I Go to the Hills

After Dorothy trip, went to FR181 (American Springs Road). I walked my 4 miles but didn't see a single soul. I heard some shots as I got to where the road swings east. I didn't get shot so I was happy about that. It was cloudy and cool. I couldn't see the top of Pajarito Mountain for the low clouds or maybe snow flurries hanging over it.

Foot was OK. It likes even terrain. On the Dorothy trip, I had to be really careful not to turn my right foot on it's side in the grassy hummocks on Garita Ridge/Hunter's Point. I was comparatively speedy on FR181.

The Dorothy trip was interesting but we hardly walked at all - less than 3/4 miles. The two Española District Rangers, Sandy and Annie were very kind people. They took the time from their very busy work schedules to go to the north rim of the Valles Caldera National Preserve to look at several caldera viewpoints. I'm going to make this a short blog and not even try to get into all the ramifications of this trip.

Dorothy, Greg and I had a brief discussion at the end of the trip. Greg asked Dorothy to give another rim trail talk at Pajarito Environmental Education Center (PEEC) and she agreed that would be good. I suggested that we should expand the rim trail effort and especially find someone to write a grant proposal to fund some of Dorothy's rim trail proposals (not my idea - the rangers suggested that to us as one way to get the rim trail going) and I mentioned Dave Menucci's name again, saying that I knew that Dorothy could do a lot if she had the time but she very busy.

We really didn't stop for lunch because we had to get the two rangers back. I passed out LaraBars to those who wanted them. Greg, who drove us in his Jeep Cherokee, seemed to really like the LaraBars. When I got home, I got 4 more of them (and the article in the Rio Grande Sierran on Marty) and dropped them off for him and Karen.

Pomegranate Munching as Metaphor for Life

Epiphany this morning at the breakfast table: Good primate that I am, I love to greedily slurp up the exquisitely, translucently juicy ruby arils of the bejeweled pomegranate. As I chew the seeds, my tongue is splashed by short bursts of cool, tart-sweet juice and my teeth crunch the crisp seeds. As I eat, I wish that the juicy sweetness of the pomegranate's nectar would last forever. But the truth is that it's gone as soon as I swallow and the only way I can make it last is to keep sucking the sweet seeds off the bitter white pith as fast as I can.

This is like life - if you don't pay attention to what's happening, it's gone forever, only a memory. You can crave or anticipate more of life's sweetness but the only thing that you'll ever really have is the thrill of the "ride" at the exact moment that it is happening - then, it's done, gone, finis.

Remember this the next time you scrub the toilet!

Physical Therapy Capers

Been to two physical therapy appointments this week at Jemez Physical Therapy. Saw Lori the first time. She evaluated my gait by watching me walk back and forth. She said it looks like my right leg crosses the midline of my body. Maybe that's why I sometimes kick my right inner ankle with my left foot when I walk. She tested my hips for weakness by having me raise my legs against resistance (her hands). Surprisingly, my flabby inner thighs are stronger than my outer thighs. She gave me an exercise called the Clam Shell which is a lying hip abduction with a lateral rotation. In general, it would be good if I'd do more to strengthen my legs. I NEVER do any squats or lunges because my knees creak in an awful cacophony. I do lying leg strengthening exercises for my hamstrings and quads but could be more religious about it.

She told me to be sure to press my toes into the ground when I walk. I try at home but largely ignore my gait when I'm out hiking.

She told me to do Toe Curls and Toe Pick-Ups to help strengthen my arch. My toe flexors are already pretty strong and I'm not overly enthused about these exercises but am faithfully doing them.

Lori ended the visit with ultrasound and massage of my foot and suggested that I make another appointment for more ultrasound and massage. The idea is to help heal my posterior tibial tendon.

Today I saw Glenn and he did ultrasound and massage and also used electrical stimulation. I found the electricity idea a bit scary but thought I would give it a try. He hooked me up to 4 electrodes - one on the bottom of my foot, one on the right top of my foot, one about 6 inches above my inner ankle and another on the other side of my leg. He turned up the juice until I felt "little fingers" walking on the skin of my foot and lower leg, along with a creepy, crawly sensation. Then he let me control how much juice I gave my leg. It felt OK so I went up to 17.

