Shoulder Surgery

Los Angeles Laker's player Kwame Brown has had the same shoulder problems as me. That is why I am going to see the same orthopedic surgeon for my procedure:
http://www.nba.com/lakers/news/Kwame_Shoulder_Surgery.html
If I don't do something about my left shoulder now, I will seriously regret it when I am 70. I already see the example with my aunt having enough shoulder problems without the athletic background. I should be go to go again come next year. I am eager to get to the rebuilding phase as opposed to the try not to break it worse and just hold out for a few more weeks phase...

Toyota Hilux

Bad Shoulder

I have been a bad blogger lately. That is my fault though because I push myself pretty hard and I have to let something give most of the time. I let the writing slip when I need a break because I would rather not spend my life stuck behind a computer or television. I feel guilty for only spending 9 hours at work most days. I also get down on myself when I am too drained to spend a couple hours at night scouring the internet for interesting automotive news to post on Autoblog. I am too busy during my day to keep up with all the posts and news going on, so I have to spend time catching up before I can even begin browsing for items that have yet to be covered. Now I also have two pets (the new one is pictured above) I don’t want to ignore. They grab my attention for a significant period every night. I have me time scheduled in everyday in the form of swimming or gymnastics after work though. Generally my workout time keeps me on my toes and re-energizes me for the evening. It is amazing though how everything can turn sour when things don’t go well in the pool anymore. For the entirety of the summer my left shoulder has been killing me. It has gotten me feeling a tad dejected.

My left shoulder problems first surfaced when I was 14 years old and a freshman in high school. It was hard to process the injury back then because the pain wasn’t so apparent. I just got to a point where I could hardly get my arm to keep turning over in order to make it through a 200 freestyle. My time kept going backwards and I was so devastated. The more I tried to push, the slower I would go. I was lucky enough to find a sympathetic physical therapist however. She had been a competitive swimmer herself. She was amazed I could even move my arm because my shoulder was so impinged and inflamed. Working long and hard though, we managed to get my left shoulder back into working order. In the end it ended up being my right shoulder that I eventually had surgery on in order to relieve inflammation (internal bleeding… no big deal…).

With all my shoulder experiences every doctor has commented on my shoulder geometry. I have pronounced protrusions coming out of my shoulders that are the connection points of my clavicles. This setup apparently naturally pulls my shoulders forward, reducing the size of the pocket available for joint rotation. Of course all that easily disposes me to impingement and inflammation. The fun part is that a tiny bit of inflammation can offset a chain reaction that takes weeks, even months to recover. Since having my right shoulder cleaned out in the middle of college, it has been going pretty strong. My left shoulder is a different story though. Lately it has been causing me agony. It seems that increasing my shoulder stretching, and thus increasing my shoulder flexibility, has awoken some old scar tissue. Tendons can’t move where they wanted to, they have become inflamed and of course that has created more scar tissue. Without taking action to break up the scar tissue I am stuck in an endless cycle. That is why, despite the cost, I have said screw this and have paid a few visits to various doctors.

I am currently in the midst of my 4th week of therapy on the shoulder. Thankfully I have been able to find the exact type of treatment I had hoped for, due to the recommendation of fellow Long Beach swimmers. Over this period I have been able to get back from crawling pace to cruising. I still have no speed though and that is very frustrating. Anytime I really try and grab the water pain shoots down the side of my shoulder. It takes a few strokes to recover from that jolt in order to find the right pace again. I had sights set on many ocean races this summer, but all have been put on hold for other years. I just want to glide through the water again without extreme calculation every time I place my left hand in the water. I am giving it until the end of August to further improve its condition. If not, then I think it is about time to send it under the knife. It wasn’t difficult for my right shoulder to recover, so I know what it involves. It just sucks getting dressed for a couple weeks and driving might be a tad difficult…

Article on FLUENT use for Speedo LZR Development

ANSYS, the company that makes CFD (computational fluid dynamics) software FLUENT has an article in their promotional magazine on the development of the Speedo LZR. You can read the article for yourself here.

