Post-Op

I'm back. Essentially I had/have a staph infection, probably worked its way in along the incision seam and brewed away inside, but the surgeon said it didn't look like it was too big or that it got to the hardware (which hardware, even so, may have to come out at some later date). I had one operation on Thursday morning, got a PICC line installed, another operation Friday afternoon, all the while getting pumped full of esoteric antibiotics and painkillers, and after the infectious diseases specialist reviewed the lab reports they discharged me today.

No pictures this time around; this trip was grimmer and there was less of a "holiday air" about the whole procedure, though the process itself was a lot less of a hassle than the first operation. Unfortunately, I'm really getting to know my way around Muhlenberg... Once again, cool doctors (saw a lot more MD's & specialists this time around), and waaay cooler nurses & aides than last time. Can't say I had a blast, but it was a lot better than it might have been.

Got some visitors last night, Doug & Lori stopped by for a bit, which really raised my spirits -- Doug also got me home today, so thanks again.

What's next: I am on some oral antibiotics, as well as self-administered syringes I do through the PICC line. I inject myself three times a day for six weeks, and I have weekly blood tests and visits to the infectious disease specialist, but I should be on my way back.

One Final Update

Another quick post, with some info:

1. My operation is 10:15 AM tomorrow; wish me luck.

2. I have posted a few pics on Flickr from my recent towpath ride. (The party pics were not all that good.)

I probably won't be posting until at least the weekend, see you in a few.

Time For An Important Update

The pot roast was delicous. That is all.

Well, Guess Who Needs Another Operation

Morning weigh-in: 181#, 8% BF

Things were looking pretty good, lotsa mobility and the wounds were finally closed and healing, but then this weekend the situation took a turn for the worse: I started getting inflamed, then I got a discharge, which eventually became pus. (I am eating lunch as I write this, so I won't be dwelling on what I saw.) It looked kind of bad yesterday morning, so I called the doctor to see if I could get more antibiotics, and instead was told "the doctor will see you today." Skip out of work, go to the doctor, he looks at the leg and says an oral antibiotic will not be enough -- I will need to have the wound re-opened and cleaned, then spend some time in the hospital getting an antibiotic IV drip -- I go back in on Thursday. Shit.

Worst case scenario, I may need to have a "pick line" installed for home antibiotic IV (goodbye cycling for this year), and may also have the leg wound left open, so it can be regularly cleaned etc, then get skin grafts at some later date. Shit shit shit, shit shit and shit.

Anyway, deal.

Last night I went to Jordan, walked the trails there until the VMB meeting, which was surprisingly fruitful. Meeting was 7:00 to maybe 8:00, when it started to get cold & dark. After the meeting, I met Doug & Lori for dinner at JP McGrady's, then went home and prepped the pot roast. I will be eating that tonight, unless the crock pot burns the house down...

Welcome To My Hell

Morning weigh-in: 180#, 9% BF

Taco Hell! Yes, after eating right for over a month I broke down and had some Taco Bell for dinner. Well, it was that or cereal... I did laundry last night, ran out to dry it and stopped in at Porters for something to eat but I was too late. I spotted it immediately: Doug the cook was hanging at the bar, and he had his dog with him -- a sure sign that the kitchen was closed. Had a beer and "watched the game," fetched my laundry and just couldn't help myself, made the detour...

Don't know what I'm having tonight, but I'll be preparing a crock-pot pot roast for tomorrow. I also got a good tip at Saturday's party for my Bavarian Pork Chops: toss in some apples. Not sure how "Bavarian" the recipe is anymore, but this sounds like a good addition -- I'll try it next week.

Meantime, tonight: I'm going to the VMB meeting at Jordan Park, which is at 7:00, and before that I want to get in some errands, so there will be some general rushing around after work. Not sure when I'll eat, let alone what.

