I broke my collarbone a few years ago and had a similar problem, only without the floating chunk. When I intially went to the ER the bones were together and it looked like a clean break...until my mom ran over a huge pothole on the way out of the hospital. And then they were separated. When I went to the orthopedist 10 days later I was shocked to see that my bones weren't even touching, there was a large gap of about a full cm between them.

I had been tempted to rush to surgery so I could get on the road to recovery and be done with it. However, the doctor and my second opinion doctor both suggested I let it heal naturally. I wore the figure 8 brace and I would suggest that you do too...but I'm not your doctor. I know it helped me keep my shoulders back and keep everything stabilized. It really does take a LONG time for the healing to start. I broke it in Feb and didn't have my final xrays until June. After about 3 months, the bones finally started to fuse.

I am fully healed now, although my bones overlap by a good half inch. It's a little goofy to the touch, and of course the xrays look ridiculous. At the point where they overlap, my collarbone is a good inch thick...lovely. The overlap is ok. The marrow etc that you're worried about doesn't matter. What does matter is the natural blood and nutrients surrounding the bone. That is what will help the new bone to develop. The doctors told me if I had surgery to put a plate in, they have to disrupt that coating and it would take longer to heal in the long run. The overlaping bone should be stronger than it was orginally....

Anyway, just try to be patient. I know I thought the bones were never going to come back together...but they did...eventually!

EAT YOUR TUMS!!!