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jeffreypratt
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| It's time. |
[Jul. 7th, 2007|08:29 am] |
Today marks the one year anniversary of my elbow surgery, and I'm marking the occasion by eating pasta and resting my legs in preparation for tomorrow's half marathon. I've also been reading training blogs and freaking out about keeping my heart rate under control for three hours while I run up and over hills. This is going to be a ridiculous challenge, but I'm looking forward to it in a sick way.
Yesterday, we went to the Bellevue Hilton to pick up our race materials and I discovered that my registration had not been received by Seafair, so I had to re-register and get a new bib number (3227). I have a sinking feeling that my official results might be difficult to locate. I activated my timing chip and instead of my name, I saw "CF84764". I suspect this means that I won't get to hear my name being called when I cross the finish line.
I have also been assembling a playlist of some horrible awful music for my iPod. We're talking butt rock (Motley Crue, Poison, Quiet Riot), cheesy movie soundtracks (Rocky theme) and gay dance music (Paul Oakenfold, Le Disko) along with some weirdness (Devo, Reload) thrown in for good measure. I can't wait--three hours' worth of music that I'd otherwise be ashamed to listen to!
I feel like I've trained haphazardly--no attention paid to pace vs. heart rate, etc. and just focused on distance. I keep telling myself not to worry, that this is just a baselining exercise, but I can't help but wonder what could happen if I trained properly. I haven't given much thought to what happens next, but... |
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| Adventures in fitness |
[Jan. 27th, 2007|04:44 pm] |
The odometer on my almost one-year old bike read 327 this morning. I did not ride much last summer because of my elbow, so today, I decided to start the new year of cycling with a 15 mile-ish warm up ride. My elbow held up great, and I actually feel pretty good, fitness-wise. I just need to work on the hills...ugh. The Chilly Hilly is at the end of February...I might give that a try just for fun. I probably should buy some better cranks first.
I also went to the Seattle Running Company. I hate running, but I've been thinking more and more that I should probably be able to represent my fitness level by proving that I can run five miles. Then, if I can do that and I don't feel like slashing my wrists, I might consider training for a half marathon or something. Since I get nasty shin splints and swollen ankles when I run, I decided to start with a nice pair of proper running shoes. The SRC people put you on a treadmill and make a video tape of your feet while you jog. From this, they are able to determine where you require support, padding, extra room, etc. The shoes aren't cheap but an expert tells me they make all the difference. So according to the SRC sales dude (who looked disturbingly like Adam Morrison), my stride is so weird and I'm so tall that they have to special order shoes for me. Hooray! I get to postpone running for at least a week! |
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| I sing the body electric |
[Jul. 21st, 2006|09:00 pm] |
Today is the first time in a long time that I feel like my arm's range of motion is improving. I can straighten it further than before, but I'm still having problems pulling it up toward my shoulder. More importantly, it doesn't feel like I'm hitting something at the end of the range of motion.
After observing me struggling through my elbow exercise routine this morning, the physical therapist decided that radical measures were in order. She hooked me up to some kind of a generator with jumper cables attached to my arm, wrapped my elbow in a hot wrap (with the usual extra weight tied to my hand), and then cranked up the voltage so that my arm tingled. Then she left me there for 12 minutes.
She also spent some time massaging my arm (and of course, by "massaging", I mean bending/pulling/lifting/stretching my elbow in ways that it is not happy about). She kept asking me, "Does this hurt?" and when I would point out specific spots that actually did hurt, she would immediately start prodding at them.
It's torture. She's kinda cute, too. |
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| Let's get physical |
[Jul. 17th, 2006|08:11 pm] |
I saw the physical therapist today, and it wasn't quite as humbling as I thought it would be. I've got some fun exercises to do, such as "active resistive elbow flexion" and "resistive forearm pronation/supination". The latter involves a hammer--no joke. The "resistance" is provided by an elastic band that I stand on or shove into a door. But the best exercise of all is the one where I roll up a towel and squeeze it as hard as I can for 10 seconds.
After showing me the workout routine, the therapist hooked me up to a hot arm wrap and placed a weight on my hand for ten minutes, in hopes that gravity would do its thing and stretch out my arm muscles. That one hurt pretty bad.
I also have to deal with "scar therapy", which involves rubbing a vitamin E lotion onto the scar and massaging it several times per day. This is supposed to prevent the skin from tightening up and thus further restricting my range of motion.
