Doctor, Doctor, Gimmie the News!

After wondering if everything was healing as it should.  Wondering if the pain and swelling was normal.  Wondering if I should be walking without a cane.  Wondering if I was ever going to be normal again.  I went to see the surgeon who put me back together.

And it turns out everything's hunky dory.  Insert big sigh of relief here.  They (the medical profession) could really save folks some worry if they'd just let you know what to expect.  He says I'm ahead of the curve and all is proceeding according to schedule, and for me to relax and not get in a big rush.  Doing more will not make it heal any faster.  But damn I ready to be done with this!

Some things I've learned:

Every time you lean a cane or crutch up against something it will fall down.
A muscle relaxer and a glass of wine will make you sleep like a baby.
It takes twice as many trips from the kitchen to set the table if you only have one hand.
Some people want to hear all the details of the crash, others it just freaks out.
You can only watch so much TV.
I am just starting to miss doing yard work.
I can resist the urge to bonk people with my cane who say "maybe now you'll grow up".
There are a lot of folks with much larger issues than I have.
Bad stuff just happens, I know that's scary, but it just does.
Physical Therapy will hurt that night and into the next day.
I would be a complete wreck without The Lovely Wife to take care of me.

And that's just the surface.  I won't go into all the kumba ya stuff.

What I Miss:

A day with no pain.

Walking without an aid.

Running

Yard work

A good nights sleep.

My gym work outs.

Being able to go where I want.

And last but not least RIDING MY BIKE!

For Right Now

Anyhoo, I am making progress.  It's just going very slow.  People tell me "it's only a blip, you won't remember this in 5 years".  I just don't know about that.  The Doc says 5 months until I'm basically pain free.  A year to get my fitness back.  I had hoped to be able to race the Georgia XC Series in March, but now, I'm just not so sure.  I do know that my dream of being able to race CX in my 80's is starting to look dimmer.

I can ride the trainer for over an hour, getting my HR into zone 5 sometimes.  I still have issues with sitting in the saddle that long but hey, I had that problem before I got hurt.  I have started to look longingly at my CX bike while riding the trainer and dreaming of long clay road rides.  I suppose I should start out riding on the road though.  It would be smoother and I will be used to the road bike by the time I can get it off the trainer.  We'll see.