went out for a ride a couple of sundays ago on the mountain bike. was travelling down a farm track at speed when the front wheel lodged in a rut left by a tractor tyre. i launched over the handle bars and effected human flight for somewhere between 12 and 18 feet, by which time i was headed head first into the dirt. at least i had the presence of mind to tuck my head just before impact or i may well have broken my neck. however i felt/heard an almighty crunch as i landed.
lying there on my back, i went round my body... flexing toes and hands first, then arms and legs. i very cautiously moved my head from side to side. all good. but i already knew that i'd done my collar bone.
a trip to a&e and a brief encounter with a stunning young radiologist confirmed the injury. fractured the bastard right in the middle. and an incredible amount of bruising right down my left side. this morning i look like i've been put through a wash of purple and blue dyes.
and i can't tell you how much the friggin thing hurts. even if i yawn, it's like a knife being driven through my shoulder. and the worst bit is i can feel the ends of the bones moving about, clicking and grinding together. and pretty regularly they'll jag a nerve... that sends me through the roof!
i'm left handed, so that's me stuffed for a while. problem is that in the crash i somehow hyperexteded my right thumb... so that hand's mostly out of action too.
so it's two weeks of pain management, three weeks till the bones start to knit and six weeks until i look like being mostly recovered.
bugger.
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UPDATE
Well it's been 9 days since takeoff and the swelling has all but gone. I now have a large lump around the break which isn't really visible but I can feel it. Much of the bruising has gone, but I took some pix as, believe it or not, some people have been asking for them. A few have also asked for pix of the radiologist, but sadly, I was in too much pain to get any at the time.
So you'll notice I haven't shaved in 9 days either. And in the pic on the right, the bruising on my leg has reduced a LOT. Couldn't manage to get a picture of my back... too tricky with one arm.