If I'd known that breaking my arm would get me a "free" personal trainer, I would have done it a long time ago! |
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| Training, take 2 |
[Jul. 15th, 2006|02:05 pm] |
If all had gone as planned, I'd be riding STP today having cranked out a century ride every week since June. Unfortunately, surgery conspired to slow down my progress.
I have not worked out regularly for almost two months. I've gone for a walk or two, and of course a hike but not much else. So this isn't even starting over, because I'm in worse shape now than I was in back in May when I started riding regularly.
So, yeah...I went for a ride today. Only 11 miles, confined entirely to the greater Magnoliastan area. I took many, many breaks because my left arm is really weak. I didn't realize how much I really do need the physical therapy! I found it very difficult to hold onto the bars with my left hand, and I couldn't apply much force to the left brake lever. Oh, and my elbow hurt like hell for the whole ride. Too soon? Maybe, but I can't sit here and let the summer pass by without a fight.
I'm rooting for Floyd Landis in the Tour de France since he has a busted hip and I feel his pain.
In other news, the fine folks at Apple are replacing my iBooks main logic board again. When I described the problem to the Genius, I heard a guy at the other end of the counter say, "He's got the same problem I have," while pointing to his own iBook. Why does Apple continue to insist that there is not a systematic problem with these things? Oh, well...I shouldn't complain because I'm not paying for it. But if I, er, should happen to come into any money soon (ahem), I'm gonna have a hard time not plunking down $1200 for a Macbook. Those things are sweet! |
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| One step forward, one step back. |
[Jul. 14th, 2006|07:24 pm] |
I had my post-operation follow-up appointment today. They removed my stitches and allowed me to show off my scar. It's nasty! But it could have been a lot worse. I also get to have some physical therapy to re-learn how to straighten my left arm, but the doctor was not surprised to learn that I have not yet recovered my full range of motion. Encouraging news all around...
I'd post a photo of the scar but unfortunately, my iBook croaked again. It won't even turn on, so I need to make an appointment with the geniuses some time this weekend. Seriously, Apple's software is so good that I'm willing to ignore the fact that their hardware blows ass and possibly buy a MacBook in spite of the fact that my iBook has failed catastrophically twice in 1.5 years. That's QUALITY. |
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| It doesn't hurt quite as bad as it looks |
[Jul. 12th, 2006|08:35 pm] |
Here:
Underneath that yucky iodine yellow gauze are seven stitches that look like little black ants sitting on my arm (just to make a gross situation even more gross). Hopefully, on Friday, the doctor will remove the stitches and I can start showing off this new man-made scar of mine.
I still can't fully straighten my arm but I've been stretching it out as much as possible and it seems to be slowly progressing toward its original range of motion. The pain and swelling is way down, and I made it through most of today without taking a single pain pill (prescription or Advil), although the result is that I can feel a "tugging" sensation around the incision when I move my arm.
I'll probably need some physical therapy to help my arm remember how to straighten itself but otherwise things are coming along very well. |
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| And now, recovery |
[Jul. 8th, 2006|01:43 pm] |
My surgery was "successful", in the sense that I have no new metal parts and am expected to regain full range of motion quickly. I'm doped up on pain killers for the bulk of the weekend, sitting here with an ice pack and getting caught up on my Netflix.
The procedure was super-quick. I arrived at the surgery center at 11:45 AM, and I was changed into my gown and booties by 12:15. There was another 30 minutes of answering questions and prep work that included me writing my initials on my left arm with a felt pen, just to ensure that they didn't operate on the wrong one.
The anesthesiologist put an I.V. in my right hand and hooked me up to a bag of something, and then we walked down the hall to the operating room. I laid down on the table and the anesthesiologist got to work while the surgeon sat in the corner and waited his turn.
"Are you worried about his heels?" someone asked. Apparently, because I'm tall, my heels were hanging off of the end of the table so they needed to fetch an extension. I was surprised because my doctor works with professional athletes on a regular basis.
"I thought you guys had sports stars in here all the time," I said.
"We do," they replied.
"Are they as wussy about this as I'm being?" I asked.
Everyone replied at once: "Worse." So that made me feel a little better.
Then, the room started getting...I don't know, fuzzy.. The anesthesiologist had been shooting me up with all sorts of stuff, so I asked what he was giving me. "That's just something to help you relax and enjoy yourself," he said. No kidding! That was the last thing I remember.
I had a dream about wanting to sleep during surgery, which I suppose means that I wasn't nearly as doped up as I expected to be. When I awoke in the recovery room, even though I knew exactly where I was, the first words out of my mouth were, "Where am I?"
