broken clavicle...surgery or not?

[bsbs1876]

Originally Posted by screwed .

Haha! Oops! sorry I should of said, this x-ray is the 2 week post opp x-ray, not a late one. I'm at 5 months, 3 weeks now. And yes I am doing pretty well now, simply because since I started the strength, I actually feel like I'm working much harder, and I felt like I passed a half way point, which the physios say should be a quicker stage to get through.
Sometimes though I do think that I am behind on getting better. When you think about it, in under 2 weeks, I'll be close to the 1 year anniversary, then the actual day the crash happened!
I have questioned the docs and physios about the speed of my recovery, but they are sure that I'm making good progress, and that everyone is different anyway.
I'm still getting impatient though!
About the swimming thing, I hate swimming and I'm not very good at it anyway, so I just got to a spa pool every now and then. Not to swim, but to do all my exercises there, which I find work very well. And it's very quiet and relaxing!

Hey Sam,

I don't blame you for questioning your doctors and trainers on your speed of recover, as it is much slower than what most go through. I think this goes hand in hand (no pun intended) with the hand issues you were having early on. Your accident must have been more severe than usual or something happened during surgery. Look at *****, he is at 7 months and picking up 165 pounds of weight over his shoulders! And then there are athletes who are competing in events a few weeks after. This is what they mean by everyone is different. Not only is every break and surgical intervention unique but also everyone has different healing capabilities.

Keep going strong at the rehab though!

Brad

 

[screwed]

Brad:
Yes the hand issue did slow the recovery down, the other thing that didn't help was the week between the crash and the opp where all the drugs (medicine) were making me very sick, meaning I couldn't eat much (I think I mentioned this lot somewhere already, I'm just jogging memories) Not to mention the crash itself, rolling twice after impact with an unsupported arm. The surgery took long then we were all expecting because of the mess I made, which probably led to the hand issue. When I broke my left collar bone at 15, no surgery, it was 'just' a crack, I swear 2 months later I was free running again.
The rehab will be number 1 on my list until I'm back on my bike, after that, it's just getting my over all fitness and bike riding skills back!
These 6 months are the longest I have not been on my bike for since I was 9. In a way, it's more painful then the broken bones and surgery.
No bike should be dusty, it's a crime, and I hate myself for it! /img/vbsmilies/smilies/mad.gif Hay ho, stuff happens. As long as I can still eat chocolate and watch cute kitten.... errr sorry ninja attack kill death and destruction videos on youtube, I think I'll be fine. /img/vbsmilies/smilies/icon14.gif

 

[bsbs1876]

Sorry to hear you've been off the bike so long, Sam. I'm sure you'll be back as hard as ever once your strength is back. Just have to take it as a humbling experience and appreciate our bodies that much more after. I was out and about today with not much pain. Mostly just uncomfortable still with lack of endurance and fatigue. I think considering I'm only one week in things feel pretty good. There's stil lots of swelling and tightness but I think a lot of that will change once the stitches are out. I don't use the sling at all around the house anymore. I only use it when I'm out so that people get the idea that I'm injured and don't pull a "HEY BUDDY" hug or slap on the shoulder.

 

[screwed]

Thanks man! I'll back with time /img/vbsmilies/smilies/smile.gif
It's good to here your out and about. Where did you go, theme park? hehe! When are you having the stitches out too? And are stitched or stapled?
Not wearing the sling around the house is a good idea, keeping it on when out and about is even better. A good tip is to have an extra sling.... to rap round someone's neck if they do hug you or slap your shoulder not seeing that you're injured[SIZE= 13px]..... just a thought.[/SIZE]

 

[willy81]

bsbs, be cautious at night not to sleep on your operated side, it is too early and your body weight can snap the plate easily, I didn't sleep on my operated side for at least 2 months. I put pillows on the side so it was not easy to turn and in the first weeks I had the sling on just for this reason even at night. sam, I ve got the operation about 2 months earlier than you and I still believe I am a little behind but my guess is that unless we have the plate out permanently its not going to feel the same again. It is a foreign metal body under your skin.

 

[bsbs1876]

Hahaha Sam, good point. I will be giving hell to any drunken idiot friends who decide that's a good idea. *****, no excuses! Lance placed third in the 2009 tour de France just months after having his plate installed... But maybe that was the drugs

 

[bsbs1876]

Hey All,

Checking in on everybody. I am on day 9 now. I also wanted to ask, although the pain is very low and almost gone, the collarbone area feels very "spongy" and swollen all around the area still. How long does this take to subside? Probably a month or more? I think it has come down a tiny bit since day 1...

