After being quite concerned yesterday about how I was going to get from Penrith to Sydney airport and then from Perth airport home, the trip ended up going fairly smoothly. The smoothness was almost entirely due to the generosity of others, so I owe a few people some big thanks, particularly my wife and John 'Super Squizz' Taylor who did all the running around at either end. The flight bit in the middle was easy, it just involved a lot of sitting very still.
After finally making it home a little after 10:00 this morning the rest of the day filled up with various medical appointments. First it was off to Doctor Gary Couanis to get the yesterday's diagnosis verified. Gary was able to confirm that it is certainly a Grade 2 or Grade 3 AC tear. Determining the exact degree of the tear will requies an X-ray so that was the next stop.
I got the X-rays done in the early afternoon and they really hit home for me just what the doctor's have been talking about. To give you an idea, here is the image of my left (good) shoulder.
See how my collar bone and my shoulder blade line up quite smoothly in the yellow circle. That is what they are supposed to look like I gather. Compare that to my right (injured) shoulder.
There's your problem.
That big gap is because of significant straining, or more likely tearing, of the ligaments that hold the shoulder blade and collar bone together. Apparently the strongest ligaments in the body. The things you learn...
From the little I learnt today that size of a gap probably means it is a Grade 3 tear, but I wait until an actual doctor can give me confirmation of that on Wednesday.
The grade of the tear is important because it points towards different treatment options. Grade 2 you treat with rest and therapy. Grade 3 and higher and you can start thinking about surgery. Surgery is certainly on the table for me at the moment, but it requires a bit more thought. If it happens it could all get going quite quickly, so watch this space. That is a couple of steps ahead though, for me the next stop is definitely my follow up appointment on Wednesday.
Now for a bit of good news. Talking to Doctor Gary it sounds like my recovery could be quicker than I thought. Whether it is Grade 2 or 3, ie surgery or not, it sounds like recovery could be measured in weeks rather than months, which is great news that has me feeling a lot better. Certainly I am not getting any hopes up until after Wednesday, but I am feeling a little less gloomy about it all.
Right now I am feeling okayish. People have been telling me how sore a torn AC is, but to be honest I doesn't seem that bad. If I move outside a particuarly range of motion my shoulder lets me know, but if I stay within those limits the pain is quite managable. I am feeling a little sore and sorry for myself but then I remind myself that as well as crashing I did also race a fairly solid Half Ironman yesterday. So I earned a bit of soreness and fatigue. With all the injury stuff the race has taken a bit of a backseat in my memory, which is a real pity because I am still very happy with it. Hopefully once the injury starts getting sorted I can give the race a bit more of the attention it deserves.
Now if you don't mind I am really looking forward to sleeping in my own bed.
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