Day of Achilles Surgery & Decision Factors

A few more hours till my surgery at 1:30 pm PST. I'm going to be super hungry and thirsty post surgery since I was allowed no food or drink since yesterday at midnight.

Some updates from my appointment with my orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Waqqar Khan-Farooqi. Due to complete rupture of my achilles, surgery was pretty much the only option if I wanted to walk normally and return to sports.

Two options for surgery: open surgery and percutaneous surgery. Open is making a 3-4 inch incision on the medial side which allows the surgeon to have full access to the tendon and surrounding "tissues." Percutaneous is making a few tiny incisions instead of one big one.

The difference as described to me was that a percutaneous stitching is not as clean or precise of a procedure - less visibility and inability to clean up any loose ends, strands. Also, rerupture rates tend to be 3-4 percentage points higher (1-2% for open and 4-5% for percutaneous).

One downside to the open surgery is that it tends to have more complications around the wound healing (i.e. infections). However, if you are young, healthy person, you should have no problems.

So ..... open surgery was the clear cut choice.

Achilles Tendon Rupture: The Last Injury from Flag Football

Well, well. It's been quite a year ...

One full of injuries that no man or woman (or animal) should ever have to endure in a lifetime let alone in twelve months. Last year, I broke my left clavicle and then six weeks later, I tore my left ACL in my first flag football game back. It's not like I've been fighting in the UFC, we're talking about flag football. Read: non-contact pass and catch. If I were a Wildebeest, I'd already be a fancy meal for some lions.

It's slightly frustrating .....given that I'm just 9 months out of ACL surgery and had just returned to my former self through a combination of metabolic based lifting, yoga and agility classes. So much for discipline and conditioning. I could have just as well sat on my couch, drink PBRs all day, and pop Ho Ho's into my mouth.

The upside? At least I made it through 4 and quarter games ... before I ruptured my achilles tendon. Woo hoo.

The way it happened is quite ridiculous. Playing QB, I received the ball upon "hut," dropped back three steps, set up, planted and then "clack!" It felt like Bruce Lee had kicked the back of my heel. Luckily, I kept my balance and released the ball on my good left foot and was able to get the pass off. Despite the catch by Johnny, I knew I was done. Done for the year, done with flag football.

I made the call to the boss of the house and we headed to Swedish Medical Center's ER. I was happy to see that they had remodeled the waiting area. I spent the next two hours getting confirmation of my fate and was sent home in a plaster splint.

Next stop ... my visit with Dr. Waqqar Khan-Farooqi, a Foot & Ankle surgeon at the Orthopedic Physicians Associates.

Dog People and Elizabeth Louise

You know you've become dog people when you start addressing your dog like a person and start asking your in-laws if they got Christmas presents for the dog. I think we may well be down that path. I will have to say that my relationship with my dog, Lizzie, (otherwise, known as Lizzie Lou) is quite different than the one I had with my childhood dog. It's much more parental in nature and I will leave it at that for fear of being ridiculed by Heather for analyzing the relationship. :)

Christmas Party 2006

Christmas and New Year's have gone by in the blink of an eye and I am already playing catch-up in 2007 on a number of fronts, including this blog. Heather and I hosted a Christmas party and we think it went quite smoothly: people sated by the apps and quenched by the alcoholic bevies.

Big props go to Yannis and Priscilla for helping us pick up and do the dishes at 3 in the morn.

Here are a couple of pics throughout the evening.

The HBS Crew



















Baura, Happy as Can Be!



















Levy's Chilling with Ian and Sara


















Hello Ladies



















Kellogg Boys



















Internatioanal Couple of the Year, Priscilla and Yannis


















Party it Up with Jenny, Nicole, and Debbie

Speed Freak Awards, Week 13

Another thrilling week of NFL action with late winning field goals and outstanding play from some special athletes. Specifically, I'd like to call out three guys who demonstrated that speed does kill and who helped lead their teams to victory with their God-given talents. In fact, they are all rookies. Does it say something about youth?

Here they are:

#3 Devin Hester, 5'11, 189 - electifying 45 yard punt return for TD

#2 Jerious Norwood, 6'0, 203 - riDunkulous open field 62-yard TD run

#1 Reggie Bush, 5'11, 203 - 4 TDs and a plethora of jockstraps left on the field. The kid moves in video game speed and is jacked up (see pic below).

Kids Night Out - Ian & Manon's Engagement Soiree

A QUIET DINNER AT HOME WITH FRIENDS















HARRY TOASTS THE CROWD















BERT HAMMIN' IT UP WITH HIS STORIES
















LINDSEY AND HARRY, NEWLY ENGAGED
















GYRO IS TEMPORARILY DOWN FOR COUNT ...















LET'S GET JIGGY PEOPLE















"WHO DA' MAN!?! PUNKY B LIKEY BILL."















MEAT PERFORMS PART-TIME AT CHIPPENDALE'S















GYRO, "SHALL WE DANCE MY FIGURE SKATER SVETLANA?"















SPUNKY BEING SPUNKY
















DIRK AND IT GIRL, SUNNY















HARRY AND SVETLANA IN RAVE-LIKE SYNC

























JANE SHAKES THE DERRIERE















"LOWER GYRO! POUR SOME SUGAR ON ME, IN THE NAME OF LOVE."

Pride Is Forever in Mii Form

As demonstrated here, I've been spending WAY too much time playing around with this cool flash app. But it's so much freakin' fun making these Mii's of your friends and it helps when the brain can only do some much after a long night of imbibing.

To help determine who they are, each person is linked to an NFL player that matches their style of play.

In order from right to left.......

• Row 1: Ray Lewis+Todd Heap, Jay Novacek, Matt Birk+John Gruden
  
• Row 2: Michael Strahan, Dave Meggett
  
• Row 3: Keyshawn Johnson, Mark Brunell****, Asian Pop Star+Rod Woodson
• Row 4: Brian Urlacher+Chris Cooley, Steve Largent

****Please note: Mark Brunell in his prime (i.e. Jacksonville days as Pro Bowler), not as a backup with the Redskins.

Who is Who?

After some fine dining at Hammer's posh pad - celebrating the wonderful engagement of Ian+Manon and Tim+Bridget, these crazy group of kids took Seattle's nightlife by storm. Their alter egos emerged to show Britney, Paris, and Lindsay that we, too, can party.

Row 1: Svetlana, Bill
Row 2: Bert, Sunny, Dirk Dracula
Row 3: Lindsey, Guy, Gyro
Row 4: Jane, Harry, Spunky
Row 5: Punky B, Humpty, Meat