Installing New Hardware

Gone are the days of clearing airport security without setting off the metal detector...or are they? Apparently not all surgical hardware sets off those machines, but it's hard for me to believe that the titanium plate and seven screws pictured above wouldn't sound the alarm! Regardless, I'm just happy to get the surgery over and start the long road to recovery...again.

The surgery went very smoothly, from my perspective. After donning a lovely dressing gown and blue hat, Dr. Craig Loucks autographed my right collarbone (a new protocol to prevent surgery on the wrong body part -- you can make out the "CL" in the photo at left), the anesthesiologist gave me a "three glasses of wine" cocktail (administered through the IV in my arm) and the nurse wheeled me off to the operating room.

I barely remember moving from the gurney to the operating table. Next thing I knew I was waking up in recovery (at left) feeling no pain (and no nausea!).

Apparently the surgery went well from Dr. Loucks viewpoint, as well, except for a 30 minute delay while waiting for the Fedex guy to deliver the bone graft material!

But even with that delay I headed home with my shiny new titanium collarbone about 5 hours after arriving at the hospital.

I've spent the past seven hours parked on my couch dozing on and off. So far the pain and discomfort has been considerably less than what I experienced after the initial break. I hope that holds true when I crawl into bed tonight!

Thanks for everyone's thoughts and prayers. Keep sending positive vibes my way. I'm hoping for a speedy recovery and looking forward to picking up my new bike later this month and getting back the road again to begin training for Ride the Rockies!

Daren