Dancing Fool

Went to that party yesterday, my friend Andrew's "Drinking and Smoking" shindig, after the gym and some errands. The idea was, he would provide two kegs of Weyerbacher (Winter Ale -- my favorite, and Merry Monk) and a smoker, and we would all bring meat or other food to smoke; there were also a bunch of grilled veggies. I brought one of those pork tenderloins, and, planning ahead, I took a taxi... Great party, though I only took a few photos (and only one was coherent), late at night when I remembered my camera, but by that point the party, which started out as a family-friendly afternoon picnic, and then became a fireworks show after dark, had degenerated into a few diehards dancing in the living room. I was right there in the middle of it, but I'm not sure if you can call it "dancing" when I never actually picked my feet up off the floor... Gotta hang out with that dude more often, he knows a lot of really good looking women.

Slept in a bit this morning, got up around 10:00 but with no ill effects other than a general smoky smell to my body. I got out around 1:00, rode the towpath to Sand Island, and ran into Bryan and Marge on the ride back. It was good to see them, and we talked for a bit but hey, the trails were waiting so we saddled back up and went our separate ways. I tried the singletrack along the river, which has been, um, aggressively maintained, and is now non-technical and very easy, so it wasn't as useful to gauge progress as I'd like, but I was riding singletrack.

Flickr Update: No new pics posted (I did take a few at the party and on the ride today, so stay tuned), but I took all my ankle photos, put them in order and made a set. You've seen them all before but now you can enjoy them -- chronologically!

The Internet Reaches Its High Water Mark

In an amazing confluence of politics, Photoshop, and inside jokes, the internet has produced its crowning masterpiece. (I didn't think he could beat either the Easter Bunny or Adam Yoshida pictures.) I guess it helps to know who all those people are, but it's better to check out Fat Chicks In Party Hats. "Wrong on so many levels" has never been truer, but I haven't laughed this hard since Time Cube. Of course, that guy really means it...

My Hopes, Dashed To Pieces

Morning weigh-in: 178.5#, 9% BF

Got a call last night, just before going to physical therapy: they have a problem with my insurance, so we had to cancel the appointment. Well, at least I found out at home rather than after driving there... Anyway, it was nice out so I went for a ride, about 9.3 miles on the (paved part of the) towpath and the Palmer Bike Path, with about 200-300 yards of very mild offroad. Dinner was leftover pork chops & sauerkraut, with some steamed stringbeans.

Next step: I'm waiting for a call from the therapy place, see if they have the insurance issue resolved, otherwise I'll just have to pick another place. If I don't go somewhere tonight, I'll hit the gym.

Cue The "Rocky" Theme

Morning weigh-in: 178.5#, 11.5% BF

Bavarian Black Forest Porkchops: How very Walpurgisnacht... Had those Bavarian pork chops last night. I think I'm getting jaded, I came home last night and the house smelled of dinner cooking, but I wasn't as impressed as last time. Still tasted good though, and I steamed some asparagus to go along with it.

Giant Steps: I was going to do a ride last night, but it looked like rain so I skipped it and ate dinner, then I decided to go anyway. Rode around three miles, maybe a little more, mostly in the neighborhood alleys and quieter streets. Ran into my old neighbor, Dapper Dan, and talked for a few minutes.

Tonight is my first night of therapy.

A Victory for Cubists Everywhere: I see that today is not just the anniversary of the start of the Chernobyl disaster, but also of the attack on Guernica.

The Word For World Is Forest

Just got back from a short walk: waiting for the cafeteria to open, I walked out the front door of the building, around and and back in at the side door, past a bunch of flowering, landscaper-planted trees, maybe apple. Nice scent in the air from the flowers, a little like being in the woods when the mountain laurel blooms. (I was disappointed that I couldn't watch spring come this year, except for looking at it from passing car windows. Luckily, the mountain laurel isn't for another month.) I think I'll go for a ride tonight, obviously something easy but I'll definitely be down to check out the river & towpath.

