On my first visit to the Fracture Clinic I was told that I needed to rest the shoulder and given painkillers and a sling and told that at the next checkup (after 6 weeks) they would asses the progress. Most broken clavicles tend to knit reasonably in line and so do not require any intervention, however a small number require surgery because of failure to knit. So I went along, best case hoping to be told all was progressing as expected and to be told I could cycle in another 6 weeks (but planning on cycling slightly sooner :-). Worst case I would find out that it was out of line and to plan on an operation. My break was a middle third - so although it looked like a large gap on the X-ray it was more straightforward than say Lance Armstrong's which had broken into 4 pieces and required a plate and 12 screws to re-align from the start.
On arrival at the clinic it was clear that they were busy from the start. My wife had dropped me off and was going to pop my daughter into town and then come back and pick me up. As I sat there I did feel a bit of a fraud, most of the people waiting had plaster casts on legs or arms. Those with casts on their legs were often in wheelchairs. There was talk of titanium and osteoporosis in the waiting area. I had no visible sign of problems and a casual observer would have found it difficult to see any obvious problems with my limbs. The main problems were soreness in the morning, soreness when trying to lift a heavy weight and a bit of a lump on my right collar bone.
Quite a few of the attendees started their appointment with an X-ray, presumably to assess the way in which their particular fracture was healing, in fact I expected to be told to go down to X-ray to get my collar bone checked - so I was slightly surprised to be called in for my consultation without a visit to X-ray. However their consultation rooms were all busy so I sat in another waiting area inside the clinical area which by the sound of it was close to where they cut casts off. Having a cast removed is not something I have experienced directly, but have been with my daughter when she had hers removed after a fall down the stairs 6 or 7 years ago. I almost missed my appointment as my given name and the name most people call me by are subtly different (James vs Jamie) and given my nervous anticipation (worst case vs best case) did not twig that the James they were calling was me.
I then sat in a consulting room for a while - they were busy, I think some sort of emergency had caused delays and so a message went out to the front waiting area that there was a 30 minute delay. Then my turn came. This time I was able to shake the Doctor's hand, who introduced himself and mentioned that he remembered me from the first visit. I did some hand-waving to demonstrate that I could move the arm around with very few problems and the Doctor pushed down on both sides of the clavicle to see if there were any squeaks of pain. At this point I really was expecting to wince. I have been able to touch the area without any pain for some time - but I have not pushed my luck (or the bone) but there was not a twinge. I did mention that I got soreness in the morning and pain in the shoulder where the bone connects back.
The result - that was it I did not need to return to the clinic all was ok, but if I did damage it again it would probably break in the same place and there would be a higher probability that next time around it would not heal so readily. Then for me the 64 thousand dollar question - when could I start cycling again. By now I was thinking maybe 4 weeks - the answer I actually got was straight away. Fantastic news - I asked it again to make sure I had heard properly - same answer. Wahay!!!!
As I left the clinical area I found my wife, who had wandered around this bit of the hospital wondering where I had gotten to. She had been to the front, the shops and the X-ray department, but no sign of me. She had also asked at the desk, but they would not confirm anything for reasons of confidentiality. She could not even ring me as mobile phones were not allowed to be on in the actual clinical area. The only downside to such great news (I know it does not take much to please me) was that I completely forgot to see if I could get an electronic copy of my X-rays. I was planning on adding them to my blog - but hey I rather be cycling.
So the good news is that the next day I first cycled to the local shops to pick up a newspaper and then after it had stopped drizzling went for a ride around Wicken Fen. I had planned on poottling into Cambridge but decided to stay away from too many cars. Although I was not planning on cycling off-road (except for the paths through Wicken Fen) I wore my new helmet. It is at this point where the bad news starts - but in a glass half-full sort of way I am not really complaining.
The downsides of 6 weeks of enforced rest - well I have put on a bit of weight - my cycling shorts were a "bit" tighter than the last time I went out on my bike, despite only having one slice of toast for breakfast instead of two. I also feel a bit tender in the contact points - bottom and hands - my brain reminds me of hours spent in the saddle, my bottom says forget it - even with padded shorts! I also went round at a somewhat sedate pace - the legs are fine - but I run out of puff a lot more quickly than I used to. But none of these can take away the pleasure of being out in the Fens in Spring on my bike. So there are quite a few photographs, not all that good but hey it's Spring!!!
On my way to White Fen I passed a (the) heron in the dyke. It is one I routinely see when cycling in these parts. Normally it flies off as soon as I approach. This time it stayed put - so I stopped to take its picture. This time a couple of ducks launched into the dike and scared the Heron before I was able to take a close-up. So this is the Heron - digitally enlarged.
Here is the same shot but not so enlarged, you can see the water where the Heron was in the corner of the picture.
Here is the wooden bridge put in as part of the Wicken Fen Vision project to create new cycling/walking routes through the fens. (www.wicken.org.uk/vision.htm) You can see how some trees are in leaf and others are barely showing their buds.
Here I am - a picture taken using the 10second delay timer on the camera. The jacket is the one I was wearing when I was knocked off my bike, the helmet is my new red one. I rode my Marin hybrid bicycle as I figured the position would put a little less stress on my shoulder. My brother-in-law got me an id bracelet in case I get knocked out if there is a "next time accident". You can see it around my ankle. For my first post-accident ride I also chose not to use shoes that clip to the pedals. The reason was not so much that I was wary of problems more that with the Spring I would be able to use normal cycling shoes rather than my waterproof cycling boots. Unfortunately my shores were still dirty from cycling in Vietnam. I know, I had a lot of time on my hands but somehow I forgot to clean my cycling shoes.
To speed up crop growth the farmers warm the soil by liberal use of plastic sheeting - shown here:
As you can see the weather was not too good - although there were only a few drops of rain on my route. Here are trees in a hedgerow - some in leaf some not.
Further on there was even more plastic sheeting across several fields. This picture was made up of 5 pictures and combined.
This field is being left fallow and has even more daffodils popping up. I seem to remember that it was used for daffodils more recently.
This picture was taken in March 2006 (three years ago) when there were daffodils being grown, I think it was the field with the plastic sheeting (composite picture).
You can tell I have not been out taking pictures recently - this time around I took loads - even one (or actually quite a few) of this old corrugated iron shed new Wicken Fen.
Even the blossom did not escape.
Finally one of the Windmill within Wicken Fen.
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