Made it home... feels great!
Well, after the longest Tuesday of my life, I'm typing this from home. The flights were actually quite nice, and I would definitely recommend British Air to anybody flying long distances. The service was great, the staff very nice, and they actually fed all of us regularly during the flights! Made the long hours very tolerable.
I wanted to use this post to let everyone know that I'm fine, but still suffering from that stupid paralysis in my quad. I am sure it will get better, and it is, but I figure I'm about 30% of the way to full function. I'm not worried about it, just wish it would go away!
And I also wanted to let you know that I will not post regularly anymore, at least that's my plan. The trip is done, I've got my shiny new hip, and I'm now on the road to try to recover some normalcy in everyday life. I'll be strapped to the house for a while here until the leg gets better, but other than that life is good.
Thank you for reading my blog. Karen has passed on that many people she knows have been following, unknown to me. Thank you. This has been quite a journey, and while it isn't quite over yet, it's close. It's been fun sharing my experience with everyone, it made it very much a shared experience; I was not alone in India!
So it's now time to try to get back to normal. Since I'm self-employed, the time away from work is time without pay, so I need to get back too it! And my clients have been extremely supportive and patient (thanks to everyone at ECHO and GMG/GXT!) in letting things slide a bit so I could take care of this issue. But I'm ready to get back to it fulltime, so much to do!
Thanks again, and thanks for reading,
Rus
Goodbye India
I tried to post this earlier this evening but was having trouble with the blog. Looks like it's working now! Enjoy...
Well, today is the first day of transition for the long journey home. Left the Ideal Resort at about noon for another enjoyable trip of trying to figure out how these guys survive the drive. Was delivered at the Park with enough time to eat at the Thai restaurant with the goldfish. I guess the same rules apply at lunch as at dinner: No one dines alone; the fish will always be there. After a great lunch, the driver picked me and delivered me to the Apollo Hospital at about 3 for my last face-to-face visit with Dr. Bose.
I've been leaving my incision open to the air after my last waterproof bandage gave up the ghost about 2 days ago. I covered it while showering with plastic but otherwise left it open as it's very healthy and I was developing some blisters from the plastic waterproof bandage. Dr. Bose agreed, it looked great and left it without a bandage. We did talk a bit more about my neuropraxia. Basically, the more muscle there is a the incision, the harder they have to tension the spanners that keep the incision open and allow visibility for surgery. The higher the tension the higher likelihood that the nerves will be compressed and neuropraxia will occur.
I think, in a nice way, he was trying to tell me I have a big butt. Fair enough. Never thought I'd have nerve numbness from a big butt. Learn something everyday. We had a great chat and said our goodbyes. One hell of a surgeon, but not less of a human being. I am better in many ways for knowing him.
Lasting impressions of India?
The people. They are great. And despite what is pretty dirty and polluted environment, very healthy and happy. For a large part, they don't drink, smoke. They are mostly vegetarian and very few seem to be overweight. And very happy. I've never seen so many people that are caring, smiling, and beaming as here. Far different that Europe in my experience.
So I'll leave you with this shot of the Chennai skyline. And extend thanks to all, both those reading this blog and those that aren't. It's 7:00 pm and I have a 1:30 am wakeup call and still need to get a light dinner. Until I post from home, goodbye.
Rus
Sunday Morning
Sunday morning walk. Only one more day here! At the resort anyway. Got out early, right at sunrise, lots of fishing boats out on the water. It is definitely cooler in the morning, by a few degrees, but I still end up sweating quite a bit. Went for a total of 1/2 mile I'd guess.
Enjoy these shots.
Rus
Doing some laps
Well, it's Saturday here in India, I can start to feel Colorado just around the corner. Went for a long walk this morning along the beach after an OK night of sleep. Came back, had a good breakfast then returned to the room for a refreshing shower. By the time I finished the shower I had been up for about 5 hours, so yes, you guessed it, time for a nap.
I slept for a solid 2 hours with the deepest sleep I've experienced here at the resort. Dang did that feel good. I can't help think that my body, deep inside, is still on Colorado time. My nap corresponded to 10:30 pm at home, just about bed time on a Friday night. I awoke feeling very rested and surprised I slept as hard as I did. I also noticed that my hip and leg felt markedly better. As a bike racer, I know you don't get stronger when you train, you get stronger when you rest. Same goes for recovery. After that nap, my hip, and especially my thigh and nerve felt much better. It's funny how the same rules apply.
So, had a great nap, what to do next? Watch another movie of course! I switched on the movie channel and "Crimson Tide" was just starting. The channel is great, but during the day the movies are punctuated by long commercial breaks. (Not so much at night, they try to hurry through the bad movies.) You know, the kind that show the same commercial sequence every break? So what I did during each of these breaks, was get up and do laps across the room, without any aid, working on my gait.
Man did that make the commercial breaks tolerable. I felt like I could complete a lap or two each break without much of a limp, but with some pain in the hip. But it's the good kind of pain, of muscle strengthening and use.
So for about 2 hours, every 15 minutes I'd do laps across the room. I imagined I was track racing, round and round, concentrating on my form. I think I'm going to make it through this thing!
So there you have it, another day in the life of Rus. Oh yea, I watched "EdTV" last night, can't help to draw a small parallel to the movie and this blog. Is anybody really interested in these ramblings?...
