crosslegged on the front lawn

On Tuesday morning I got hit by a car on my cycle to work.

I was on Sydney Rd headed south when a woman turning right into Edward St failed to notice me and collided with me. I hit the bonnet I think. Taking most of the impact in my shoulder and my hip. My bike was thrown out from under me. I'm not sure how I ended up on the ground but I wasn't thrown and didn't skid. Thankfully I didn't hit my head (but of course I was wearing a helmet).

Heard the cyclist behind me yell out while I lay on the road swearing and trying to work out if I was okay. The woman got out of her car and was in tears. A man came up, told me he was a first aider and helped me off the road (I'd already started to get up by this point, having decided I hadn't broken my back or my neck).

We exchanged details while the two people who stopped to help collected my smashed up bike and belongings off the road. The woman was still so upset I ended up giving her a hug. I guess I was just happy to still be walking. I called work and Emilly and left teary voicemails.

The first aider drove me to Royal Melbourne and I got to wait around in emergency for a while. My boss called back and said she was going to send some people from work to keep me company and make sure I got home safely. At that point I didn't think it was too bad.

Eventually got seen by a physiotherapist and tried to faint when they removed my shirt. At that point we realised just how out of shape my shoulder was. The doctors suspected a dislocated ac- joint and were surprised I'd remained conscious and walked in to the hospital. They sent me for X-rays at which point we discovered I had a broken clavicle with about 2-3cm of bone completely displaced into the muscle of my shoulder. Got given the good painkillers and seen by an orthopedic surgeon who said I was going to need a plate.

Was admitted to the ward with surgery scheduled for the morning. I'm told the surgery took around 45 minutes and I was given a hookplate with 6 screws and a hook to hold the ac- joint in place. This is going to leave a permanent scar and a permanent numb patch on my shoulder. Also because of the hook, which will foul up my shoulder, the plate has to be removed again in 3-6 months.

Spent another night in hospital so they could observe me and give me post op antibiotics. Was discharged on Thursday morning. Will have a follow up at the outpatient clinic in about a week and a half as well as some physio.

Lots of other bruises. Hip, inside of knee, hand and arm all have big dark bruises as well as the one on my shoulder. There's still more coming up too. I've impressed my derby friends. I looked at Runkeeper today. I was going much faster than I thought. I told the doctor 15kph. Runkeeper says more like 30kph.

Filed a report with the police when I got home on Thursday. I'm not interested in pressing charges (unless she changes her mind about paying for my bike), but I need a report filed to make a TAC claim for my medical expenses. Took my bike to the mechanic to get a quote for it's repair ($400, not bad considering, most of the frame is intact). Since then I've been sat around watching telly with Mum (who flew over).

Pain is manageable. Only on over-the-counter pain meds right now, although they did give me some stronger ones if I need. Getting dressed is the hardest bit. Can't put on a bra, or a fitted tee. Wish I had more casual buttoned shirts. Not allowed to raise my arm above my shoulder or lift more than a cup of tea. Have to wear a sling. Got 2 weeks off work before they reassess me. Not sure how it's going to affect my conference engagement in August, or my plans to go to Perth yet. Good thing Emilly just bought lots of new TV. Might also pull some books from work's library. There are some topics I wanted to get up to speed on.

Even though I'm fairly ambidextrous it's amazing how much of the house assumes you have a functioning right arm. Silly things like the side the toilet paper is on, or my bedside lamp. Turns out that an iPad works really well one-handed though.