I was wearing a wrap on my left arm and it was in a sling to keep me from moving it. It didn't hurt too badly, so I declined the nerve block offered by the anesthesiologist. It took about 30 minutes for me to get ready to leave, and they wheeled me out of the hospital at 2:45.
I've been taking drugs and icing my arm nonstop ever since. The oxycontin makes me tired and sick so I'm trying to use ibuprofin as much as possible. Last night, I woke up at 1:00 AM and the oxy had worn off. It felt like someone was trying to rip my forearm off, but I was able to make it through the night with more drugs. And this morning, it was hurting pretty bad but as of right now, it feels pretty good. I'm typing with both hands and the swelling is down to the point where I can even move my elbow a little.
Good fun. I don't recommend it. But if all goes according to plan, I could be back on the bike in two weeks, and that makes it all worthwhile, I guess. |
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| Cover me--I'm going in! |
[Jul. 7th, 2006|09:38 am] |
My elbow surgery is in a few hours. I'm trying not to get too anxious by reminding myself that a) I'll be asleep, and b) it's the kind of sleep where you don't dream, so c) it'll be over literally before I know it. But still...it would be so awesome if the surgeon looked at my arm and changed his mind--the medical equivalent of last-minute clemency. |
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| More fun with modern medicine |
[Jun. 21st, 2006|07:15 pm] |
My elbow surgery is scheduled for 1 PM on Friday, July 7.
If you're at all squeamish, you might not want to click here. It shows some pictures of what might happen to me during surgery! I made it through the whole thing, so it isn't that bad, but still...
Another thing you probably don't want to do if you're anxious about surgery (I'm not--not at all!) is read stuff on the web about the surgery you're about to have, like:
The radial head is approached posteriorly. The surgeon must be aware of the posterior interosseous nerve, which winds around the neck of the radius and lies directly on the bone. During the approach (and throughout the case), the surgeon should attempt to use indirect reduction techniques preserving soft tissue attachments. Periosteal stripping must be minimized. Narrow retractors are used, and the surgeon must avoid penetration of the interosseous membrane to avoid the complication of synostosis that can cause severe limitation of motion that is difficult or impossible to treat."
(from emedicine.com)
This is gonna be awesome. I'm going to ask the surgeon to either videotape or photograph the procedure! |
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| Fun with modern medicine |
[Jun. 15th, 2006|09:14 pm] |
The good news: I had my follow-up visit with the doctors (yes, multiple doctors) about my elbow today.
That's it. That's the good news. If you were expecting a happy ending, stop here because that's as good as it is gonna get.
The bad news: the doctors say surgery is optional, but without surgery, my left elbow will never regain its full range of motion and may some day turn on me and require surgery anyway. Dr. Scranton passed me off to Dr. James Pritchett who is apparently a master of hip replacements but also an elbow guy. Dr. Pritchett looked at my xrays and decided to ruin my afternoon.
Even worse news: there is no way for Dr. Pritchett to authoritatively say what the scope of the surgery will be until he gets in there. There are three possibilities (in relative order of severity):
1. If the fracture is "normal" once examined by the surgeon, he'll simply flush out the bone chips (one of which is restricting my range of motion) and seal things back up. I'll be healed once the scar heals. When you read about an athlete having "exploratory surgery", this is what they are talking about.
2. If the fracture is severe but in reasonably-sized chunks, the surgeon will screw it back together and flush out the bone chips. My arm will need to be immobilized for a few more weeks.
3. If the fracture is catastrophic and the bone head is pulverized to the point where it cannot be screwed together, the surgeon will remove it and replace it with a prosthesis. One word: OUCH (although there are probably other four letter words that apply here as well). The long-term prospects of the prosthesis are unknown. Recovery is faster with this option (not much of a silver lining, but...).
The totally shitty news: although my exam indicates that I'm healing fine, the xrays have me somewhere between #2 and #3. Ugh.
Oh, and just to throw a freakin' cherry on top, I need to have the surgery as soon as possible. The longer I wait, the fewer options the surgeon has. So it looks like I'll be scheduling that for next week once all of the paperwork and insurance is in order. I'm going to aim for Thursday or Friday if possible.
Hooray. |
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| Crash and burn |
[May. 23rd, 2006|09:03 pm] |
I fell off the bike and spent three hours in the emergency room this morning. I have a fractured left radial head (AKA broken arm) and some scrapes/bruises. I just picked a small piece of rock out of my chin!
Gaps in pavement = dangerous, especially in the rain.
Now we wait to see if I need surgery. |
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