Date: 2018-06-06
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Hi! I¢m of course still off trail and am at my home in Rochester, NY, but thought I¢d give an update on my condition/plans. I had my hernia surgery yesterday. Post-op the surgeon described the hernia as being ¢very large¢, but he said that the surgery went well, no issues. I am now the proud owner of an incision that¢s been stapled up and a new surgical mesh that¢s been inplanted somewhere ¢in there¢ that will hold things in place. Gotta love modern medicine, thank you Dr. Chang. I¢d hate to think about what my options would have been if I was around a couple hundred years ago. Anyway all is good from the surgery and I am resting comfortably at home. Dr¢s orders are that I can walk in moderation, but no driving for 3-5 days, and no pushing/pulling or lifting anything heavier than 10 lbs. for 2 weeks. Also no strenuous exercising like hiking, jogging, biking, etc. for 4 weeks. Guess I¢ll just live off the fat of the land for awhile, HaHa. As far as my right foot is concerned I went to see my podiatrist last week who took his own x-rays (as expected), and he basically concurred with the diagnosis I previously received from the orthopedic surgeon in Brooklyn (Amy and Danny¢s friend who was kind enough to see me)- namely that I have a stress fracture in the fifth metatarsal. My podiatrist fitted me with a boot that I am supposed to wear ¢all the time¢, the idea being that it will help with the healing process which is expected to take 3 weeks until the pain goes away completely and 6 weeks for a full recovery. I was told that if I overdo it in terms of activity, am a bad patient and don¢t wear my boot when I am supposed to, that the recovery could take 3 months or more. Guess I better try and be a good patient. My podiatrist also took a mold of my feet, as I am having custom orthotics made to deal with my plantar fasciitis. Ka-ching goes the cash register, as the custom orthotics are not covered by insurance - which I find mildly irritating. Insurance would be on the hook to pay for very expensive surgery to cut out the bone spurs in both feet if I elected to go that route, but they won¢t pay for orthotics which are much less expensive than surgery. Go figure!As far as my enlarged prostate is concerned, that seems to be under control - again thanks to the miracle of modern medicine and drugs. I am able to urinate normally and without any pain. Thank God, I wouldn¢t wish that ordeal on anyone let alone an AT hiker!In spite of all these recent and unexpected health issues my spirits remain high and I am cautiously optimistic about my chances of completing an AT thru hike this year, God willing and the creeks don¢t rise! I have 833 miles left, from Vernon, NJ (mile 1358) to Mt. Katahdin (mile 2191). Since I have commitments for the summer I won¢t be getting back on the trail till end-August/beg-September, which also gives me plenty of time to recover health-wise and work my way back into some semblance of decent shape before hitting the trail. However this timetable means I likely won¢t have enough time to pound out the 833 miles northbound prior to the typical mid-October closing of Katahdin. My thinking is that instead I¢ll become a flipflopper, and resume my hike at Katahdin and head south to Vernon. That is the preliminary plan anyway, we¢ll see how she goes.I have a couple of other options that I am mulling over, but they are less likely. One way or another, and assuming my health holds up, I¢d like to give it the old college try as they say and become an AT thru hiker this year. Hey, if it¢s not meant to be it¢s not meant to be: I¢m not going to jeopardize my long term health and do something stupid for the sake of completing an AT thru hike. However, I¢m not going down without a fight. I guess that¢s the hard-headed German in me, HaHa. Sorry for this somewhat lengthy update - hope I didn¢t bore too many if you. Once again I¢d like to sincerely thank all of you that have been following along on trailjournals, and have been so supportive of me in my quest. I can¢t begin to express how much your well wishes and encouragement have meant to me, thank you from the bottom of my heart! Opa