December and January proved to be fun months for Rick medically.
Lets Visit The hospital
First On Boxing Day (December 26th for those confused), I awoke and just didn't feel right. Had some shortness of Breath, though no pain. As it persisted through the day, and not being the fittest specimen of health, Kathy took ,me to the Emergency Room to ensure I wasn't having a heart attack.
They checked me out over the next couple days, gave me a number of stress tests and X-rays concluding that They did not see any heart problems.
They thought that I may have had a blood clot which had traveled into my lungs impinging on ,my breathing. Clot was probably related to extended Air travel, which is not surprising. X-rays showed it had dissolved, so other than telling me to "lose 1000 pounds, Fatso", they told me to go home and sin no more.
Alas, but that was not all. During my mid December trip to England, I had experienced some pain with my left knee. I thought it was just arthritic and given the fact that I am no spring Chicken anymore, just something I would have to live with.
However, it continued to get worse, so I went to see Knee Orthopedic Wizard Dr. Robert Patek where he advised arthroscopic surgery. His procedure found a torn cartilage (Shown in Picture Upper) and some pointy junk (picture Lower) that needed to be scaled down. Though sore, the pain was gone almost immediately. This guy is great.