Now what will they do? HELP

I was at work and had placed my hand up on my neck and felt a large buldge, it was noticeable but, didn't have extreme pain. Went  straight to ER, did X-rays to find out it was my clavicle bone, was  sent to a cardio-thorasic doctor who did more x-rays and a CT scan to tell me that my clavicle bone was moving towards the back of my throat nearing my artery. I was having issues with feeling slight pressure and  food getting stuck in my throat.  On October 31, 2011  I had my first surgery where the doctor shaved the head of my bone down , he drilled holes in the bone to reattach my tendons and ligaments, wore a brace and was off work for 8 weeks. When I did return to my job as a cook at a child care facility I was wiping down a counter top and heard a pop and felt pain. Was told all his work shredded and he went back in on January 23, 2012 and put a titanium plate on and was told I would be off work now for 6 months to be sure I would heal slowly.  Followed  doctors orders wore a sling for 8 weeks and was being careful and not doing anything but healing. Around the 4th month was allowed to do some PT, began to notice that it wasn't right. I would hear and feel crunching noises  when I moved  had at times sharp pain. Went back into doctor to find out now that a screw was loose and my plate has moved up off my clavicle and still is, my neck has a big lump in most the time and movements. Somedays are ok, some are painful, am now seeing an Orthopedic who tells me I need to get this removed. I'm not sure how it happened but, was thinking that 9 months before my first surgery I had falling at work, trying to avoid stepping on a child who had ran in front of me as I was setting up for lunch, I went down on my right side with my arm out streched. I was taken in and checked out and nothing was seen then and the first doctor thought that with all the movement I do from my job made it finally just let go and popped up into my neck. Is that possible?  Can it be secured?

[S. Kaul, MD]

Hi there!

Well, sometimes even a trivial trauma can result in complications while at other times even grave trauma passes without any serious effects. Regardless of what caused the displacement, this would need to be fixed surgically to aid in better movement and avoid future complications of soft tissue injury. Hopefully we can get it correct the third time. I would suggest discussing the situation and the management plan in detail with your treating orthopedician.
Hope this is helpful.

Take care!