Dinner tonight will be Bavarian Pork Chops, slow-cooking away as we speak, so it should be done when I get home. I did a food run last night, bought another month's supply of meat, plus an extra pork tenderloin, which I'll bring to that dude Andrew's "Drinking and Smoking" party. (He's supplying a keg, but all guests have to bring some meat to cook in his smoker.) That's happening this Saturday -- which is also the season's first trailwork day at Allamuchy, more time in the woods -- and he lives along the towpath, so I may try riding to the party as well.

Meantime, I guess I'll check out the canopy tonight...

UPDATE: I just counted them up. All told, I have 982 photos online.

Sloosha's Crossing

Stayed in Friday night, played with computer.

Saturday I went to Coffee Works for breakfast, then the gym, and then went to the Quadrant for lunch and to buy some unground coffee. I was too tired/footsore after that for any other shopping or errands, so I just went home afterwards & took a nap. Crappy weather anyway, didn't feel like being out.

Saturday night I went out to Which Brew (no band) and met Brian for dinner. Early night for both of us.

Sunday I stayed in most of the day. Got up at say 8:00 AM, but immediately parked my butt in front of the computer, didn't even eat breakfast until noon. As a followup to conversations with trainer Dawn (who's reading a biography of Cicero), I downloaded Xenophon's Anabasis from the Gutenberg Project, and reading it while jamming out to the Electronica charts from SoundClick, weird juxtaposition I know but it kept me entertained...

I kept at the computer most of the rainy part of the day, then when it cleared up I decided to go look at the bikes. I did a little post-ride cleanup on the Turner, only seven weeks after the fact, then I got up some nerve and rode the Surly around the block, then I took the Turner out for a one-mile ride. Seven weeks to the day, and I'm at least technically back on the bike.

My morning routine is now to get up early & get ready, then kick back on the recliner for a few minutes of "foot higher than my heart" before going to work. I usually read a bit while I'm there, nothing big, mostly either short essays or a few pages of some book I already read. This morning I read part of Cloud Atlas, which I've been dipping into quite a bit lately. The part I'm reading is called "Sloosha's Crossinn an' Evr'ythin' After," or something like that. It's the story, told by an old man in Hawaii, maybe 1000 years from now, to his grandkids about how he escaped enslavement when his society was invaded and destroyed. Amazing story for a lot of reasons, but it just struk me how the behavior of the Ten Thousand with respect to the natives in northern Turkey was so similar to what happened to the invaded people in this other story.

Impulse vs. Momentum

Pretty soon I'll have to start weighing myself again, but I don't want to think about that now, after having sausage & pepper pizza for lunch...

I got a coffee grinder a few weeks back, total impulse buy while grocery shopping, but I have yet to use it. I still have a lot of ground coffee to go through, but I may buy some beans this weekend anyway. I'll also have a chance to go to the good old corner coffee shop, where I haven't shown my face in almost two months -- I may actually try for a "triple play:" Coffee Works for breakfast, Quadrant for lunch & bean-buying, and then a trip to that new coffee place on College Hill. I haven't done a triple play since, well, since the last time there were three coffee shops in Easton...

I made an appointment for physical therapy; I'll be going to the same place I went last time, up near Wind Gap. Next Wednesday is my first session.

Drove to work yesterday and today. It felt good to be independent but I was pretty worn down last night, went to bed almost immediately after dinner -- uh-oh, could this be the start of a head cold? Tonight I'll probably stay in; tomorrow I'll try to get out, but I think I'll stick with using a taxi.

It's Getting Better All The Time

Drove in to work today, which means I drove today for the first time since March 5th. Foot needed to stretch a little further than felt comfortable when working the clutch, but it was easy enough to do, and my driving skills were of course all still there. My friend/co-worker Scott showed up, on his bike, just as I was about to leave, and so I gave him a ride to work as well. (He used to live around the block from me but now lives in Nazareth, and I guess he realized he was running too late to continue biking in, took a chance that I'd be there...)

The secret, revealed: I finally figured out what all the skater kids in my neighborhood remind me of. They all look like, like... The Ramones. Healthy Ramones, at least, which is good.

