As the title suggests alot has been going on lately in our lives. I have had a good three weeks and lest I ever say anything to jinx myself, I'll qualify that with the general trend has been up. We headed to Crested Butte for the 4th of July and were thrilled that my hip cooperated enough to ride 22 miles (!!) on our mountain bikes from the ski area through Gothic and up to Schofield Pass. This was not a technical ride but certainly a huge amount of elevation gain as we topped out around 12,000ft. We rode through amazing high alpine fields of wildflowers - indian paint brush, columbine, larkspur, bluebells and aster. It had stormed hard earlier in the day and we began our ride just as the sun was coming out and the land was dewy and sparkling. I cannot describe the exhiliration I felt as I sweat, grinded up hill and pushed my legs and lungs harder than they had been pushed since last fall. For the first time in months, Brian and I both agreed that we had actually earned our beers and even a double gin and tonic which had me stumbling by the time the fireworks came on. I was expecting to be pretty sore the next day from the big ride but was pleased that I was only slightly sore and was even able to ride another 12 miles up Washington Gulch until we got caught in an early t-storm and had to pack up to return home to Boulder.
This past weekend we had another adventure with our boat. We took our friends Steve and Meredith and both dogs down the 15-mile stretch of the Colorado River between Pumphouse (near Kremmling) and State Bridge. Not a particularly challenging run but I was able to paddle a few Class IIs and Elliot decided that he really likes riding in the raft (Phoebe not so much). He was perched atop the dry-box in his red pfd and had the time of his life watching birds, wagging at Steve in his kayak and barking at dogs in other boats. We camped on an island about half way down the run and had a "family nap" in the tent during a brief evening storm before a tasty dinner of pork fajitas and strawberry daiquiris.
As for the stem cells, I will likely devote a lot more of this blog to a discussion of the stem cell procedure I am under-taking this summer but I'll briefly summarize for now. I've decided to undergo a series of three injections of my own mesenchymal stem cells into my hip joint in attempt to re-grow some of the damaged cartilage that is causing the bulk of the on-going issues with my hip. I am working with a physiatrist based out of Broomfield who is running a regenerative medicine clinic which is one of only a handful in the country. The procedure isn't even FDA approved yet and there is actually alot more controversy about that but I'll save that for another post. In terms of risk, as I see it, I'm risking just as much each time I subject myself to another traumatizing surgery which ends up costing thousands in physical therapy and rehabilitation not to mention the emotional costs of being laid up for so long. The actual risks are small because they are injecting my own stem cells which they cultured for two weeks in a labratory after the initial bone marrow draw in June. I'm one week out from my first injection and can't say I really notice anything yet BUT that would be highly unlikely anyhow and I've also been feeling alot better in general.
Fingers crossed for this weekend as I head out with the ladies for a camping trip in the Mount Massive/Elbert Peak area west of Leadville. I'm going to go for the big hike on Saturday and see whether my hip behaves. If it doesn't, I'll be ok with that because I've been so fortunate to just be able to MOVE so much in the last few weeks. (Last night Brian and I rode our mountain bikes on the Dowdy Draw trails for 2 + hours and I'm not even sore today!). As always, I am trying to be grateful for what I do have and not focus on what I still cannot do .
This past weekend we had another adventure with our boat. We took our friends Steve and Meredith and both dogs down the 15-mile stretch of the Colorado River between Pumphouse (near Kremmling) and State Bridge. Not a particularly challenging run but I was able to paddle a few Class IIs and Elliot decided that he really likes riding in the raft (Phoebe not so much). He was perched atop the dry-box in his red pfd and had the time of his life watching birds, wagging at Steve in his kayak and barking at dogs in other boats. We camped on an island about half way down the run and had a "family nap" in the tent during a brief evening storm before a tasty dinner of pork fajitas and strawberry daiquiris.
As for the stem cells, I will likely devote a lot more of this blog to a discussion of the stem cell procedure I am under-taking this summer but I'll briefly summarize for now. I've decided to undergo a series of three injections of my own mesenchymal stem cells into my hip joint in attempt to re-grow some of the damaged cartilage that is causing the bulk of the on-going issues with my hip. I am working with a physiatrist based out of Broomfield who is running a regenerative medicine clinic which is one of only a handful in the country. The procedure isn't even FDA approved yet and there is actually alot more controversy about that but I'll save that for another post. In terms of risk, as I see it, I'm risking just as much each time I subject myself to another traumatizing surgery which ends up costing thousands in physical therapy and rehabilitation not to mention the emotional costs of being laid up for so long. The actual risks are small because they are injecting my own stem cells which they cultured for two weeks in a labratory after the initial bone marrow draw in June. I'm one week out from my first injection and can't say I really notice anything yet BUT that would be highly unlikely anyhow and I've also been feeling alot better in general.
Fingers crossed for this weekend as I head out with the ladies for a camping trip in the Mount Massive/Elbert Peak area west of Leadville. I'm going to go for the big hike on Saturday and see whether my hip behaves. If it doesn't, I'll be ok with that because I've been so fortunate to just be able to MOVE so much in the last few weeks. (Last night Brian and I rode our mountain bikes on the Dowdy Draw trails for 2 + hours and I'm not even sore today!). As always, I am trying to be grateful for what I do have and not focus on what I still cannot do .
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