IMPORTANT – If you’ve had ACL surgery, please share your thoughts on these quick 9 questions… Share your ACL Surgery feedback

Valuable data is now being collected and results will be posted to the link above on Dec. 8th ! Too bad we didn’t have this info before having surgery!

Would you like to learn from someone else’s knee surgery experience? This is a summary of what I learned through my ACL surgery (which took place in February of 2009):

• Yoga is an excellent way to build strength and balance prior to surgery- something that I reaped the benefits of post-surgery, because there’s a lot of hobbling around in crutches and balancing on one leg while reaching down and picking up things
• Wait a while before the surgery. It took 6 months for my swelling in my knee to go completely down where I regained most of my motion back and was able to do strength exercises. The surgery is said to be more successful after all the swelling subsides. Just be careful in the mean time to not reinjure yourself, and it will be worth the wait.
• Ice machines are good if you have people around to help maintain it. They run out of ice quite often, every 1-2 hours. So, unless you have people helping you with it, you won’t get much rest constantly getting up to fill the machine with new ice and drain out the old. Crushed ice is worst, regular size ice is mediocre. The longest lasting is homemade ice in 16oz cups- denser- and still fits in container- it may last 3-4 hours each batch. There’s also an electrical shock hazard on the Game Ready ice machine I had. Water from the drainage may leak onto the AC outlet underneath. What were the product designers thinking?
• Try to avoid hopping on one leg with the other one dangling within a week after surgery. I suspect this and other extra movements led to me having some extra pain and internal bleeding- which they had to manually drain with a needle 1.5 weeks post-surgery.
• A wheelchair is not a bad idea, as an alternative to get around in your home.
• For rehab, it’s better to listen to your body (pain level) and let that dictate the speed of recovery rather than follow a physical therapist’s recovery timeframe to a T. It’s ok to take the exercises slow- there’s no rush.
• It’s nice to have a cart on wheels. One that’s not tippy. You can put dinner plates on it, and roll items from the refrigerator to the table, or for moving your heavy ice machine around, etc. Otherwise, it’s a challenge moving objects around the house with crutches.
• Don’t try to touch toes to put on/off socks- I may have pulled my hamstring doing that.
• Don’t pay your bills too soon! Wait until absolutely everything is resolved between your providers and insurance company first. You don’t want to start paying bills you don’t owe. There’s a degree of negotiation between the provider and insurance company and it’s best to postpone paying until everything is settled and knowing that you’re not getting jipped- it puts you in a better position to negotiate in case your insurance didn’t cover something they were supposed to.

Post ACL Surgery Timeframes:

• Same day: went home and used crutches to get around
• 1.5 weeks – stopped using the ice machine full time, much of the swelling gone
• 2.5 weeks – started driving (very carefully) and went completely off pain pills.
• 3 weeks – less dependent on the knee brace- went without it- and start walking.
• 3.5 weeks – able to climb/descent stairs
• 4 weeks – started walking without crutches, able to use stationary bike and do light squats

Insurance companies will harass you and will try to find any loophole possible to not cover your benefits. As tedious as it is, it’s best to speak to the billing department of each of your service providers in advance and get price quotes and take good notes with who you spoke to, dates, billing codes, time spent on each procedure, etc. Then speak to the insurance company and ask them based on this scenario what your coverage will be. They are trained to be extremely vague about everything, so it takes some work. Take detailed notes on everything.

How much does ACL surgery cost?

I got a couple quotes (before insurance coverage) and here’s the range…

Surgeon fee – $1,350 – $2,200
Facility fee – $810 – $9,300 (huge range!)
Anesthesia – $748 – $845
Implant fee – $500

Other fees:
Full knee brace – $490
Ice machine rental (2 weeks) – $300 (not covered by insurance)
Prescription pain medicine – $100
Crutches – $30

Insurance issues

My insurance is supposed to cover 80%, but with the deductible, 20%, and some things not covered, when it’s all done it’s supposed to be $2,000 – $3,000 to me. That’s a little too vague of a price range for my comfort, but that’s part of the billing game.

It’s 5 weeks out and my insurance company is playing the game, saying initially that my benefits are denied, while requesting an ‘incident report’ form to be filled out. Basically, they’re trying every possible scenario to get out of paying, fishing for someone else to be potentially liable for the incident. I think they’ll have to pay though, according to the conditions of the plan.

