VOLUME 58 ISSUE 1 JANUARY 5, 2021 P113
back on his RC213V at Jerez
five days later.
It was heroic, but it was also
too much. He managed almost
30 laps in the last two free
practices but withdrew before
qualifying. A couple of days later
it turned out that the titanium
plate had become bent. Official-
ly, it happened when he pushed
a recalcitrant French window. If
you believe that, you'll believe
anything.
Dr. Mir and his associates
expressed surprise and regret
at the failure and did it again. A
new titanium plate was screwed
into place.
Most expected he'd be back
before the end of the year,
perhaps in just a few weeks. But
the waiting dragged on, and in
the end, as we know, he didn't
turn up.
Then, just days after the final
race, the bombshell.
Another operation, this one
to treat "pseudoarthrosis" of the
right humerus.
This, more understandably, is
"a non-union fracture." Where
the two ends of a broken bone
heal over independently of one
another, with maybe just a bit of
cartilage between them. You get
a bendy bone.
Put your elbow on the table,
raise your forearm vertically,
then move it from one side to
the other. As it goes over cen-
ter, it flops across. There is play
in the bone. It's not pretty and
not comfortable.
I speak from personal experi-
ence, which is why, at the start
of this depressing Marquez
saga, I wrote that he'd be lucky
to return before the final races.
I based that on his youth and
fitness. It turned out to be hope-
lessly optimistic.
When I had a non-union hu-
merus fracture, I'd also expect-
ed a simple recovery, However,
I was twice his age, engaged in
a sedentary occupation (journal-
ism), far from athletically fit, and
a heavy smoker. It took three
operations, including two bone
grafts just like his, and a full year
before the bits of bone finally
began to reunite. And that only
after I'd given up smoking for six
months.
I was treated by Britain's
National Health service, which
is a marvellous institution, but
essentially basic compared with
the sort of bespoke service and
specialist treatment Marc re-
ceives. This has included some-
thing called specific shockwave
treatment, as well as attendance
by top-flight physiotherapists
and so on.
With the same result for him
as for me—failure—followed by
a third operation, lasting eight
hours, this time with a new med-
ical team in Madrid. Like me, he
had bone grafted from his hip,
and a third titanium plate.
Which, if it works, will still
require a significant convales-
cence.
So, while I'm being personal,
kindly indulge me while I ex-
press to Marc not only sympathy
but also empathy, and good
wishes for a full recovery. He
is still only part-way through a
nightmare.
Send yours, too. He'll need
all he can get. CN
It shouldn't be like this. Orthopedic
surgery, at least in the common mind,
is a matter of sawbones carpentry.
Straightforward, at least in concept.
