Mobile again...

I'm back up and mobile again. Watch out!

After about 36 hours of pain killers, I moved over to straight up Vitamin I (Ibuprofen) and am still taking it about 2-3 times per day to keep the inflammation down. 3 days after surgery I was up on my feet all day for a wedding reception. After 15 hours, I sat down and took a peek at it and was a little alarmed to see that all the bruising had drained to the bottom of my foot. All the purple color that was normally just lightly all over my foot was influenced by gravity and formed a thick dark purple line at the bottom of my foot. I talked to a nurse friend of mine and he said it was nothing to worry about. (This was later confirmed by my doctor.)

Stitches came out on Monday, hit the plane on Friday and back in town on Saturday night. I'm able to ride the bike, hit the gym and do anything else as long as I don't put too much weight on my toes. I need a few more weeks of recovery to get back to running or lunges.

The pain is largely gone, though it's still a little sensitive. I'm easing into things again -- I have no desire to push myself back into a problem by pushing too hard, too fast. Snowboarding/skiing season is still a few months away.. lots of time. :)

Glacier Doesn't Suck

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Originally uploaded by SethTri

For our honeymoon, Meg & I spent 10 days hiking in Glacier National Park. We spent the first few days with our good friends Jen and Eric, then got some time to ourselves.

Unfortunately, as soon as the paddle and saddle was over on Sunday, the weather turned on us. We had just enough time to get over to the Many Glacier side and get in one short hike before the rain started. But in the end the rain probably worked out for the best as we saw a lot more of the park than we would have through multi-day hikes. If you'd rather just look at all the photos, you can find them at: http://flickr.com/photos/86674201@N00/sets/72157607233218815/

On Monday, we saw a Grizzly and her cub about 5 minutes into our hike to Iceberg Lake. The lake had dozens of large blocks of snow from the surrounding snowfield still floating in it. As we got home a few clouds appeared to be coming in. Apparently they where the harbingers of 4 days of rain and cold temperatures. The rain started just as we ducked into the tents.

Unfortunately, during the night I learned that my 10 year old tent's rain fly is not as waterproof as it once was. It appears to be ok during a light drizzle, but during periods of a steady rain the water soaks through the fly, runs along the poles and then drips into the tent. Fortunately that spot was right on the center of my face, and woke me up in the middle of the night. Otherwise, I probably wouldn't have noticed until my bag was soaking wet. Stick a rain jacket under the drip, move closer to Meg and I'm good enough for the night.

The next morning I bought a space blanket, some hair bands and a little rope and fashioned a backup rain fly that worked just fine. (Though it may have been a bit loud in the breeze.) Over the next couple days Eric, Jen, Meg and I hiked several waterfalls and many other day hikes along the Going-to-the-Sun road.



After 4 days of hiking and sleeping in the drizzle, we spent Jen & Eric's last night with us in a cabin at the KOA. (Showers, laundry and a nicer bed for a night were well worth it.) After they left, we headed over to Sprague Creek campground and got ready for a break in the weather and a 2 day backpacking trip.

Friday and Saturday were (as forecasted) nice and sunny. We caught the bus to the Jackson Overlook on the Going to the Sun road and started hiking the Gunsight Pass Trail. Day 1 was 11-ish miles, 2,000 ft of elevation gain and a lot of beautiful photos. After a while, I got a little tired of all the beauty around me. How many photos of waterfalls, beautiful ridgelines, mountain goats and trees do I really need? It's pretty ridiculous when you can point a camera randomly and get a fantastic shot.



We camped over night along side a beautiful lake and hiked back to Lake MacDonald lodge the next day. We saw a Pika, a Hoary Marmot and a bunch of horses along the way. We also got in some canoeing and had a good time by the camp fires.



We saw a lot of Glacier National Park, and had a lot of fun. We both highly recommend the area and will probably try to get back in the future.

Surgery day one....

As some of you may or may not know, I was scheduled for foot surgery this afternoon. So far everything seems to be going well.

For the last year or so, after about 20-30 minutes of running my left foot would start burning, getting worse as I continue. Cycling would also cause pain and snowboarding was excruciating after several hours. After I stop pounding my feet, it would eventually stop hurting but sometimes it would take quite a while. Last time I talked to my doctor, we tried modifying my orthodics and that instantly did the trick for a few months. (It allowed me to get back on the track for a while.) But eventually, the pain came back.

After some discussions and a sonogram, we pretty much concluded it was either compartment syndrome in my calf pinching a nerve, or a Morton's Neuroma. I then had to move overseas so further work with my doctor was pretty rough. But, after some research and closer attention to my symptoms, I figured it was probably a neuroma.

