Next...

Well, the time has certainly been dragging since August as I await my next procedure which is finally just two days away. I think that the holidays really helped to speed things along.

So what's next? A little bit more "de-bulking" of the "gum" they built using tissue from my calf; insertion of some "posts" onto the screws that they put in in August; another skin graft on the "gum" because apparently thinner skin grows more slowly, so they are hoping to slow it's growth by using the thinnest layer they can find. And then a couple of weeks from now (more likely a month at least) I should get the prosthesis mounted (to what they are installing on Thursday) and then I should be ready to bite and tear and chew again! At least that's the general plan.

Trying to not stress about the procedure or going under or going into a hospital in the middle of a pandemic...I think it's a simpler procedure because they're just attaching to the screws that have already been set into the bone, but the end result is going to be exposed hardware in my mouth so the next month or so will probably be messy and uncomfortable. But we'll see...

.

Ya know, it's not that I don't have stories or that I don't have anything to say, it's that it takes a LOT of time and effort to come up with the structures to say it all in a creative and non-boring way, that's the hard part. The part I'm not so good at.

Finished 2021 with more miles under my belt than in both 2020 and 2019, so that was good. And in 2018, all of the miles I put in on the trainer got counted into my total as well. But because I switched the type of power meter I was using, my trainer no longer records "miles" ridden so none of my 2021 trainer miles got counted, so that's a bit of a bummer. The old power meter was based in the hub and based on the wheel diameter and the number of revolutions, calculating miles was easy. But the new one is on the crank arm (both crank arms so it does Right and Left power separately!) so it doesn't know how many revs the rear wheel is making hence it cannot calculate the miles ridden. I got the dual meter in order to see how my "donor" leg does, even though I had no pre-surgery data on my power balance. But it seems like my balance has improved since back in March or April, whenever I got the new one. I don't expect it to ever be 50/50 since I think no one is that balanced, but still...

So I think I've settled on a plan for the Death Valley ride in November. Just need to make some reservations and then make sure that I am in shape. That should be fun. Maybe one of my last big trips out west...although maybe I'm too young to say such a thing.