Thursday, March 20, 2008

I'm full of....TITANIUM!

"GENTLEMEN...WE HAVE THE TECHNOLOGY....WE CAN REBUILD HIM!" DBC Masters, remember that line from a seventies TV series? Steve Austin....


Well, Dr. Peterson and his crew did just that....they fixed me up right last wednesday afternoon. For dinner that eve, I was treated to a titanium plate, garnished with 7 titanium screws...So, at least I can say I got screwed 7 times in the period of two hrs! :-} BEAT THAT Boys! ;-} See today's X-ray below...I borrowed the X-ray film from the doc and scanned it...the scan didn't turn out great, but you will get the idea...turns out it was a tough job for the surgeon, as he had to whittle away at the bones to make a good fit because of the healing that had occurred from the past injury...

After the surgery, I was groggy and a bit dizzy, but was happily greeted by Robin and Steve N in the 'recovery room'....I don't know, but in my home town of Sebastopol, CA, that was the name of a local seedy bar! With the fine drugs they gave me, I suppose it was kinda similar! Was great to see Robin and Steve...familiar and smiling faces. Within 5 min of me 'waking up', the nurse handed me my bag of clothes, and said "go ahead and get dressed"! How's that for 'drive up medicine' in the 21st century! Robin took me home to his place, and I stayed for a couple of days to recover. Robin and his family were FANTASTIC!!!! I thank them so much for looking after me for the first couple of days! Thanks Robin...you're the best!

Spent the past week sponge bathing and keeping my wing protected under the 'dressing' that felt like a diaper over my right shoulder...happily, today I went in for my one-week post-op doc visit, and they removed the dressing, and the many staples that held the 5" incision together. The first reaction from the surgeon's PA was....awesome, that looks great! whew!!!! I was relieved! Hardly could tell I was cut into! There certainly will be a battle scar, which I will be able to tell stories about in the future.

Today, Dr. P asked if I was taking it easy and keeping my arm immobilized...I said, "well, yes...I've limited my training rides to only 20-25 miles per day......long pause....". I smiled and slapped Dr. P on the arm...."just kidding!" He looked at me with a quirky half-smile, and then configured his hand into the form of a pistol and fired it at me! "If I catch you on that bike....$%&*#!"...you get the idea!

The doc wants to see me again in three weeks....he's very conservative, and wants me in the arm sling until then...with some very gentle PT movements...perfectly fine with me...I want this to heal up nicely. I'm feelin good....and Lorne! I almost have as much titanium in me that you have in your bike!

cheers,

jas

4 comments:

Steve said...

Interesting to see the difference between an old dude and a kid... Alex was kept in hospital for 24 hours after surgery on a morphine drip... but Robin is probably cuter than the nurses Alex had so you are lucky in that aspect.

Once home, the doc said, "no more sling." to avoid future pt for mobility. After two weeks he was told he could use the arm normally so long as he didn't lift more than 10 pounds.

he was aloud on the road after four weeks, push ups/core work after five weeks, and got the offical ok to race after six weeks...

oh, to be a kid again.

Steve

BIG said...

Nice posts, Jas but we'd rather you were spending your time out on the bike with us. Heal fast.

Chris

Jason Eiserich said...

hey Steve - it certainly is interesting to see how the kidlets are treated vs. old dewds...in this case, I think it is a combination of... AGE...slower heelin for the older folks...TYPE OF FRACTURE...very distal (mine) vs. smack in the middle of the clavicle...and the SURGEON...my surgeon is VERY conservative...and he's the boss!..here's to healin in a sling and NO PUSH UPS for me! Looking foward to some serious PT...

CHRIS - I hear ya brotha! Give me some time and I'll be out there with ya'll.

cheers jas

FWS said...

Hey Jas... :)
Loved your post! You're U Tube
link say's it all... YOU ARE
COMING BACK! We know it...You
know it... Just take your time,
and feel good about it! You know
we miss you!

Ciao...