Injury Update

I went to see the Doctor last Monday, the day after the race/injury. I got an appointment to see Dr. Owens at 4:15 p.m. She examined the shoulder had me move it and/or moved it all around and was impressed with the range of motion. She didn't think it was anything too serious but sent me to get a x-ray just to be sure. She also gave me a prescription for 800 mg of ibuprofen for good measure. So Tuesday I got the x-rays. They actually took four because the tech cut off the top of my clavicle on the first two. She didn't see anything out of the ordinary so she let me go. I spent the rest of the week in pain barely able to move my right arm without greater pain. Saturday morning I got a call from my doctor at around 8:30 a.m. She told me she was looking at the films and wanted to know if I knew I had a broken arm. Having woken up not too long ago I wasn't sure I heard her right so I asked her which bone was broken. She said it was the humerus up near the shoulder. My brain finally kicked in and I said that I knew I had broken my arm there about 33 years ago. She said it was good because the x-ray tech hadn't written anything about on the films. She then told me to give it another week and if it was still bothering me she would refer me to an ortho.

One week after the injury I saw improvement but nothing extraordinary. I still felt pain when I moved the arm, mostly around the outer part of my upper arm. I did not feel pain constantly though. That stopped yesterday. I rode my MT bike on Thursday and the arm did not bother me at all, although I rode on the road. I could not stand and pedal, it was too painful. I rode the trainer last night and that was mostly pain free. There might have been a circulatory issue because my arm started getting numb toward the end of the hour. I tried to ride outside on my road bike last Sunday but my saddle bolt stripped out and my saddle dropped about eight minutes into the ride. Fun! Actually, I was lucky it happened early in the ride. I didn't get to ride Monday but I did a road route on Tuesday that I hadn't done all year on my MT bike. I had never broke 1:20 on this ride and I finished it in less than 1:17. Again, I couldn't stand up and pedal due to discomfort in my shoulder but, then again, I didn't need to. I rode the trainer again Wednesday night and again started feeling numbness in my right arm toward the end.

Yesterday was Thursday, April 2, and I woke up and immediately stretched. I didn't realize I had stretched my right arm up and over my head until I felt just a little discomfort in the shoulder. I then noticed when getting dressed that I lifted my arm up to shoulder height without discomfort. Then I actually combed my hair with my right arm! Sweet!! I ran at lunch and felt a little soreness immediately after the run, but not too much. I would not be able to play ping pong yet but I think I'm track to be able to race this weekend. Today is a day off and tomorrow is Camp Hilbert #1 XC race. Wish me luck!