Clavicle Break: Week 3 (July 7, 2018 - July 13, 2018)

Pain Level: 4 to 7, weaning off Norco 5/325.
Discomfort Level: 10
Attire: Shorts and a sling.  Occasional button down shirts.
Sleeping: Recliner.
Nutrition: Higher than normal calories to maximize healing, with supplements geared towards bone regrowth.
Mobility: Slow, but getting more comfortable moving around.
Physical Therapy: None

Week three is more of the same as week two in terms of mobility and eating.  I did, however, stop taking pain medication.  True to what I'd been told and most of what I'd read, the constant pain dissipated during week three to the point that I was comfortable ditching the narcotics.  I still had to be careful though, b/c pain could easily ramp right back up to 10 if I moved wrong.  The constant ache was gone, but the bone and surrounding tissues were still very much broken.

I tried a night in our bed this week, but found it to be too uncomfortable, so I went back to the recliner.

To pass the time, I watched YouTube videos on cycling, Lance Armstrong documentaries, and followed the Tour de France.

I did find the motivation to head out to the garage and take a look at the bike.  I didn't clean it, I was only interested in a visual inspection.  I identified the following areas of damage - the handlebars were very much out of alignment, the handlebar tape on the right side was shredded, there was a dent of about 1.5" in the side of the top tube about halfway between the head tube and seat tube, and the rear tire was flat.  The dent wasn't deep and didn't appear structural, but it did cause me no small amount of concern.  I started gathering a list of potential replacement bikes.

That sharp pain in my right side seemed to resolve itself.  It was nowhere to be found this week.  Also, I didn't note any ribcage pain.  That was curious, and promising.

Showers continued to get easier and less painful, but I was still very very careful.

We went back into the doctor's office and they were able to remove those final two stitches.  They had to dig around a bit, but they got them.  They advised we keep it bandaged for another week or so, if only to avoid ripping it open by bumping it on something.  The skin was holding firm, but wasn't necessarily as strong as it would be when 100% healed.

All in all, healing appeared to be progressing fairly well.

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