Holy Dinosaurs Batman!!!!

I get back in the office this afternoon, to find someone has occupied MY office. He is green, scaly, about 2'6" tall, needs to see a dentist, get a manicure, and probably a nice hot bath. No, it's not a mutant midget, but a HUGE dinosaur!

Les Cohen, a good business friend of mine has recently discovered my BLOB, (and what blogs are for that matter). He was amused by my dinosaur fetish, and hankering to Panera restaurants (where I stalk my favorite nurse, Nurse Barb) So, as I stroll in, I find that his wonderful assistant Monica, dropped the HUGE dinosaur (not named as of yet) off at my office, along with a beautifully worded "get well" note, and a GC for Panera! Hat's off to Les & the wonderful people at Cohen Development Company of Peoria, IL. Talk about putting a SMILE on a guy's face!

Turtle Soup

A little while back, my cycling buddies were discussing my swim technique. Dr. Reid keeps telling me I need to be more streamline, smooth etc. like a fish in water. After a little discussion, they all decided that I was no more "fishlike" in the water, than a bicycle is to a truck, so they have been calling me "The Turtle", small, stout, and kind of cumbersome I think. That's OK with me. I've been called worse by better.

Dr. Reid & I decided to swim yesterday afternoon down at the riverplex. First time in about 6 weeks, and first time since surgery. I needed to get back in the routine, but didn't know what to expect. As I expected, it was fun, although a little painful. I had to dig into my "suitcase of courage" and just do it. The first one is always painful, and it gets easier from there. I got home last night, wiped out, ate some food, watched Transporter 2 (awesome flick) and went straight to bed, not knowing what I would feel like this morning.

Well, guess what? The morning came, and I feel like The Turtle needs to go to the turtle hospital. Just kidding, a little R&R will fix all of that, and I'll be back in the pool this weekend!

Filet Mignon

G & I made the trek yesterday am to see Dr. Watson for the 30 day post surgery visit. I have been feeling pretty good, although I would not expect to not be running marathons at this point. The days get pretty long, and toward the evening, it's all of the energy I have to stay awake in some form of comfort. I think I know what it feels like to be 109 years old now.

I didn't really have high hopes for this visit, as I feel that I have been on a diet of "recovery" dog food for the past 2 years, 5 months & 19 days so to speak, without anyone at least throwing me a bone once & a while. Every doctor visit is some form of: "well, come back & see me in a month or two" or " this will take some time to heal" or something that essentially means that NOTHING is happening down there growth wise. All the while, I go home, try to be positive, keep a good attitude, put a smile on my face and do the right things for myself. After a while, you get sick & tired, of being sick & tired.

Well, Dr. Watson threw me a bone! We did the whole x-ray thing, and instead of films, they are digital, and appear in the patient room on two flat screen monitors. I of course check them out before Dr. Watson comes in, as it seems that I am a self proclaimed expert at this point on x-ray reading. The fibula, which I believe was broken during the procedure is missing a good size chunk. WOW! The tibia? Could not really tell.

Dr. Watson comes in, and we exchange pleasantries, as he is a really nice guy. We examine the x-rays, and viola, the tibia has compressed on the two broken sections about 3mm, and they actually "touch" each other! He explains how this is good, as the front & back will now grow together, and the middle of the bone will fill in over time. I actually thought I was going to cry, right there. I have not heard good news like that in a LONG time, like years?
Here's the front shot. Looks pretty good, with exception of the missing piece of fibula in the lower right corner. (The fibula is the weed of bones, and will grow back very quickly, as it was broken in multiple places during the accident)

And the side view, new titanium rod, screws & OP-1 bone graft installed. He pointed out the op-1 material in the x-ray, and how they brought out the big guns for the grafting procedure. He slipped that my insurance company will probably poop when they see the bill for the material. Oh well.

I have been restricted to: no ho-downs, marathons, power lifting or line dancing at this point, although riding indoors on the trainer & swimming are OK. I did 50 minutes on the bike last night, and will continue with that mixed with some swimming until he states further, next month. Maybe 3-4 more months of recovery to go at this point!

I FINALLY feel like I am off the dog food and on to a medium/medium rare 10 ounce filet mignon dinner! The kind that you don't even need a knife to eat!

Many thank-you's to Dr. Watson for ALL of his care & expertise, and e-mailing me over these x-rays. Pretty cool of him to take time out of his busy schedule to do that for me!

Random Posting, Scoobs & Goodwill

Off to St. Louis tomorrow am. to see Dr. Watson for the 30 day checkup, post surgery. I feel good. Rode indoors 5 days last week, the incisions look good, the swelling seems to be under control, for whatever that means at this point, and I hope to have some good news when I see him.

NOW! That being said, I "hoped" for some good news in the past, and it hasn't happened, so I do not have my hopes up.

I hope to go from this (above).

To this!

I will keep everyone posted! Cross your fingers, dot your "i's" cross your "t's" eat your vegetables, clean your plate, wear clean underwear etc.


OK, the clean underwear part? I can speak for that. The last thing you want is to have an EMT cut all of your clothes off after an accident, and discover you're wearing dirty scoobs!

Cycling, Squigs & Square Cuts

Sent an e-mail off to Dr. Watson this week, with an update of where I am at, ie: incisions are healing, no pain per se, being a good boy etc. He cleared me to go partial/full weight bearing as tolerated, as long as I was in the boot. I could do other activities as tolerated as well. So I started "walking" around the house, indoors between the countertops with the cane, just in case I fell over like last time.I feel good, considering that I have a new rod in my left tibia, a hardware store full of screws, a bunch of incisions, had a bone graft inserted and have layed on my rear on & off for 2.5 weeks.

So yesterday, I decided that I need to get back on the bike. Indoors, in a small gear, just to turn the legs over, and get my heart rate going to improve circulation. So I did, this morning, after G got home from group power class, as she would KILL me if I tried to go downstairs on my own.







I have a really wild hairdo, which will lead me into the next half.











I rode for 45 minutes in a 39x17 gear. Worked long & hard enough to build up a sweat. It felt great!

When G&I were in Quincy for Thanksgiving, my bro& sis-in-law were in from TX, with their kid's Tyler (13) & Shay (10). They brought their dog, Ellie. Well, Shay & I were being silly, and I told her that Ellie needed a "square-cut" ie: haircut. One thing led to another, and were teasing each other about square-cuts, and that Shay did not need a square-cut, because she wore a "squig" ie: a wig. She denied it, so after months of research, I found out the truth. Shay does wear a squig, and here's a picture of her wearing the proof:

She can no longer deny the squig, although it does look like she needs a square-cut!