My Bipartite Patella?

I like math. And graphs. So the word bipartite tends to fire more feel-good neuro-chemical transactions than bad. Until today. A trained professional looked at images of my knee taken just after my trauma. Tweaky-Tweaky with the gain and offset (er, window and level) and there exists this very uncool segmentation between the otherwise homogeneous density. MRI to follow soon.

Iontophoresis with Dexamethasone

In college, I thought dipping your finger in DMSO to "taste" the molecule would be a bad idea. Today there is a whole industry around pushing drugs through your skin, and look, one seems to be stuck to my knee. With Iontophoresis, we go beyond simple diffusion to let a potential drive the molecule in. In my case, a potent steroid. It seems very non-green that it is OK to just chuck this in the trash. Does it help? Not sure.

My iPatch

Bummer

Four weeks to the day since I dinged my knee, I've certainly plateaued and perhaps been set back a little. Things were getting better. I was walking. I skied an easy set. Now today I'm dorkus-maximus again. I think that Naproxen works well; but has a relatively slow pharmacokinetic time-constant. Susan found the Rangpur, so at least we have health drinks on board. I'm optimistic.

• Pharmacokinetics of Naproxen Sodium
  Naproxen itself is rapidly and completely absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract with an in vivo bioavailability of 95%. The elimination half-life of naproxen ranges from 12 to 17 hours. Steady-state levels of naproxen are reached in 4 to 5 days and the degree of naproxen accumulation is consistent with this half-life.

Translation: "Steady as she goes"!

Bitter Lemon

Tanqueray has capitalized on the disappearance of Schweppes Bitter Lemon with the widespread availability of their Rangpur gin. For those of us who just have to have our quinine salt with gin, this stuff is the shit. Just go with Rangpur and "indian" tonic and you are good to go with your anti-malarial health drink.

The Frogs Return

It has been an unusual year weather-wise. The frog population of the pond in our yard dropped from 20 down to about two. Maybe they were killed off by a warm January thaw; or a snake. Anyhow, after Susan did a little eco-shock and returned the water to a less swampy state, at least two frogs are back and we witnessed this telltale emulsion, which we think is a good thing.


Frog eggs on emulsion-like tape

Missing Chris

A decade goes by in an instant. January 13, 1998 tragically separated me from my touchstone, for this life anyhow. And in my dimensionless "one life per life" aphorism, this one goes on. And that's a good thing.

No sound, but Ramones or Nick Lowe will do

Leona and Guitars

We aren't sure why, but Leona, one of our rescued bull terriers goes crazy vicious when she is shown an acoustic guitar. Perhaps she was traumatized by an acoustic daft noodler at an early age? Not sure. In the clip below I simply pick one up and show it to her. Linus, himself, couldn't care less.

Patellar Tendonitis

I'm told this is a good diagnosis and I shall, after 3-4 weeks of physical therapy, be back on the water. How come none of the health care professionals offered up a comforting phrase like "you'll be as good as new"?

Dulling the Pain

Not My Patella, Please

Darn, this still hurts. After three days of no change - good or bad, things took a turn for the worse. Maybe because I moved around a bit during a client presentation on Friday. Anyhow, had AP, lateral, sunrise, and oblique views shot with the fancy new digital AmSi panels in my doc's imaging center. Friendly tech didn't like the idea me emailing myself the DICOM originals; so regrettably I can't offer up my knee for a Web2.0 swarmignosis. I'll have to wait until Monday morning when the radiologist comes back from wherever they summer.

Not My Patella