MILLICAN: RACING PAINLESS AFTER SURGERY
Tue, 2009-03-17 16:00
Clay Millican felt this story was better left untold.
Weeks before the NHRA season-opener, Millican underwent surgery to correct a back injury sustained as a sportsman racer in 1997.
Millican can honestly say when he rolled to the starting line for the first round of qualifying at the NHRA Kragen Auto Parts Winternationals in Pomona, Ca., he did so for the first time in his Top Fuel career without pain. Clay Millican felt this story was better left untold.
Weeks before the NHRA season-opener, Millican underwent surgery to correct a back injury sustained as a sportsman racer in 1997.
Millican can honestly say when he rolled to the starting line for the first round of qualifying at the NHRA Kragen Auto Parts Winternationals in Pomona, Ca., he did so for the first time in his Top Fuel career without pain.
Millican remembers the day he hurt himself at a drag strip.
A competitive sportsman racer, Millican pulled a wheelstand in his A/Econo Dragster and rode it until the edge and then lifted sending the dragster crashing back to the ground. The impact of the unsuspended vehicle sent his back into a compressed position.
Millican wrote off the incident as a one-time soreness and accepted the pain as just one of the byproducts of youthful exuberance.
“I've had back problems for many years,” Millican admitted. “I just dealt with it. Like every hard-headed man tends to do, you just deal with whatever bothers you.”
A simple morning routine of brushing his teeth reminded Millican that he wasn’t invincible. He was brushing his teeth on a Sunday morning while leaning over the sink when a cough, while in an awkward position, caused excruciating pain.
It was the kind of pain that forced Millican to sit down. Sitting down made the pain worse to the point he blacked out, fell and struck his head.
“I called [wife] Donna and the next thing I remember I woke up on the floor,” Millican admitted. “I guess I reached a pain level to the point that I actually passed out.”
Millican went immediately to see his family physician, Dr. Stephanie Robbins, who he refers to as phenomenal.
“She walked us right through the process,” Millican said. “Got the MRI done and after we had the MRI done we found out what was wrong.”
The MRI revealed that Millican had a problem at the L5. The L5 was protruded which, according to Millican, meant the disk was broken and pushing into the nerve bundle.
The combination of leaning over, brushing his teeth and coughing raked up and down the nerves creating a problem that could only be corrected through surgery.
Millican was referred to Dr. Seal, the physician for the Memphis Grizzlies. What once would have been a major surgery with a lengthy recovery time is now an in and out surgery.
Ten days later he was back in a race car.
“It has been absolutely fantastic ever since,” Millican said. “I have been real careful. I'm not putting fuel in the car, anymore. He [Seals] told me to give it as much time as I could before I lifted any weight and now I am taking full advantage of that. I can lift a little weight now, but I am taking full advantage - letting my wife carry my luggage, letting the guys pour the fuel in the car and making the kids load everything in the trailers to go to the races.”
Millican hardly considers himself an expert on counseling those with back injuries, but can’t help but suggest those with back pain seek medical advice.
“Years ago it would have been a major deal but now they go in and I didn’t even have stitches,” Millican explained. “In fact they did stitches internally and they glued the incision on my back together. Granted I woke up and it was sore for a few days like someone had punched me, but it didn’t hurt the same way like it had. I had almost forgotten what living without pain was like.”
Thinking back over the surgery, Millican smiled, paused and then related that the doctors knew who they were dealing with before the operation.
“My son was flipping through the channels on the television in the room and happened across ESPN Classic,” Millican revealed. “It just so happened the race on television was the 2004 event in Bristol, Tenn., where we finished runner-up.
“The doctor knew I was a professional drag racer. He knew what Top Fuel was, but for him to get to see what I was doing a few minutes before cutting me open, that was kinda cool.”
For Millican, racing without pain is even cooler.
Weeks before the NHRA season-opener, Millican underwent surgery to correct a back injury sustained as a sportsman racer in 1997.
Millican can honestly say when he rolled to the starting line for the first round of qualifying at the NHRA Kragen Auto Parts Winternationals in Pomona, Ca., he did so for the first time in his Top Fuel career without pain. Clay Millican felt this story was better left untold.
Weeks before the NHRA season-opener, Millican underwent surgery to correct a back injury sustained as a sportsman racer in 1997.
Millican can honestly say when he rolled to the starting line for the first round of qualifying at the NHRA Kragen Auto Parts Winternationals in Pomona, Ca., he did so for the first time in his Top Fuel career without pain.
Millican remembers the day he hurt himself at a drag strip.
A competitive sportsman racer, Millican pulled a wheelstand in his A/Econo Dragster and rode it until the edge and then lifted sending the dragster crashing back to the ground. The impact of the unsuspended vehicle sent his back into a compressed position.
Millican wrote off the incident as a one-time soreness and accepted the pain as just one of the byproducts of youthful exuberance.
“I've had back problems for many years,” Millican admitted. “I just dealt with it. Like every hard-headed man tends to do, you just deal with whatever bothers you.”
A simple morning routine of brushing his teeth reminded Millican that he wasn’t invincible. He was brushing his teeth on a Sunday morning while leaning over the sink when a cough, while in an awkward position, caused excruciating pain.
It was the kind of pain that forced Millican to sit down. Sitting down made the pain worse to the point he blacked out, fell and struck his head.
“I called [wife] Donna and the next thing I remember I woke up on the floor,” Millican admitted. “I guess I reached a pain level to the point that I actually passed out.”
Millican went immediately to see his family physician, Dr. Stephanie Robbins, who he refers to as phenomenal.
“She walked us right through the process,” Millican said. “Got the MRI done and after we had the MRI done we found out what was wrong.”
The MRI revealed that Millican had a problem at the L5. The L5 was protruded which, according to Millican, meant the disk was broken and pushing into the nerve bundle.
The combination of leaning over, brushing his teeth and coughing raked up and down the nerves creating a problem that could only be corrected through surgery.
Millican was referred to Dr. Seal, the physician for the Memphis Grizzlies. What once would have been a major surgery with a lengthy recovery time is now an in and out surgery.
Ten days later he was back in a race car.
“It has been absolutely fantastic ever since,” Millican said. “I have been real careful. I'm not putting fuel in the car, anymore. He [Seals] told me to give it as much time as I could before I lifted any weight and now I am taking full advantage of that. I can lift a little weight now, but I am taking full advantage - letting my wife carry my luggage, letting the guys pour the fuel in the car and making the kids load everything in the trailers to go to the races.”
Millican hardly considers himself an expert on counseling those with back injuries, but can’t help but suggest those with back pain seek medical advice.
“Years ago it would have been a major deal but now they go in and I didn’t even have stitches,” Millican explained. “In fact they did stitches internally and they glued the incision on my back together. Granted I woke up and it was sore for a few days like someone had punched me, but it didn’t hurt the same way like it had. I had almost forgotten what living without pain was like.”
Thinking back over the surgery, Millican smiled, paused and then related that the doctors knew who they were dealing with before the operation.
“My son was flipping through the channels on the television in the room and happened across ESPN Classic,” Millican revealed. “It just so happened the race on television was the 2004 event in Bristol, Tenn., where we finished runner-up.
“The doctor knew I was a professional drag racer. He knew what Top Fuel was, but for him to get to see what I was doing a few minutes before cutting me open, that was kinda cool.”
For Millican, racing without pain is even cooler.
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