Post a note for Alan of Cache Cows

Posted: Sat Aug 28, 2004 6:49 am

Many of you know Alan of Team Cache Cows. He was an early active Wisconsin geocacher, a founding member of the WGA, and currently serves as one of our webmasters. Alan has had a rough time lately with a knee problem that has kept him away from being more active in geocaching. He had surgery on it recently. Once inside, they found much more damage than the MRI had shown. The cartilage had torn on both sides of the knee, not just the interior. They also found a piece that had torn completely off and was floating around in the joint. The worst part though was that the minor arthritic damage from the injury that the MRI had shown was actually level 4 out of 4 damage throughout the knee, and there isn't anything they can do about that. Alan is now undergoing major physical therapy for the next couple of weeks, then will go back to the doctors. He reports that he is getting around better and is in less pain.

Even if you have not met Alan, it would be great for all to post a note here to wish him well in his struggle and recovery.

Good luck, Alan. We hope to see you back on the trails soon!

Joined: 2003-09-10 Posts: 1263 Location: Bristol WI

There is nothing I would enjoy more than seeing a couple new Cachecows hides out there!

You work on planning the new caches Alan, and you will be better in no time!

Posted: Sat Aug 28, 2004 8:59 am

Good luck on your recovery Alan! Looking forward to many more years of now pain-free geocaching!!!

Joined: 2004-07-09 Posts: 176

Hope things improve for you. Caching is actually a great therapy for the joints. Just be careful and use common sense. No bushwacking or jumping off cliffs for a while...LOL. As a wise man told me stay on the trail as log as you can and you'll still get there. Great adventures await you just down the trail. Happy Caching. Lucy and Tishman.

[This message has been edited by lucy92979 (edited 08-28-2004).]

Posted: Sat Aug 28, 2004 2:34 pm

Alan, I wish you a speedy recovery and hope to meet you on the trails or some event one of these days. Don't worry..the caches are still out there waiting for you.

Posted: Sat Aug 28, 2004 3:29 pm

Best wishes on the recovery, Alan. I've had my share of need problems (crushed the knee joint roller-blading, they put in a screw and had me on my back for 2 months). That was 6 years ago now, plus pain-free geocaching. It happens I used to work for an orthopedics products company in the past. The docs can do great things ... do what the doc says and the EnergySaver family will be pray for your quick healing and great caching!

Posted: Sat Aug 28, 2004 7:55 pm

Best of luck in your recovery.
The geocaching family of Wisconsin wishes you well.

Posted: Sat Aug 28, 2004 8:37 pm

Get better really quick! You don't realize how important a knee is until it really starts to give you troubles. I have a bionic knee myself -- several torn cartiliges, including a basket handle tear that had flipped into the joint itself stopping movement, blew out the knee a few years later, and then shattered the kneecap and ripped the quad muscle completely loose from its connecting point of the knee. A few screws, pins and wires later, and I'm doing quite well. You'll be amazed at how much better you will be feeling soon!

We'll have to compare scars!

Best Wishes!
Bec

WGA Member Joined: 2002-09-24 Posts: 107

Best wishes for a speedy recovery!!!
Your candle lit Christmas tree cache was the second we did under the pharmteam name and the first time we met teams other than our sons. Thanks for all the work you do with this site and for the early developement of WGA.
Hope you will be back on the trails soon.

Posted: Sun Aug 29, 2004 11:38 am

Thanks so much for all the posts! Really appreciate it

The knee is finally coming along nicely... I was beginning to wonder there for awhile if the surgery hadn't made it worse. This morning at church was the first time in months I went down flights of stairs stepping normally, not hanging on for dear life thumping down half a step at a time!

Quote:

several torn cartiliges, including a basket handle tear that had flipped into the joint itself

Yep, that's exactly what I had. Fortunatly, the fold over hadn't yet locked the joint.

Happy caching all!
-Alan

Posted: Sun Aug 29, 2004 6:59 pm

Best wishes for a speedy recovery from us as well. Hope to see you out on the trails soon.
Pat & Bob

Posted: Sun Aug 29, 2004 10:20 pm

We hope you are on your way to a speedy recovery. Remember to follow your doctor's orders. Swimming is a very good therapuetic device to help with the healing process. Take Care and bounce back! Tami

Posted: Sun Aug 29, 2004 11:14 pm

Yikes! Thoughts of a speedy recovery and Happy Caching are being sent your way. I can't really help with the medical issues, but I'll be glad to cache for both of us until such a time that you can go out on your own again!

Until then, take it easy!
~Linus

Joined: 2002-02-18 Posts: 3399 Location: West Allis, Wi

I hope you get better soon Alan! I know this knee thing has been spoiling your fun for many years now.

------------------
"There are two kinds of hunting: ordinary hunting and grouse hunting."
-Aldo Leopold, A sand county Almanac

Brian
WGA President
Grousetales at wi-geocaching dot com
KC9GMW