After the appointment, I hiked for my exercise and was mostly OK but when I was hiking mildly downhill, my leg felt weak and I had to really slow down. I also felt very hungry. After supper, I felt better and feel perfectly normal now. I'll have to evaluate this electric business.

Done for Another 5-10 Years

The Endoscopy Center is a very smooth operation. They said that Dr. Dooley no longer does the procedures in Los Alamos.

There were no polyps and no biopsies done. The clean-out with the HalfLytely was not completely thorough as I could see bits of brown here and there. Dr. Rowberry's scope has water sprayer on it to rinse off areas. Maybe next time I'll need the gallon size GoLytely to get a colon that's clean. Dr. Rowberry had no complaints about the clean-out. He doesn't like to use the Fleet Phospho Soda solution as it hurts your kidneys, especially as you get older.

I asked not to be knocked out and it worked perfectly as I remember the whole procedure. One time there was a little discomfort so they added a tad more medicine. Spouse piped up to the nurse that he didn't remember much of his procedure and the nurse commented that a hallmark of Dr. Dooley is that he uses plenty of medicine.

I feel a little sleepy not but that may be because I couldn't get to sleep the last two nights until past 2am. My upper stomach is a bit tender.

Now I need to begin eating to replenish myself. Daughter and family come over for dinner tonight. Spouse is making barbecued baby back ribs. My contribution will be baked potatoes and a spinach salad.

I'll juice a grapefruit and tangerine and then get ready to walk downtown instead of walking this evening. I have to return decaying, just purchased asparagus to Smith's, drop off something at the thrift shop box, feed the ducks some bread ends and pick up a book at MPL. It will be pleasant to walk after the colonoscopy procedure.

Tomorrow, after the WI hike, I'll head into Santa Fe to get some chores done.

Peristalsis and Diarrhea Protocol

Tomorrow I get a colonoscopy - oh, JOY! Soon, like right now, I need to take the peristalsis producing tablets and then, after they work, I get to drink a whole lot of the diarrhea producing liquid. I fear this part more than the actual procedure during which, at least, they gave you good drugs!

I just now opened the blister pack of bisacodyl delayed release tablets. I was afraid they would be huge but they were like tiny pink M&M's. I easily swallowed them but was truly tempted to lick off the hard shell enteric coating as I'm very hungry.

Breakfast was a 12 ounce can of frozen apple juice concentrate. I didn't ask the doctor if this is OK but I know that if I reconstituted it, it would be legal so what's wrong with eating it like a semi-melted ice popsicle? It doesn't have a bunch of artificial junk in it like the ice popsicles I had spouse buy me that I'm not going to eat. Also, I want to avoid drinking too much liquid and getting dysnatremia (ha - look that one up on Google!)

The polyethylene glycol diarrhetic that I'll swill down after the bisacodyl works, cautions against the excessive drinking of liquids afterwards or the body's sodium balance will be upset. So, I think it makes sense to eat the apple juice concentrate unreconstituted to get the calories but not excessive amounts of liquid. I'll take liquids as I need them throughout the day. I have to stop at midnight and have no liquids before the 10am appointment.

I keep thinking of how delicious this or that food would taste so I know I'm getting hungry. I didn't eat "breakfast" until around 11:30am as I was busy all morning.

I showered this morning, cleaned the bathroom, put away my swimming stuff (I lost interest in swimming when it got cold here), and washed two loads of laundry. Spouse will be home soon. He has tomorrow off for Veteran's Day (why in the world did I schedule a colonoscopy for Veteran's Day?) and decided to extend his vacation by only working half a day.

Busy Work

I have to make a list of all the medications (only 1!), vitamins, minerals, herbs and supplements that I take. This is to bring into the colonoscopy appointment on Tuesday. Diane, from Dr. Rowberry's office, called to remind me of the appointment and ask if I had any questions. She said that if I'm taking any unusual supplements like Chinese herbals, etc., to bring in a list because sometimes medications, herbs, etc., can cause changes in the colon. Just to cover all bases, I'm listing everything and let them figure it out. I'm typing the list on the computer and then I can also print out a copy for my yearly physical. Pain in the butt but once it's typed up, I can easily make revisions and it's easier than handwriting it each time a doctor wants a list of what I take!