As I suspected Speedo utilized New Zealand's University of Otago for their water flume and NASA for use of a wind tunnel. The media likes to play up NASA's part though, which really casts shadows the real development effort behind the suits. Also, with all the suit controversy, many people need to understand that the only real controlled modeling that could be used for the suit development was of the body in the streamline position. All the drag benefits are maximized for that position because when a swimmer's moving arms and legs are brought into the equation things get very very complicated. Once a swimmer begins swimming, it can't be certain what is going on with the fluid flow. It will be interesting to see what sort of things can come about once people start tackling the modeling layout of the different strokes at different velocities. That could take a long time though, in the automotive world there are books of papers on the subject of modeling simple parts in CFD. Regardless, there may one day be a different suit for every stroke, that would make an IM suit very interesting...

First USA Swimming was acting rediculous, now its Formula D

There is an on-going discussion on Drifting.com about the rules of the Formula D drift series. The discussion specifically revolves around the rules pertaining to suspension details. After an interested party submitted a link to the thread through the Autoblog suggestion e-mail I wrote up a post on the matter. As well, I have written my own reply on the issue. However, I chose to post it here and not within the original thread. I do so because I would rather not jump in on page 22 and get drowned out by the core posters.

The majority of replies in the thread have not grasped the real issue at hand. The issue is not the fact that Formula D determined the Skyline contained illegally modified suspension. It just happens to be the event that best exemplifies the ambiguity of Formula D’s rules and that is why it is referenced. Too many egos have taken hold and replies have become all about defensive measures to protect one’s character. The real discussion has gone by the way side. Use the thread was initially intended to be a call for competitors and fans to express their opinions on the vagueness of the current rule book. Formula D wasn’t established by seasoned racers, their formula isn’t perfect and there is no reason it can’t be improved upon. Their rules made sense when it was unknown what to expect from vehicles that would turn up to complete in the new series. However, now with a few seasons under the belt and most competitors returning from season to season the rules can be clarified to encompass the verity of cars the series has produced. No one may have the best answer on how to do this, but intelligent discussion can at least offer worthwhile solutions.

Anyone apart of a team that runs in the Formula D series, or even apart of a team that strives to participate in the future, should be very interested in the details of this matter. Currently the rules dictate that any aftermarket suspension components must be approved by Formula D. Any deviation from the OEM suspension design must also be approved. Therefore, according to the rules, every competing vehicle has received an approval from Formula D to run their setup. Going by the wording of the rules, any team wanting to swap parts between seasons, events, or even track sessions should get Formula D approval before doing so. If the organization is really tied up running events, how much time do they have to go around approving parts? In crunch time do you really think a team wants to deal with that hassle as well? If it only takes a phone call and a quick ok from a person on the other end, then what sort of approval system is that? How can a team be assured that their approved change is documented and communicated on the Formula D side? An approval shouldn’t happen in minutes. A suspension change request should be compared to other competitive allowances and evaluated by multiple parties before being accepted. How can a competitive field be maintained if an organization gives unbalanced, at the whim, allowances? The current means seem like an awful burden on the Formula D end, babysitting all the suspension modifications of every competing vehicle every second of every event. It doesn’t make sense that they wouldn’t want to put some effort into streamlining the process. Some people want to offer a less complicated solution for all parties and that is the intended purpose of the discussion.

No other motorsport series leaves all suspension modifications up to sanctioning body approval. From club racing like NASA and SCCA to established professional series like NHRA and Formula 1 there are guidelines to work around and any deviation from the published rule book is illegal. Any allowed exceptions, due to proven competitive hardship, are published in appendices to the rule book. It would really benefit Formula D and their tech inspection process to simply better define the setup of the vehicles running in their series. The inspectors would only have to learn one set of rules and enforce them via measurements or templates rather than digging through a mystery list of approved changes. A competitor could also better protect themselves as they would have the knowledge to catch a competing vehicle bending the rules to their advantage.

Again, the whole discussion is not meant to be a blow at anyone’s character. It isn’t an attempt to bring down the organization of Formula D. It is simply meant as a means to gather opinions about improving upon the flaws of a young series. Those that can best adapt to change will survive the longest.

Only in Southern California

I am a nut for the Olympic Games. For so many athletes the ultimate goal is just to participate in this one international competition that only occurs every four years. There are very little to no financial incentives, it is simply the thrill of the challenge. The empowerment of knowing you can rise up over others and compete for the top place in the world is quality very few people can rightly posses. If you want to get close to the Olympics, no matter what the year, there is really no other place like Southern California. The area is the home to many of the best training centers in the world. It kind of boggles my mind how, in my typical week, I rub elbows with all sorts of world class athletes.

