Shoulder Surgery – 13 weeks in

Posted on January 21, 2010 by Chris

Arm Bike Physical Therapy helps overall strength - Courtesy of: Physiotherapy-treatment.com

Catching up since my last post, my recovery from Open Bankart Surgery on my right shoulder is progressing rather well. Our main focus for my physical therapy has been strength training. This means all exercises have added 3 lb. weights to their motion and my PT has introduced an outward/upward arm lift while lying on my stomach. Other than that there has been little to no change. The PT also introduced the hand bike on it’s lightest setting. I do two minutes and thirty seconds of forward rotation. Then I do another two minutes and thirty seconds of reverse rotation.

Overall this portion of therapy has been physically challenging because I’m going from doing nothing but motions to actually stressing my arm with extra weight. The hand walk while on the exercise ball continues to be my absolute least favorite exercises. The other exercises challenge my strength and range of motion, but that exercise in particular truly tests my arm (keep in mind though I have lost 10 lbs. since starting PT, I’m still a solid 235 lbs. at this point– that’s a lot of me to keep lifted in the air).

I now have 180 degrees of inward motion (full range of motion) with little to no pain. I also have 72 degrees of outward motion with serious discomfort. This outward range is above normal and the last area to return as far as muscle conditioning is concerned, but it is returning slowly and surely.

Finally, my left shoulder continues to exhibit minor discomfort. It is obviously has some residual damage from all the stress put on it, but it’s not a complete loss. I will clearly need minor PT on it to clear up issues, but I think long-term it should be okay. There has been no dislocations in the left shoulder for a month now, but there is noticeable limitations in range of motion/ease of use and extra pain during full extensions at the limits of motion. Still– my orthopedic surgeon wants me to wait on rehabbing it until the right side is “normal” again.

DF Pirate Radio – “Absolut Pimping@The Disco!”

Posted on January 21, 2010 by Chris

Title: Vol. 6 Episode 3 (Click link to play)

Rel: 1/21/10

Description: “Absolut Pimping @The Disco!” – MC Mary @ The Disco! turned twenty one years old on January 17, 2010. That turned out to be a Sunday. The original plan was to record a mix session ahead of time and then record the live interludes at the bar during her birthday party. The mix session went well enough (and is the actual session you’ll hear here), but that’s about all that went right. First it got really icy out and down poured the whole night of the birthday party putting a kabash on any plans to record at GW’s Pub & Grill in Chester, NY. Then when we moved the party to Fratello’s in Warwick, NY it turned out that even though the next day was Martin Luther King Jr. day that most of the Chaos and Fiesta Crew had to work the next day– thus only a limited number (read: five) of people turned out.

Things started looking up when DJ digitalflood and MC Mary’s brother Tom knew the bartender. The drinks started and that itself proved to be a problem (more on that in a bit). There were also an odd number of older middle aged folk at the bar who insisted on blasting bad glam rock thus further kabashing any plans to record live. So we resorted to drinking and that lead to MC Mary consuming enough alcohol to kill an entire herd of moose. That didn’t complicate the party itself (which was fun enough either way), but it did kill any plans to record the next day.

Exhausted by a long weekend, DJ digitalflood took the next night off from production and was only able to catch up later in the week to actually mix the raw live session into the final cut you see here. Now given all of this, this episode should be an absolute disappointment at the disco– it is not though.

What you are about to listen to is the finest “Cut Like Crack” mix session to date. It breaks all boundaries of rock, rap, and everything in between. It is part noise experiment and part dance party soundtrack. It is an accumulation of all that DJ digitalflood has mastered over the course of the last year. It is at times raw. At times confusing. But when things come together there is an undeniable sense of absolute perfection at the disco. And so, the session is published as a stand in for the MC Mary annual Fiesta Party mix, but in no way is it a poor substitute. This is the real deal mix. Enjoy.

Vol. 6 Ep. 3 Rescheduled to Tomorrow

Posted on January 19, 2010 by Chris

Due to some production delays I’ve pushed back the release of “digitalflood Pirate Radio Volume 6 Episode 3″until tomorrow night (1/20/10). I’m just over 30% into post production and there should be no issue getting it out by then. Sorry about that.

What a Weekend

Posted on January 18, 2010 by Chris

DJ digitalflood and Tito's Vodka - Yeah I didn't get that far.

I began this week by figuring out I had asthma. If you recall, I spent New Year’s Day in local ER. I was told by the doctor I was basically having a panic attack and to not worry about it. When the symptoms kept reoccurring minus the stomach flu issues I began to suspect I was having some sort of respiratory problem. These type of issues do run in my family with multiple members of my immediate family being diagnosed with bronchial asthma. I hit WebMD.com and looked up the symptoms out of pure curiosity. What I found was I had every single symptom they listed:

Shortness of breath
Dizziness
Tightness in the chest
Lingering soreness in the chest
Feeling like you cannot take another breath
Random sore throats
Runny nose
Coughing/hacking/wheezing
Heart palpitations
Trouble sleeping
General moodiness
Tiredness after brief exercise
Cold like symptoms with no temperature
Panic attacks/anxiety

So when the symptoms cropped up this past Friday (1/15/10) I ran over to my local drug store and picked up a Primatene Mist asthma inhaler. With one puff and two minutes my symptoms subsided. I notice since using the inhaler I’ve had improved lung function and at times feel 100% normal (which I haven’t in a while). Needless to say, I plan on following up with a doctor on this; but at least I have a temporary fix for the issue. It’s sad the Internet beat my local ER, but it’s a true story– so it is what it is (as they say).

I stopped in to visit JDiddy with the Chaos Crew on Saturday (1/16/10). You’ll find a picture of me holding a bottle of Tito’s Vodka on this post, but I never got that far– two of JDiddy’s margaritas were more than enough for me! Good times with good friends.

Finally, quick thanks to all that turned out for MC Mary@ The Disco!’s Twenty First Birthday Fiesta. It was a small crowd, but it was quite the rowdy party. MC Mary got good and toasted– but alas she has had her fill and swore off the booze for good. Yeah, it was that off the hook and then some. We didn’t record (too loud in the bar) but I figured such an event might happen.

Instead I’ve got a mix show I put together last week. I will be doing post-production on that show starting this evening and I expect it to be out by tomorrow evening (1/19/10). You always need a back up plan in radio production and fortunately this time around I had one. Stay tuned!

Update – MC Mary’s B-day Party

Posted on January 17, 2010 by Chris

Quick update on MC Mary @ The Disco!’s birthday party: We’ll be moving the festivities to Warwick, NY due to the impending inclement weather. The National Weather Service is predicting a freezing rain/slush for this evening. It’s already starting to ice up and because of that we don’t think Chester, NY is the best option. Worse case– we’ll postpone until next weekend. Stayed tuned for updates at digitalflood.com. If we are going to cancel– we’ll do so before 8:30 pm EST this evening. If you want to catch up with us tonight shoot me a text and I’ll let you know where we are.

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