Provider issues

The providers are also a little tricky in the way they bill. For example, they quoted me only the surgeon’s fee each time I asked about billing with no mention of any other weird fees. But now that it’s over, they decided to bill separately for one of the assistant’s time too. I would have wanted him out of the room if it were up to me- it would have saved $490.

The providers also quoted me one rate and billed another- higher $ of course. They also said the prices will be going up after the new year, which may be reflected in my bill. There’s really no guarantees of anything and the patient is in a very poor position for negotiation.

I hope this information helps someone. I wish I had this kind of info beforehand.

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Learn about the decision of which graft to get: Patellar vs Hamstring
View the original ACL reconstruction surgery post…
Or, see another semi-gross picture of the knee.
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Looking for a great place to dance? With 10 years experience in social / partner dancing around Portland (including ballroom, salsa, swing), the following is the list of the best places to dance, ranked within each category and with URL links. People should find this useful, as sometimes online dance information can be somewhat scattered.

Best Places to Salsa Dance in Portland:

1. Mambo Lounge
It’s the biggest dance floor of any regular salsa dance venue and great live music every Saturday night. $10 admission. Mambo lounge doesn’t really have a website, so everyone seems to link to DJ Roger Rumba’s own website (nice for him).

2. Aztec Willies
It’s not a large area, but can be quite lively sometimes on the weekends. Since Mambo Lounge opened, it has taken a sizable chunk of their market share, but it can still be hopping on some days. Live music sometimes. Admission from $6 (no band) to $10 or more on evenings with live music. Unfortunate for them, it looks like they accidentally lost their previous website domain name and that some spammer has it now. But the link above appears to be the only website they have.

3. Andrea’s Cha Cha Room (Grand Cafe)
Not far behind Aztec Willie’s is this small dimly-lit ‘basement’ feeling of a club below the Grand Cafe. The dance floor is a little odd, with a couple pipes and a beam anyone 6′ or taller might hit his/her head on, but other than a few hazards, it can be a nice place to dance. Thursdays seem to be the most popular evening for this venue. Fridays can be ok sometimes too. It can be pretty dead any other times. It is the cheapest place to salsa dance with only $4 or so admission when there’s no band.

4. Satin & Latin
A good dance studio to learn salsa and Casino Rueda (salsa dancing in a circle) and is only $5 for Friday nights. It appeals to a younger crowd, due to it’s non-nightclub atmosphere. They have open dancing after the hour and a half lesson and a great, spacious floor to dance on, but no one stays around. It’s actually strange how people bolt so quickly.

There are a few other studios, smaller clubs and the occasional large event at random places for salsa dancing, but this list is the best you’ll find in Portland on a consistent basis.

Best Places to Swing Dance in Portland:

1. Scottish Rite
Sunday nights is best consistent weekly dance for swing dancing in the Portland area. It includes west coast swing and blues dancing upstairs as part of the admission. $8.

2. Crystal Ballroom
This is an inconsistent swing dance venue because it is a low priority activity for booking. (they make more money off the booze people drink for concerts and other events). So, they often get weird days booked for dancing, such as a Monday night or occasionally a Friday night. But when it is available, it is the best floor you can dance on! It’s really springy and easy on the feet for lively swing dancing. $8. The host of the dance usually switches off between Stumptown dance and Swingtime.

3. PPAA
Swing here on Thursdays is usually pretty good. From my observations, it tends to bring some more experienced dancers. $6.

4. Ambassador Ballroom – Tigard
Located in Tigard, it is the nicest ballroom to dance at in all of Portland metro area, being large, new, and clean. They claim it’s the largest dancefloor area west of the Mississippi or something. There’s a main floor and then two other smaller ballrooms. When they had their opening in 2007 (I think), it was absolutely packed. They also had no air conditioning at the time, so I think it turned away a few folks. But since then, things have settled down, and it just isn’t very busy. Their swing dance on Saturday evenings has been only lightly attended most of the time. It just seems dead sometimes. They have offered tons of dance classes during the week, but was not very well attended. Their biggest open dance of the week is Sunday evenings, and even that is not very busy. It’s an ideal place to dance, but too bad not more people show up. $8

Best Place to Ballroom Dance in Portland:
Ambassador Ballroom – Tigard
Sunday evenings. $5 and includes a quick lesson. More info is listed above.