Thanks!
B

 

[willy81]

Brad, you probably have not realized that you got operated which means that your skin, muscles around the CB have been cut quite a lot. Your doctor in order to attach the plate/screws have separated the collar bone from the muscle tissue around it so to make sure that soft tissue will not enter the fracture site and hinder the two parts fuse together. All these is a big disturbance for your muscle system so it is quite normal to feel like this. Everything will disappear with time. Now and for the first 6 weeks just be cautious.

 

[bsbs1876]

Thanks, *****. I don't know why I even asked the question. I am smarter than that. Swelling and bruising takes a long time to subside after such major surgery. I need to not fool myself. I feel really good at time likes I can do anything but I know I shouldn't. I keep the arm low at all times and use it only for simple things like a coffee cup or cleaning myself, although the other day I was getting a little lucky with the lady and forgot about it a couple of times. Ouch...

 

[screwed]

Brad:
hi brad, I'm doing ok thanks, a bit better then last week just like all the other weeks before that. As long as I am (and everyone else) is getting better, rather then not getting better, then it's all good. A bit slower then I thought, but definitely moving forward. That "spongy" feeling is just because you have had surgery, opened up, things have been moved around. It's normal feeling thing like that. The swelling for me took about 3 - 4 weeks to get back "normal". I had the crash and the opp in 1 week of each other though, so I would of thought you should start to see it go down a bit sooner then I did. Haha! If you are getting lucky this soon after the surgery, it's probably best not to lay on top for a while! Stick with underneath, sitting or standing to start with!

*****:
I glad it's not just me thinking things are moving a bit too slow. I know what you mean about having metal where there should be muscle. I won't be having the surgery again, unless, it's going to stop me riding like I used too, then I will have to think again. I'll soon see how I get on when I'm back on the trails.

 

[willy81]

Hi guys, Brad, of course you are smarter but you are impatient as all of us.. sam, let the time pass and you will see if you want a second surgery. LISTEN-LISTEN just some time ago I had a really crash test and my CB withstood the whole shock nicely. I am here with a friend and we were trying some wrestling tricks, at a moment he grabbed me from my waist at my right side but we both lost balance and we fall over, he on top of me, I used my left elbow against the ground, well in fact it is thick carpet. My collar bone took all this shock with no problem at all. I am a little shocked myself because what we did was very careless. Next test will be impact, lol

 

[bsbs1876]

*****, you are thinking too much! You are invincible now!!!! 8 months almost! Pshhht it's like the crash never happened.

 

[screwed]

*****:
Congrats on your walk away crash! What was the crash like? How did you feel at the time? and now?

Brad:
Hahaha! Don't encourage him too much just yet! Or he will end up telling us that his leg was successfully put back in place and now in a cast!
How are your nerves around our shoulder? still fine? And how are you in general?

 

[bsbs1876]

Hahaha we wouldn't want anyone getting too reckless here. We're evidently all accident prone enough as it is. I still have some numbness on the shoulder which gets a bit better with time. I wake up feeling good and throughout the day is not bad but towards the end of the day an ache starts to set in almost like the shoulder is fatigued. Lying down helps this of course. I wonder if I'm not wearing my sling enough. Some days when I am in the house all day I don't put on the sling at all because I am just on the computer loafing around.

 

[willy81]

hahaha sam, you have a good point here, after my fall yesterday, there was a mild muscle shock around the head of my humerus, nothing serious but it showed that more muscle fibers were activated. Today it feels stronger.

 

[bsbs1876]

You guys know if Lance had his plate removed or plans on removing it? I've tried looking it up but can't find much on the topic. I think he currently still has it in (3 years).

 

[screwed]

Brad:
Getting achy towards the end of the day is still happening with me too, no where near as much as it used to, but laying down for a few minuets still helps allot. Where is the ache? Is it in the collar bone area, or in and around the shoulder area?
The last I herd about lance, which was some time ago now, was to do with his carbon fibre collar bone prank he did.Other then that, I haven't herd anything.

*****:
Well it's good to hear that you're not hurt..... again. Day by day, we all get stronger! /img/vbsmilies/smilies/smile.gif

 

[bsbs1876]

Well here she is ladies and gents. Lots of hardware in there now but looks way better than the pre op busted thing I had!

 

[screwed]

Welcome to the club brad!! It looks allot "comfier", a neat job too. Did you have your check up today then?

 

[bsbs1876]

Hey Sam, yup, the stitches are out and the incision looks really good actually. It is long but very very thin and not that noticeable already. There is still lots of swelling though so I'm all bruised and puffy still.