As you may have read from my previous post, I had a shoulder fracture that happened during bike section of a sprint race at the end of April. My doctor told me that I had tuberculum majus fracture. I had an operation on May 3rd. It was a successful operation that took almost 4 hours. When I left the operating room, I saw my family, my teammates and friends welcoming me at the gate. It was a nice moment. Nurses took me to my room and they were taking good care of me.
It was the first time, I had an operation and was wearing a sling like that. Doctor warned me that my arm should not touch my body so there was kind of pillow between my arm and my body. I had to wear it for 3 weeks. I really tried to take care of myself during that period. I minimized eating rice, bread, sugar and etc. I focused mostly on meat and vegetables. The nights were painful as I could not lie on my bed. I will never forget these days.. I could not wear my clothes by myself, I could not do the things easily, I wasn't even really clean. It was really boring. I was actually walking almost everyday. I did not take any public transport, I always used taxi. It could be very dangerous at Public Transport because people may not understand my pain or they would just ignore the fact that I was wearing sling..
During this 3 weeks, I tried to visit my coach and meet with my teammates. It was actually a nice feeling with them. I wasn't going to work and I have my free times. :) I even did some stretching exercises for my legs.
At the end of the 3 weeks, I paid a visit to my doctor. He removed the pillow on my sling, now I was only wearing a sling and he told me that I should not raise my arm to my side now :) I had to wear it for 3 weeks again. For my training, I was running slowly and doing some stretches during this period. I had the chance to see Istanbul as a tourist now. It was a nice feeling. However, I started to lose my eating habits and started to eat some desserts and nice kebabs :)
I also decided not race at Ironman Copenhagen as I will not be race-ready for full Ironman (I thought I could be but I began to face realities :( ).
Anyway, 3 weeks has passed with nice touristic Istanbul tour and I had to visit my doctor again. This time, he removed the sling completely. I was free now :) But I could not move my arm as I could in the past. He told me that the real struggle begins now. I did not know what to do. The physiotherapy center of the hospital was working from 9 am till 5 pm and I have to return to my job. I actually changed my company during this period. So it would be so hard to visit that center during day time. We knew a physiotherapist that gives that service at home so I arranged some sessions with him.
At the beginning, I took these sessions almost everyday. It was nice to see some developments on my shoulder. He applied
Cold temper with Compex for 20 minutes,
Manuel therapy,
Codman Excercises,
Scapular Mobilization.
and other exercises that I do not remember their names :)
He was trying to open my joints. I have also visited my surgeon during this period.
Anyway, one month after physiotherapy, my doctor told me that I no longer need to visit her. However, I knew there was something wrong because I could not raise my arm as I should. It doesn't make any sense. The problem was I wasn't using my shoulder muscles to raise my arms I was raising it with the help of scapula muscle which would definitely cause more problems in the future. I wasn't using my shoulder muscles.
Below photo shows my struggle when I raise my arm. During my visit at doctor it was almost 180 degrees but I was really struggling with it.
During this period I tried few swimming sessions as well as some push ups and some strength exercises.
After my physiotherapy doctor told me that I no longer need to visit her, I was pissed off and I have also decided to leave my physiotherapist and moved to a new center. It was actually not nice to have physiotherapy at home conditions. It was okay at the beginning, but it could not help me to move any further. I have decided to go to another physiotherapy center which has good conditions and more physiotherapists.
So to summarize my injury period
28th of April: Had an accident
5th of May: Had a surgery
18th of June: Physiotherapy at home begins
26th of July: Physiotherapy doctor told me I no longer need to visit her.
31st of July: I was applied a test at my new Physiotherapy Center
2nd of August: Second period of my physiotherapy sessions begins.. and so the changes in my eating habits!
I will comeback stronger :)
This will be followed in the part 2 of this article as I am still having physiotherapy at this center and I hope to finish it successfully in September. :)
In the meantime, I will bike and run :)
For those who are suffering from injury I would like to let them know that
Never have negative minds,
Always remain positive,
Enjoy your free times.. Definitely!!!
Remember that you will need to start over,
Forget how strong you were..
Try to maintain eating healthy, but do not back yourself much! So you can have a nice before and after photos later.. There is no problem on gaining weights (I am working on my body now :) ) I just do not eat junk food, maybe a very very very little. You might see difference at the end of this year :)
Trust the process!
You will comeback stronger!!