Two weeks ago, I underwent successful ACL and meniscus repair surgery with Dr. Ma at UCSF's Orthopedic Clinic in San Francisco.
Sonia took me to the clinic at 8am. When we arrived, they immediately prepared me for surgery. The staff was friendly, professional and everyone seemed calm. They let her in while prepped me for surgery feeding an IV into my arm.
In addition to general anesthesia, they do a "nerve block" on the femoral nerve so there's literally nothing I could possible feel in my knee. This is a tricky procedure as they explained, not so reassuringly, that should they hit a vein, it can go straight to the heart causing it, instead of the intended vein, to go asleep.
Fortunately, two competent anesthesiologists, using an ultra sound located the nerve and checked each other's work. Because of the nerve block, less general anesthesia is required. After my leg fell asleep, they wheeled me into the icy cold operating room - kept that way so germs and bacteria can't grow. Soon after that, I fell asleep peacefully.
It had been since the 1980's or, "the dark ages of anesthesia", as my nurse told me, since I had had anesthesia and I fully expected to wake up in drowsy fits and starts. I woke up immediately, as if from a pleasant night's sleep. I actually felt great, and only after a few moments was ecstatic to realize I got through surgery successfully!
Within 10 minutes, Sonia was once again by my side in the sun-lit recovery room. By just after 2pm, we were home. I used a crutch, and arm strength to get up my three flights of stairs. I didn't leave my apartment for a full week till I had a follow up appointment.
Since then, I am off pain killers (which were really needed the first week!), have had my sutures removed, have been to two physical therapy sessions and am doing daily, regular exercises to improve the range of motion in my leg and to thwart the inevitable atrophy that ensures after an operation.
The target range of motion six weeks out from surgery is 90 degrees - I am already at a solid 80 degrees within two weeks. I also need to be able to straighten my leg to 0 degrees. I am mostly there, though it's taking a lot of effort. This is crucial to being able to get a normal gait back.
Before I got back to work, I was catching up on Criterion Collection classic Italian films such as Felini's Amarcord and DeSica's Umberto D and have watched a slew of documentaries; Supersize Me, Man on Wire, Botany of Desire, The New Medicine and The Corporation.
Work-wise, I am back, though working from home. It's challenging getting up and down from my third floor flat, though a parade of friends have been by bring lunch and dinner and mercifully helping me pass the time. I am still pretty exhausted and uncomfortable if I try to go out (as I did yesterday). Each day, I am healing, feeling stronger and looking forward to being able to place weight on my leg, walk without crutches and ride my bike!
Sonia's been a personal guardian angel helping me with everything and making sure that I don't over due it. I owe her a debt of gratitude and know I am healing more rapidly because of her care. February 14th is the next time I go in for a check up and, fingers-crossed, I hope I shall be able to put weight on my right leg that day.
Thanks for every one's thoughts, prayers and general well wishes! They've been a big boost to my spirit and mood!
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Monday, December 27, 2010
Knee Surgery!
As many you know, I partially tore my right ACL two years ago while skiing in Utah. In October, I re-injured it while training in the gym at work. Many of you have kindly inquired as to my status.
The ACL or anterior cruciate ligament connects the femur (major-most bone in upper leg) and tibia (major-most bone in lower leg) and keeps the upper and lower leg from separating wildly (as they did the day of my injury).
According to my first doctor at California Pacific Medical Center (CPMC), the MRI indicated a complete tear of the ACL and a partial tear of the meniscus. Quite frankly, this is what I expected, so I was not surprised. There are two strands of ligament within my knee that no longer serve their connective and stabilizing purposes.
The good news is ACL tears are one of the most common sports-related injuries with literally hundreds of thousands of occurrences each year. As such, there are many treatments, including no treatment (what I opted for in 2008).
Because of the increased instability, risk of yet another injury and so-forth, I am going to opt to have my ACL replaced with an allograft (a fancy word for cadaver tissue) and he was going to trim or shave the meniscus down. Based on his prognosis, I would be walking within one week and biking in four weeks.
I intended to get surgery at CPMC the first week of December, but not before getting a second opinion. I am glad I did because I have a significantly different prognosis from my second, new and improved doctor at University of California, San Francisco's (UCSF) Sport Medicine Clinic.