I returned the Aircast XP Pneumatic to Dr. Miller's office. I told them that in the short time I wore it in the house, it was starting to hurt my knees and I felt that the large or extra large one wouldn't be any improvement for my knees. I asked if they had the Aircast SP Walker which is the short pneumatic. They didn't.

Joseph is not so bad after all. He called Carrie Tingley to see if the had the short pneumatic and they didn't either so he took the XP off my health insurance and gave me an order for the short pneumatic boot from Hanger nearby. We went over to Hanger Prosthetics and Orthotics and they couldn't take a walk-in until the afternoon. They called their Santa Fe location and made an 3pm appointment for me in Santa Fe. Then I got to thinking that I'll wait to get any boot until I see the physical therapist so I cancelled the appointment, calling them on spouse's cell phone.

Walked downtown this evening. Asphalt and pavement is not the most comfortable for my foot but it was a real thrill to be out walking under the stars and the half moon and listening to the BeeGees greatest hits on my Walkman. I talked spouse into walking a mile with me. It was too beautiful a night for him to stay indoors, laying on the couch, watching political pundits.

Pleasant Stroll Up Los Alamos Canyon

I probably didn't get started until sometime after 2:30pm. I parked on the Reservoir Road entrance, just off West Road. I didn't see a single soul. There was some thin ice in some of the streamlets flowing on the Reservoir Road.

As I walked up-canyon, I kept wondering about the Cerro Grande fire behavior. The north facing side had obviously been badly burnt and was now a cascade of golden grass. There was a swath of unburnt conifers in the canyon proper that had not burnt probably because they were full of moisture. On the south facing side of the canyon, it reminds me in places of the west facing slopes of Valle Canyon. It has lots of bare stone cliff bulwarks that are unbelievably towering. I can see in places that the trees burnt but in others, live trees still march uphill.

The Reservoir itself looks like as much a wreck as ever. I went just to the western end of the dry gulch that was once the verdant Los Alamos Reservoir.

Think I'd like to do middle Los Alamos Canyon starting from NM-501 as an out and back since I already did the paved part from the ice rink to past the decommissioned Omega Reactor.

My foot behaved wonderfully again. I wonder if my stopping the supplemental Vitamin D, except 1 teaspoon a day of 400IU Vitamin D from Carlson Cod Liver Oil, has anything to do with my miraculous recovery?

I tried out the Vasque Synergist midcut hiking boot today. It's very basic - rubber not Vibram sole and no Gore-Tex lining. That makes it lighter and less likely to aggravate my right foot. On the REI reviews of this shoe, people talked about how it doesn't have much cushioning from rocks underfoot and I can testify to that. It didn't really hurt my foot but it's certainly not as comfortable as the Brooks Adrenaline GTS-8. I'll evaluate it some more in the next weeks.

Have an appointment next week to be evaluated for physical therapy in town. Still waiting to hear from orthotics guy in Albuquerque. Feel kind of stupid going to Albuquerque tomorrow to exchange the wrong size Aircast since I've made a miraculous recovery. I'll ask them about returning it and taking it off my health insurance.

Vivifying Walk

I walked down Los Alamos Canyon about 4 miles RT, starting from the ice skating rink. The fall colors of red and yellow of the different shrubs and forbs were beautiful. I saw where Deadman's Trail comes down from Los Alamos Mesa and considered going up it on the way back but I had enough to do with walking uphill into the wind on the way back. I could see snow blowing around over Pajarito - bet it snows tonight. I saw a lab worker at the locked gate into Los Alamos Canyon and he said it snowed 3" last night in Gallina.

Every time I walk middle Los Alamos Canyon, I get the urge to walk it all the way to NM501. After you get past the decommissioned Omega Reactor and the paved road, the canyon is more natural. The cliffs on the north side of the canyon are astoundingly high!

Amazingly, my right foot did beautifully. I had two separate quick twinges of pain but it was like a miracle otherwise. I wore the Brooks Adrenaline GTS-8 (not a winter shoe with all the mesh) and a pair of orange Stupidfeet that I bought yesterday at REI. The box for the orange Superfeet says that it's for medium to high arched feet and has extra shock absorption in the forefoot. My feet are like pancakes, with a slight arch so I fail to see why these insoles worked so well for me. I normally use the green Superfeet. I wonder if it's the extra shock absorption in the forefoot which allowed me to move my toes more normally in my gait stride? Dunno but I hope the miracle reproduces itself tomorrow!