This afternoon Meg & I walked into the Dr's office where a marble sized bunch of stuff was pulled out of my left foot between the 3rd & 4th metatarsals. A good chunk of it was my nerve but there was also a lot of scar tissue as well and it was pretty large. From the doc, it appears to confirm the diagnosis.

Recovery? Well, I'm on some pain killers now and stuck in a bed for the next 24 hrs or so to keep the swelling down. But I should be able to get back on my feet in a day or two, back to work on Monday, cycling and other low/medium impact in a week (as long as I can put up with the pain) and running shortly there after. We'll see how it goes, but overall, even it if takes months to get back to running, it's probably better than 2 years of running in pain.

Safe in Yerevan. Safe in Georgia.

Seth and I are both safe. I am in Yerevan, Armenia (Georgia's neighbor to the south) and Seth is working very long (if not all) hours at the embassy in Tbilisi. I have been trying to keep many people up to date with our situation through e-mails and many of you mentioned that you have been checking the blog with "stalker like frequency" to quote one, so I figured I should post an update.

The embassy in Tbilisi went to "modified authorized departure" status on Saturday August 9th. This meant that family members of embassy staff were permitted to depart (and be provided for by the government) but all staff had to remain at the embassy to work. I held off on departing at first, wanting to stay with Seth and continue to volunteer at the embassy. When the Georgians announced a cessation to their military action and Russian forces continued to advance into the country Seth and I made the decision that it was time for me to head out. I drove across the border into Armenia with a convoy of vehicles from the embassy in Tbilisi and since that time I have been well taken care of by the folks at the embassy in Yerevan.

Seth has been working long hours, sleeping at the embassy (when he gets time to sleep) like so many other dedicated people. They don't complain, far from it. they are happy to be doing work that is needed. Help is beginning to arrive in the embassy from all over the world, other embassies that can spare people and the main State Department in the US are sending employees to support our fantastic people in Tbilisi. We are beyond proud of the work they are doing. What others may see as a sacrifice, they are glad to do.

I have been busy here working on rearranging my flights home for the wedding in Montana on August 23rd. I was very lucky to get the last seat on a flight out of Yerevan on August 19th (it pays to travel alone sometimes). I have Seth wait listed on 2 separate flights out of Yerevan in case he can't fly out of Tbilisi. We are hopeful that he will be able to make it to Montana for the wedding. If not, Montana is one of the few states that allow "proxy marriage" so if he can't be there I will have a stand-in groom. We will go ahead with the ceremony and celebrate for Seth. But as of right now we are thinking positively! Please join us in these positive thoughts.

I will update the blog if there is any real news. Unfortunately, there hasn't been any major changes (that I am aware of) in several days. We remain hopeful and send positive thoughts and prayers to our Georgian friends who cannot leave and whose lives have been changed. We are very lucky that most of us do not know what it is like to experience what they are going through.

love,

Meg & Seth

The Next Time You Complain About Your HMO...

...put a sock in it and be thankful you're not seeking medical attention in a  developing country.

As many of you have read in the previous post I recently competed in a World Cup event and was defeated by a stronger and more experienced "Team Lowenbrau." After 6 days of tenderness (and doing aerobics on it, hosting a party on my feet all night and riding 20 miles on a mountain bike) I decided to see a doc about my ankle.

After the usual touching, pressing, "press against my hand, now pull against my hand" exam he diagnosed a painful but essentially harmless bone bruise. He said that, "while most people would have stayed off their feet for a couple days after an injury like this, Seth and I don't appear to be very normal when it comes to self imposed inactivity." So he gave me strict order to stay off it for 1 week and go get an X-ray done just to be sure.

If I'm nothing else, I am a good patient and when a doc says to do something, I don't argue. He gave me the directions to a diagnostic facility in Tbilisi that could do the X-ray. I found the building on the main drag in town. I walked into a reception area with one man whose arm was in a sling and what appeared to be his father, his wife and his father's friend who all seemed to be sitting apart from him and taking turns making fun of the injured guy.

There was no one behind the reception desk. After sitting patiently like a good little Westerner waiting to be served and watching patient after patient walk in the front door and just go right on back into the hospital I said, to heck with it and walked back myself. Imagine going to see your doctor, finding no one sitting at reception and just saying, "Aw heck." and walk into the back past all the nurses and just busting right in on him in an exam room. that's essentially what I did and the hilarious part is that no one even blinked. 

