Chris' Elderly Adventures: Ecuador, Switzerland, Africa, and Colorado 2018

As indicated earlier, at the end of my 5 months of work in Ecuador I injured my shoulder in a body surfing accident on the coast, which required surgery upon my return to the U.S. I had to curtail my outdoor adventures as I spent almost a year rehabbing it back to normal (or as normal as one can be at 64 years of age). Three years later, in January 2018, while working in Ecuador again, I fell in some nasty weather on Rucu Pichincha and severely damaged my other shoulder. Having had a similar injury to the opposite shoulder, I knew what I had experienced--torn labrum, biceps tendon, and rotator cuff. After coming off the mountain and enduring a painful, sleepless night I decided to see a physician at the University where I was working and he recommended an MRI. I thought I should wait until I returned to the U.S. the following week, but he suggested that the imaging could be performed that afternoon and rapidly interpreted by a orthopedic radiologist. I agreed and quickly had the visual confirmation of what I already knew--yet the MRI cost only $240 in Ecuador compared to over $2000 here in the U.S. Good decision! I returned to the U.S., gave my orthopedic surgeon the MRI and he suggested I should have had the surgery yesterday--in other words immediately. So, back under the knife and painful, protracted, and punishing rehab for the next 12 months. My grandchildren took turns distracting me while I endured the passive motion torture machine 6 hours a day for the first 3 weeks following surgery. My shoulder will likely never be the same, but I am happy that surgical repair is possible. Twenty years ago, I would have had to live with a nonfunctional shoulder and chronic pain for my remaining years.

So, no ice climbing the winter of 2018, but that summer I did manage to do some hiking in Switzerland at the base of the Monch and Jungfrau, at the base of Mount Kenya in Africa, and Fua Fua in Ecuador. I also enjoyed hikes up Grays and Torreys, Longs Peak and Quandary with some of my favorite people!