Unintended Neglect...

Although I have no delusions regarding the size of my readership, I actually did have several updates slated for the past couple months that never quite came to fruition. Needless to say, my final semester's gamut of paper-writing was far more labor intensive than expected, but I'll try to get back on the rhetorical wagon within the next few weeks. (In case anyone is wondering, a recent Blogger update ate my original template for breakfast, but I'll just leave the formatting as-is in the event that anyone is browsing at 800x600.)

Otherwise, I'm pushing the prospect of grad school to the back burner for now and looking for a job locally. My first (and ideal) avenue of pursuit will actually be with the university I just graduated from, likely in some type of technical and/or office support role, which would eventually serve as an excellent springboard for jumping back into the academic grind in a logistical as well as financial sense (go-go tuition waivers for full-time employees). So, if I don't post again prior to the holiday, be safe and enjoy the three Gs: good food, good times, and good company.

Mini-Update

I'd like to say that I haven't exactly been slacking on the blog, but school has been far from accommodating for a while now. Regardless, I made the yearly visit to my pulmonologist a few months back but neglected to mention that I've officially returned to "normal" pulmonary health. The determination was made via a lung function test, which is conducted in a slick little hermetically sealed capsule that allows for the proper measurement of lung capacity, the rate at which air can be moved to and from the lungs, and even how capable the lungs are at both oxygenating and removing carbon dioxide from the blood. Nifty, eh?

Now, although I'm only sitting at the very bottom (80%) of the normal range for my particular demographic, this has been achieved in spite of the temporary limitations that past injuries have placed on both the intensity and types of exercise I can sustain. In light of this reality and the fact that those constraints are slowly falling by the wayside, I'd say that I'm doing quite well and will be able to make considerable progress in the coming 6-12 months, particularly when I can resume more intensive conditioning protocols sometime next year.

In any case, it will likely be a couple more months before I can return to my martial arts club or begin gradually reintroducing the aforementioned higher intensity stuff, but even the imminent prospect of that "return to form" is quite heartening. I've said it before, but it's worth saying again: nothing worthwhile that we seek to achieve is ever going to be easy, but few things will convey a greater sense of purpose or a more significant degree of mental, emotional, and even spiritual endurance than their avid pursuit.

Link Updates and Quotations Galore...

I've been overhauling and updating my links section over the past few days, and I feel it's already become substantially more useful. Further revision and additions are all but certain, but I'm still fairly pleased, as the current list certainly has a far more robust and representative feel to it than past iterations. I'll also be continuing the gradual shift away from mere surgical updates and the like, so don't be surprised by my tangential drift as time goes on. Otherwise, lest this post be confused with mere digital housekeeping, allow me to leave off with a few personally motivating quotations:

"Ultimately, the only power to which man should aspire is that which he exercises over himself." - Elie Wiesel

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit." - Aristotle

"Mastering others is strength. Mastering yourself is true power." - Lao Tzu

"The first and the best victory is to conquer self." - Plato

And a couple longer ones...

"Man can learn self-discipline without becoming ascetic; he can be wise without waiting to be old; he can be influential without waiting for status. Man can sharpen his ability to distinguish between matters of principle and matters of preference, but only if we have a wise interplay between time and truth, between minutes and morality." - Neal A. Maxwell

"Men are anxious to improve their circumstances, but are unwilling to improve themselves; they therefore remain bound. The man who does not shrink from self-crucifixion can never fail to accomplish the object upon which his heart is set. This is true of earthly as of heavenly things. Even the man whose object is to acquire wealth must be prepared to make great personal sacrifices before he can accomplish his object; and how much more so he who would realize a strong and well-poised life." - James Allen

Done and Done

The procedure went extremely well. Although it will take at least a few weeks for the swelling to subside and get my sinuses wholly mucked out, I can already breathe far better. My sense of smell has also improved, although that is clearly something of a double-edged sword. Regardless, both of my surgeons did a masterful job, as I have nothing in the way of discernible bruising and am virtually pain free (the Vicodin was once again not required).

Even though it'll be several months before I'd go so far as to declare myself fully healed, if present trends are any indication, I'll likely be feeling like a million bucks in relatively short order. I still have a few follow-up appointments to make good on, but I'm incredibly pleased to finally be done and able to bookend my surgical experiences on such a positive note.

Four-Year Anniversary

I've thought about resuming my digital prattling for a while now, and tonight seems like a particularly fitting time to do so. This progress report is something of a mixed bag, but I've clearly made positive net gains in all directions: My pectorals have both healed up reasonably well, but they've still got a ways to go in terms of general strengthening; my patellar tendon discomfort is now entirely confined to the "good sore" brought about by my eccentrically-focused rehabilitative/prehabilitative regimen (forevermore referred to as re/prehab), although at least a couple more months of "good behavior" will likely be required before I feel confident in resuming higher impact exercise; and even my rather tenacious tennis elbow is gradually succumbing to a combination of consistent forearm work, stretching, and myofascial release.

I'd be remiss in claiming complete victory over all my soft tissue injuries at this point, but persistence coupled with "all due discretion" in program design seems to be a winning formula, and keeping a consistent focus on active recovery, massage, and other restorative techniques in tandem with exercise is slowly but surely winning the day.

In other news, I'll be having my final corrective surgery later this month. In this case two tag-teaming ENTs (ear, nose and throat specialists) will be righting my almost laughably deviated septum and unblocking the sinuses above my right eye, which should vastly improve my ability to breathe and perhaps even allow for a semi-normal sense of smell. Realigning the septum is probably at least somewhat optional, although it may be playing a major role in my existing sinus blockage, but "unplugging" my sinuses is a definite must. (While I can't presently do the explanation any justice, it was made very clear to me that not having this structural correction would invariably cause major problems later in life.)

I'm hesitant to speculate about the expected discomfort level for this one, but if a recent eye procedure is any indication, I may be in for a rather un-fun time. Regardless, wrapping up any and all surgical necessities while I'm young and still insured under at least one of my parents seems prudent, and despite my tendency to procrastinate in certain areas, it would be foolish to waste the relative leeway that the "college life" affords me by putting anything off until later.

Otherwise, that'll be enough for today. I'll keep this updated in the aftermath of my upcoming surgery, but most of my postings from here on out will (hopefully) have a decidedly non-surgical spin to them.