K-2 Article

I read an article yesterday about this year's climbing disaster on K-2, from Men's Journal magazine. One of the climbers who survived, Wilco Van Rooijen, a Dutch climber, walked away from his two partners after they had summited K-2 very late in the day and had been forced to bivouac at 27,000' overnight. In the morning, there was some confusion amongst the 3 climbers as to the way down and where the ropes were. Van Rooijen, who was badly dehydrated, said to his partners that he didn't want to discuss anything anymore and started down by himself. He got lost on the way down which, in a way, saved his life because it kept him out of the Bottleneck where people were getting killed by falling ice and being tangled up in shoddy ropes and left to dangle and die.

It disturbs me, though, that Van Rooijen abandoned his teammates. Just " See you later - I gotta go save my own butt!" One of his teammates, the first Irishman to summit K-2, Gerard McDonnell, was killed by ice fall on the way down. Since Van Rooijen had such an obviously well developed sense of self-survival, could he perhaps have somehow altered circumstances and prevented McDonnell's death if he had stuck with his teammates? The third teammate, Marco Confortola, an Italian, stuck with McDonnell on the way down.

It's true that I'm engaging in armchair mountain climbing and I don't know what I would have done in the same circumstances. The article has a photo of Van Rooijen, his frostbitten feet still healing from K-2, dandling his 9 month old son on his lap. He had a lot to live for but so did his teammate, McDonnell.

Don't Know About Continued Swimming

As the weather gets colder, I get less and less interested in jumping into an icy cold pool (temps kept in the LOW 80's - brrrr). I did figure out, though, that rinsing in a cool shower afterwards helps to stop the itching from the chlorine but that's a further brrrr! I just don't know if I want to continue with water aerobics.

Thoughts on yesterday's appointment with Dr. Miller: He was very busy and I was the last patient before his lunch and only saw him after waiting one hour beyond my appointment time (had a 10:30am appointment and saw him at 11:30am).

Also, when I did see Dr. Miller, he seemed "half there", probably as a result of exhaustion and hunger after seeing patients, one after another all morning. I told him several things about how my foot was doing and then, in the course of the visit, he asked me several questions that I had already told him, like where was the pain in the morning. I feel rather low on their list of priorities.

I checked the Aircast website and there are braces that would be more specifically appropriate for my condition, posterior tibial tendinitis and plantar fasciitis (both these terms are currently outmoded as the process in the tendon and the fascia has been proven to be more a degenerative one than inflammatory). I'll ask his office Friday if they have those braces. If they don't, I may reconsider the Aircast as it began to hurt my knee in the short time I wore it in the house yesterday (I'm not wearing it now per their instructions so they can re-use it.) I'm going to call Aircast, they have good customer service - that's how I found out Dr. Miller's office gave me the wrong size - and ask them about the knee pain.

I just now called Aircast about the knee pain. They said be sure to use normal gait when wearing the Aircast and that I'll be able to more easily use normal gait when I have the correctly sized one. She concurred with the doctor that the immobilization provided by the under the knee Aircast would be helpful for the posterior tibial tendon problem since my pain extends above my ankle. They have the best customer service!

Dr. Miller's office has a semi-ogre named Joseph. He looked annoyed because I dared to question them about how I could get my medical records. I can't get them directly from their office by signing a release and, in fact, can't even sign a release for their office to send to medical records so medical records can send me the records. I have to either take a shuttle to medical records or write them a letter (I'll choose that method) asking them to send me the records. I understand the system now and won't annoy him in the future. Then, when Joseph was giving me the physical therapy referral, he gave me this haughty, fake "I'm sorry!" when I asked about the fact the referral read Santa Fe and I may want to see someone in Los Alamos. I reassured him that I had merely misunderstood the form and thought that I was constrained to see someone in Santa Fe. I need to call some physical therapists to see who treats plantar fasciitis and posterior tibial tendinitis.