Training Log Archive: Swampfox

I have no idea how widely it is being reported in the national news, or to what extent the average person would take note of it were they to come across the pertinent news item, but Wyoming is slumping hard now, and surely in recession. About 5000 jobs have been lost year over year in the oil&gas sector alone, and all the major coal companies operating in the state have declared bankruptcy in the past few months with substantial numbers of miners being laid off. Current sales revenues and sales tax receipts are off by about 20%--if I recall the numbers recently reported correctly. So Wyoming's economy, perpetually swinging from boom to bust with the commodity cycles, is now big time bust. A scant two years ago, it was booming, with many drilling rigs actively operating in regions of the Niobrara Shale. Unemployment figures were a tad above 2%--full employment, in other words--and only one or two other states (North Dakota, I think) could boast lower unemployment numbers.

On Friday, Wyoming's largest gas producer--Ultra Petroleum--filed for bankruptcy, which I believe makes it the 5th publicly traded oil&gas firm to have failed in 2016 (could be I've missed one or more MLPs operating in the sector.) Ultra Petroleum failed for the exact same reason basically which all the other failing firms in the sector have been brought down by: over optimism/confidence when prices were higher, leading to too aggressive use of debt to acquire more lease acreage in the rush to expand that virtually the entire sector participated in; not too many operators were looking down, or worried about the possibility of markedly lower prices, as starkly evidenced by their hedging activity. You made more money if you didn't hedge, so why bother? Now of course they all wish they had done a lot more bothering.

Ultra Petroleum won't be last to fail unless prices move sharply higher from here quickly--which seems unlikely. Still, no doubt many industry executives have their fingers crossed and are perhaps spending more of their Sundays in church saying their prayers. When you're down to prayers, well, it is a sign of the times, to quote from one recently departed (Prince.)

Coal will quite possibly or even likely will never come back to what it was even a few years ago. Wyoming coal is cost advantaged and low sulfur as well, so it could be that it could end up doing relatively well as higher cost (primarily eastern) mines close down one by one. And a colder winter would help matters considerable, as would higher natural gas prices--which will surely move higher some day. In the meantime, Wyoming's top lawmakers are going through all the classic steps as this downturn hits hard: anger, blame, denial, refusal to accept the new reality, etc. Their ideology requires them them to rail against the EPA and the "Obama war on coal" while rejecting any notion that the world is changing and that sooner or later global warming is going to mean stricter and not looser limits on carbon emissions, which will strike no place harder than the coal industry. Unless some more cost effective carbon capture technology can be developed--no easy feat, else it would have already been accomplished by now--Wyoming is facing a tough transition away from much state revenues from coal based mineral extraction royalties, a transition that could last for many years.

Tourism is and will be this year one of the few bright spots. Last year visitation to Yellowstone/Grand Tetons set a new record, and with subsequent sequential monthly growth in national employment and continued low gas prices, it seems reasonable to think that new records will be set this year. Hopefully so, because the state will need every extra dollar it can get as it weathers the current energy driven bust. Folks who show up for the Rocky Mountain O' Festival will be doing their part, and will be extra welcome this year!

C • Renewables? 6

Had planned to hop on the trainer again today and aim for 15 minutes, but when the sun defied the forecast and popped out in the morning, I changed plans and headed outdoors to walk instead--first a walk of about 45 minutes in the morning, and then a longer walk for nearly 2 hours in the afternoon.

In between, Graham Baird was kind enough to swing by and say hello after skiing at Happy Jack. It was fun to see him though at first I didn't recognize him (he has grown something of a beard, the better to do course setting by, I should guess). We looked at some maps of his area for the O' Fest and talked some diverse geology related themes. It was good to see him.

On another snowy, wintry April day, I am "attending" the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting for the first time, from the convenience of home, thanks to live streaming by Yahoo! Finance (also for the first time.) A fun way to spend the day.

C • Berkshire Hathaway 1

As noted, another snowy day with light snow falling continuously from start to finish. Little accumulation in town except where new snow was falling on old, but I can imagine up top this week has meant some significant increase in the snow pack. Ironic to think that has April started out with this weather, most likely I would not have been out on my bike on the 7th...I would have been skiing instead!

Today was the day I got "back in the saddle" and I went downstairs for a massive 11 minute ride on the bike trainer. It was obvious from that that my breathing/lungs still have a long way to go before I am recovered. But you have to start somewhere, and today was that start. I also took a chilly walk through the neighborhood in the early evening with snow blowing in my face. One day winter will be no longer coming, but going!

I had an appointment with my orthopedic surgeon this morning. In contrast to Charlie's recent experience, I was seen within 10 minutes of my appointment time.