Southern California has been a swimming mecca forever. The competition level available here is the top at all age levels, from age group through masters. Growing up on the East Coast, there was the occasional swimmer to rise through the ranks and make it to the Olympic Trials, but it was an experience for so few that it all seemed unreal. There were not many examples of the path to the sport's ultimate goal, for that reason the education to lead athletes along the best path was not readily available. Los Angeles is a different story however. There are meets taking place year round with top levels of competition. Many club teams have taken multiple swimmers from average athlete, to Olympic Trial competitor. Just hopping in the pool for a master's swim practice you can find yourself surrounded by many folks with impressive swimming resumes. Swimming in Southern California keeps me on my toes, and training amongst so many top athletes reminds me that I could have achieved so much if only my health had been on my side.

Southern California isn't just a swimming mecca, it is also a haven for water polo. During the weekends, when I want do a pool workout of my own design, I stop by the local pool for a little lap swim session. The key element happens to be that the local pool is the U.S.A. Water Polo National Training Center. I've shared the water with the USA Olympic Women's and Men's Water Polo Team training squads. It is also interesting to note that many of the women happened to have attended USC. Thankfully they haven't taken up to stealing my towels again... It is inspirational to observe the team workouts in their run-up to Beijing. The passion and drive they emit makes you want to go out and work harder in all your everyday activities. I don't even know much about the rules to water polo, but it will be riveted by the games none the less.

The days of the week I am not in the pool I head to the gym. To satisfy my curiosity about what would of happened if I had stuck with gymnastics over swimming, I hit up an adult gymnastics class a couple times a week. I am just there to learn some new tricks, but many of the team girls training there have Olympic aspirations. After all, the name of the gym is All Olympia Gymnastics. The name derives from the fact that the head coaches are former Olympians (does that term make sense? are you a former Olympian or always an Olympian?) from Eastern European countries. Perfection is key in this gym. Watching the girl's team train is an illustration of the best form in action. Just getting a skill around isn't enough. The highlight is watching USA Gymnastics National Team members Mattie Larson and Samantha Shapiro train. While Samantha happens to be too young for an Olympic bid, Mattie has made it all the way to the final Olympic Team selection training camp. Her floor exercise at the Olympic Trials really got the media and audience's attention. I've been trying for a long time to do things as effortlessly as she makes them look. Her mom is wonderful as well, always inquires about how things are going. That family is riding on cloud nine right now. Go Mattie!
Check out her rocking FX:

Eff a Tumor

With Senator Kennedy’s diagnosis all over the news, tumors have been getting a lot of attention lately. It has encouraged me to detail a bit of my own story. I hope my experiences can provide some insight for others, as well as educate people on a rather mysterious topic.

The other night I caught a bit of the Discovery Health special called 200 Pound Tumor. It got me thinking more about tumors and how the difference between a benign diagnosis and malignancy can be rather slim. A fast growing benign tumor may be self contained, and not spread out or eat away at other parts of the body, but it can grow like wild fire and steal resources from the rest of body just as well. Not to say that supposedly benign growths may also morph into malignant tumors without too much warning. The key part is, that regardless of the nature of the tumor, they are usually annoying, uncomfortable or quite painful. Having experienced a few surgeries to remove tumors from my own body already, the 200 lb tumor woman, Lori, peaked my interest. Her story reminded me that I still was not clear on what the final diagnosis was for one of my last surgeries in 2004. I decided to dig up my medical records and look more closely at the terminology.

