Broken Clavicle Journey Part 2 - Taking the metal plate out

This is part 2 of my broken clavicle journey.  I met with Dr. Lucas about six months after the surgery and he asked if I wanted the metal to be taken out.  I said I did and we set up a surgical date right for after my last marathon of the year.

Two weeks post surgery

Six weeks post surgery

13 months post surgery

I didn't really have to have the metal out but it was my choice and I weighed the pros and cons of it.

•  Pros for removal - The metal plate could be seen through my skin (ridges on last photo is not bone but plate), when I wore a backpack it would rub against the plate and hurt, it was sensitive to the cold and every now and then my right shoulder/clavicle area would hurt.  
• Cons for removal - Undergoing another surgery.  The bone will have holes from the screws that will take a while to heal to full strength.

I had also read that should I fall again on the same spot, the metal could possibly bend which would be crazy painful.  I also read it could fortify my clavicle so there would be no chance of breakage.  So if the doc didn't offer it, I would have just lived with it in but since I have good health insurance this year, I decided to get it out.

Day 1:

I was in and out of surgery in less than an hour.  The prep and recovery time took longer.  I don't have a problem with anesthesia so I recovered with no problem except a maddening headache from caffeine withdrawal (I couldn't eat or drink anything after midnight and I was out of surgery by 10am).  I was given pain killers during the last phase of the operation so my clavicle felt fine but my throat was sore from where they inserted a tube for breathing.  I just took ibuprofen for the pain during the day but by nightfall, the pain at the incision was intensifying so I took a Norco pill to help me fall asleep at 8pm.  That was a mistake.  Norco makes me drowsy but it also raises my heartbeat by about 20 bpm so instead of falling asleep, I was awake.  I finally fell asleep after 3 hours but it was a restless sleep and I decided I'm just going back to ibuprofen.   I also had to pee about 5 times during the night since they gave me fluids during the operation and I guess I was just hanging on to it until I fell asleep.  It was a little painful where the incision was getting up out of the recliner that I slept in but nothing like the pain I felt last year after the accident or the surgery to put the metal in.  

The doctor mentioned he might sew my deltoid and pectoral muscles back together where they were scraped off last year to insert the metal.  This may be why it hurts when I open my mouth too wide.  The Platysma muscle connects to the deltoid and pectoral muscles over the clavicle to the lower jaw and that may be what he reinforced.  

Day 2:

General soreness at the incision. It hurts to raise my arm above shoulder height.  I can still feel a little pull when I open my mouth wide but the pain is lessening.  I might try sleeping lying down tonight instead of the recliner but I'm done with the Norco.  I'm not using the sling they gave me but I did notice that I instinctively held my arm in a slinged position and held my right hand with my left when I went for a walk today.
It's  more swollen than yesterday but I figured that's the progression.  Icing it really helps.


Day 3:
I went back to using the sling full time.  All the memories I had from last year's surgery came back to me when I had trouble lifting my right arm to brush my teeth or wash my face.  Surprisingly, the shoulder is getting stiffer so last year's should pain was related to the clavicle after all and not that I did extra damage to the shoulder.  I did drive the car to meet a friend for lunch.  I was paranoid but the stiffness in the arm didn't interfere with driving.

Day 5:
My shoulder is sore but I really feel I'm recovering quickly.  I use the sling for walking outside but have stopped using it indoors.  I was able to use my right arm to make cookies so I guess I can't use this as an excuse to just sit around and watch videos.