Why Puerto Rico?

I went to Puerto Rico from Saturday, 24 March 2007 to Wednesday, 28 March 2007. I flew from Portland, OR to Chicago, to San Juan, and the same way back. Why did I decide to Puerto Rico? Because Amy was there.

Amy, aka Amy B, was my college roommate. She is currently working with the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and is the Education Manager. She deals with ABET accredidation, department heads, and working on how to teach engineering to students. Every year, she has a workshop/conference for Mechanical Engineering department heads. This year, this conference was in Dorado, Puerto Rico. (I know...harsh...last year it was in Beijing, China...yeah, I was there for that one too).

Anyway, a while ago, Amy B asked me to be her guest, and after thinking about it for a little bit, I decided that Puerto Rico was better than sitting in Portland during a potentially rainy March. So I booked my tickets, and joined her in Puerto Rico. The rental car and hotel room in Dorado was paid for thanks to ASME, and so I basically just had to find a way to entertain myself while Amy B worked the conference. I didn't think that would be too difficult to do. =)

Note: I was featured in an online newsletter that the ASME sends to young mechanical engineers. I was featured because I am a mechanial engineer in an atypical engineering position with Nike. It was an ok article...but I have to confess that I am not an ASME member. But they never asked me if I was, so I figure that's ok.

Maybe I need to eat more apples...

As the saying goes, "An apple a day, keeps the doctor away." I have had a few recent trips to the physical therapist. I scheduled the appointments because I have been in a lot of pain when I wake up in the mornings. At first I thought it was due to the new mattress that I bought. I thought it was fine for the 1st week that I had it, but week 2 was a different story. I would wake up at 3:30 in the morning in severe back pain. The pain would be from my mid back all the way to my obliques. It was uncomfortable, and a little worrisome.

The doctor took more xrays, and here's what he said. He said, "everything still looks structurally sound." That is great news!

He said it could be that during rehab, you tend to get worse before you get better. So maybe this is my "getting worse" part, and I'll soon be well on my way to recovery. This is good news.

On the other hand, if the pain continues for several more months, him and my surgeon, Dr. Yoo, think that maybe I might have to get my rods and screws taken out. HOLD ON....did you say "take them out?" wtf?!?!??!?!?!?!?! Aren't these things holding me in place? Didn't you just say that I was structurally sound? Wouldn't taking these things out make me structurally unsound????!?!?!?!?!? He did mention that this would be a very rare scenario, and it would likely not happen. Ok....

Note: My physical therapist's name is Dr. Nels Carlson. He has a twin brother Dr. Hans Carlson. Who also is a physical therapist with OHSU. Who also specializes in spinal recovery. Interesting...

Anyway, so that is what is going on with this back of mine. It feels absolutely fine after I have been up and about for about an hour, and it feels fine when I work out. So I just need to figure out how to sleep pain free, and that has been quite challenging so far. I will update the status of the back as I get more information. Until then, I need to eat more apples...