Still waiting

After falling and breaking my clavicle on Sept. 25, and the October 1 appointment with the orthopedist who severely restricted my activities for the next few weeks while I healed, I was quite hopeful that my follow-up appointment today would enable me to resume most everything, as it has seemed to me to be healing well. However, the Physician's Assistant I saw said that, in the fracture, it had been offset pretty substantially. And the good news was that the x-rays show that it hasn't moved, so I'm on the right course. But it is not all the way healed yet, so, while I'm OK to resume driving (and thus go back to my job for which driving was necessary), I'm still prohibited from riding outdoors until at least after my next follow-up appointment on November 26. She said that riding a bicycle was "most problematic" in the case of a clavicle fracture, and it wasn't entirely clear to me whether she meant that riding causes such fractures frequently, or whether she meant that the patient had to be especially carefuly when at the stage where I am now, not to rush a return.
While this is mildly disappointing to me, I'm most happy about being able to drive (and work) again—and after all, I will concede, that as the old sayings go, "Better safe than sorry" and "Better to err on the side of caution." Meanwhile, being able to drive again will make it much more feasible for me to get back to LA Fitness to ride on the elliptical. And, on days when I absolutely must get outside, I always have the option of walking.  So, all in all, I would classify this as good news. I still plan to take up riding again when I am able to, however—though I admit that it may have to be quite limited until springtime.
The Physician's Assistant also cleared up a mystery for me when I asked about the large lump that developed over the clavicle. I had expected that it would gradually have gone away as the healing took place, but she said that the severity of the break caused a large ball of bone to form asymmetrically around the injury. With time, it will gradually abate somewhat—but will probably never disappear entirely, and that side will always display a difference from the other.

Health update

After my fall last Wednesday, September 25, with the resulting broken clavicle, they told me they wanted me to have a consultation appointment with an orthopedic surgeon, and that took place today at Domino Farms with Dr. Asheesh Bedi. He was very personable, and we had a nice discussion of my situation. I had written a note to him on my laptop, explaining that, "For my job it is critical that I be able to drive. I feel ready to resume that, but only with your approval." He said, however, that mine is what they call a "gray zone" fracture, with some separation of the bone and a decent chance it will heal itself, as most clavicle fractures (the most common fractured bone) do, but also a chance that it won't. And, as regarding driving, he recommended that I wait 3 more weeks before resuming it - I have a follow-up appointment for October 25, at which time they'll do another x-ray. So, all things considered, it is not quite the unmitigated positive news I had hoped for, but at least I know now, and can continue to move ahead.

Michelle often kids me about my "gift of patience." As we were leaving today's appointment, I grinned at her and said, "Well, I guess have to practice my gift of patience."