Today was doctor day.
Hearing
For the last couple of years I’ve been having trouble hearing in crowded situations like restaurants, parties, and such. In the morning, I went to an ear specialist to find out why. They gave me a hearing test. It took 15 minutes. I have hearing loss in certain high frequencies and in one mid-range frequency. The high frequency result is classic age-related hearing loss. (I highly recommend not aging.) The mid-range result isn’t as bad but it’s still well below normal. No need for hearing aids or any other intervention at this time. The doctor recommended coming back in a year to be re-tested.
Knee and Hip
In the afternoon I went to the orthopedist. He looked at my MRI pictures. His office had software that animated the scans. He explained the damage he could see. There was some fluid build up in the knee. And a couple of minor irregularities in the meniscus. But he agreed with the MRI report that I have worn down the underside of my knee cap. Pretty much classic runner’s knee. He examined my knee and could feel the crunchiness. Ewww.
Then we discussed my hip. It was tender all day, probably the result of doing some work using an extension ladder yesterday. He examined it and found tenderness in a few spots. It was tender enough that I flinched from his probing.
My knee case is interesting because I ride a bike and cycling is a classic treatment for my knee problem.
His diagnosis is that I have bursitis in my hip that is messing up my mechanics. He says he’s seen my symptoms in soccer players. The good news is that he thinks this is easy to fix. He never once mentioned surgery.
It seems like there are risks involved when amping up your annual mileage to 10,000 miles per year, riding a ton of mountains, stopping your stretching routine, and getting old. Who knew?
He gave me a cortisone shot in my hip. And another in my knee. Yes, they hurt but I didn’t cry or yell or anything like that. I did punch a whole in the office’s drywall but that sort of thing is okay, right?
I have to rest my leg for 24 hours then I can ride again. The man cave TV is now hooked up so I can watch baseball tonight. Tomorrow’s game is at 4 pm. The doctor said it is okay to ride to the game. Life is good.
(Digression: Yesterday, the Nats played a double header. I listened to the day game on the radio then went to the store to buy cables for the TV. I watched the night game. So I was able to watch the Nats clinch a playoff spot.)
The doctor sent me to physical therapy. I have a therapist that I like but she can’t see me for 10 days. (I guess I’m not the only one that likes her.) She’ll do an evaluation, recommend exercises, and have me work with a trainer to learn how to do the exercises correctly.
If my doctor is right, my hip and knee should be back to normal in a couple of months.
If he’s not, I am going to have my head examined.
I’m going to sign up for a couple more rides, one in late October, the other in early November.
And I have to decide whether to sign up for the hike in Peru next September.
Then there is the matter of next summer’s rides. I still haven’t ridden in 16 states. What a slacker.
A Few Spokes Shy of a Wheel 
wow your team clinched a play off spot…whats that like I seem to have forgotten much of the Clinton years when my team was last good enough to play in October. Hope all the ills get fixed or at least mitigated where else I am going to go to read about awesome bike tours?
Stay tuned. Still on the fence on the Inca Trail.