Both medical conditions continue to heal and recover at their own pace; one better than the other even though it’s newer. Range of motion at the shoulder is significantly improved to normal ROM for active flexion and abduction with extension making significant progress. Return visit to ortho retained enough concern to warrant an MRI. Results came back a mixed bag. No urgent need for surgery but more than a little concerned with the long term prognosis for regaining muscle tone and heaven forbid, gaining muscle mass and strength. Summary below:
Oblique mildly displaced fracture of acromion (previously reported as nondisplaced)
Comminuted, nondisplaced fracture of humeral head neck junction (new diagnosis); most significantly anterior
Moderate biceps tenosynovitis. No evidence of biceps tendon tear
Probable nondisplaced superior labral tear with associated inflammatory changes
Irregularity of posterior labrum
Shoulder joint effusion with evidence of synovitis
Evidence of muscular strain involving superior deltoid and infraspinatus muscles; no evidence of tears
Bone marrow edema at acromion and humeral head/neck junction
Moderate subacromial/subdeltoid bursitis
Bursal sided fraying of supraspinatus tendon with underlying tendinosis. No full thickness rotator cuff tear
Will resume physical therapy and share the MRI results to see if that changes the plan. On the positive side, can begin to slowly increase duration and intensity on the trainer with plan to return to outdoor riding in October. Still taking it easy to recover from near crippling effects of the last walk/slog session. Guess there were too many 2 ½ minutes slogs and body didn’t like it at all. High glute strain, almost like a muscle spasm. Just won’t release and not very comfortable. Surprisingly, the only time the symptoms mostly disappear is when spinning. Will have to accept running is not going to make a return to my activity log; no matter how badly desired. On the positive side, will proceed with planning to register for Trek Travel’s Classic Climbs of the Tour for summer 2024.
Return to PT was historically disappointing. Have regained full range of motion (yea, me!) but severely reduced muscle strength. Completed some flexion and abduction exercises with a weighted bar (very minimal – i.e., 5 lbs) along with extension and internal/external (rotator cuff) rotation exercises on a weighted pulley system. Now for the incredulous moment – don’t do push-ups or any pushing motion (bench or shoulder press, dips, etc.) with heavy weights, EVER! Therapist actually made a comment about not understanding military folks (and retirees) and the desire to do push-ups. Granted, not sure I could actually do a push-up yet and still reluctant to give knee push-ups a go. Wall push-ups aren’t a problem as long as hand, arm, and shoulder positions are aligned. So, graduated from PT. Unless condition deteriorates, no reason to return. Silly me thinking PT was intended to return to pre-injury condition. Nope, just don’t do certain tasks. Good grief!
Continued self-developed therapy at home. Able to do single-arm, full extension with 2-lb dumbbell but only 1-lb for abduction which is accompanied by all kinds of crackling and popping sounds. Not very pleasant to listen to and uncomfortable at times. Need to find the various colored bands to incorporate internal and external rotation movements. In a moment of bravery, or stupidity, did attempt knee push-ups. First two reps were fine but not the third – extreme burning, shooting pain originating in the should extending through medial deltoid. Wall push-ups present almost no discomfort. Attempted countertop push-ups a few days later. Those are a no-go too. Will message the ortho and relay the civilian, outsourced therapist’s comments reference foregoing all pushing movements. That’s not a return to pre-crash functionality.
Really thought the autologous drops were going to be the answer to the constant eye irritation. Most of the discomfort disappeared within days of starting the drops. Giving all credit to the serum drops, stopped administering the cyclosporine. Eye irritation returned in 3-4 days so naturally returned them to the daily routine. Started feeling better until visit with the corneal specialist. Described the disappointment of cataract surgery results; left eye acuity insufficient to read all print without reading glasses but far vision isn’t nearly as good a right eye. In effect, the cataract surgery will now require a corrective lens along with reading glasses. Doc seemed nonplussed with acuity results. As always, the Q-tip swab across the cornea caused increased irritation but instead of dissipating within 2-3 days, the irritation worsened. Progressed to an extent that warranted an interim appointment since the regular appointment was still a couple of weeks away. Irritation was reminiscent of dellen and concerned another developed or old one returned. No dellen – just extreme dry eye syndrome. Doc commented that she hadn’t seen it that dry and irritated in a long time. Inquired about drops and mentioned still using both along with erythromycin ointment at night. On the positive side, the lasik flap has resolved itself and the hypoesthesia continues to improve. In fact, the calcium deposit on the cornea might be a source of irritation now the corneal sensation has improved. Will follow-up and discuss having it scraped off in the near future. So incredibly tired of dealing with a broken eye for over half a year. Even after the cataract surgery, the left eye isn’t the same as before the detached retina. Not all doom and gloom as vision has been restored but the eye irritation is endless. Sleeping is about the only time there isn’t a constant reminder. Can barely sit at our new kitchen island during the day as the glare from the sunshine almost necessitates indoor shades. So don’t want this to be the new normal.
