I’m not one to post much personal information here, but I was the victim of taking a spill off of my mountain bike back a few weeks ago.  Nothing crazy: I’d hit a patch of mud or moss, in front of a new subdivision, where sod had been planted recently.  A very tiny patch, in fact, but not small enough that I didn’t hit it.  I think it took me all of a half second to hit the ground, dumping all my weight onto my left shoulder, and giving me a mild concussion as well.  While the emergency clinic told me I had a Level II shoulder (or AC joint) separation, the orthopedic doctor said it was a Level V, and I needed surgery immediately.

Three days later, there I am at the hospital, scared half out of my wits, wondering what the heck it’s all going to feel like.  Aside from some pokes from various needles, that was the worst of it.  The whole anesthesia process is somewhat amazing: I remember being in the operating room, getting a shot (which burned), and having a mask over my face.  Seemingly two or three seconds later, I’m back in the recovery area, my eyes popping open, wondering where everyone was.  Very slight sore throat, but hardly groggy at all.  The shoulder itself was a bit sore, of course, as they had to realign the soft tissue, relocate the collarbone back in place, and put my arm back in its socket.

After two days, I was hardly feeling any pain in the shoulder at all, and I was already, for the most part, off of any painkillers.  Other than a few unexplained bruises (was I really that difficult under sedation?), I felt pretty good.  I do have two pins coming out of my shoulder–I’ve taken to calling them my “electrodes”.  From the x-ray I saw, the pins go from the end of my shoulder into the collarbone to hold it in place, and where they exit my shoulder, they are bent at a 90 degree angle.

This modern medicine is pretty amazing if you think about it…