Just a few months ago I had a very pesky swollen lymph node removed from the left side of my groin area. I had originally thought it was my second enlarged lymph node occurrence, the first being in my chest back in 2004. However, a knowledgeable doctor informed me that the location of the scar on the left side of my right breast was not in a spot with nodes. With that revelation I realized that I did not know what the mass was that was removed from my right breast in 2004. Making it a habit not to dwell too much on my life’s medical issues, it would make the day rather depressing, I kept putting off digging back into my medical reports to take the complicated terminology to heart (aka do some quick Google searches)

Having already previously experienced two incidences of fibroadenoma excisions in the right breast (one in 2001, one in 2002), I was already aware of how to distinguish that kind of benign breast tumor. Those masses showed up clearly during ultrasounds (as illustrated in the top image). Their edges appeared very smooth and they were easily distinguished from the surrounding tissue. They were both very fast growing and bothersome tumors though. The second one was even quite a bit of a pain at times. Unlike my past experiences though, the 2004 mass did not show up on ultrasound, indicating that it was not the tumor I expected. All I knew was that it had to go. Since fibroadenoma was ruled out, I chalked it up to a swollen lymph node at the time. However, I should have paid more attention to doctor’s words when I was still half drugged on anesthesia, as it seems the mass removed was actually intraductal papillomatosis. That is what is listed in my medical records, along with words like sclerosing adenosis, hyperplasia and microcalcifications. It really helps to keep copies of your own records, something I hadn’t been doing until more recently. It has really helped me understand my own issues and has given me the ability to articulate past experiences accurately to different doctors. Plus, then you can spell things correctly for Google research purposes.

Doing a bit of internet research on the subject I have seen that an intraductal papillomatosis tumor consists of benign growths in the milk ducts. Symptoms for the condition appear to consist mainly of nipple discharge, but I did not experience that part. I experienced the debilitating pain part, which isn’t really a noted symptom. I will touch more on that later though. Without my own body’s pesky warning system, and my acute athletic awareness, it was apparently a condition that might have turned sour if it had been left undetected for too long. I am glad my body insisted on nothing short of a surgical excision. I have also learned threefold on the importance of breast exams. You know your body best and if something feels off, then it probably is! Relying only on tests to find abnormalities is not an ideal method. In my time I have had to keep prodding in order to get straight answers to my ailments. With my enormous family history and all the complicated medical terms indicating that I have a significant increased risk for developing breast cancer, I know not to let any little bump go unquestioned. Also if anything prohibits me from functioning as I wish to on a day to day basis, I want it gone!

When it came to the intraductal papillomatosis, it was a pretty rough and tough experience. At the time I was in my senior year at USC and I was competing on the swim team. I was hoping to improve after coming back from shoulder surgery (one among a few others…). I had an extremely tight schedule between living off campus, training and studying mechanical engineering. The last thing I wanted was to deal with a significant health issue. Maybe I was being too selfish in wishing for my body to allow me to make it one year through college without sending me under the knife. Anyway, the first symptom I experienced was mild chest pain while breathing. The pain radiated all over my chest too, left and right sides. I had a lot of trouble pin-pointing its source, at least while the pain was in a fairly mild state.

After I felt the initial onset of pain, it did not go away within a couple days, so the USC trainers suggested I had an intercostal muscle strain. I started icing down my chest after workouts, but I only got worse. Chest x-rays revealed nothing wrong with my ribs or lungs. An MRI did not hold specific clues either. After all those angles turned up nothing, somehow I knew it was related to breast issues. I kept poking around, but I couldn’t find a mass. All the while, the more I swam, the more pain I took on. It eventually came to a point where I ended up curled into a ball on the pool deck after climbing out of the water because my chest felt like someone was stabbing me with knives. It was not how I wanted my last semester of NCAA eligibility to go down. I spent a lot of time bent over in the shower and in the training room with ice pilled on my chest. I could hardly sleep because any time I tried to slightly twist my torso, sharp pains radiated through my ribs. Driving my manual transmission Civic was also quite a challenge. Just breathing was uncomfortable.

I believe it took me about a month’s time to finally discover the pea size tumor in my right breast, just around the area where the ribs met the sternum. I couldn’t believe that relatively tiny thing could cause such discomfort. I had to completely lay off all activity for three weeks for the pain to subside. Then I had to maintain a minimal training level in order to manage the discomfort. Swimming breaststroke caused me great misery, but I got through it regardless, just not at the best speed. I eventually accepted the fact that there was nothing I could do to help my situation in any timely matter, so I enjoyed what little swimming I could get through.

It was January ’04 when I first experienced chest discomfort. In the end, it was May ’04 before surgery was scheduled. The months in between were filled with searching for answers, monitoring of the situation, scheduling availabilities and medical tests. Even though it compounded the situation, I found solace at the pool. The USC swim team was pretty great. For the shy new transfer that hadn’t spent much time with them, they were very understanding. I had teammates accompanying me to the doctor and a coach who forced me out of the pool when I was too beat down. I like to think that maybe my passion to continue was a bit of an inspiration… although, at the time, I really felt like I was letting everyone down.

