Monthly Archive for April, 2009

I think I am recovering nicely, but will know the real truth when I see the ortho doc on follow-up visit later this week. Took all the wrapping & bandages off yesterday.
Three tiny holes, as described. One is tender; I assume that to be where the “Dremel” tool was inserted, & the others were for the camera/vacuum. Pretty much a full range of motion already, only slightly stiffer than the right knee. Trying to do the exercises, but trying to “baby the left” knee as much as possible, too.

Lots of email traffic from readers. Seems everyone has opinion/experience with the surgical process.
All VASTLY different!

As always….stay tuned

Well, I guess I should consider myself lucky–to have reached my age (60) having had almost no surgery, other than a tonsillectomy at age five, and then nothing until the angioplasty in 2006.
Being “put to sleep” yesterday was certainly vastly different than the ether experience of 1953.
I thought I was bright and alert & breathing cool, clear oxygen (albeit with a little something extra), and then I woke up in the recovery room. No real pain, nothing save some stiffness. But I came awake this morning at 4AM from the pain–I could seemingly feel one of three tiny holes drilled into my kneecap all right. The prescribed Codein took care of that all right, and on an empty stomach I was more-or-less floating around the bedroom. Today, I’m navigating with the crutches, slowly and awkwardly (last time I used those was 1961, when I broke an ankle).
But the ortho doc says all went well, and he remains confident I’ll be climbing and doing tower work very shortly. It’s another case of someone wondering just exactly how and why anyone in their right mind would want to climb high up in the air. Sometimes I almost agree with the good doctor, but it’s the work that counts, and nothing else seems to be on the horizon, pun intended. I’ll miss the next trip to NR5M, but K6NA will be helping GD in my absence. And all the NC/SC clients have agreed to be on hold for a bit, so Tower Works has a bit of a reprieve, after all.
A picture or two to follow.

stay tuned

Thinking I could somehow “work around” this whole torn meniscus thing has evaporated, or faded, or disappeared, et cetera.

I could barely walk on Sunday. Unloading the 4000 lbs of steel building materials for my new storage shed, then doing tower work all day Thursday….well, those were probably stupid efforts on my part. Surgery TBD later this week.

There goes Visalia, lots of local work, & a planned trip to NR5M again.

stay tuned, indeed….

After getting home from our last visit to NR5M’s down in TX, I was suffering from some severe pain in my left knee. So much so, that I finally let the xyl talk me into going to the Doctor. When X-rays showed nothing, they recommended I have an MRI. I saw the Ortho doc today, who rather gleefully exclaimed: “You have a CLASSIC CASE of a torn meniscus!” I wasn’t sharing his enthusiasm, but he assured me although surgery is required to repair this, that I’d only be out of work for a month. Indeed, he started me on PT today.
It also remains to be seen when I actually schedule the surgery, as I have a long-standing list of work to get done beforehand….

Plus, there’s a trip to Visalia, back to TX, up to MD & then on to NY…then back home to jobs in SC/NC, et cetera.

I guess the only thing one can say in reaction to this is something like “Getting old’s a bitch” or some such. Beats the alternative, however.

stay tuned

Not much NEWS to report.
Still suffering from some weird knee injury. Left knee just pain-filled. No idea what’s what. Today’s MRI will hopefully answer the question. WX has not been to conducive to tower work, anyhow, although have a lot of NC/SC projects hanging fire. In the downtime, trying to make progress on the tower book.

stay tuned