Not So Fast...

An interesting week.

Charlie got a call from the doctor's office - the appointment for August 26 wasn't going to work for the doctor, so we'll have to reschedule. So now it could be as soon as July 29 or as late as August 19; we just don't know. It makes it just a little difficult to plan things that way.

As I said in my last post, Charlie and I are taking this chance to focus on losing some weight and getting into better shape overall. After my ride today (30 rolling miles @ about 17mph), my weight was 218.5, down about 5 pounds from last week. I am sure that some of that was sweat weight, so I won't be surprised to see it come back up when I weigh in tomorrow morning. But I am feeling better and can feel the weight difference. So, I need to keep riding more, drink less alcohol, and try to get some better sleep patterns going. The last appears to be the hardest to achieve, as I am not a fan of drugs (I only take ibuprofin for my back pain). Maybe the fitness will help the sleep - I can only hope...

52 Days

Well, it looks like we finally have a surgery date -August 26. That means I have 52 days to get myself in the best shape possible, to make recovery as quick and pain-free as possible.

This weekend was the 4th of July Jubilee on the Arcata Plaza. As a Chamber of Commerce Board Member, I was expected to be there, and so I was. But I was in so much pain that I was pretty much useless to do anything. There's something embarrassing about standing around being in a conversation and, right in the middle, say that you have to sit down (before you fall down). The pain and numbness are really starting to get to me. I blew off two parties to which I was invited this weekend, simply because I knew that I wasn't going to be very sociable. Sometimes I wish I had some serious pain meds, instead of my friend, Vitamin I...

I've been riding but not nearly hard enough. So, yesterday I decided to push myself a little on the loop out to Blue Lake. I did the 14 city/hilly miles out in just under 45 minutes, which wasn't too bad. The headwind on the ride back slowed me down but I averaged almost 17mph for the ride. I am working on getting into a daily ride routine, riding to work and either riding the trainer upstairs or going for a longer ride after I get home. Add in some weight work and I think I'll be in good stead come August 26th.

This morning, I weighed 223.1 pounds. I want to get that down to 215 before I go in to the hospital. I think it's doable...

Oh yes, the doctor who will work on me is NOT the doctor I have been working with over the past 1 1/2 years; it's the Doctor from whom we got the second second opinion. My doctor doesn't feel an operation is called for (even after 2 second opinions), but won't say why - unless we drive down to see him in person. No telephone consults for this guy! Somehow, I just don't think it's worth driving 600 miles roundtrip, both of us taking a day off work (while losing a weekend) and spending a night in SF for a five minute explanation of why he doesn't want to work with me. I'll wait for a phone call instead...

Uh oh...

Yesterday, Charlie found that the test results were finally sent over to my doctor's office, so she called to set up a conference call with the doctor and me, so we could talk about surgery. Well, the call did NOT go as planned...

The receptionist was not our usual and was, from Charlie's perspective, abrupt and somewhat rude. And for some reason, the doctor, relaying through the receptionist, is not interested in taking the surgical route! I really do not understand; why, if he didn't want to do surgery, did he have me get two "second opinions?" Even worse, he gave no explanation for his decision.

At this point I no longer trust this doctor, and Charlie is in conversation with the doctor we saw 2 weeks ago about having him open me up. In my opinion, if the doctor doesn't want to work on me, I certainly don't want him cutting in to my spine!

So, for now, it's back - yet again - to Square One. I had prepared myself for the operation, and now we don't know when or where or even if I'll be getting my back fixed.

Frustration is nowhere near strong enough to describe my feelings right now. Stay tuned...

Waiting again...

It's been almost two weeks since we visited the doctor for the second opinion and my doctor has not received the transcripts. If I offered the kind of "customer service" that UCSF Medical Center does, I would be out of business.

So I sit here waiting for the reports to get to my doctor. Meanwhile, nothing happens. The doctor doesn't want to schedule a phone consult until he's had time to review the report, which is understandable. And of course, since there's no phone consult scheduled, there's no surgery scheduled. The doctor goes on vacation for the first two weeks in July. So, the soonest surgery MIGHT be towards the end of next month.

So I wait. And wait. And continue to live in increasing pain and sleep less and less.

A Second Second Opinion

Got home yesterday from another drive to UCSF Medical Center, this time to meet with the head of the Spinal Center. Dr. McCormack wanted another second opinion on a course of action (the neurologist recommended a triple partial laminectomy).

After waiting for 3 hours in the lobby (we had been warned by staff that he was running late), we finally had a chance to speak with Dr Weinstein. He was very personable with a friendly bedside manner. After the now-obligatory walks around the room (walk away, walk on your toes, walk on your heels) and reflex tests, we got to the meat of the matter.

We were basically given a choice of all-at-once or two-stage surgery options. The all at once option would be to fuse the four vertebrae in question and also deal with the spinal stenosis. This would be a major surgery, with significant invasion and recovery time. An interesting side note: in looking at the x-rays, the doctor noted that the L5-S1 area was almost totally fused on its own, due to the deterioration of the disc.

