First of all, I started physical therapy last week, and the therapist was reasonably impressed with my range of motion after just over a month. (She is the same one I was working with on my tendinitis, etc. in the spring, and as I was leaving last week she said, "if I remember right, I told you to be careful when you left last time." And she was indeed right; I was almost home free with well-functioning shoulders two days before my crash. We even discussed the idea of being done with therapy and saving one or two appointments as follow-up visits! Ah, well...)
I have been doing some very light riding on the road after several sessions on the trainer. I am riding my Cannondale Bad Boy outside, which is pretty upright. I added a high-rise stem and lowered the seat a little to take more pressure off my arms and shoulders. I think I am going to switch to the mountain bike, though, and get the added benefit of the front shock; PT is concerned about any road vibration traveling through my shoulder and affecting the healing of the break.
Speaking of healing, apparently there's nothing they can really see on an X-ray for several more weeks, so the doctors rely on what I tell them and what they and I can feel as far as movement, etc. There is relatively little movement in the break area, but occasionally I feel a sharp pain there, which indicates that the broken edges are rubbing together and/or the newly-formed bone is irritated due to movement. The collarbone, being broken in the middle, is now the weak link in the chain of rotation, so if I bring my arm across my body too far, IT starts to rotate instead of my shoulder, bringing about the pain. Good times! And because of how that area is constructed, it's pretty impossible to cast it or do anything besides keep it as still as possible during the day. I have been cleared to not wear the sling, but I still try to keep my arm relatively relaxed and out of the way.
Which brings up the title of this post. I learned early in the healing process that being left-handed (especially since I'm very right-handed) is not very easy to deal with! Obviously since I'm nearing 50 (18 more days) and am totally right hand dominant this is a true statement, but in general lefties indeed have to adapt to everyone else's preferences. Paper towel dispensers in public restrooms, lots of entry doors, heck, even the zippers on pants are all geared to right hands. Now this might not really be a big deal if I'd grown up as a lefty in the world of rights, but when the goal is to keep my right arm from rising above my shoulder level (so paper towels from the bathroom are tough to get) and I'm not supposed to pull or push with it too much (try opening a door to a business by crossing your left arm over your body and pulling it to the right...), it becomes apparent that lots of things at least face a direction that makes it easier to do them with your right hand. I have mentioned the paper towel dispensers and zippers; they are indeed connected. I will leave you to your own conclusions as to one of my dilemmas. Fortunately I am able to do lots more stuff with my right arm at this point, but the first couple weeks were very challenging! I even switched my belt in my jeans around so I could pull it closed with my left hand!
Other things that I've observed?
- Your body strives for balance even if you are strongly dominant with one hand/side. I can't count the number of times that I've tried to do something with my left hand and it's difficult to do because my right side wants to help. Not as much because I'm used to doing it that way, but because that's the way things operate. That whole "equal and opposite reaction" kind of thing, I suppose.
- It's surprising where the effort really is when you're doing something. I brewed a batch of beer the other day, with some assistance from Nathan and Dana in doing some lifting and carrying. For the most part I did it without using my right arm much. There were a couple instances, though, where I knew I had to do something backward from the norm, and I found out that even though I usually do it "right," the actual effort comes from the left. So when I planned ahead and switched from what I usually do, it didn't work!
- There are lots of times during the day, in the course of normal activities, in which one arm or the other crosses your body for something. I'm not talking about way across, either; just passing the center line. Which means, for me, anyway: I apply deodorant to both pits with my left hand (it's getting pretty flexible). I haven't thoroughly washed my entire face in six weeks. I still brush my teeth mostly left-handed (still doesn't feel right...). Showering and drying off are a challenge. Putting my contacts in has gotten easier but is still not back to normal.
- I am actually quite glad that this didn't happen during the school year. Even though it has totally wrecked my summer (I usually ride between 500 and 600 miles each in June and July, for instance), I can't imagine trying to work a full schedule even now after six weeks. My back muscles usually last about 3-4 hours at the shop, at school working at my desk, or whatever I'm doing at home before I need a significant rest period. They're protecting my ribs, according to the medical professionals, and that makes sense. But they get pretty tense and sore! I'm down to two short shifts at the shop (and thankful for an understanding owner!), and when I go to school to get stuff done I manage about two hours at a stretch before something has to change or I have to be done. Although the collarbone was the more horrific-looking injury, my ribs have been the ones that have caused the most pain and suffering. "Oh, your ribs are just along for the ride," was the statement of the PA at the orthopedic surgeon's office. "They're used pretty constantly, so you'll feel that for a long time. They'll heal up fine, though." Yep. That seems to be accurate so far.
- I'm a pretty impatient person. I know that this comes as quite a shock for some of you... It's very annoying to feel fine but still not really be able to do anything. The PT pretty firmly vetoed getting on the road bike any time soon at all; between the increased fall risk (true enough, I guess, based on rider position) and the road vibration without a lot of shock absorption available, she doesn't want me shaking the bones apart. And even though I might not notice it, and it may not be a serious issue, the more of that stuff I do the longer it will ultimately take to heal properly and completely. So I will continue my two or three ten-mile rides per week, slow and easy, and make sure I am very careful about how and where I'm riding my upright frames. Maybe a fat bike ride on the beach would be good: soft, squishy ride on a soft, squishy surface. And it's always slow enough that falls are easy to stop by just putting my feet down.
- I have to say that this is another instance in which I am so thankful for health insurance and other benefits. There has been zero hesitation on my part to first go to the ER, followed by visits to the orthopedic surgeon, physical therapist, and the chiropractor. I even called my family doc to see if he wanted to see me for a follow-up (he didn't). I basically took the last five days off of school, using several of my accumulated sick days. I have frequently thought, over the last several weeks, about what life would have been like without that available to me. No sick days? I guess I'd either have lost pay or gone to work in serious pain. Physical therapy not covered by insurance? No insurance at all? Sure, after the ER visit (they can't turn folks away regardless of ability to pay) I could have made it to recovery in a sling and following what the docs there had told me. But my insurance is indeed very good, so no problem. My point here is that my job, level of income or education, or any other factor, should NOT be a factor in my level of health care, but for many people that is exactly the case. Can we continue to think that this is OK?
Stay tuned for some kind of 50th birthday post, in which I admit that I have received not one, but TWO solicitations from AARP... I've never been bothered by a milestone birthday (30 and 40 were no big deal), but the sound of "50" is definitely different. I'm certainly in the best shape of my adult life, so the number is just a number; I'm not sure why this one sounds different than any other. You'll have to come back and see if I figure it out!!
Cheers (raising my left hand, of course.) to ROCKIN' your 50s leaner and meaner than ever! Keep eating clean and staying out of trouble. That road bike will be waiting for you when you're ready!
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