This was probably because my doctor does not yet qualify as an eminence grise, which, by the way, roughly translates as "big pig" if I still remember any Swedish at all (doubtful.) Some learned O' historians may recall that back in the early years when Stora Tuna was just getting going and it became time to choose a club name, the three leading choices were 1) eminence grise (the big pig), 2) in English The Pretty Big Pig, and, of course, the winning name 3) Stora Tuna (roughly translates as "big Tuna Fish".) Frankly, I bet many members of Stora Tuna today regret the club founders didn't go with "The Pretty Big Pig" instead, which is a pretty insurmountable name when you think about it the right way. So much for Swedish lessons for today. ; )

Dan--the orthopod--removed my bandage, which of course hurt more than the operation itself. But it didn't hurt much. He looked at my shoulder and declared everything looked beautiful. He actually wanted to call the Boomerang and have them send over a photographer to document the results but I pointed out (correctly) that readers of the Boomerang would much rather see photos of pretty cowgirls than hideous images of a swampfox shoulder.

So now I am supposed to gradually increase the use of my shoulder and arm, but not overdo it. I can begin riding on my bike trainer right now, and, should winter ever go away again, I will be adding in some much longer and more vigorous walking in an effort to save at least some small measure of whatever fitness I had before "la crash".

But for the time being, it's another day of winter outside, a reprise of yesterday.

C • You sound better 3

Took a quick power nap, and had a recurring dream, or, more accurately, dream fragments of a dream I've been having in the past week and a half. I'm in the OR and being worked on, and I can hear everything that is going on, but can't see or feel anything. Probably a pretty typical dream for the circumstance.

Now three weeks in from that freaky crash on the bike path. As I am progressing, the weather seems bent of regressing--not 5 seconds of sun today, and snows off and on all day long. I just came in from a quick walk of a couple of blocks, and looking north across the prairie at the edge of town it was a total winter landscape, with swirls of fine pellet snows accompanying me as I walked.

I didn't take any pain killers today and was fine without them--just minor pain around the surgical site and nothing remotely close to intolerable.

Instead, I listened to "Out of Time" by REM and other good sounds.

C • REM 2

My first full day as Titanium Man/swampfox. Frankly, it felt about the same as before becoming bionic, though I have noticed the various birds of carrion (buzzards, crows, ravens) are no longer eyeing me in the same way they once did. They probably know better than to mess with Titanium swampfox and will now go on to look for easier repasts.

Pain from the surgery was not at all bad today. I took several hydrocodones during the day and early evening, but I do not plan to take anymore unless I have some pretty bad pain. It's hard for me to look at these little white pills and not see them as white death--the numbers of people getting into very serious trouble with opioids is beyond alarming, and many people are doing so entirely innocently--they're prescribed pain medications just like me, and, bang--they're in trouble without even knowing it at first. Besides what you read about in the news, I know several friends of friends who have gotten into bad trouble with them.

At the end of the day the sun came out, and I took a quick walk just after sunset. My breathing felt entirely normal, the best it's felt since I started experiencing shortness of breath now nearly two weeks ago. The thought passed through my mind that except for the fact I had a massive bandage on my shoulder, it felt like I could be jogging.

The day actually began the night before. A little after 10 pm, I was in the shower. As part of the pre-surgery preparations, I had 3 tubes of anti-bacterial soap wash that I was supposed to use on the shoulder. Two were supposed to be used the night before, and the other the morning of surgery. The purpose was to reduce chances of surgical infections.

I had just finished washing with the first one when the power went out. Most times when the power goes out, it kicks back in within a few seconds. If it doesn't come back on right away, then it's a more serious outage, with no way to predict how long it will be out.

After a few seconds passed without the power coming back on, I turned off the water and slowly started the process of getting dried and dressed--all in complete darkness. I moved very deliberately because under the circumstances another fall could be really bad.

After dressing, I located a small flash light I keep for emergencies, and used that to find a head lamp. The batteries in the head lamp were weak, so I replaced those, and was then set for light.

No power also means no heat, so I snuggled in some blankets on the sofa and tried to nap while waiting for the power to come back on. At about 5 am, the power did return. That was good news; I wasn't relishing trying to shower again and getting dry in a cooling house (very winter outside, with big howling winds and several inches of new snow during the night).

I napped a little while longer and then got up, showered again with the anti-bacterial soap, got dressed for the day, put a few things in my backpack, and took a quick look at the news to see what was going on in the markets in pre-opening trading.

And, because, there are no guarantees when you head into surgery, the last thing I did was to quickly draft up a last will and testament. I think Kris and my mom were surprised when I asked them to witness my signature and to add their signatures as well.

Then we head over to the hospital in the snow and slush. No "winter is coming" here--it *was* winter outside!

At the hospital I was quickly admitted and led back to surgery where I was shown into a small room. There I changed into a surgical smock and some no-slip socks, and several nurses got busy getting me ready. One of the nurses was a student from UW There was paperwork, questions, some pills to take, and an IV to go in. When it time for the IV, the student nurse started stepping forward, and I asked who was going to do the honors. When I was told it was going to be the student nurse, I explained what I had gone through in the ER a week earlier, and asked for the most experienced nurse to put in the IV, and told the student nurse "I'm sorry, and I know you have to learn on someone, but it's not going to be me, today." The IV went in easily and was all but painless. The ER could take some lessons.

