Broken collarbone

Saturday night I had a bicycle accident.  I think I know what happened, but I am not sure.  I was riding my regular route starting at 5:20 pm after I put a large bale of hay out for the cattle.  I think the accident was around 6 pm.

My route is 6 miles out and 6 miles back.  I remember turning east at the 5 mile mark. I remember thinking about the road being slippery.  I also remember my bicycle chain had been occasionally slipping due to wear for much of the ride though it slipped less the longer I rode.  Was this combination the cause of my accident?  I don't know for sure.

I think the accident happened around the 5 1/2 mile mark, give or take a tenth of a mile.  I have a few vague recollections after the accident.  It seems like a dream.  Such as: someone in a pickup stopping to ask if I was alright and whether I needed a ride and me turning the ride down, then looking for my bicycle computer which came off onto the road.  I believe I thought I was glad the pickup didn't run over the computer after I found it.  I also thought about whether I should turn around now or continue to the 6 mile turn around.  I believe I continued on.  Later when I checked the bicycle computer mileage I did indeed ride to the 6 mile turn around point.

Around the 8 mile point I remember feeling confused.  I have ridden this route hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of times so it was familiar.  But I now felt like I was in a fog and struggled to understand what was going on.

At the 9 mile mark I rode past Donna's house so I stopped. I left my bicycle at her gate, climbed over and went to her house.

I needed to sit down and gather my thoughts.  Donna said I was pretty dazed.  I knew it was Winter but I didn't know the date.  Slowly I figured out it was January.  Then after more thought I remembered it was the 30th and Saturday.

Less than an hour I cleared up.  My left side was wet and my shoulder and hip hurt.

Donna took me home.  I let the cattle out of the corral so they could eat from the hay bale.  Then I had supper, took an ibuprofen, watched some TV with Daisy.  Once Daisy got up and off me I went to bed at 1:30 am.

This morning my shoulder hurt.  I realized I had fractured or broken it.  Donna took me to the hospital emergency room to have it checked out.  That took 4 and 1/2 hours.  At one point I had to ask someone to tell the nurse I was still there and ask if they had forgotten me.  In the meantime I had "neighbors" with a wrist injury, inner ear problem with balance, and a woman who had teeth pulled last Monday as prep for dentures and whom had gotten an inflection which the doctor then operated on to drain.

One chest x-ray and four shoulder x-rays later and the doctor told me I had a broken clavicle.  One part of the break is under the other part.  The doctor was amazed I wasn't in more pain as apparently collarbone breaks are very painful.  I had one ibuprofen at 11 am that morning and no breakfast.  He referred me to an orthopedic surgeon that I am suppose to call tomorrow to find out what is next.

Apparently this is a common injury for bicyclists.  And yes, I do know not to put my arm out to catch me in a fall.  It is my instinct to tuck my arms against my body and try to use the outer meaty part of my arm and thigh to take the blow.  This isn't my first fall.

My arm is now in a sling to restrict movement.  The injuries are on my left side and I am left handed.  I can move my arm though some positions are painful.  Putting on and taking off my shirt or coat is no fun.

The other injuries:

1. Two bumps on left side of my head.
2. Sore neck muscles on left side 
3. Swollen left shoulder
4. Bruised left ribs
5. Sizable abrasion on my left hip.

I never had a headache.  The doctor said I had no neurological damage though he doesn't think the memories of the accident and the later 2 1/2 plus mile ride afterwards will ever come back.  While I think I could have ridden the final 3 miles home I am glad I didn't have to and was able to sit for a while and rest.

For more info on broken clavicles:  http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic.cfm?topic=a00072

This situation is annoying.  The only good thing about it is the timing.  Better now for healing than during Summer.  Back in 2000 I had a non-displaced fracture of my right collarbone when a car hit me so I know that it takes a while to heal.