Best Place to West Coast Swing Dance in Portland:
Bushwhackers – Tualatin
This is a nice dancefloor in a country redneck environment. But the best part is this place is absolutely free. They offer free lessons every week year around, and they are good. You can learn to be an excellent dancer without paying a dime and many of your moves can translate into other dance styles. One of the west coast swing instructors there was the best dance instructor I’ve ever had. It appeals to an older crowd, so I think that’s the reason not more people take advantage of it. $0 for classes and sometimes a small cover for weekend evenings.

Finally, for those into the wild, nightclub-type environment, Portland’s largest dance club is Barracuda.

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These are the best places to dance in Portland for social and partner dancing. A website that is very useful for finding what’s going on is http://portlanddancing.com but double check all the events posted by going to the source, as times/venues change and this list doesn’t always get updated.

Have fun on the dance floor!

Internet Checkers is a fun game which comes with any standard Windows XP installation. It’s neat how Microsoft configured it to link with anyone in the world looking for a player for the same game. The template message options at the bottom allow people to reach across any language barriers and just play a simple game of checkers.

I have wasted a lot of time playing this game- usually I end up playing it at home on the computer while I’m waiting for something- on hold on the phone, waiting for a file to copy, video to load, or whatever. Over time, it adds up and I’ve become a competent internet checkers player. I play on expert mode and win about 75% of the time, every time. (I have that line from the movie Anchorman in my mind).

Here’s the tips that have helped me:

1. Keep your checkers in the middle.

2. Don’t move your bottom row of checkers. Not until you run out of options, and when you do, move them out in this order: bottom far left first, then, the 2nd to the right. Try not to move your last two pieces from the bottom, unless of course, you can capture a piece from the opponent. With the two bottom pieces, if you have to move them, then move the 2nd from the bottom left. The bottom far right is the last one you should move. There are reasons for this order, but it would take too long to explain- through experience, you’ll see why it’s usually advantageous.

3. Trade pieces at the first of the game to ‘open up’ your opponent’s middle area. Try to get his pieces to the outside of the board and have your pieces in the middle.

4. Chip away your opponents’ back row. If you can trade pieces and get the opponent to lose his back row pieces, then always do it. It will make it easier to get in and get crowned later.

5. Always look for double-jump opportunities. Also be aware of your opponent’s double-jump opportunities. Try to avoid positioning your piece where you’re vulnerable to such a jump.

6. Capture pieces from your opponent, even if you have to compromise your position. It is always worth it. For example, the screenshot below, I could have moved my double piece down to try to jump over on of the opponent pieces, but it risked getting jumped back. A sure move to capture one piece is to compromise my positioning by sacrificing my bottom piece for two of the opponents’. Often games end up being a tie or one person with an extra piece. The player with the extra piece is guaranteed to win (when played correctly). So, always take a piece when you can.

I hope these tips help your game.

1. Always look at the ball. Sounds simple, but many people don’t. I think the reason people don’t always look at the ball is we tend to protect our face, especially when standing between the opponent and the front wall. It can be unnerving to look back at the ball while the opponent is hitting it- especially if it is close to us. But you have to- because if you ever take your eyes off the ball, you lose your sense of where the ball is going and are more likely to get hit or lose the rally. One solution is to use your racquet as a shield and look at the ball through the strings of your racquet.

2. Keep your arm up, cocked, and ready to swing. Raise it as soon as it’s your turn to hit the ball and know whether you will hit a forehand or backhand shot. Keep your elbow up when cocked for a forehand, then when swinging, lead with your elbow and follow through with the rest of your arm. Notice how pro baseball players swing their arm with their elbow leading- pointing toward the direction you are hitting. Your arm is like a whip. Your hand should be firmly gripped on the handle, but arm and wrist should be loose and relaxed. You can add last minute corrections to the direction of your hit by changing your wrist, or if using a forehand shot, add a little snap to it. The wrist is usually loose and centered on your backhand swing, though. Take a smooth swing with a smooth follow through. Use the power from your hips turning and let your arm follow through. It should be a natural, smooth motion. If not, you are likely to get tendonitis (tennis elbow).