Cycling activities remained confined to indoors on Zwift. Able to gradually lengthen rides to 75-80 minutes and mid Z2 effort levels. Managed 5-min tempo intervals and 1-min anaerobic interval sessions along with the predominantly steady state rides. Ortho gave the green light to outdoor riding when comfortable with the caution that another crash when not completely healed could have disastrous consequences. Frustrating to lose cycling for most of the year due to eye trauma and subsequent complications and crashes. This is the least amount of time spent outdoors, ever. And not just for cycling, although that’s been a major kick in the pants. Challenging to enjoy activities, whether inside or outside with a constant reminder the eye isn’t normal and physically limited by impaired shoulder movement and greatly diminished strength. Trying to maintain a positive outlook and doing whatever possible to continue the recovery train but sometimes the load gets pretty heavy. Looking forward to actually riding without the need for an avatar and curious about the response to vehicular traffic. Will find out soon enough. Initial plan was to return to the great outdoors in October and registering for the Great Pumpkin Ride at the end of the month. My octogenarian father has a couple of medical appointments the second week of September that require transportation. Will head back to play chauffeur, cook, helper, etc. and accelerate outdoor riding. Not taking trainer and associated bike. It’ll be a better environment for a return to outside as terrain is flat and significantly less vehicular traffic. Did register and paid down payment for Trek’s Classic Climbs of the Tour.
Updates on the road bikes: all parts are now in to restore Synful to pre-crash condition and install bar-end shifters on the clip-on aero bars. Cannondale finally came through with a replacement frame for the warranty claim. After an initial tease of offering a current year Hi-Mod frame (yellow and black), they found a 2022 dark teal SuperSix Evo Hi-Mod frame. Actually saw the frame the same day Synful was dropped off. Will see which bike is completed, hopefully both, in time for the good son trip.
New in the culinary ledger were stuffed peppers, rotisserie duck, BBQ chicken twice baked potatoes, one pot chicken shawarma, and a Fridge Queen Cake (forget to snap a photo). Boy child made a short, return visit and treated us to stuffed pork loin (spinach, onion, and Brie cheese), eggplant, zucchini, and tomato ratatouille, and turnips in remolaude sauce with chives, bourbon, and cream. The missus made a crème brulee cheesecake. Ironically, despised stuffed peppers as a child. No issues with consuming the stuffed portion but the peppers were gag worthy. Tastes definitely change with time and very much enjoy peppers, including stuffed peppers especially when the meat is ground lamb. Fair bit of searching required to obtain a whole duck. If planned ahead, nearly every local butcher could have ordered one but it made the menu Thursday night for the following Sunday night’s dinner. Good thing it was only 5 pounds as anything bigger wouldn’t have worked on the grill. Rotisserie adapter wasn’t the problem but even with removing the center grill grates, a larger bird wouldn’t have fit over the drip pan. Dry brined the duck 24 hours earlier, stuffed it with herbs, spices, scallions, and an orange and prepared an orange marmalade for basting. Cooking time wasn’t quite as long as anticipated, but it had a really good flavor. Wasn’t gamey at all. Accompanied the duck with twice baked sweet potatoes and roasted broccoli. The Missus wasn’t too keen on the shredded chicken and BBQ sauce but all of the flavors and textures blended well together. The chicken Shawarma was excellent. The chicken had a great flavor and using the same cast iron skillet to prepare the orzo infused it with additional flavoring. Initially the idea of placing the cold cucumber, tomato, and Feta salad on top seemed unnatural but again, the flavors blended well together. The Fridge Queen Cake (no photographic evidence) really wasn’t a cake. It consisted of heavy whipping cream (whipped by a mixer) with softened cream cheese, fresh blackberries, and blackberry jam in between layers of graham crackers topped with whipped cream and garnished with more fresh blackberries. Placed in the freezer overnight to set, taken out a few hours before serving then stored in the fridge afterwards. It was pretty good, especially when served with a scoop (or two) of southern blackberry cobbler ice cream. The boy child’s dish was extraordinary, as usual. Had to make a trip to the local butcher’s shop as the local grocery stores only had mini pork loins. Learned a couple of things about eggplant. Tasked to obtain Japanese eggplant, zucchini, and roma tomatoes all of similar diameter. Another search and find mission and eventually found Chinese eggplant which were an acceptable substitution. While on the hunt for duck, came across Japanese eggplant. The Chinese version are purple in color and much longer but consistent diameter than traditional eggplant while Japanese eggplant resemble a very dark purple or black zucchini. Who knew?! The Missus made two practice crème brulee cheesecakes on consecutive Sunday family dinners (no one complained) in preparation for real one with the boy child. The first one didn’t have the burned sugar topping as the kitchen torch didn’t arrive in time (to be honest, it wasn’t ordered in time). Nearly a year had passed since family dinner included both children. There wasn’t any difference between the second and third iteration – they were both excellent (as was the first one, too).
Cycling and Culinary Flavors 