9 screws and a plate-watch out TSA!

I had my post-op visit yesterday.  Stitches came out, and everything looks good so far.  What exactly does that mean?  It means that everything is straight.  I still can't run for another 6 weeks, but can start moving my arm a bit more.  My hip is still sore, but no problems with walking.  So walking and riding on the trainer it shall be.

Starting over

This past week, I have been walking.  For someone who has never been a particularly good walker, this has been difficult.  First, I'm not used to seeing things go by so slowly.  Second, I'm not used to covering short distances so slowly.  But, at least, I have been getting out and moving around a bit.  I have walked around the Chambers Bay golf course 5 times in the past week.  And I did enjoy it, although I would have rather been running or golfing.  Oh well, it's something at least.  Today, I got back on my 'cross bike for the first time since surgery.  Since I am now planning to do the Wildflower triathlon, I figured I'd start riding it on the Computrainer.  After 40 minutes, I was done, not having gone particularly fast on the bike either.  But it felt good to do some work.

Tomorrow, I get my stitches out.  And then I get to start asking questions about what I can start doing.  I feel well enough that I want to increase the range of motion, but am a bit leery, because I don't want to mess up the handiwork that the surgeon did.  The good news is that I'll be itching to really start training again when I can.  The bad news is that this season will be over, and I'll be training for next year. 

So far, so good

I am now 4 days out from my surgery; technical name of what I had done:  open reduction internal fixation with iliac crest bone graft.   Basically, my orthopaedic surgeon made an incision in my hip, pulled out some bone marrow, then made another incision at my clavicle, pulled apart the two ends of the broken clavicle and matched them up end-to-end, packed in some marrow from the graft, took a metal plate, and drilled 9 screws into my clavicle.  Sounds simple, right?

I have been in a bit of pain, but already, things feel better than before the surgery.  Everything feels better "lined up", and my back spasms are gone.  We went to the Bonney Lake triathlon on Saturday, and I watched David race.  Some people, including the person that finished second last year, Bryan, the previous race announcer, Randy, various triathletes, and Rory and Deanna Muller, all recognized me.  I guess it was nice being a semi-celebrity.  Bryan won the race this year, and hoped that I would return next year, so he could race me.  That was nice to hear.  I went for a walk around Chambers Bay yesterday, and my hip started getting sore by the time I was done.  But it felt good to move around.  I'm still living a bit through chemistry, using some pain meds, especially at night.  I'm hopeful I can stop doing this soon.  For now, I'm still in the "chair of healing."

A Bionic Clavicle

Yesterday was surgery to fix my clavicle.  All went well, until they tried to wake me up.  It took me forever and I was pretty stoned for the rest of the day.   But I'm hoping that the corner has been turned and I'm on the road to recovery.  Tomorrow is the Bonney Lake triathlon.  Unfortunately, I won't be able to defend my title, but David is racing, so I get to watch and cheer.

I'm hoping to get on a stationary bike soon, but will have to wait until my bone graft site heals.  Ah well... baby steps.