Chris' Blog

The point of this blog has always been bone simple and it's worked pretty well: We wanted a place where I could talk a little about the ongoing struggle to get and stay Younger . And - more important - where you could comment and talk a little about what YOU are doing in the same Sacred Struggle. It is a community...that's what! So chime in.
BACK TO SEA
Back in the single scull for the first time since my hip...went well.
If any of you have a chance to do a little rowing, grab the chance...it is SUCH a lovely sport...and great for you.
GRUMPY OLD MAN QUIZ
Woke up grumpy. Then got worse. Rain. New book going badly. Bike store pal has THREE of my bikes in shop and no progress. Girl in coffee shop nasty to me, for no reason. Wife off on painting jaunt.
Solutions: a)fire bike friend. bSnarl at coffee folks. c) Divorce disloyal wife. d) go for long bike ride.

If you picked d - go for long bike ride - you're a genius! Nice going! I did precisely that and, by the time I was home, I had forgotten all those wrongs. And I felt like my loveable self again. Sigh! Try it.
OLD LYME BIKE CAMP
Off today to the annual, Old Lyme Bike Camp...three days of fairly serious biking and four nights of extremely serious food and so on. About thirty people do this and have for the last ten or more years...the very model of community. Nice
SIX WEEKS AND COUNTING
Six weeks post-op and feeling a lot like a human being. The whole thing is said to take six months !! but, hey, I plan to get there early.
ASPEN COMING
Less than a week to go for the ASPEN JUMP. If any of you have a sudden opening in your schedule and are thinking about saving your immortal soul in Aspen, let me know. We could use a couple more people. And it IS going to be fun.
GOING NUTS
Being in low-exercise, rehab mode is driving me nuts. Called the doc today and begged to be allowed to bike, despite some pain and he said Yes, thank God. So...out the door at last. Gotta be sane...stay out of the hills. But at least one feels alive.
MORE ON ASPEN WEEK
Forgive this second commercial blog, but we are getting psyched on this and don't want anyone to miss it who may still be thinking about it.

Our new pals, Michael Fox and Bill Fabrocini, who are the Aspen Club side of all this, have been working like lunatics and WE think it is going to be remarkable. Of course it's our baby so what do we know. But we really do think so. A little rough around the edges, perhaps, but with the excitement of something new and maybe big, in our world. So, if you're dangling, just do it. Or email me to ask more.
SHAMELESS COMMERCE MOMENT
Sorry to beat the commercial drum in these personal precincts but I am so up on this Aspen Jump Start Week we've put together, I just want to reccomend it particularly to those who read these things...and who tend to care more than most.
And if June is no good, we are going to have another one in the latter part of September, so think about that too. Especially if this test model works as well as I think it will.
If any of you who comment here have an interest in June but are hurting on the dough...give me a holler and I'll work on it. Very anxious to have some old hands out there. Chris
OF COURSE IT WORKED

A blogging pal said he was surprised that I worried that the hip surgerey might not work. "Of course it would work." Oh. I see.

But when you are a little old guy, there is a terrible temptation to see every set back as the betginnings of the slippery slope. Dumb but true. So, the fact that this thing is working so well - I am "way ahead of the normal recovery curve" according to the therapist - is a huge spirit raiser. Huge. So there you go.
HIP OKAY...HIP HIP HOORAY
I'll quite this topic shortly but just want to say I had the stitches taken out yesterday and talked to the terrific doc, Struan Coleman at the Hospital for Special Surgery in NYC. There was a serious spur on the hip bone and there was a serious tear in the labrum, all of which he fixed. And it all looks great now.

Recovery is long but I should be all the way back in say two or maybe three months. Already biking (low, low intensity and short time.) But the biggest news: walked up our steep stairs, the normal way (not draqgging the bad leg) AND IT DID NOT HURT! Huge change and that seems to mean the operation worked. Oh boy. What a lift of my spirits. Things can still go south but I doubt it. Just gotta work hard at rehab. And be a good kid.
HIP HIP HOORAY
Life on (or, more accurately,off ) the new hip continues to go well. I am going nuts with no exercise and did persuade the doc to take the stitches out on Friday instead of Monday. Then I guess i'll begin to see. Feels ok so far, though. And Harry yells at me daily, to keep me from overdoing. Sigh!
DO YOUR BORING JOB
A kind blogger reminded me, in the nick of time, that sometimes you just have to "do your boring job". On this hip stuff, that means NOT overdoing. So hard.
ASPEN JUMP START WEEK
In case you missed it, I urge you to take a peek at the note about the Aspen Jump Start Week on the home page. I am enormously excited about this and hope a number of you will decide to come. I more or less guarantee a terrific and fruitful time. Change your life, as the fella says. If you have questions, feel free to ask them here or email or phone me direct...Chris@crowcreative.com; 917 514 5502. I am INTO this and would love to talk about it. Chris
DEEP THANKS
Thanks so much for the kind blogs and emails. Not to be too wet about it, but it is really nice to have this on-line support group when you get the sniffles. Feels good and matters.
The recovery continues to go well. The big problem, I imagine, with someone like me is trying to do too much too soon. Harry has been very stern about that and I mean to be a good kid. Give it a shot anyhow. thanks again. Chris
HIP HIP HOORAY
Probably a bit early to say but the darned old hip surgery seems to have gone very well. Turns out that there was a bit of a bump on the bone and some wear and tear on the labrum. So they buffed the bone down a bit but did not have to sew up the labrum...just trimmed it a bit. Which should make it all easier.
Went home with a bucket full of Percoset but, after the first day, did not need them. Wound looks good...no pain...gotta love that. Now I have to wait for a bit and see if it works. No therapy till they remove the stitches on 4/27. But so far I am delighted.

Deep thanks for the many kind emails and comments...I truly appreciate them. Helps it all go fast.

Next challenge: I have a talk in Regina Sasketchewan on Wednesday. A little tricky on crutches but it'll be fine. Chris