Carlos’ blog

I had my second physical therapy treatment yesterday.  They gave me some shock treatment (electrical stimulus) on my quadricep in order to wake it up.  They say I can walk with 1 crutch from now on.  I am so over the crutches and not being able to go to the gym or explore San Francisco like I used to. I can't wait until my knee and leg is back to normal. 

And I said "yes, yes, yes."  Today was my first rehab/physical therapy appointment.  The knee is still a little painful but the Vicodin really helps.  I'm finally getting the hang of walking with my crutches and I ventured down to the corner coffee shop.  Fortunately I was able to work from home all week so I didn't have to move around too much as it is very tiring to walk with crutches.

Still feeling weak but going to get my stiches out today.  Here's a gross picture of my swollen knee after we took off the bandage.

Swollen Knee

I am having my knee surgery tomorrow morning at 9am.  I wasn't at all nervous about it until today. As time gets closer my stomach is in knots.  I guess its a fairly routine procedure but I am realizing I am not invincible as I once thought in my youth.  Wish me luck.

Jerry and I saw two Romanian movies this past week. One from Netflix and the other at the Theatre.  On Saturday we went to the movie theatre and saw '4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days' aka (4 luni, 3 saptamini si 2 zile).  It was a riveting movie and the theatre audience was completely enthralled during the movie. You could hear a pin drop in that theatre.  I really enjoyed it.  I was surprised about the crowd. Usually San Francisco movie audiences are fairly eclectic but this crowd seem to be leaning more towards the upper crust Pacific Heights folks who usually go to the Ballet or Opera not a foreign film about a college student trying to obtain an illegal abortion .  Here is some info on the movie. http://www.ifcfilms.com/viewFilm.htm?filmId=496

The other Romanian movie we watched on Monday night from netflix was, 'The Death of Mr. Lazarescu' (Moartea domnului Lazarescu).  I enjoyed this movie as well. Not a terrific movie but enjoyable none the less. Started out kind of slow and progressed slowly but in the end was a good movie.  After seeing this movie, I'm glad I didn't get sick while visiting Romania. I hope to go back to Romania in the next couple of years and I will make sure I am in good health before I go. Here is some info on the movie:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0456149/

You can see a trailer clip on the following website by clicking on services and then movies and finally trailer:

http://www.mandragora.ro/page.php?lng=e&hidelng=r

... knee surgery.   I guess no more wrestling for me the next 4 months or so. I have a horizontal tear of my lateral meniscus that is leaking septated cystic fluid. Sounds gross and worse than it really is.  I guess its not an emergency and I can live with it for a while but I risk tearing the meniscus further and seeing as how I can't walk more than 3 blocks without knee pain I am going to schedule surgery.  I guess its done arthroscopically (basically they don't cut open the knee and only make small punctures and use tools to cut away the tear). It can't be repaired since its a horizontal tear, instead they cut out about 20% of the meniscus where the tear is so it doesn't tear further and damage the whole meniscus.  He described it as a sail from a sailboat with a tear in it. When the sail is put under stress the tear in the sail will rip more.  They cut around the tear basically reshaping the sail and that way under stress it won't tear any further.  I will be out during the surgery but not completely under.  I will schedule the surgery for the late part of February.  I guess I will only need crutches for a few days. Fortunately, I can work from home, so I will just take about 1 1/2 weeks and recooperate at home.

Here is one frame of the mri scan along with the report. This is a view looking at my knee from the left side.  The tear is in the front left side of my knee and the white spot on the mri is the buildup of fluid that leaks through the tear.  That white spot is supposed to be dark just like the area on the right side of the scan.

Knee MRI

Mri report

Mri rpt page 2

Well its off to the Orthopedic Surgeon today at 3pm.  This is my last day of work before my 3 day weekend so its kind of nice that I get to leave work early.  Anyway, back to my knee.  I participate in freestyle wrestling and I guess a common wrestler's injury is a torn meniscus.  I'm not sure if that's what happened to me but back in September I started having some pain in my left knee.  I bought a knee brace put ice and heat on it and just dealt with it figuring it would get better.  After walking around all of Manhattan in December it was killing me and I've noticed since the beginning of the year that I can't walk more than 3 blocks without it bothering me.  I've had an xray, doctor's appt and last week an MRI of my knee.  Today I meet with the Orthopedic Surgeon to find out exactly what is wrong with my knee and what is the best course of action to fix it. It may be physical therapy or it may be surgery.  Wish me luck.

I was up until 3am last night partly watching Will & Grace reruns followed by VH1 Classic videos.  My favorite song of all time is Modern English - Melt With You. Its not usually the words that grab my attention but more the rythm and beat. This song always brings me back to memories of my going out and dancing every Friday, Saturday and Sunday although I don't remember dancing to this song.

I just found out about this great website - www.kiva.org  I encourage everyone to check out the loans for people in Nicaragua, as this is the birthplace of my father.  You can loan as little as $25 and so far everyone that has lent money to the organization in Nicaragua has gotten their money back with no defaults.

Here is the writeup from their website.  Its endorsed by Bill Clinton and Oprah. What more credentials do you need.

We let you loan to the working poor

Kiva lets you connect with and loan money to unique small businesses in the developing world. By choosing a business on Kiva.org, you can "sponsor a business" and help the world's working poor make great strides towards economic independence. Throughout the course of the loan (usually 6-12 months), you can receive email journal updates from the business you've sponsored. As loans are repaid, you get your loan money back.

We partner with organizations all over the world

Kiva partners with existing microfinance institutions. In doing so, we gain access to outstanding entrepreneurs from impoverished communities world-wide. Our partners are experts in choosing qualified borrowers. That said, they are usually short on funds. Through Kiva.org, our partners upload their borrower profiles directly to the site so you can lend to them.

We show you where your money goes

Kiva provides a data-rich, transparent lending platform for the poor. We are constantly working to make the system more transparent to show how money flows throughout the entire cycle. The below diagram shows briefly how money gets from you to a third-world borrower, and back!