3. Keep your feet planted and settled before you swing. Use a quick shuffling motion to get your feet setup as fast as you can before your shot. If you run out of time and don’t have your feet planted, then try a ceiling ball, or a lob. The reason for having your feet planted is so you have a consistent, balanced, reliable base for which you can use for a reliable swing. If your feet aren’t locked in position, you will likely be off balance and will likely hit a less accurate and less powerful shot than you would have otherwise.

4. Always swing your racquet flat. Meaning, your racquet should always be perpendicular to the floor and ceiling. This way, if you accidentally hit the ball early or late in your swing, the worst that will happen is you’ll hit the side wall first before hitting the front wall. If your racquet swing is not flat, you will likely skip more balls into the floor or hit into the ceiling.

5. Swing with your elbow close to your body. To reduce the risk of tendonitis, keep your elbow tucked closer to your body when you contact the ball. Don’t extend your arm way out to stretch for a shot like some do in tennis. Ideally, you will use quick footwork to position your body closer to the ball, and keep an easy consistant swing to hit the ball close to your body each time. The swing should be comfortable, natural, and relaxed. It’s less stress on your arm.

2. Think Simple. Less is more. When you ‘notice’ a neat scene and decide to take a photo of it, try to determine the exact elements which made you ‘notice’ it. For example, you drive by a park and see something that looks cool. You see a duck, a pond, a playground, light rays from the trees, background fog, grass, a bucket, and some neat grooves in the sand. Analyze what caught your eye and test each item to see exactly which combination of elements made it look good. First determine which is the main dominant element? If it’s the duck, then you may want to avoid the playground and bucket from the scene. Perhaps combining the duck with the background fog is what you noticed. Or was it the light rays coming down from the trees. Once you narrow down and decide what you ‘saw’ you can then start shooting and taking various angles, playing with lighting, and foreground, background options, etc. Do not include any extra elements you do not need. If, by adding them it does not improve the scene, then remove them. Less is more!

3. Avoid ‘hot spots’ in your photo. Our eyes tend to be drawn to areas in a photo that are bright or high in contrast. Make sure you don’t have unnecessary hot spots detract from your main subject. For example, if you take a photo of a bridge, but see a white bucket on the ground, make sure you position yourself so it does not appear in the photo. You can always crop or edit such things out later in Photoshop, but it is far easier to recognize and avoid them before you even take the photo.

4. Use the rule of thirds. Rather than having a subject directly in the center of a photo, make it either 1/3 or 2/3 from the left and either 1/3 or 2/3 from the top.

5. Use creative angles. Diagonal lines tend to be more interesting than ‘normal’ horizontal or vertical lines. Showing perspective or depth in a photo also creates interest and impact.

6. Make lighting your friend
a. Take outdoor photos in the morning or late evening for most interesting lighting and shadows
b. On overcast days, take photos which do not include the sky or clouds. Taking photos of foliage or flowers is nice to do on an overcast day for smooth, consistent lighting and to bring out the vibrant colors of green grass or red flowers.
c. Avoid using a flash as the dominant source of lighting. If possible

7. Always hold the camera still and or use a tripod. If you are without a tripod and cannot get a photo to expose properly at 1/60 second or higher, try to find something you can rest the camera on and use its self-timer. A fence, table, branch, or the hood of the car- anything that keeps the camera still, but does not block the camera’s view works just fine.

8. Think smart when taking travel photos.
a. Want to get some ‘postcard’-like photos? When traveling, check out the existing postcards from local convenience stores or gift shops. By looking at enough postcards, you can learn where the most photogenic scenes are in a given area. For example, it can be difficult to find where to get a good city skyline view. By looking at enough postcards, you will find that some reveal where the photo is taken from. Then go there, get your shots and save time!
b. Looking at existing photos may also inspire you to do something new. What angles of a certain monument have not been taken? What works well and what doesn’t?
c. When traveling, remember to bring your chargers, laptop or portable hard drive, and power converters if you travel outside the country. It’s nice to have the comfort of knowing you won’t run out of batteries or storage space.