Somehow, I was lucky enough to get into see the guy that runs the orthopedic practice, Dr. Benjamin Ma. Based on my MRI, it turns out that my particular kind of meniscal tear is repairable!
In fact, by repairing it, I will be at lower risk for future meniscal/acl tears. Doing so will also help prevent future arthritis (a virtual guaranty with the approach offered by the first doctor).
Because the meniscus is literally the shock absorber between the tibia and femur (upper and lower major leg bones), I will not be able to place any weight on it for a period of 6 weeks after the surgery, which means walking without crutches or no riding for two months.
I've scheduled surgery for the doctor's earliest possible time slot; January 4th, 2011. I am going to be mostly house-bound for all of January and most of February. So if you’re in the Mission District in San Francisco, please feel free to stop by at any time and say hi!
Thanks to everyone for the well-wishes. Happy Holidays and New Year!
The ACL or anterior cruciate ligament connects the femur (major-most bone in upper leg) and tibia (major-most bone in lower leg) and keeps the upper and lower leg from separating wildly (as they did the day of my injury).
According to my first doctor at California Pacific Medical Center (CPMC), the MRI indicated a complete tear of the ACL and a partial tear of the meniscus. Quite frankly, this is what I expected, so I was not surprised. There are two strands of ligament within my knee that no longer serve their connective and stabilizing purposes.
The good news is ACL tears are one of the most common sports-related injuries with literally hundreds of thousands of occurrences each year. As such, there are many treatments, including no treatment (what I opted for in 2008).
Because of the increased instability, risk of yet another injury and so-forth, I am going to opt to have my ACL replaced with an allograft (a fancy word for cadaver tissue) and he was going to trim or shave the meniscus down. Based on his prognosis, I would be walking within one week and biking in four weeks.
I intended to get surgery at CPMC the first week of December, but not before getting a second opinion. I am glad I did because I have a significantly different prognosis from my second, new and improved doctor at University of California, San Francisco's (UCSF) Sport Medicine Clinic.
Somehow, I was lucky enough to get into see the guy that runs the orthopedic practice, Dr. Benjamin Ma. Based on my MRI, it turns out that my particular kind of meniscal tear is repairable!
In fact, by repairing it, I will be at lower risk for future meniscal/acl tears. Doing so will also help prevent future arthritis (a virtual guaranty with the approach offered by the first doctor).
Because the meniscus is literally the shock absorber between the tibia and femur (upper and lower major leg bones), I will not be able to place any weight on it for a period of 6 weeks after the surgery, which means walking without crutches or no riding for two months.
I've scheduled surgery for the doctor's earliest possible time slot; January 4th, 2011. I am going to be mostly house-bound for all of January and most of February. So if you’re in the Mission District in San Francisco, please feel free to stop by at any time and say hi!
Thanks to everyone for the well-wishes. Happy Holidays and New Year!
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Vote Early for Change
Dear Friends,
As we approach an historic election here in the states, I'd like you to meditate on something; what you are going to feel like waking up on Wednesday November 5th, 2008 a John McCain victory in an historic upset and a refutation of nearly every poll.
How will you feel not having done everything within your means whether that is voting, contributing or volunteering?
Now, John McCain, at least in his previous incarnation in the 2000 primaries, wouldn't have been something to be so scared of in and of himself (though I still would have voted for Obama). But with the help of his advisors, he has thrown his previous self under the Straight Talk Express, embracing (and even employing) the agents of intolerance he once decried.
A president has a 1 in 4 chance of being succeeded in office. The odds become something of a greater gambit for the septuagenarian senator from Arizona if we do not give him the benefit of the doubt regarding the significant holes in his undisclosed medical records.
Which brings us to his first and, thus far, most telltale executive decision: the selection of Governor Sarah Palin to be "a malignant melanoma away" from the Presidency.