I am still thankful for Mark Schubert for being a tough, but understanding coach when I really needed one. I went to USC from Kenyon College where the coach couldn’t seem to grasp my issues. He had discussed with me his desire that I leave the swim team due to my health issues, at that time the breast hadn’t even come up yet; I was just dealing with inflamed tonsils. When I walked on at USC Schubert had other swimmers to worry about. It was an Olympic year and there was a lot of medal potential in that pool. Regardless he could still see when I was pushing myself too much and when I needed stern encouragement. In the summer of ’04, when I was coming back from surgery, he still let me hop into his workouts even though my eligibility was done and I was still fighting through pain. The atmosphere in the build up to Athens really strung me along. In the end though I had to step back and slow down my recovery. It took about a year to get back to feeling normal. I watched a lot of people I once shared a pool with pick up a lot of hardware at the Athens games though, no tumor could ever take that away.

Save ASU Men's Swimming

ASU Cuts Athletic Programs
Yesterday Arizona State University announced the end of three men's athletic programs. The sports on the chopping block were men's swimming, tennis and wrestling. However, they somehow managed to save diving despite dropping the men's swimming program. While budget reasons were given for the cutbacks, all removed programs had to be male due to Title IX regulations.

Too many men's Olympic sports have gone the way of the dodo bird. No prestigious program is safe either. UCLA knocked off its men's swimming and gymnastics programs, two teams consistently in the running for NCAA titles. I can see the appeal of pouring all of the men's athletic budgets into big media sports like football, basketball and baseball though. I am sure top performing teams in those areas equal greater general student interested and increased enrollment, meaning more money for the school. It just hurts to see schools stuck in a vicious cycle of funneling all revenue back into the same programs in order to make them grow, while in turn neglecting the real needs of an institution. Turning your back on the core structure that got you through to where to you stand, does not make for a lasting relationship. I don't see these economically challenged institutions sustaining high level programs in the future, since their ineptitude lead to improperly balanced athletic budgets in the first place.

I seriously feel great sorrow for the ASU program. For a bit of time I had a roommate who was an alumni of their men's swim team. In the past I visited friends at the school, swam in their pool and enjoyed the hospitality of their team. Aside from my own USC crew, I really enjoyed the ASU team atmosphere. This whole thing just blows chunks.

New House and Dog

I have neglected blogging over the past few weeks due to the fact that I completely up rooted my life. It happened very quickly, from finding the perfect home, to moving in, straightening up and acquiring a pet. I found a well preserved mid-century modern that will now suck up a lot of my time. I am so very thrilled to finally have a stable residence I can decorate as I choose. I no longer have to wonder whether the furniture or items I want to purchase will work in the near future. I plan on staying put for a long time.

Now to ward off the neighbor cats I have a big German Shepherd protecting the property. His name is Rusty and he is a California rescue dog. He is extremely lovable but could really stand to put on more weight. I'm working on that... He thinks he is a lap dog though and that can get a bit difficult when you sit down on the couch only to find a 70lb dog pouncing on you.

Speedo LZR

The LA Times ran a story today about the new Speedo LZR suit. The suit is a technological revolution a long time in the works. Its release coincides with the run-up to the summer games in Beijing of course. The suit is approved by FINA for competition use however, it is still causing a stir in the swimming world. A lot of people feel violated by the invasion of high technology into the sport, but I love it. I have yet to see this suit in person, but hopefully I will get to try it out in the not too distant future. In fact, I would love to try out/test all the new suits from the varying manufacturers. I find them fascinating. In future posts I will look into the details and engineering behind all the designs, but right now I don't have the spare time. One thing I do know though is that the LZR features ultrasonically welded seams. You might know those from the giant plastic bubble packaging you get when you buy anything from a memory card to an electric tooth brush. It is what makes those packages so damn hard to get open.

The Australia Olympic trials are currently in action and it is prominently featuring the suit. Swimmers are smashing world records left and right. It will interesting to see what happens at the U.S. trials although we have a good bit of time to wait.