Gimpsy's return!

Ok so I have been an enormous bum about this blog thang, but I promise you all I have been quite busy. Life here is still going well, but it has been difficult because I injured myself before I really hit my stride here. Next semester I will hopefully start to do the fun extracurriculars like scuba diving and hikes through the rainforest, but for right now, I'm still just working on healing. I have also successfully gotten through my first round of exams, and I did quite well on them. Next week the whole thing starts again and before I know it, finals will sneak up then HOME FOR TRUMBLES WEDDING!!! (yay). Can't WAIT!!!
So the health update. The MRI I got done on my knee two weeks ago showed a partially torn quad tendon, which is the insertion point for the rectus femoris muscle. For those of you without an anatomy book in your lap, the rectus femoris is the front quadraceps muscle that is the primary attachment to the kneecap. You use it everytime you raise your knee. So clearly its been a fun injury. Hopefully(keep your fingers crossed!) this will resolve in time on its own, but tendons have a very low healing potential so its very possible I may need surgery sometime in the future (IN THE STATES). I also still have a minor foreign body in my knee (most likely a rock or piece of gravel), but as its not bothering me right now, its just gonna have to stay. The "cut" on my knee has been open now for over 4 weeks, and I think this week I'm going to let it heal over. The endearing nicknames I have acquired over the past month include "rocky", "gimpsy", & "trainwreck". I love it. So thats the knee- I have slowly been getting motion and strength back and as of yesterday I have started my own physical therapy on it. Here's hopin. Its weird to think I have been on this island longer as a gimp than not. The real kicker to this whole situation is that when I flew to Antigua for the MRI, the infection that I had in my right inner ear ruptured my ear drum. That has led to secondary infection & hearing loss, but those seem to be clearing up too. Another reason I didn't want to post- now that I am on the mend officially none of you have permission to worry.

Whew. OK. No more health stuff. In other news, I am working on getting a small group of students to come with me to the wildlife center that I worked at in Thailand this holiday season. It was an idea that I started messing with in my first week, but after running into some differences in opinion with the WFFT people as well as all the doctors appts, the plans have been on hiatus for a few weeks. A few days ago though I heard back and they are allowing me to bring 7 students to work for 2 1/2 weeks over christmas and new years. I will be doing an informational session on campus on Thursday to see what kind of response there is on campus, and I'm hoping to come up with a good group of people who are not afraid of a little fundraising. The cost of the trip(almost entirely airfare) stands at about $3000, so I'm working on ways to significantly bring that cost down. Any and all suggestions are welcome. Anyway, I'm really excited about it, and if this works out I may be able to make it an annual thing and leave a bit of a legacy at this school. Good stuff.

I threw some pics on here- I haven't been getting out too much but I couldn't not post pictures. The first is of the front of my apt- where I spend ALL of my time. The next is of my friend Scott's(mohawk) bday party at the Marriot Sushi Bar. And then finally my Sallypants trying to eat my homework. Love that gal.

Before I go I want to give an ENORMOUS thank you to everyone who has helped me over the past month. There are so many people who have supported me, from well-wishing phone calls, medical advice, tasty treats in the mail, calming me when I was frantic, getting class notes, taking me to the doctor, picking up groceries; to the family, friends, friends of friends, classmates, neighbors, professors, nurses, and rest of the faculty here who have gone out of their way to give me an extra hand....I just can't thank you enough. I am so very lucky to be surrounded by such wonderful and giving people. Its made all the difference.
:)

As a PS - the link to my old blog in case anyone is interested: www.meadfried.blogspot.com. All the best!!