The second option would be to deal with the stenosis now to relieve the numbness in my legs that hampers my mobility and see how that affects the back pain. The possibility exists that relieving the pressure on the spinal canal and the nerves emanating from it might diminish the constant pain I feel. This surgery would be done with minimally invasive surgery and result in only about 10 days of recovery time. Needless to say, we are leaning toward this option. The possibility exists that we would still have to deal with the fusion at a later date, though. But I have lived with back pain most of my life, so I ma willing to give this a chance.

Now we wait for the report to Dr. McCormack and another consultation. Then, with any luck, we can get surgery scheduled right away. Charlie's travel schedule has a couple of openings coming soon, and it would be great to have this not be too disruptive to her work schedule.

This situation has been very debilitating. I have been able to spend less and less time able to stand and/or walk without having to take time to sit to recover. I find myself getting depressed and angry a lot as we wait and wait for some sort of resolution. Charlie has been wonderfully supportive, in spite of my moods. She is an amazing woman and I love her so much and look forward to the time when we can travel and have fun together again soon.

The Arrogance of Non-Profits - A Rant

Recently, I had two very different experiences dealing with two different non-profit organizations. One was local, the other national, which may explain some of the differences. Let me explain...

The first one is a local non-profit to which we had donated product for the past 5 years for their annual fundraising raffle. The name is not important. This group is not particularly close to our mission statement of supporting cycling and outdoor non-profits, but we had first supported them when we had just started, so we continued to donate someting each year anyway.

This year, I first get a call from a member of the group, not so much asking as telling me that we'll be donating again this year! Okay, so the "presumed close" is a well-used tradition in sales, so I wasn't all that offended, but after I agreed to donate, he then told me (no asking) that he would be by to pick up the donation over 2 weeks before the event. As many of you know, I pride myself on the freshness of my coffee, so I asked if it didn't make more sense to pick it up the week of the event. "No," he said, "It would be easier for me if we could get it earlier. So please have it ready."

So, I put the basket together on the requested day, and guess who doesn't show up? Guess who doesn't call? Guess who sends an email the next day (to "undisclosed recipients") stating that it would be more "efficient" if the donations would be picked up the week of the event? No "I'm sorry for the inconvenience" or anything. Oh, and the following was at the end of the note: "Please advise your staff that we'll be picking up the donations." Sir, yes, sir! I wrote back stating that the basket was ready per his earlier request, and that the only day to pick up the basket that week would be Monday, as Kinetic Koffee would be closed the rest of the week. No response...

The week before the event, another "undisclosed recipients" email. This one states that the donations would be picked up on Wednesday and again, "advise your staff" as these people are very busy and can't be kept waiting around while someone finds their donation. I again politely respond, stating that the office will be closed after Monday, per my last email. The guy calls me and acys rather exasperated that no one would be there on Wednesday, but he'll change his plans and come on Monday. Gosh, thanks! Sorry to inconvenience you!

So he shows up on Monday, not looking happy at all about having to change his plans to accomodate my schedule. I give him the $60 basket and he finally smiles and says, "Thank you" and quickly leaves.

But wait, there's an epilogue! About 2 weeks later, there's another email. Was this a Thank you?" Well, no. This one is addressed to all donors and says that many of us had not picked up the commemorative items to which we were entitled as donors. Attached was a spreadsheet showing what you could choose to receive, based upon the value of your donation. Remember, I gave a $60 basket. Well, since I gave less than $100, I was not entitled to anything. At the bottom of the email were words to the effect, "Please disregard this message if you did not qualify for these items." Someone at the organization could have (and should have) taken the minute or two to figure out who was eligible and who was not. Those who did not "donate enough" should not have even seen this email, unless the intention was to shame us into donating more next year.

You can be assured that Kinetic Koffee will most definitely NOT be supporting this group in the future. Luckily, not all non-profits are this bad.

On the other hand, I had the absolute pleasure to work with Chris Strout at World Bicycle Relief again. The experience was a polar opposite to the local group. Kinetic Koffee always does fundraising at the Sea Otter Classic, and this year we chose to support WBR. Chris and his staff were very enthusiastic and excited. They asked what we wanted or needed to make it a success for both groups and supplied us with a banner, pamphlets, and stickers to give away. The fundraising didn't go as well as we had hoped (hot weather is not very conducive to sampling hot coffee), but the folks from SRAM (WBR's founder is a co-founder of SRAM) came over often to check in to say how much they appreciated what we were doing and seeing if we needed anything. I had said something to one of the SRAM folks about how disappointed I was in our sales and he said that the money didn't matter. Just the fact that we were doing what we could to spread the word about WBR was enough. Truly heartwarming to me.

You can be assured that Kinetic Koffee will do all it can to support this group in the future. And I would ask that anyone who wants to support a great group with a wonderful misson to send a donation to them, please!

Respectfully submitted,

Has it really been over a month???

Things have gotten a little out of control this past month - both in a good way and a bad way. I promise to give a full update tomorrow.

Lots to write about...