The smartly-dressed Alaskan hockey mom, plucked from obscurity as though from a bad Disney movie, supports the shooting wolves from airplanes when she is not field dressing the moose she kills herself. She's received an anti-witchcraft benediction from a pastor and spiritual warrior who once rid his village of a witch, she's supported banning books and is against abortion in cases of rape and incest . Her foreign policy experience is derived from Alaska's proximity to Russia and she has kept a vigilant eye on Putin waiting for him to "rear his head". She's all but incited the local racists at her rallies. I am convinced that a Palin Presidency would be, at best, the death-knell for democracy in the United States and at worst, well I just don't even want to meditate on that one.
I do want to meditate on the positive news in the polls and in the nation that the Obama campaign has appealed to a broad array of voters across states, income levels, classes and even parties. In a refreshing antidote to the to divisive vitriol heaped upon the electorate in SUV-sized portions, Obama's killer-strategy has been a) a strategy and b) a calm and cool manner married to an appeal to our better angels.
From his unlikely insurgent primary victory, to his immanently competent campaign that now makes him competitive in states like Arizona(!), Georgia(!), Virginia(!) and North Carolina(!). He has shattered all previous records for fundraising mostly through small contributions (Sept. '08 average donation: $86, 3.1 million contributors to date) and participation, Barack Obama has shown he has the vision, temperament and intellect to be the next president of the United States.
Now please meditate on the jubilation when polls close Tuesday night and Americans (and indeed, people the world over) rejoice spontaneously in the streets to the historic election of Senator Obama!
But first, we still need to make that happen:
Vote Early
To my friends abroad, I just wanted to give you an insight into what exciting times we have here in the USA. You are represented by the "world electoral map" here:
http://www.economist.com/vote2008/
Warm regards,
Brian
As we approach an historic election here in the states, I'd like you to meditate on something; what you are going to feel like waking up on Wednesday November 5th, 2008 a John McCain victory in an historic upset and a refutation of nearly every poll.
How will you feel not having done everything within your means whether that is voting, contributing or volunteering?
Now, John McCain, at least in his previous incarnation in the 2000 primaries, wouldn't have been something to be so scared of in and of himself (though I still would have voted for Obama). But with the help of his advisors, he has thrown his previous self under the Straight Talk Express, embracing (and even employing) the agents of intolerance he once decried.
A president has a 1 in 4 chance of being succeeded in office. The odds become something of a greater gambit for the septuagenarian senator from Arizona if we do not give him the benefit of the doubt regarding the significant holes in his undisclosed medical records.
Which brings us to his first and, thus far, most telltale executive decision: the selection of Governor Sarah Palin to be "a malignant melanoma away" from the Presidency.
The smartly-dressed Alaskan hockey mom, plucked from obscurity as though from a bad Disney movie, supports the shooting wolves from airplanes when she is not field dressing the moose she kills herself. She's received an anti-witchcraft benediction from a pastor and spiritual warrior who once rid his village of a witch, she's supported banning books and is against abortion in cases of rape and incest . Her foreign policy experience is derived from Alaska's proximity to Russia and she has kept a vigilant eye on Putin waiting for him to "rear his head". She's all but incited the local racists at her rallies. I am convinced that a Palin Presidency would be, at best, the death-knell for democracy in the United States and at worst, well I just don't even want to meditate on that one.
I do want to meditate on the positive news in the polls and in the nation that the Obama campaign has appealed to a broad array of voters across states, income levels, classes and even parties. In a refreshing antidote to the to divisive vitriol heaped upon the electorate in SUV-sized portions, Obama's killer-strategy has been a) a strategy and b) a calm and cool manner married to an appeal to our better angels.
From his unlikely insurgent primary victory, to his immanently competent campaign that now makes him competitive in states like Arizona(!), Georgia(!), Virginia(!) and North Carolina(!). He has shattered all previous records for fundraising mostly through small contributions (Sept. '08 average donation: $86, 3.1 million contributors to date) and participation, Barack Obama has shown he has the vision, temperament and intellect to be the next president of the United States.
Now please meditate on the jubilation when polls close Tuesday night and Americans (and indeed, people the world over) rejoice spontaneously in the streets to the historic election of Senator Obama!