Can't wait to come home. I miss Karen and the kids deeply, I've never been away this long. But the end is near! Dang it's hot out there I can feel it trying to break in through the front window, better turn the cooler up a bit...
Rus
You're never going to believe this
So, for my recovery walks, I've been going down to the beach. The resort only has about 100 yards of beachfront, so I haven't ventured too far. Partly because their are "beach vendors" to the South, and what looks like a slum/fishing village to the North. So yesterday I got brave and headed further South, of course to be intercepted by the vendor. He asks me what was up, and I told him, "hip surgery." He responds "me too, 4 months ago." Hmmm. Pure salesman I think. But he's nice enough and walks with me for a while, and also confirms that Dr. Bose was one of the team that worked on him. Unbelievable. Anyway I finish my walk and return to resort. I thought what the heck, I have only spent about $40 of the $100 in cash I brought so I thought I'd buy something from him tomorrow.
So I go out this morning, again intercepted. This time he shows me his scar. Dang he might be telling the truth. "I'll bring my x-ray this afternoon and show it to you," he says. Really! I was of course curious to see if indeed he got resurfacing or the old replacement. He said he was a fisherman but still hesitant about getting back in the boat yet, too early at 4 months. OK, I'll come see you this afternoon.
I decided to go for my afternoon walk and change $20 into 880 rupees at the resort and head to the beach. I see him walking and he sees me. I want to kind of get through this so I head right for him. He welcomes me and says, "I have my x-ray, come see." Dang. It's a resurface indeed. He had a badly misshapen pelvis, but there it was, a resurface just like mine. His name is Palani and he said to give Dr. Bose his regards when I see him on Monday.
Here's a guy who sells stuff on the beach and probably makes $2 a day gets better health care than we do in the US. Why is that? I'm sitting here shaking my head in disbelief, I have to abandon our health care system, spend all my own money to travel literally half way around the world to get health care provided to the indigent in India. Something's wrong with this picture.
But I did get a couple of nice carved elephants out of the deal.
Rus
Tough Duty
Well, getting better at walking, and can take several (10+) unaided steps before I start using one crutch again. If it were'nt for that stupid numbness... it is getting better, but not very fast. Surgery was one week ago today.
Here's a shot of me, well, uh, reading about database normalization. Tough day at the office, I know. Getting into the hammock wasn't too bad, but getting out I had to have the security guard help me. Now I know how a trout in a net feels. Pretty stylish socks, huh? Stupid TEDs - need to wear them to prevent blood clots for the next... month. Oh well, no wonder everybody stares at me, "That guy trying to start a fashion trend? Well it ain't workin'."
The folks here at the resort are wonderful, catering to my every need. Maybe that's one thing the TEDs are good for, who couldn't feel sorry fo a guy walking around in them? Just finished lunch, which like every meal, is a buffet. Of course they carry my plate for me. And start at the first bowl. And put in some rice. Then open the next. And the next. And Next. I think you get the idea. The stop at everything in the buffet and put some on for me. Talk about overeating, no need for inbetween meal snacks! But since I quit taking the painkillers they gave me, I'm feeling much better. Right now I'm only taking an iron suppliment, an aspirin they gave me, and my malaria pill. I can feel my body empty the drugs each day, and am feeling better because of it.
Back to a little more reading, but need to rest up for dinner...
Rus
Made it to the Ideal Beach Resort
I'm composing this early Wednesday morning (7:15 am) after my first night at the resort. I didn't sleep very well, which seems to be a recurring problem lately. Hopefully that'll get better. At least this time I was able to watch a couple of crummy movies IN ENGLISH while I lay awake. And I am right now listening to my Sirius satellite radio through the internet while I type! Man I missed that. The proxy server I had to go through at the hospital precluded me from listening there.
Got to the resort around 5:30 last night.
Honestly, I don't understand how this country works. Because I'm a stupid American I guess. The traffic is unbelievable, I can't believe that there aren't dead bodies all over the way these people travel. The driver would fly by a bike at about 3 inches clearance going 40 while a motorcycle passes us at the same clearance on the other side. And he's slicing between us and an oncoming bus with similar clearance to the bus. A totally random mix of foot traffic, bikes, bike rickshaws (carrying, like, propane bottles), rickshaws, cars, massive buses...
And the country side is the same jumble. Incredible poverty a few tens of feet from a brand new shiny office building. And I still don't understand the infrastructure either. It appears that the electricity is above ground, but seeing these sagging cables give you no confidence you could have any reliable power at all. But with all that, the people look for the most part happy, the facilities I've directly delt with have been very good, and in a micro-analysis it's hard to tell I'm not home. But when I try to comprehend it as a whole I fall short.
So, in part, is why I came to India for surgery. I wanted to experience another culture and I sure am!
I hope you enjoy these shots.
$6000 Man!
Well, OK, a bit more than that but not much. In preparation for departure from the hospital, I was given a copy of my x-ray post-op. I quickly placed it in the window in the hospital room and snapped this photo. It isn't great, and the Chennai skyline is in the background, but does show the general idea. For those of you wondering, the bright mushroom-looking deal on the left is my new BHR hip. Just if you were wondering.
Dr. Bose had an emergency surgery so we were a bit late getting out of the hospital yesterday, but I still made it to the resort before sundown.