Good meeting last night, even if the attendance was a bit light. There were only seven members there, but we had a nice dinner of burgers etc, then a meeting that I at least thought was very productive. We also looked at a bunch of Brian's Moab photos, and heard some of the stories. Got to show off my foot, got some more advice (skip the betadine, use neosporin, walk on it a little more frequently to help loosen it up). The foot feels a lot better today, thanks to keeping it limber -- and also not forgetting to take painkillers before going to work. Tonight I'll probably try to shop on my own, after some more chili.

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

Foot is not as happy now as yesterday, it stiffens up unless you work it; sleeping got it pretty locked up, and sitting at work is not doing it many favors either. I've been using the crutches to get around; once the foot/ankle warms up (say 50 yards of walking) it's good for a while, but here at the office most of my walking is about 10 feet max.

Tonight is the Chain Gang meeting, or at least I hope so. Attendance will probably be sparse, and some members have been agitating for a cancellation. We shall see.

Three, Two, One, Castoff!

Yep, it came off today. Mom & Dad came up in the morning, not suspecting that I also had a ton of chores that needed doing, but first order of business was to go to the doctor's office. That was pretty uneventful, the cast came off in what, from stories I've heard, is the usual way -- ie they used a small circular saw, more like a wafer wheel -- gave my foot a little cleaning, and took a few x-rays. When the x-rays were ready the doctor came in, said everything looked pretty good, answered my questions and gave me a prescription for physical therapy. Unfortunately, it turns out that Valley Sports & Arthritis only takes my insurance for surgery etc, not for their in-house rehab, so I'll have to find somewhere else to go.

Anyway, got home, put my other shoe on (tight fit due to swelling; I also think my toes have become a little splayed), and with the extra support of the hiking boots I tried a little experiment -- within a few minutes I was able to walk without crutches. Woo-hoo!

We finished up the chores and errands at my place, which mostly revolved around laundry and garbage, then had a late lunch at Lutzi's (a place I'd passed by hundreds of times, but never been inside... verdict: it was good) before my parents headed home. Thanks again Mom & Dad!

By the way, you can see photos of my cast coming of by clicking here (WARNING: ICKY).

Monday Rap

(Cast comes off tomorrow!)

Cooking/Eating: Had that chili last night, probably my best batch so far. Two pounds of stewing beef (cubed, not ground), two onions, one red and one green bell pepper, the ingredients from two of those "chili kits" (with Weyerbacher Heresy oak-barrel-aged stout), some canned corn, canned diced tomatoes and a can of black beans. I chopped the peppers and onions pretty fine, which I think made a big difference.

The only disappointments were that the meat, which wasn't all that marbled, came out a little dry despite stewing for eight hours (note to self: don't believe the crockpot cookbook, get better cuts of meat), and there weren't enough beans. I may add some red beans today now that the pot's a little lighter, but I basically had the pot almost filled and wasn't sure I could fit one more can of beans in last night.

A few tweaks here and there, but I think I've just hit upon my "standard chili" recipe. Work this one a few more times and I can start branching out. Pork & chicken, chili verde...

Meanwhile, back at the Super Dimensional Fortress: I fixed up some of my photo galleries, there was a problem with the HTML for navigation. I still don't know why my gallery maker script acts funny when I use it on freeshell.

Sunday Night Wrap-Up

(Two days until the cast comes off -- actually, "one day and a wake-up.")

Let's see, last post was Friday...

Friday night I went out to Which Brew, 3rd day in a row there. It was pretty cool, not too crowded even for a weekend, lotsa regulars, and Ryan Carr's trio had a guitarist sit in for some jazzy goodness. Got home kind of late, maybe 12:30.

Saturday was the gym, then a few chores around the house. Though I get to the gym by taxi, my trainer Dawn has been kind enough to drive me home , and this time she had a gift for me: a special boot-like device you step into, and roll on the floor to work your ankle. She's aces in my book...
Later in the day I put on my old college bookbag, gimped up to CVS and bought milk and other necessities. Much tougher walk than I anticipated, another (approximately) mile-long walk but with a heavy pack for the return stretch, and the pavement on this route was not very even. Glad I did it though, and not just because I needed that stuff...