But first, we still need to make that happen:
Vote Early
Lines will be shorter, you'll free up the polling booths on election day for others and if there is an intentional or other glitch then you will at least have second chance to go (on election day).
http://election411.com/
http://maps.google.com/vote/
Contributehttp://election411.com/
http://maps.google.com/vote/
I've helped raise nearly $10,000. Your contribution of even $5 is a small but symbolic stake in this race.
VolunteerVolunteering is fun. You might meet a neighbor you didn't know or reconnect with a friend. You will most definitely will have claimed your own small piece of history in this campaign which will be one that history will look back on in ways that we can only begin to foresee.
How?
Travel to a swing state: this weekend I am going for the third time to Nevada, the only swing state in the Pacific time zone. If the election is close, this will be the last firewall.
You're most needed in the swing states: Ohio, Florida, Virginia, North Carolina, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Missouri, Nevada, Georgia (hard to believe but true), Colorado, and get this; McCain's own state of ARIZONA!
Please consider taking off work and making this a long weekend to canvass or do voter protection through the end of election day.
If you don't want to travel you can always make calls from your own home; all you need is a computer and a telephone.
How?
Travel to a swing state: this weekend I am going for the third time to Nevada, the only swing state in the Pacific time zone. If the election is close, this will be the last firewall.
You're most needed in the swing states: Ohio, Florida, Virginia, North Carolina, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Missouri, Nevada, Georgia (hard to believe but true), Colorado, and get this; McCain's own state of ARIZONA!
Please consider taking off work and making this a long weekend to canvass or do voter protection through the end of election day.
If you don't want to travel you can always make calls from your own home; all you need is a computer and a telephone.
To my friends abroad, I just wanted to give you an insight into what exciting times we have here in the USA. You are represented by the "world electoral map" here:
http://www.economist.com/vote2008/
Warm regards,
Brian
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Skyline Interrupted
My Skyline commute was punctuated by a puncture on 35 by the Olympic Golf Course. Unfortunately, my cry "flat" fell on deaf ears ahead of me, thus stranding me sans pump. I remembered my spare tubular tire, but in switching bikes, I forgot to take my little repair bag.
Minutes later another cyclist stopped with C02 while I struggle to remove my tubular which was so tightly glued to the rim it seemed welded on. The good samaritan didn't want to wait, but did graciously leave his C02 behind allowing me to inflate my spare after spending a half an hour wrestling with the tubie. I made it to Daly City where the lovely and fabulous GF picked me up, whisked me home and then lent me her car to allow me to drive in.
The photos show the casing still attached to the rim as well as the new "step technique" developed on the fly allowing me to put on the spare tubie in record time.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Firecracker Restuarant's Last Evening
Before I lived in San Francisco, I traveled here for work on a regular basis from the east coast. One of my favorite discoveries was Firecracker Restuarant on Valencia Street in the Mission. It became my haunt when I visited and it was one of the many delicious reasons I wanted to live in San Francisco.
Fast forward to moving back to the states and landing fresh in the Mission, it was a familiar place in an unfamiliar city. It became my restaurant of choice, especially when I was dining by myself, something I did quite often in my first year here. I loved the delicious pan seared tofu, fujian rolls of spinish and tofu salad. The wait staff knew me and my orders. I talked with the owner, with Erin and Gliza. They became friendly faces to me while I made my transition from Mexico.
Unfortunately, Firecracker's heyday was probably when I was visiting San Francisco and it was next to impossible to get in. I guess what I liked about my time there was there was never a problem finding table. Mission restaurants have gone decidedly upmarket. Bar Tartine, Bambino, Farina and Delfina just to name a few are the restaurants du jour. They're all delicious, but upscale enough as to not warrant a solo visit on a Tuesday night.
Firecracker, while always healthy, tasty and fun just doesn't have the see-and-be-seen factor that the aforementioned places do. What Firecracker did have, and while I will sorely miss, is a small, affordable and friendly place where I can go and get friendly service on a week night.
Sadly, Firecracker is closing down after something like ten years in business. Tonight, nine of my friends joined me in a farewell dinner to the restaurant I found so homey.
Photos http://picasaweb.google.com/brian.kemler/FirecrackerSClosingEvening/
Monday, February 25, 2008
Friday, February 15, 2008
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