Ankle Surgery Post Op: Day 2

The surgery was Tuesday morning and it is now Thursday morning so it's technically Day 2, but it feels like Day 3. Probably because Day 1 was so long and troublesome. I now know that I can't tolerate Percocet very well at all!

I slept from midnight until 4 am, when I woke to use the bathroom, get a drink, and take two more Tramadol. I read about the 3rd, and final, Presidential debate, then dozed off again at 4:30 until 6:30 am.

My leg aches inside, near the incision, which I haven't actually seen yet. Now that the nerve block has completely worn off, I have to be more careful of movement, to avoid sharp pains - I don't want to risk pulling my sutures at all.

10:30 took my first shower. That was an adventure...a little taste of what life as an 80 year will be like, should I be so lucky.

Ankle Surgery: Post Op Day 1

6:55 am. It feels like electricity in my toes when my wife touches them. This different from yesterday when I couldn't really feel anything.

7:30 vomited into bucket at bedside.

8:55 am. I just realized I'm able to move my toes again.

12pm Ate a few spoonfuls of homemade chicken noodle soup.

2pm Took Tums for stomach gas.

4pm Ate a piece of toast and took 1 Percocet.

7:00 pm vomited again immediately after .

8:00 pm Elizabeth called the doctor's office and told them of my intolerance for Percocet. The doctor said it was quite common and recommended a switch to Tramadol. She picked up the prescription and I popped two tablets around 9 pm. I waited a few hours for the nausea and reflux to set in again but was pleased when it didn't.

We watched a good movie, The Imitation Game, just she and I for the first time in months. Then retired at about 11:30. I tried to read for a few minutes then dozed off.

Aric Almirola leads Richard Petty Motorsports 24 Hours of Booty Team

Aric Almirola was looking for ways to give more back to the local community. A longtime recreational cyclist, he decided to form a fundraising team at Richard Petty Motorsports for the 24Hours Of Booty charity bike ride.                     Aric is also an endorser of Advocare fitness products, who sponsor the Number 6 car of driver Trevor Bayne. As a long time cyclist myself, I can attest that Advocare's products can help your endurance and power on the bike. 

My favorite products for cycling are: 

• O2Gold - for increased oxygen capacity. They call this the "3rd lung."
• Post-Workout Recovery - taken within 30 minutes of a ride, it gets my legs ready for the next day. 
• Arginine Extreme - for increased blood flow during strenuous activity. Works like beet juice by proving nitric oxide to your muscles. 

See all of the Performance Elite Products here: http://www.advocare.com/products/performance_elite.aspx

Getting back on the health & fitness track after losing motivation, at age 49

It's not easy to start a fitness regimen at any age. And it's not easy to re-start a regimen once you have lost motivation. In my experience, you don't HAVE to hit rock bottom, where you're completely disgusted with yourself...but wherever you are, the important thing is to DECIDE that you're going to change.

I fell off the exercise wagon because of stress. Which is ironic because giving up exercise is giving in to stress. I know from experience that exercise is medicine, or therapy. It is a fact that exercise produces endorphins which are natural mood boosters.  

But I let my stressors, mainly centered around job loss and the resulting severe financial pressure, get the best of me. I wanted to spend every waking moment focused on fixing my situation, sending out resumes, reaching out to everyone for advice, and searching for a solution to my problems. I felt that exercise was frivolous and self-indulgent, though I knew deep inside that it was not. My depression only grew worse as I blew off workout after workout. 

I still struggle with the depression. Every day is a roller coaster ride of emotions as new doors open and then close in my face. It is so hard not to take every rejection, every unreturned email or phone call personally. I've also started to get angry at my friends for not recognizing how miserable I am and not offering to help. You read about suicides every day and everyone always says afterward..."If only I knew what he was going through." (Note: I don't think I'm suicidal, but if you think you are, please call a professional immediately!)

The point is, that today, I made the DECISION to not let my situation get any worse. I went on a run...and it was hard after a 2 week layoff. But I didn't stop until I'd run two miles...then I walked a 3rd. It was a struggle to get through the first mile, and I lost form during the second mile, but I felt reborn at the end.

Maybe getting back on my exercise routine will do more than band-aid my symptoms. Perhaps it will be the basis of my resurgence, and the foundation of my mental recovery. I hope so. 

Apple Macbook Pro Message App hanging

Recently, the messages app on my Macbook pro started hanging. I had no idea what caused it and thought it was related to a recent software upgrade (to El Capitan.)

The app would open, then go into the "spinning wheel" mode where nothing happened at all. It seemed to last forever and my only option was to do a "force quit." I had to rely on my phone to send/receive messages.

After several days of searching, I finally found the thread with the answer:
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/7408309?start=0&tstart=0

It turns out the problem is due to the Contacts app. I had contacts enabled for both my icloud and gmail accounts. When I turned off icloud (as I have over 1500 in gmail) then restarted Messages, the problem was no more.

Ralph, I don't know you but God bless you!

Ten Tired Traffic Myths - still alive and kicking

Our region is home to one of the top 6 transportation boondoggles in the country right now - the I-77 toll lanes project.

While the contract itself appears to be fraught with problems and penalties, such as penalties for building nearby projects that take traffic away from the toll road, the opponents keep touting Myth 1 as if it is the obvious answer.

The answer to me is actually in Myth #7, get a little bit of traffic off the roads, and you get a significant reduction is delay times. This is because traffic delays are non-linear. I don't expect the toll road opponents to understand that because they have problems with Myth #1, which is kind of math dependent as well.

http://www.citylab.com/commute/2015/12/10-tired-traffic-myths-that-didnt-get-a-rest-in-2015/422274/

iPhone 6 Dead Microphone

I didn't post an update but I finally fixed my dead microphone problem. What I did was take my iPhone to the Apple store. One of the geniuses ran an audio test which confirmed the microphone was bad. Since my phone was still under warranty they swapped me with a new one and I was on my way in about an hour. It took that long to make sure I had a fresh backup and update the OS on the fresh phone.