T H E 6 T H F L O O R

Life in 6 Land

Category Archives: Everything Zen

Knee: Post Op

I had what was hopefully the final appointment with the orthopedic surgeon on Monday and he released me to start being more active with the knee. the stitches were removed and sutures were glued on to the three incisions on my knee. I was also provided a comparison of what a healthy meniscus looks like and what mind looked like when he got in there with his light and camera. In the image, the healthy meniscus are the top two images. The lower two images are how mine looked.

My meniscus was torn on the medial (inner) part of my knee and bent back 180 degrees causing the pain, which in turn caused the pain and swelling I had been experiencing for 2 months. He trimmed out of the torn piece of meniscus, while preserving a majority of the meniscus on the front and anterior of my knee.

I only worked out once last week after my surgery, doing 30 minutes on an elliptical machine. Last night was the second time I worked out and noticed a firm bump on the front of my knee. Thankfully it coincidences with one of the incisions, so hopefully it’s just a matter of time before than swelling (if that is what it is) decreases and the pain subsides.

I still have pain on the inside of my knee, more where the ligament is located at. I am sure we would have seen something on the MRI, but that pain has not gone away. I will give it 4-6 weeks and if the pain still exists might request my MRI and send it to another doctor for a second opinion. Thankfully I have very little pain now walking up stairs or during my daily routine.

Surgery: The Day After

It’s been just over 24 hours since I had my left knee surgery. While the procedure was considered “minor” by the orthopedic surgeon, it was a considerable tear I was told after the fact. Today, I am really feeling the effects of the surgery. My knee is in tremendous pain, but I am trying to hold off taking the prescribed pain medication (Vicodin). I was told to use them as needed for the pain, but the side effects are not friendly and it would really make me worthless at home.

I have a follow up appointment already scheduled for Monday when he will remove the sutures. While I was up and moving earlier this morning, it wasn’t at a breakneck pace. The release paperwork said to get up and walk, if possible so I did that this morning while running a few errands. It might have been too much as the knee is throbbing as I sit here with two bags of peas keeping it cool.

I might looking into a water aerobic class to start next week, depending on the pain. Very little stress on the knee while in the water and it could provide a nice work out. Not sure how this class will work into my work and personal schedule. As for the exercise, I figure I will take the rest of this week off and hopefully get to the gym on Monday for some weights and maybe 30 minutes of easy bike riding.

I figure a few weeks and the knee will be back to normal and I will be doing everything pain free. Until that time, I will be a bit slowed by the swelling and pain that currently hampers me. Thankfully it was the right decision to get the knee fixed and not live with the pain.

Surgery Today!

Finally! And to think, it only too the medical establishment 2 months to make the correct diagnosis. I probably should have pushed for an MRI sooner, didn’t think the orthopedic would decide to take the easy way out, citing “arthritis” instead of trying to resolve my pain. Only the bright side, he did try to push Big Pharma on me, which I rejected.

I had a pre-operation appointment with the orthopedic surgeon yesterday and he quickly explained the 45 minute procedure to repair…well remove the torn part of the meniscus. Unlike the ACL replacement on my right knee 3 years ago, today’s procedure is “minor” in his words. I should not be couch bound for too long anyway. I am hoping to be back up and walking around later today or tomorrow. At any rate it’s back to work on Thursday, as I am not planning any time off from work.

There will be three arthroscopic incisions made around my knee. Unlike the previous surgery, which required a piece of my patellar tendon to replace the torn ACL, today’s procedure won’t both any of the ligaments, tendons or muscles or so I was told. Hopefully I will still have feeling in the left knee when the procedure is completed. So hopefully by tomorrow the inflammation, swelling and most importantly the pain will be gone and I will be to a pain free lifestyle.

Facebook Censorship

It’s bad enough our freedoms are slowing dissolving in this once great land. I don’t have to look any further than the government continually trying to take away our right to bear arms or the TSA and their disregard for the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution as they conduct illegal search and seizure without probably cause. Guess the government considers many of terrorist, based purely on what we say.

That leads to this story about Facebook and their censorship for “irrelevant or inappropriate” comments. So much for freedom of speech and it was really only a matter of time before they started cracking down on a very touchy subject. Facebook claims they are “working to create a safe and clean environment on its corner of the web by shutting down abusive or harassing behavior, content such as pornography, or general spamming of the system” (source). Much like the article says, I don’t understand how pornography and spam on the same level of comments posted on Facebook.

What offends an individual on Facebook is going to be subjective. I have seen quite a bit of “questionable” pages that could easily fall under soft pornography. Yet none of those pages have been shut down to my knowledge. There are times I read, what could be construed as “abusive comments” but why censor them? This was one of the main reasons I didn’t want to get into the social networking. I don’t want Big Brother looking over my shoulder telling me what I can and cannot post. Facebook’s explanation was “To protect the millions of people who connect and share on Facebook every day.”

I find the Facebook ads offensive everyday I log on to their system. I hide the ad and list the reason as “offensive.” Why not? Like many sites I visit I don’t like their ads spamming my screen, yet Facebook won’t block any of those “ads” as they continue to data mine more information in order to tailor those ads to your likes and dislikes. Unfortunately their ads bring in revenue, so they will never go away.

As for the censoring of comments, Robert Scoble (the individual at the cent er of this) spoke to Facebook PR, “They say what actually happened is my comment was classified as spam. He further said that this was a “false positive” because my comment was one that Facebook doesn’t want to block.” Facebook can spin this however they want, but censorship is wrong. Here is another story from last April about Facebook’s censorship.

4 Years Later…

87 pages of complaints to the TSA! If that’s not bad enough, it has taken 4 years for these complaints to made public. In 2008 Michael Grabell filed an FOIA request for a list of complaints from travelers. Unfortunately the Government wasn’t in any hurry to get him a response (I am sure they will cite “security concerns”). An FOIA is a process that usually takes a month or so took a bit longer, 4 years longer, but the results are not all that surprising. This is the basis of TSA Reveals Passenger Complaints, an article on ProPublica.org.

The list compiled from the FOIA request is now 4 years old, but the complaints are the nothing new from air travelers. Many of the complaints deal with concern over a name on the no fly watch list, questions regarding valid identification, items removed or allegedly stolen and travelers subjected to abusive treatment by TSA employees. As I said, nothing we haven’t heard or read about in the mainstream media, some brought to the forefront thanks in part to video.

Is the TSA really that backlogged on complaints they could not respond quicker to this inquiry? It wouldn’t come as any surprise if they are as more and more travelers file some sort of complaint because of their travel experience, many of which happen at the security checkpoints. “Lorie Dankers provided a statement pointing out that the agency has received an average of more than 800 requests annually over the past four years. Then the TSA apologized” (source). Sorry doesn’t cut it. Answers do.

Regardless of what happens, the TSA has gained too much power to man security checkpoint since it’s inception. As I wrote a few days ago, this department needs to be disbanded and private companies should be put back in place. Regardless of what group is “providing security” and I use that term very loosely, it really won’t matter. Neither the government or private security provide any real deterrent when it comes to terrorist. In my opinion they are solely window dressing. The intrusive pat-downs are unnecessary and are a violation of our Fourth Amendment.