A little knee news.

Terry and I packed up and left the Bolt Hole yesterday (Saturday) morning. Five hours later we pulled into the Aerie. Terry did all the driving, of course, while I sat there in the passenger side staring out the window. The pills the doctor at the ER gave me may not get rid of all the pain in my knee, but they have a marvelous way of distracting my brain from that pain.

Don't expect a lot to appear on these pages in the next few days. Between the pain, doctor visits, and the drugs (Hydroco/APAP)--but mostly the drugs--I'll be in the first floor bedroom either reading or--more likely--sleeping.

"One tablet every 4-6 hours as needed for pain," it says on the label. I've been taking one every six hours--stretching to eight if I'm asleep or merely reading. The stuff doesn't make the pain go away completely, but after a while you really don't give a sh*t. The hydroco also seems to be cumulative in that if I take one pill every six hours on a regular basis--at 6 AM, noon and 6 PM say, by the third pill I'm pretty much out of it.

First thing Monday morning, Terry will escort me to the doctor's office. There I'll tell my tale of woe with some visuals--sort of a show and tell. What happens then will depend upon what the doctor determines is necessary. I'll be rooting (?) for an MRI just for piece of mind if nothing else. Certainly, the level of pain still present tells me there may be something in need of repair. Though, I DO have the ability to bend the leg at the knee indicating things are still (pretty much) attached.

Back from ER

Got to the St. Luke's Hospital ER just about 5:30 this evening. No one in the waiting room. Very helpful staff that began processing and assisting me as I walked through the door. They had my name, DOB, address, and everything from the last time I was here (2009) so it was a snap to check in. They even had my vitals before Terry got back from parking the car.

I was whisked off to an examination room and then taken for x-rays before you could say "Boo!" The Doctor came in and asked questions about where and "how much does it hurt when I do this, or how about this?" Then he went off to look at the x-rays.

Half hour later he returned with his diagnosis: Severe sprain of the lateral cruciate tendons, possible tear but without an MRI he couldn't be sure. He prescribed pain killers (which don't seem to be living up to their reputation) suggested I keep off the leg for a couple of days and see my physician on Monday or Tuesday. Then, should the pain continue, I should get an MRI to determine if any tear took place.

Can't say it was a "pleasant" experience, but I was treated efficiently and with care by some nice people.

******

Luckily, Mark showed up this evening. We filled him in on what's what and he told me not to worry. He'll take care of things around the cabin. He also recommended I not bother with a NY hunting license. Three weeks and he got just 48 pictures on the game cams--all bears. The three deer he's seen are tame as house pets--and all female. He even petted one after calling her in using kissing sounds.

I still hope to be able to come up and close the camp up in a couple of months, but right now there's no way I could possibly drive down to get the mail let alone do anything else. Still have to figure out how to get the truck, trailer and ATV home. (Although Mark said he might be able to do that. He's about t-h-i-s close to quitting his current job at Remington Arms. (BTW: Word of advice from the "inside" Do not buy Remington rifles and/or shotguns made in the last year. That includes the Bushmaster and Marlin guns, too. Trust me on this. Just don't.)

Uh-oh!

Damn! This is NOT good!

So I decided the roof wasn't going to get painted by itself and hobbling knee or not, I would have to get up there to get 'er done. Started making preparations by getting into my painting clothes. (The pants can stand my themselves! Now if they would only come when called.) Went out and moved the ladders. Talked to Terry on the phone. Mixed up the paint. Poured a gallon or so into the "roof" bucket. And started to walk toward the ladder.

*PING* went something in the back of my right knee and suddenly I can't put ANY weight on my right leg without a great deal of pain. Straight leg, bent leg...it doesn't matter it will not bear any weight.

I leaned against the bucket, the house, the porch and s-l-o-w-l-y made my way up the two steps into the house. Packed everything away, struggled out of my painting clothes and here I sit contemplating my navel and another trip down to St. Luke's Hospital in Utica.

Been there. Done that. Two years ago on the left knee. Same sort of action after slipping on a wet rock during the last day of muzzle loader season. The diagnosis after an MRI was a severe strain. Rest and rehab. And pain killers.

This time it seems worse. Then I managed to get back out of the woods using the smoke pole as a crutch. This time I'm damn near crawling.

Funny, the left knee suddenly feels fine.

In '09 I needed to get Terry up here to help get all my hunting gear packed. Now I've got ladders on the roof and a trailer with an ATV. (Firewood's still in the woods and likely to stay there for some time.)

I'm going to just sit here feeling sorry for myself for awhile, if you don't mind. As soon as I get in touch with Terry (Curves) I'll make up my mind about what to do.


UPDATE: Terry is on her way. Then it will probably be a trip to the hospital's emergency room. Fun times!

