Orienteering (Field Checking) 3:20:00 [1] 5.0 mi (40:00 / mi)
ahr:98 max:131 rhr:61 slept:5.0 weight:179.5lbs (injured)
I had an appointment with my orthopedist to review the MRI set of my knee taken earlier last week. After waiting over two months for this I had to wait about an hour more past my appointment time for the 10-15 minute session. The doctor confirmed a tear in the meniscus on my left knee (just as my general practitioner expected 2 months ago) though a technician whom the doctor didn't respect, was less sure and suggested cortizone. The tear showed up as a white streak on several images. The pain when squatting, twisting, bending, on stairs and sometimes when walking is probably caused by the torn flap flopping under pressure. My options are to wait more to see if it'll get better, cortizone, physical therapy or orthoscopic surgery. As for waiting, I'm told that things which will heal on their own, usually will do so within 6-8 weeks--I'm past that timeframe and still having the pain. Cortizone might stop the pain and give it a chance to heal but it won't directly heal it. Having PT could help with flexibility but not heal the problem (and pain?) either. Surgery involves removing the torn flap of cartilage. Blood clots, and infection are among the risks but the chances of these are low. I'm told that one can lose up to a third of the width of the meniscus cartilage without the risk of arthritis like my dad is going through. If I do it, I'll be on crutches for a few days and I'll be told not run for 2 months. I should be able to bicycle soon after getting on my feet. The prognosis for surgery sounds like a full recovery.
After all this, I spent time in Rock Creek Park, MD to do some field checking and to do something satisfying. I do rather like field checking work but like a lot of things, it is time intensive and I don't get much time to do it. From Avery Rd. and the west parking lot for Lake Frank, I did some field checking of the areas west and south of the lake. There was a mix of woods but most of what I looked at was nice. I traced vegetation boundaries, ditches and sometimes cliffs with a GPS. I took waypoints of various point features. A lot of it was steep and I went up and down a lot. I found an interesting rock and cliff area near the dam as well as scattered cliffs, boulders and cairns in other areas too. In the greener areas I kept coming across fawns sitting as still as a stone. I photographed two of them and nearly stepped on a third that I didn't see until the last second. Even after that one moved, it didn't go very far, not yet having properly learned how to fear man and keep a distance. I wondered where the fawn's parent(s) were while Peggy wondered where I was. It seems I stayed too long without calling and raised concern and ire.
