Thursday, February 28, 2008

SLAP Lesion - Planning Surgery

I have had my shoulder looked at every way now. I had the following done over almost a two year period:
  • Five doctor visits
  • Two doctor calls
  • Three x-rays
  • Two MRIs (one with an Anthogram)
  • Six weeks of rehab
The last Anthogram and MRI did it. You could see clearly (or at least the doctor could see clearly) that the Labrum had pulled away from the Glenoid. They call this a SLAP Lesion. I have a pretty significant tear. It basically goes around the Glenoid counter clockwise from 12 o'clock to 7 o'clock!

So what to do about it. Two choices. Do nothing. It will not get any better, it will not get much worse and it is certainly not life threatening:) Surgery. This will basically reattach the Labrum to the Gleniod using basically molly bolts and sutures.

I am pretty set on the second option. What I have is limiting, sometimes painful and it will ultimately cause faster degeneration. The only questions now is when - the recovery and rehabilitation will take nearly 4 months.

Saturday, February 23, 2008

College Visit Week ...

We just got back from a week of Southern California college visits. This was both fun, a good learning experience and a chance to hang out together (a bit of a vacation!).

We drove to San Diego Sunday. Long drive but we got there early enough to drive in to La Jolla for dinner. We ate at Jose's Courtroom restaurant. Good start. The town is really quaint and the food was GREAT!

Monday was San Diego State University. This really isn't on Anthony's list, but while in town we thought that we would check it out. And who knows, might be right for Nick who is thinking of nice weather together with a good school:) Well - we were pleasantly surprised. The school was impressive. Definitely moved up on everyone's list!

In the afternoon we made a quick swing through the Mission Basilica San Diego de Alcala and then to old town. And that night we went to Hotel Del Coronado for dinner. The weather wasn't great , but didn't stop us.

Tuesday was on to UC San Diego. We all had high hopes for this visit as it is in the top 3 UC schools in terms of entrance requirements. None of us were impressed:( It didn't feel like there was a theme to the buildings or any kind of consistency. The feel was just odd.

That night we traveled back to LA swinging by UCI (where we decided we needed to go back on Friday for a visit). We stayed in a Courtyard Marriott. It was excellent! Wednesday was UCLA. We all liked it. Better than UCSD for sure. Took Anthony a bit of time to feel comfortable, but then fine. It is the smallest UC campus but the space is well used and the layout makes for some good open space.

Thursday was open. Santa Monica beach and pier (rides mostly closed), Hollywood Blvd where we saw preparation for the Oscars and went to the wax museum, and then a basketball at the famous Pauley Pavilion. UCLA vs Oregon State. Cool being there but a blow out.

Friday was UCI. Kind of backtracking but well worth it. Nice feeling campus. Big open park in the middle with a simple layout of buildings around it. Ate across the way, checked out the book store, etc. and then drove home.

Overall - well worth the time. More for Anthony to chew on. The ordering as of today is something like UCB first, fall back is likely UCI in close with UCSB. UCLA is good but if he doesn't get into UCB, then he would likely not get into UCLA (all goes well, this should not be an issue:)).

Check out the pictures.

http://picasaweb.google.com/daleferrario/20080218SDSUAndMission

Tuesday, February 05, 2008

What a Superbowl!!

I think Nick and I were the only ones rooting for NY. So not only was the game great, but the team I was rooting for won. And after watching most of the commercials again - they were pretty good as well.

Before getting into my favorites, I want to give another plug for the Sports Business Radio podcast. On his most recent podcast, Brian Berger did an awesome interview of Denny Galati who is the VP of Creative Development for Anheuser-Busch. They discussed the company's $18M expenditure on Super Bowl XLII TV commercials - explaining how the cost of reaching their customers is actually fairly reasonable (this was a surprise to me!).

And one last thing. I was impressed with Jordan Sparks rendition of the National Anthem. Pretty traditional with just a bit of flair. Very nice.



Now back to the commercials. I like the AOL sports site to view these. My top five are:
  • Audi, Godfather - nice mix of old and new, and a VERY COOL car!
  • Budwiser, Rocky - engaging and fun, first time I have seen the story applied to a horse:)
  • GoDaddy.com, Danica Patrick - the only one that got me to their website
  • E-Trade, Baby and Baby II - cracked me up, especially the comment about the clown
  • Victoria Secret, Model - duh!!
On the other end, a couple I didn't like.
  • Energy drinks in general
  • Amp, Jumpstart - painful
How about you?!?!

Saturday, February 02, 2008

The Bucket List

The movie by the same name has inspired me. I have yet to see it, but found an article in a magazine also talking about your bucket list. Thought that I had better create one so that I can check them off. This is starting as a block but will end up as a block on the side of my blog.

By the way, I have already checked off a bunch of them including: falling in love (a bonus - marrying my high school sweetheart); having a great family; starting a non-profit; visiting Italy, France, England; Playing golf at Pebble Beach; etc. These are just the ones that are left.
  • Visit the great US National Parks (Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, etc.)
  • Parachute
  • Drive a race car (maybe Laguna Seca?)
  • Complete the swim from Alcatraz (escape from Alcatraz ...)
  • Visit the Alps
  • Tour Japan
  • Oktoberfest in Munich
  • Golf enough to get my index under 10 (been there before :()
  • Meet someone really famous that I respect (Oprah, the President, Warren Buffet, ...)
  • Get involved in local, regional or state politics
  • Get a patent
  • Spend New Year's in an exotic location
  • Buy a car in Europe, drive it there (including the Autoban) and have it shipped home
  • Leave a lasting youth related legacy
  • Go up in a hot-air balloon
Some that I still need to decide if they actually make my list ...
  • Visit a pyramid (Egypt?)
  • Taj Mahal
  • Machu Picchu
  • Write a book
I will add to this over time, but that should get me started:)