After returning home, and with strong encouragement from my wife, I followed up with the medical professionals at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda to check out my injury. I was quickly referred to the team at Orthopedic Surgery. After more X-rays, it was recommended that I get the broken clavicle surgically repaired. The clavicle was not healing properly on its own (let’s just say that the break was misaligned along two directions). I readily embraced the recommendation. 

The surgery occurred on July 24th, the day after my birthday.  The formal name for the surgical procedure is clavicle reduction; more simply, the team realigned and reattached the bone using a plate and some screws.

I went home that afternoon, feeling no pain thanks to an anesthetic procedure called a nerve block. In fact, I had no feeling in my left shoulder and arm for several hours after the procedure. 

My wife took this picture of me right after we arrived back home.  My right arm is being supported by my leg because I couldn’t lift it; by this time, I only had partial feeling in my right index finger and thumb (I was trying to show a “thumbs up”). The picture includes a most appropriate birthday gift from my oldest sister and her husband, my brother-in-law. “The Journey is the Destination” is really a great caption for my TransAmerica experiences to date!

I look somewhat gaunt in the photo but was actually feeling pretty good at the time, likely due to the decent sleep I “enjoyed” during the surgery, and the fact that I was pain free for the first time since the accident.  My clothes are a bit loose fitting because, all told, I had lost about 35 pounds between training and the TransAmerica touring experience.  It’s been at least a couple of decades since I was this light but the new weight is probably closer to what I should have weighed all along.

I left the hospital with a heavy duty sling, pain pills, and other concoctions. I only needed a couple of the pain pills to get through the first night at home. After five days, my shoulder feels terrific. I have started to do some of the minimal exercises recommended post-procedure.  I was also provided with a nifty device that induces electrical flux (sorry, I am an engineer) within the repaired bone to speed growth.

While it’s only been five days since the surgery, I am optimistic about  my chances of resuming my biking adventures in the Fall. I recognize that my best chance to get back on the bike is to take it slow and steady during the recovery period; that’s not my nature but, under my wife’s watchful eye, I will endeavor to comply. I freely admit to scanning the Web for bicycle centuries (100 mile rides) in the local area in the Fall timeframe; two of them are already on my calendar marked tentative. And, with medical pre-approval, I’ve already returned to exercising my legs on my bicycle trainer.

Thanks to everyone for your kind and uplifting expressions of support and concern, and for the countless birthday greetings, especially on Facebook.  You continue to touch my heart!  

My transition from a period of hyper-focused and physically challenging TransAm bicycle touring to a period of low activity medical recuperation at home has been a smooth one for me. That’s because it’s so good to be home! I continue to feel blessed and I am in really good spirits. And, despite the clipped wing, I continue to physically feel amazingly well.

I am fully occupied with activities ranging from communicating with friends still on the trail (including providing long distance weather updates)… to sending thank you notes to my TransAm supporters… to reaching out to family and friends.  My wife and I are also contemplating those things that will be the focus our time, talent, and treasure in the coming months. As for me, I truly hope that bicycling will continue to be part of that focus.

My next series of updates (intended more for the cycling audience or for those who want to become touring cyclists) will talk about my assessment of the equipment that I used during the journey, starting with my bike. My touring bicycle just arrived back home from Scott City, KS, via FEDEX (special thanks again to Pastor Kyle and his team at First Baptist Church). I am already getting it ready for my next phase of touring. Fortunately, there’s not a lot to be done in that regard.