Kris and mom were allowed into the pre-surgery room at that point, and soon Dr. Levine--Dan, my orthopedic surgeon--came in to say hello, mark up my shoulder, and answer any questions I had. I was glad to see him and I was happy with his quick visit. We did uncover one glitch: I thought I had been instructed to take my last Lovenox shot at 9 am the morning before, while it turned out the intent had been for the last shot to be the 9 pm shot. In the end Dan said it was not a big deal, and that if anything it just meant I would bleed less during surgery.

Then the anesthesiologist came in and we went over some stuff. I asked him about the risks involved with surgery today with the pulmonary embolisms and my other lung problems, and he didn't beat around the bush, saying that there was no question that there was some additional risk but that he felt on balance going ahead with surgery now was the better choice. In fact he said that the circumstances were rare enough that it would make for a pretty good study. I was surprised at that; I had assumed that since I had had the clotting problems from the trauma of the fall, and the subsequent migration of pieces of the clots, that it must be a fairly typical thing in bike crashes, car wrecks, etc. But, at least according to him, no. I'm not sure it's a great way to be special, though!

Kris and my mom left, and then I was being wheeled into surgery. I remember going into the room and seeing various people scurrying around, but that is that last I remember, and my next memory was being back in my little surgical room. My nurse asked me how I felt, and had me do a few simple tests (stand up, sit down, clench fists, move fingers--stuff like that.) Then she asked me if I would like something to drink and eat, then explaining before I was discharged they *wanted* to have me eat and drink, so I had some little pudding cups and a 7-Up as my first food and liquids since midnight.

They also needed to have me pee before they would discharge me, saying that was the last piece to wake back up after anesthesia, or words to that effect. That was no problem. Later, I have come to believe I must have had a catheter put in before surgery and taken back out afterwards, and before I woke back up, but no one mentioned a catheter, so I just infer it from the way my urethra feels.

I also had a tube inserted down my throat (into a lung, I think) and was warned that my throat would likely be sore from that, which it was. For that reason, I didn't feel much like talking the rest of the day, except at very low levels.

It turned out the surgical site itself--the shoulder--was pretty sore after surgery. Not exactly a surprise, but I was surprised that the pain medication (fentanyl) they gave me during recovery didn't seem to effect the pain level at all. It wasn't intolerable or even close, but it was pretty strong and steady, maybe 6-7 on a scale of 10.

Dan came back in to see me, and by then Kris and mom had rejoined me, and he said the surgery had gone very well and that he was pleased (you can wonder what they say when it goes horribly--ha!)

Not too much longer after that I was discharge, and we drove back home through winter.

For the first few hours at home I was in some amount of pain, and occasionally wondered if maybe it wouldn't have been a good idea to have stayed in the hospital for a day--mostly not because the pain was *so* bad, but having no way to know it might not get worse. I had a prescription for hydrocodone, but once again it really didn't seem to to do much when I took a pill.

Kris made some soup and salad, and I had a little bit of that for dinner with he and mom, and, about halfway through the meal, it suddenly struck me that my shoulder didn't hurt anymore. The pain was only a tiny fraction of what it had been! That was a pretty nice thing, and I thoroughly enjoyed the rest of dinner. And really the should never hurt much again after that. It's funny how the pain was steady, steady, steady, and then--poof!--gone. Certainly nothing to complain about.

Kris and I finished off the evening by enjoying the season premier of Game of Thrones, and were only disappointed that the show ended so soon.

I think Kris documented my look and appearance post-surgery, but I don't know if she has posted pictures anywhere. If not, probably just as well, since of course mere shoulder surgery would not be near enough to make me model worthy. And I presume photos also would not reveal the full magnitude of my new bandage, which is roughly the size of Iceland.

C • Success! 12

I have had a great day, and the day is not even done yet. First, I turned off my oxygen yesterday at breakfast, and haven't used it since, and feel fine. Second, the sun has been out most of the day, and I made time to get out for a pretty decent walk out through the neighborhood (and am getting ready to go out and walk some more.) Third, I haven't coughed once today. And, fourth, all the various entities--anesthesiologist, orthopedic surgeon, family practitioner--have been talking to each other today, and I am scheduled for surgery tomorrow morning. Albeit with a qualifier: the anesthesiologist will meet with me first and assess my condition in the flesh, and give the final thumbs up or down. Hopefully it will be thumbs up because, you know, traditionally thumbs down means being fed to the mountain lions, which would be a major bummer.

Fittingly, tomorrow the weather is going to change and I believe a rain/snow mix is being called for, which, around here, in late April, definitely means snow. So what! I got skis!

I'm looking forward to getting this done, especially as it will mean the 9 o-clock shot I gave myself this morning will be my last. Words can not describe how happy I will be to be done with that.

C • Surgery 15