iToph.com

Sorry for the lack of updates, but, this has been a case of no news is good news. I wore my compression sleeve all day, every day, for most of January and February, and it seems to have made a difference.

I'm playing quite a bit of volleyball without issue these days. For example, last Sunday I played 7 matches of playoff volleyball on a hard court surface, and then 3.5 matches of league play on sand later that night. Then Monday I played 4 matches of playoff hard court. It was a little swollen, and slightly more purple then my other leg, but, not bad. If anything, I'd say my knees are in slightly more pain then my calf/ankle.

If I don't have any further updates here you can assume I've had no set-backs - knock on wood.

81 Best Pictures or All 524 Pictures

Movies:

  Toph Boogie Boarding, Amy Rock Climbing

  Leaving St Martin: 1, 2

  Staff Juggling on Flow Rider

I recently found a great website for organizing trips - TripIt. All you have to do is forward them the e-mail you get from providers (air, hotel, car, etc) and they organize it and present a nice summary on the web. They also have a slick version formatted for mobile browsers. And they have an iCal feed so the info automatically appears on my iToph.com/Google calendars, and thus are synced to my phone. They even sync to Expensd for expense tracking. Check it out!

Here is a "blog badge" for my activity there. I might permanently put it in my sidebar, but, for now you can see it here.

This is hardly the first post on the topic... but I'm documenting this more for my own sake than anyone elses.

First, create a backup of httpd.conf:

ditto /etc/httpd/httpd.conf /etc/httpd.conf.bak

Then open it in vi:

sudo vi /etc/httpd/httpd.conf

Find the line that reads:

DocumentRoot "/Library/WebServer/Documents"

Change it to something like:

DocumentRoot "/Volumes/Mac/Web"

Use something like this to confirm the changes in the file after saving:

more httpd.conf | grep DocumentRoot

62 Best Pictures or All 655 Pictures
Movies:
Amateur Finals Intro: Men Women
Pro Finals Intro: Men Women
National Anthem, Clouds

I saw Dr Samuel Park, Ortho at the Dupage Medical Group in Lombard. First, let me say that I've been pleasantly surprised with the people and physical structure of the offices of the Dupage Medical Group - very pleasant.

I brought a copy of my MRI images, and gave Dr. Park a quick review of my history. Long story short, he says to keep doing what I am doing. When pain and swelling permit it I am allowed to play volleyball... even encouraged.

He thinks the original cause is because of overuse. He said my mild finger numbness is most likely a bit of carpal tunnel. He said the new minor injury on the other leg is also overuse. We discussed the possibility of getting another ultrasound, but, like everyone else I've talked to he feels that isn't really needed. If there was a clot in there it probably would have already done its damage.

He asked me if I wanted to go back to PT or if I felt like I remembered what we were doing there (I've already been to 15 visits). I did feel like I generally remembered, but, I also said that they do get better results - probably because they know how hard to push me and they keep my technique correct. Dr Park did write me a script for 12 PT visits, but, he did that more so I'd have it available as an option then because he felt I should definitely go.

I asked about the possibility of seeing a vascular specialist. He said that might be a good idea, and gave me the name of one.

In general, I liked Dr Park - he took the time to listen to all my questions and he provided thoughtful answers for them. However, I don't feel that I've really learned anything or that I should do anything differently. I suppose I will probably try to make an appointment with one of the vascular specialists he provided me info on.

Any comments?

Here are a couple snapshots of my MRI results. Plenty more where these came from if you're interested.

Here is an update from sunny Mexico...

On January 15th I saw a new general practitioner... I had been meaning to get a new primary care doctor, and I thought it best to start there with my recurring leg problems. He basically said I could get another ultrasound, but, don't worry too much unless the swelling gets much worse or the problems spread.

On Saturday, January 17th I started to play sand volleyball on the beach here in Mexico. It caused me no major problems until shortly after a clinic on Thursday, January 22, at which time I could feel the swelling going in full force.

I did not play again until Saturday afternoon. I was able to play at about 75% normal speed and force - not too bad. I taped my ankle and wore a brace, not too bad overall. A couple hours after playing, however, I noticed a knot in my calf in my left leg (all the previous problems have been in the right leg). This is not good - all the previous doctors I spoke to had said how encouraging it was that I had no symptoms in the other leg. I also had some pain in the left foot, heel & arch. I will certainly be paying attention to how this progresses... and I am planning on skipping the upcoming Sunday matches.

Another point of concern - I have been experiencing some mild numbness in my fingers this week. Also, Amy noticed that my hands were cold this afternoon, compared to hers - that's odd because usually mine are warmer.

It all seems to be pointing to some circulatory issue... but I'd rather let the experts weigh in and make that diagnosis. While in Mexico I've had the opportunity to speak to a few people with relevant experience... a couple of them have said they'll tell my story to some experts back home and get back to me. I am optimistic something will come of these discussions.