Of Pain and Rain

Tossed and turned and woke up often in pain during the night. My knees are still throbbing and I'm stiff legging it around the cabin like Festus in an old Gunsmoke episode or Walter Brennan in Rio Bravo. I'm very reluctant to go back up on the ladders.

So I check the weather forecast at weather.com. What the...! What happened to all the bright sunny days forecast a week ago. First Saturday and Sunday slipped to the dark side with 30-40% chance of rain and now Friday? And Monday? And Tuesday? But they are listed as "Scattered" and "Isolated" meaning what exactly? A storm might pop up over there...or right on top of me but NOT over there?

No wonder my knee joints are aching, throbbing, pulsing...Heck, they're sore as Hell!


Okay, so the next 5 days have some chance (30-40%) of precipitation. How about the next five? So I go to the 10-day forecast and.... Egads! Now, before you get excited about the "Partly Cloudy" days down there near the end, the chance of precip drops to 20% on those two days. For the rest it's between 30% ("Isolated") and 40-50% ("Scattered").



Betting on the weather is worse than playing at a casino. At least at the casino, you are aware that the house wins the majority of the time. Weather forecasters? Not so much. Then again all it takes for an excellent shot at getting into the Baseball Hall of Fame is a .300 lifetime batting average but I'm not sure a meteorologist even hits that on forecast beyond 24-36 hours.

More progress on the roof painting.

I had to wait on the weather a bit this morning. The rain took its sweet time clearing out over night and things were pretty wet on the roof at 8 AM. It wasn't until 10 AM that the roof over the south side of the kitchen and the covered porch was dry enough for me to go up there and slather on a coat of aluminum.

Naturally, my knees started complaining immediately. I expected it from my left (that's the one I twisted two years ago while out in the woods hunting), but the right one was the loudest--and sorest--of the two. Still, I soldiered on knowing that I've got a reduced window of opportunity now that the forecast has changed for Saturday and Sunday.

BEFORE: South kitchen and porch roof.

AFTER: South kitchen and porch roof.

Three hours of up and down, down and up on the ladders and I had finished the kitchen and porch roof. I took an extended break for lunch and hoped my knees would forgive me enough to let me get a good chink of the living room roof done this afternoon.

BEFORE: East living room roof.

They didn't. I managed to get about 1/3 of the east side of the living room roof done in two and a half hours before I finally had to call it quits. This roof is a bit of a challenge to start with as the ground slopes from the main body of the house to the southern end of the living room on the left. The drop is only a couple of feet, but it's fairly steady meaning the climbing ladder's one leg is firmly planted on the ground while the other needs to be propped up two to four inches. I've got some 2 x 6 boards for that purpose but it's just one more thing that makes me nervous on the ladder. And with bum knees, it's bad enough.

PARTIALLY DONE: East living room roof.

Still to do: East living room roof.
(Plus, the west side of the living room roof (not shown) needs doin'.)

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go get another Yuengling Lager and put some dinner in the microwave. Then it's an extra dose of pain killers and off to bed.

Nice!

Feeling better already. I guess early to bed and late to rise has some benefits when it comes to caring for a sore back. That and some serious pain killers I had left over from injuring my knee a year and half ago. Still potent.

******

Very warm day today. Started out rainy with some T-storms, then we had some sunshine during the mid afternoon, followed by more heavy rain at sunset. In between we had temperatures rise to the upper 50s. The result is that all but the largest mounds of snow are gone, GONE, GONE!

That temperature thing will not carry through to tomorrow as the rain and T-storms are from a cold front s-l-o-w-l-y moving through. Even so, the temperatures will be in the mid to upper 40s tomorrow. Could spring finally arriving?

I Shouldn't Have Done That!

Last week's long one-day drive between the Aerie and Bolt Hole (220 miles up and 220 miles back), gave me an achy back. Then, today, I decided--foolishly--to shovel some of the heaped up snow that contained gravel from the driveway back onto the driveway where it would melt and return the stones to their proper place and make clearing them from the garden an easier task. I must have twisted at the waist in an improper manner for I have surely irritated the nerves there. Now instead of an "oh, my" ache I've got a "G*D DAMN!" pain.

Not good.

Time for a hot shower some pills and an early night where I can lay flat on my back for hours. With luck, I'll feel better in a few days. Without it, it may take a week or two.

Hopefully it will be good enough that I can go north to the Bolt Hole again later this week (after the predicted rain is over--say Wednesday or so) to work on the stovepipe and electricity.

On the plus side, the morning was bright and sunny and warm. Although the sun disappeared around 2 PM, the warmth remained. We got close to 50 degrees today and a good deal of the snow is now history. With more days of similar temperatures and 1.5 inches of rain in the forecast, we should be snow free in a day or two. There's virtually no snow down in the lower elevations. Only on the north facing slopes or dense pine woods are you able to find any snow. (We face the northwest so we get plenty of the afternoon sun except on the east side of the house.)