"Back in the saddle???"

So two months later after my accident, I was just able to get on my bike and go riding finally this week. I didn't realize it at the time, until that night after I got home (that is was exactly two months later that is). The doctor had told me that she didn't want me trying to ride my bike until 8 weeks from the time of the accident and, before doing so, she wanted to do a second x-ray to make sure it was healing okay.

I had an appointment to visit with her at the eight week mark, but then the day of the appointment, the doctor's office called to say she was not in the office that day, for whatever reason that they did not disclose. We rescheduled for Tuesday (this past Tuesday, May 12). She ordered an x-ray, which I got done on Wednesday, the next day.

I had been a teency bit disobedient to what the doc had ordered, by starting about 3-4 weeks ago to spin on my trainer at home. (In case your not familiar with a trainer, it's a mount basically to put my bike on so that I can "spin" at home. They are a god-send for cold, wet weather or when roads are icy in the winter.) That felt great, not just because I was able to get on my bike, but actually as it pertained to my bicycling and my injury, it felt GREAT!!!! There was no pain or even discomfort in my shoulder from my broken collarbone.

I did make sure to do as the doctor said about riding outside, well mostly so, in that I waited until I had had my appointment with her Tuesday. It was feeling so good that I decided to take the shoulder out for a test ride Wednesday morning before my physical therapy session and other things for the day. (She didn't tell me that I couldn't ride still, she only ordered the x-ray.)

I was pretty nervous about getting on my bike and riding outdoors, knowing that when you introduce road bumps and vibrations with broken bones, or rather bones healing from breaks in this case, it can cause things to come loose again, agrevate injuries, etc. I didn't want to do this, but I told myself, "Self!! You know, you'll never know how it's going to be if you don't actually get out and ride." I do have enough self discipline that if it did cause too much pain or discomfort that I could have easily returned home and kept the bike stowed away for a little while longer. Luckily, I felt absolutely NO pain or discomfort as it pertained to my collarbone. In fact, the only thing I felt was my left collarbone, the side that broke of course, but not pain, only what I felt with it now being raised because of the nature of the break/injury. I was able to ride nearly 9 miles, including going over some significant enough bumps in the road that, if there were going to be problems, I WOULD have felt them. My morning ride felt so good, but was so short, that later that night, I went for a second bike ride. (Normally I would never ride twice in one day.)

I rode again Friday morning and Saturday night (May 15 and 16 respectively). I did two rides again Monday, and rested on Tuesday. While at work Tuesday, however, I got a message from the doctor. The x-ray came back and, according to her, it's not "calcifying" enough she feels for me to start riding again. Says I need to wait 6-8 weeks more. UGGHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Is that enough exclamation points to demonstrate me frustration? or can I add 600 more?)

I didn't get a chance to call her back or make an appointment to look at it with her, but i'm hoping she'll clear me to at least ride SOME, on country roads, the bike trail, out on long stretches of the highway (which is what I love to do), or SOMETHING.

Well, on a separate note, I do have an appointment with the hematologist on Wednesday afternoon (about follow up for my blood clot and blood work that he ordered, not anything related to my collarbone). Hopefully he will have some good news and say, "You know, blood work can back good, except we found this one easy thing that caused it and here's how to clear it up." I'm not really confident that he will say that, but it's a nice thought. Then I could at least come off of my meds (Coumadin, pronounced koo-mah-din). Of course, that's a totally different subject.