Surgery Delayed - And Maybe Again

I've been fighting a head cold, and as a result of that, the surgery that was scheduled for the 27th of November was delayed.

It's been rescheduled for the 4th of December.

I'm still fighting sinus congestion, so it may be delayed again.

I'm already critically behind on my scheduled training in order to be fully ready for the rides starting in April.  I'll be able to do them, I've no doubt, but I'm starting to doubt how WELL I'll be able to do them.  The one in April, in particular, is an "A" race for me - that's right, a "race", not a "ride".

We'll see.

It's difficult to describe the level of frustration I'm feeling about this right now, so I won't bother.

130 Days after The Event

I went to get X-Rays of my collar bone after spending 6 weeks on the Exogen machine, and as I expected, there was no discernible bridge bone growth between the two halves.

the X-Ray at day 130 looked pretty much exactly the same as the X-Ray at Day 1.

So, the doctor and I discussed options.

1. I could ride it out and hope that eventually the bones would fuse together.
2. I could schedule surgery and knock it out.

Option 1 - Ride it Out

Pros

• No surgical risk.
• No additional PTO required.
• No post surgery recovery time.
• No additional time off bike.

Cons

• In terms of healing, past performance indicates future results.  It hasn't healed yet, so chances are it won't, at least not anytime soon.
• I may never be able to lift more than 5 or 10 lbs with my left arm.
• I may never be able to ride with the same strength as I have in the past.

Option 2 - Knock it Out

Pros

• Much better chance of full recovery.  Not guaranteed, but far better.
• Full recovery means the ability to work out and get closer to my full potential physically.

Cons

• Inherent surgical risks.
• Surgical risks specific to clavicles.
• Good chance of more PTO required.
• Another 4-6 weeks in a sling.
• More time off bike short term.

I'm opting for surgery, and for the following reasons:

1. I have to think long term.  The pros and cons of having surgery line up so that most of the cons are short term and all the pros are long term.  The pros and cons of no surgery line up so that all of the pros are short term and most of the cons are long term.
2. I need to be able to lift more than 5lbs or so with my left arm at some point in life, hopefully sooner rather than later.
3. I really don't care to live much longer with the constant pain that ranges from barely noticeable to highly distracting.  It's never that bad these days, but it's more than I care to tolerate forever if I have the choice.
4. The doc made a seemingly side-note comment about having to go in eventually to fix it anyway, so better to do it sooner rather than later.  The longer we wait, the more complicated the surgery becomes because healing will continue, even if it never completes.

So, I'm waiting on a call back to get this scheduled and over with.