Saturday night was back to Which Brew, then over to Porters. It was that young girl Megan's birthday (she must be all of 24 by now), so a few of her friends, as well as some of the bartenders from WB, ended up at Porters forone last drink. They're all pretty cute & fun people, so a bunch of guys (including me) tagged along. Late night for me, I called for a cab at like 2:00 AM, finally got a ride home just before 3:00 from my friend Bill -- he manages Porters, stopped in as the place closed and saw me on the deserted street; we talked for a minute while cabs drove by, not picking me up. When he came out I was still there so he said "screw the cab, hop in." I was all for it.

Today I slept in until about 9:00, then just hung out. Made chili, which smells awesome and should be done right about now, dinner after this post. Tomorrow I have to go in early, so it's an early night for me.

Reading: The Broom of the System, David Foster Wallace's first novel.

When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloomed

(Four days until the cast comes off.)

Saw a porch decorated with lilacs yesterday. Most likely they were plastic, and more than likely it was an Easter thing, but it reminded me of Lincoln who was shot today. Trees seem a little late to bloom this year; it may be the drought.

I had another crazy dream last night, again involving Jamestown Drive: driving around with a bunch of friends (including the guy who drives me home from work) in Bob W's car, while I was in between eye surgery sessions (that -- earlier -- part was pretty freaky), we saw a woman I work with walking down the street on Jamestown Dr, just by that unoccupied house. We stopped, talked and went with her to her house, which was the Benkes's house, only decorated inside with giant slabs of dark wood, like giant slabs of plywood hangings or something -- she claimed they were part of her new sound system, but they looked like the alien decor from Independence Day. The wood had a weird odor too, first time I can remember odor playing such a distinctive part in a dream... Anyway, we hung out there until I got a call on my phone: I was late for the operation on my other eye. The alarm went off shortly after.

H&R Block for taxes, and then Which Brew (again) were the awake parts of my evening.

Long Day So Far

(Cast comes off in five days.)

Not much to say. I got a phone call from Brian last night: they miss me, but not enough to stop them from having a great time without me... It sounded like they've ridden every day since they got there, some days even doing two rides, and everyone is getting along beautifully. (Brian actually sounded surprised to discover that Greg H is a great person.)

Feeling blue and left out again, I decided that the best thing for me to do after that was to go out, so I called a cab and went to down Which Brew. It was a quiet Wednesday night: a few guys were there, talking mainly fishing, though my presence forced some injury/rehab tales into the mix. (Since I usually come in, put my crutches against a wall and sit at the bar, there were a few people there, who have seen me plenty of times since I got hurt and had no idea that I was hurt or in a cast until last night.)

Says Young James To Red Molly...

(Six days until the cast comes off.)

Listening: Among my birthday presents was Richard Thompson's Rumor and Sigh, which means I now have a copy of "52 Vincent Black Lightning" for my very own. Ahhh... -- and if fate, should break my stride...

Speaking of strides, I went for a walk on Sunday before my parents came up. (Or as my friend at work said, I "went for a limp.") Went down to the hospital, then over and back via Washington Street -- little kids stopping their play to stare agog as I gimped past -- for a total distance of about a mile. Luckily there was a bus stop (with bench) by the hospital, and war memorials (with benches) along the wide, grassy Washington Street median, because my arms had major fatigue. Benches didn't help with the raw spots rubbed into my armpits by the crutches though. Raw spots are just about healed up now, so I may go for another walk tonight.

Dinner last night was the last of the pork tenderloin, with some steamed stringbeans and a bunch of grapes for dessert. Therefore, lunch today is a slice of pepperoni pizza, and one of sausage & peppers.

Ka-boom! Billmon drops the bomb. I sure wish he posted like he used to, ie more frequently.