After I asked for someone who spoke English a man called for a woman who would end up being my X-ray technician. She led me back to a dimly lit room which, at first glance appeared to be some sort of storage area for old medical equipment. There were stacks of machines with exposed, multi colored wires and what appeared to be half of an MRI machine in the middle of the small room. She cleared off a low chaise lounge and motioned for me to sit. She then went into an adjacent room and dragged out the X-ray machine. This is where my X-ray tech turned into Jerry Lewis and proceeded to repeatedly step on the machine's electrical cord which was dragging behind her, causing the machine to come to a dead stop and her to stumble backward almost falling over in her 3 inch heels. 

Once she managed to squeeze the X-ray machine between my couch and the half of an MRI machine and free her skirt which was wedged between the two pieces of equipment, she set about arranging my foot on the plate for the X-ray. now, why is it that X-ray techs always manhandle the body part that you are getting a picture taken of? You've got to know that the only reason I'm here is because this thing might be broken, which at the very least means significant discomfort and may possibly be rather painful. Knowing this, they always seem to need you to turn it in the exact manner that causes the most pain and when you can't perform this task to their satisfaction they graciously offer to assist you by cranking it around to the position they want.

After 2 pictures she tells me to lace up (at least, I think that's what she said. It was either than or, "Go to hell." The body language could have gone either way.) She enters my information into a computer that is balancing, I'm not kidding, on an 8 inch stack of papers. She puts my film into an envelope and says, "You must pay cash." All righty then.

I'm led further down the hall to another office where a woman gestures to another couch covered in stacks of papers and scrap metal and instructs me to "Sit." I'm sorry, where exactly should I"...aw heck, I pick up a stack of paper and put it in my lap. She writes something in a ledger book, looks at me through thick glasses and says, "20 Lari." Folks, this is about $15.

All jokes aside, once I aggressively pushed my way in to this facility I was seen immediately and got a pair of X-rays for the cost of lunch at Applebee's. As long as you don't leave home without your sense of humor and you don't have any major medical melt down, you really can't complain.

Move Over Cold Compress, There's a New Game in Town

I got home from a grocery store run yesterday for beer & food for Seth's birthday party on Friday. When I parked the car and opened the back door out came rolling one of those little kegs of beer that holds 5 liters that had fallen over on the ride home and what did I do?

I tried to catch it with the inside of my right ankle like a hacky sack! Right on the ankle bone! What the hell was I thinking????

I immediately dropped to the ground and simultaneously felt like I was going to puke and pass out. This woman was walking with her baby in a stroller and she came running over. Although we couldn't speak the same language, she was rubbing my back while I got control of my breathing and she helped me stand up.

I limped over to our door and she helped me carry 2 bags of groceries that had the frozen veggies etc. I then looked up at the 52 stairs I have to climb to get to the front door from our alley. My first instinct was to call Seth but I thought, "What is he going to do? I'll call when I get inside." So I carried up the groceries limping on my right foot and by the time I reached the top thought I was going to pass out again.

I got inside, put the stuff in the freezer, grabbed the ice pack and laid down on the couch and called Seth. He told me to stand up and put all my weight on my right foot to test and see if it was broken. I could stand on one foot so we were hopeful that it wasn't broken. I spent the next 4 hours lying with my foot elevated, alternating 20 minutes of ice on and 20 minutes off. I took 4 ibuprofen and prayed it wasn't broken because I did not want to fly with a cast and get married in a cast!

All because I couldn't just let the keg fall! I

Apparently my diligence as a patient paid off and I woke up this morning feeling tender to the touch but much better over all. I am able to walk around with little to no discomfort. I came in to work this morning and relayed this story to Alan, who gave me another gem of advice:

The next time something like this happens, I am to immediately go to the liquor cabinet and pull out a bottle of vodka. Pour the vodka over the injured area and rub into the skin gently. Repeat this procedure every 30 minutes until the pain disappears. (I imagine it wouldn't hurt if I accidentally spilled some of it into my mouth every once in awhile either.)

Silly American. Why would you want RICE when you can have vodka?

Your friend,
Pele

Chapel Climb

Seth and I have been "training" for our honeymoon in Glacier National Park by going out for long hikes with loaded packs on the weekend. These hikes have taken us to some pretty amazing spots.

Behind me in this photo is a small chapel that is part of a larger monastery complex in the hills outside Mtskheta (the historic capital of Georgia located about 30 minutes from Tbilisi). Unfortunately we couldn't enter the monastery because I was inappropriately dressed (shorts, no sleeves and no head cover.)

But we were able to climb up to this small chapel and have a look around.

The photo on the right is of the inside of the chapel looking up toward the dome over the altar. This ancient chapel is still used today and there was a small table set out with a prayer book and a jar for offerings.

Below is the view from the chapel.