Returning to "Normal"

It is shockingly easy to revert to norm.  Especially if your norm for many years was watching too much television. My recently furloughed walking schedule gave me a new kind of normal, and one of the elements that it brought along for the ride was taking pictures of the sunrise and sunset.  Since my sabbatical from walking began, I've taken a break from photography as well. Today, I remembered to get out there and cycle a shutter or two.

Sunset in Annapolis

This is a pretty far cry from my better photographic work, but it's an attempt at returning to the newish normal. Looking forward to seeing how it works out tomorrow.

Consolidation Period

With the foot fracture coupled with the snow days and late arrivals this week has felt like a bit of a consolidation period.  There are certainly some things that I need to move forward, but it just doesn't seem like the time is right to really strike out in earnest on any of them. Based on my walking, I'm pretty sure this isn't true since there really is no better time than the present to start making some incremental progress in a number of areas.

Some of those things are things that I just don't want to do, and I'm not really sure why I feel that way. Perhaps it's the winter, and I'm fallen into the trap of a bit of a malaise.  It's time to do something even if it's wrong as Rory Conlan has suggested in the past.

One twelfth of the year is just about in the bag, and the last two weeks as thrown a spanner in the works in a number of areas for me.  The rest is just waiting for the future to be revealed in the fullness of time.

Time to strike out in new directions.

Steady Progress on My Trotter

Today I secured a referral to an orthopedic surgeon for my left trotter. The discomfort was somewhat less today, and it has steadily gotten better since I put it in a boot.

I did have to tell my story about a dozen times, and it got to the point that I considered putting out an all hands email to my work confederates to save my pipes the trouble. For reasons that I don't completely understand, my fellow humans seem to love a good medical story. In my case, they seem to even love a bad one.

Considering the mileage I've gotten out of a run of the mill walking fracture, I should probably invent some more creative potboiler with which to regale my fellow travellers.

I think it will start with, "So there I was eating a salad..."

I'm Now Radioactive, and I Have a Permission Slip

Today, I completed the three phase bone scan with the purpose of providing further diagnostic evidence that my left foot had indeed suffered a fracture in the vicinity of the fifth metatarsal. As a brief reminder, the first doctor (a Physician Assistant or PA) I saw ordered a standard X-ray, and when that turned up negative suggested that I schedule this bone scan and wear supportive shoes.

The next day was painful enough that I borrowed one of my roommate's CAM boots, went the emergency room and convinced them to provide me a CAM boot that fit. The ER resident and radiologist confirmed that my X-Ray was indeed negative for fracture and sent me on my way with the new CAM boot and a flyer describing the treatment for a sprained foot.

Today was the three phase bone scan. The first phase involved a flow study in which I was injected with a radionuclide and then my feet were placed in a detector that could sense where soft tissue and "increased uptake" of the radioactive liquid.  The liquid came in a lead lined syringe, encased in a lead lined container (a pig), and had a half life of 6.02 hours. After the first round of scans, the technician handed me a card explaining what I'd been injected with and informing law enforcement personnel that I might have enough of the isotope in my system to set of radiation monitoring security systems for the next three days.  It also explained this was A-OK and in compliance with Nuclear Regulator Commission guidelines for the use of medical radiation...my get out of Guantanamo free (and hopefully fast) card.

The second phase of the test consisted of waiting three hours as my body flushed the radioactive substance from my soft tissue and allowed the bones to absorb the material in a process called uptake. The technician exhorted me to drink plenty of water and urinate as often as possible in the next three hours.  On the way out of the lab area we passed a bathroom labeled "Hot Patient Restroom." Naturally, I asked the tech if I was required to come back to the lab to urinate since I was a card carrying radioactive human. Without a lick of irony he said, "No. That's not required. Just be sure to flush twice and close the lid of any commode after you are done." I suppose it heartening to realize that the solution to (radioactive) pollution really is dilution.

I spent phase two of the scan drinking water, peeing, and participating in a conference call that was marginally productive.  I was pretty quiet until just before I had to return for phase three of the scan, at which point, I tossed a bureaucratic grenade related to an organizational chart that kicked off a spirited discussion, exited the call, and returned to the lab for some additional testing. My three hours of uptake and flushing had been completed.

Phase three of the test was another round of three longer duration scans including two views of my feet and a complete lower body scan of my legs and feet from the top of my pelvis down. By this time, the radioactivity had settled in my bones, and the increased uptake in the vicinity of the heel side of the fifth metatarsal of my left foot indicated a clear fracture area.

The nuclear medicine doctor ( a fancy radiologist) indicated the scan had probably revealed I had a Jones Fracture of the bone, and he was glad to see I was wearing a boot. The foot sprain had been confirmed by the flow scan, and the fracture by the bone scan. It was like winning the jackpot of left foot injuries. The doctor also said that he had hoped I'd have crutches. I thought, "Here I am in a hospital, and I was hoping that you might have some crutches for me if you think I might need them." I said, "I have some at home," and he said, "I recommend that you use them and follow up with your referring PA.

