On September 9, 2013 I wrote about the bike accidents I had in over 50 years of cycling. Unfortunately that now needs updating. I've had 2 crashes that landed me in an ER; both involved fractures. One occurred on September 28th on a Randoneur ride which started in Rome. Despite a fractured femur I did a 200 km ride 4 weeks later. Details of that are in a post dated October 26.
On Saturday while doing a 115 km Rando event I crossed railroad tracks and managed to drop my front wheel into a wide gap. The tracks were at an angle and I lined up on the right side of the road to cross them perpendicular as I've done thousands of times. A car passed me going in the same direction and I was paying more attention to that than the tracks. A wide gap grabbed my front wheel and I went down on my left side. That earned me an ambulance ride to Atlanta Medical Center where after 5 hours of x-rays and CAT scan I was diagnosed with a displaced left clavicle fracture, concussion and a hip pointer.
They elected not to do surgery on my clavicle then, but a follow up discussion with the ortho doctor who has done work on me before led me to conclude surgery is the best option for me. Trying to wear a clavicle brace that I could not take off or put on myself turned out to be too uncomfortable; and this opinion from someone who knows how to manage pain. I hope to be back riding on the road soon, but will have to figure out that timetable after surgery which is scheduled for February 12.
My observations haven't changed from that earlier post, but I would add one. Emergency rooms are the place to go for true emergencies. However, your care is prioritized by the level of trauma, not only yours but in comparison to every other patient. That's not a complaint; that's how it should be. For me that translated into first class quick treatment in Rome on a relatively calm day in their ER, compared to a 5 hour wait at Atlanta Medical Center on an evening they were also dealing with 2 fatalities. I was grateful not to be a level 1 trauma.
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