion of rushing him to the hospital, his minor fender bender had slipped out of his families mind. real sad story. did you get it augering in on your bike? good luck.


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## SRacer (Sep 5, 2007)

yeah, thanks, i was dirtjumping and the lip slid out kicking me to the side, i overshot and nose dived with one foot out, i was knocked out when i hit the ground, my friend saved my life by getting help, i was in critical condition for a while and had to be flown to another hospital.


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## Bull_D (Apr 9, 2008)

sorry to hear about that. sure it has been an inexpensive ordeal ;-)
once you get the go ahead, build back into things. no sense in practicing bleeding, eh? 
did they give you a big zipper or just a little one under the arm?


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## SRacer (Sep 5, 2007)

yeah definitely xpensive. not sure what you mean by a zipper?


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## Bull_D (Apr 9, 2008)

stitches......did they have to cut you open or are they just monitoring? i think when they know they are taking the spleen, the cut is smaller and on your left side......mine was emergency exploratory, so they cut me from my sternum to halfway between my bellie button and mr happy. took a while for all that to heal up.


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## SRacer (Sep 5, 2007)

nope, for a while they thought they might have had to take it out, so i wasnt allowed to drink for at least 2 days, which sucked. they said i lost alot of blood, they wouldnt let us go until my blood level was good enough


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