That's where I stand.  I have fractured and sprained foot and a CAM boot. Tomorrow I follow up with the PA to be told to schedule some more imaging as well as an appointment with either a podiatrist or orthopedic surgeon.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow and seeing the next step in how this all works out.

Additional Foot Diagnostics

Tomorrow I head down to the local nuclear medicine section of the radiology department at a major regional medical center to attempt to gain some further insight into what's happened to my left foot. It is really feeling much better, but I'm looking for a definitive diagnosis to help me evaluate risks vs. rewards of behavior going forward.

I really have been quite fortunate that the injury occurred, I was able to go to the doctor the next day, I was able to get the foot immobilized the next day, and that Snowzilla 2016 has given me a chance to rest up before returning to work "full time."  Tomorrow things begin to ramp up a bit, but I'll be able to knock out the next round of doctor's appointments for the radionuclide enhanced imaging without too much impact due to the announced 3 hour late arrival. I'm hoping to have a better idea of the diagnosis before the work gym opens up and I try to get back in the swing of things with some low impact cardio.

One of the things that's been keeping me upbeat has been the ability to absorb this setback and still keep up with the rest of my daily practice.  I also know that my natural tendency toward laziness will kick in if I let things go too far down the path of not replacing my walking with some other daily discipline.

In short, this injury may be a much needed space in which to stretch my limits in new directions, but not if I allow some old (but persistent) habits creep back into the vacuum of time that not walking has left.

Tomorrow, I hope I have some better answers, but the next day will require me to get back into the cardio routine and head off into different directions. I think I may start off on the erg.

Gratitude Monday

It's been a bit of a slow day, and I don't have any pictures worth posting. Just a few minutes ago, I was contemplating just writing one sentence that said I had nothing to report to keep some semblance of what has become my daily practice intact. It dawned on me just now that I do have some things to report, and I've decided to turn this into a "Gratitude Monday" post.

I am grateful for consolidation periods because they force me to get out of the rut of the routine. I don't know just what I'm going to do with all the time I find that I have on my hands now that walking has been removed from the picture for an indeterminate amount of time, but I know that I can find something useful that ultimately supports that goal of cross country walking.

I'm grateful for the Severna Park Wake Up Group. over the past several years since I was introduced to them, I've come to think fondly of my friends and fellow travellers who are willing to wake up routinely and meet at 0600 to collectively tackle the challenges that life throws our way. In a departure from my past, I now know that "the struggle is real" and none of us are alone in the difficulties we face.

I am grateful for mass production. For less than $50, I have a CAM boot that has kept me mobile during the beginning of my injury rehabilitation. It's an amazing piece of technology combining foam, plastics, aluminum, velcro, and who knows what else into a rigid yet removable adjustable walking cast. I remember the plaster cast that my sister got when she fell off a slide and fractured her ankle back in 1979. It wasn't state of the art, but it was pretty close. We've come a long way in medical technology since then, and there is still quite a bit to be learned.

I'm grateful for snow.  Snow coupled with an injury gave me the opportunity to capture some much needed rest, and I feel like I'm better prepared to face whatever tomorrow may bring.

That's a pretty short list, but it's more than I anticipated writing so I'll wrap it up now. I have got to try to remember that when I can think of nothing else to document in this haphazard collection of my stream of consciousness that gratitude is always a topic on which I can write a little bit more.

Digging Out from Snowzilla 2016

I'm pleased with the progress that I seem to be making getting back into the swing of things using the Controlled Ankle Motion (CAM) boot that I got from the emergency room the other day and resting and icing my left foot. Don't get me wrong, there is still definitely an injury, but I was able to clear the cars today from their snowy entombment.

Halfway Done

I estimate that we received between 18" and 20" of snow during the first blizzard of 2016. Using the CAM boot really kept me mobile and the shovelling was good exercise.

One More to Go

Shovelling snow turned out to be a lot like walking.  As long as I didn't bite off more than I could chew on any single shovel full of snow, I could always take the next bite at the drift. Progress was slow, but inevitable. By the end of the three hours the cars were freed, and I really wasn't too tired. The repetitive cut, scoop, turn, and fling was even meditative.

Getting the cars out of the drifts got me out and about, and that was good after spending about 36 hours in the house. I'm going to keep up the practice of photography as part of an overall maintenance of the daily practice. After an "historic" snowstorm, There were plenty of things to capture through the lens of the camera.

Snowzilla 2016

The day was clear and bright. With temperatures in the low '30s, but above freezing, staying warm with minimal bundling was a welcome change over the last couple of days.

Wrapping things up, I found out later this evening that the powers that be (PTB) had decided to keep work closed through tomorrow.  That presents some interesting opportunities, and I'm looking forward to taking advantage of them as they present themselves.