Heads Up

[Dietmar]

Just a heads up- beginning Jan 16, Quixote Racing will be closing for 2-6 weeks depending on knee surgery recovery.
Continue to order parts and I will try to accommodate as best I can. Any machine work will have to wait until I can get back to the shop.

Happy New Year to all.

Dietmar

[BLS]

Ouch.

Best Wishes for a speedy recovery Dietmar.

[FV80]

Good luck, D.
My results were pretty good. Hope yours as well.. I would expect you to be (capable of) back in the shop 48 hours post surgery. Maybe not extremely mobile, but able to get around. If you have access to a hot tub, I recommend it highly as soon as you get the stitches out. Getting the ROM back in the knee is key.. the faster you can get those ligaments back where they should be, the faster you can get back to stair and tree climbing without (much) pain .
Are you having full replacement or just meniscus 'repair'? I'd suggest skipping the meniscus step at our age. I had it done on both knees and it was a total waste of time and $$ in both cases. However, I WAS able to use it to get me to the end of the race season before the replacement in the second case (5 months).

Happy bedrest! (you should get about 8 - 10 hours before they'll expect you to be WALKING)
Steve

[Dietmar]

Thanks Steve ( and Barry) for the well wishes.

Left knee first ( total) and depending on the results will look at the other in a few months.
Dietmar

[BLS]

Check in when you can Dietmar and let us know how it's going. Have you in the best wishes list

[fv22]

Hey Dietmar,
Hope all went well and you'll be back at it soon!
Bob

[Dietmar]

Barry and Bob,
thanks for the good wishes.

Surgery went well, on my feet with little pain ( Tylenol only right now) and hope this continues as the other leg is next.

Dietmar

[FV80]

Glad to hear you're walking again.. NOW, get back out there to the shop and GET TO WORK!!

Steve, FV80

[BLS]

Great news Dietmar!

Modern medical capability is rather amazing.

[ThomasGaluardi]

Happy to hear it went well.

[FV80]

Dietmar,
It's been a whole MONTH now... How's it going? Is the replacement going according to your expectations at this point? Hope so.
Steve, FV80

[Dietmar]

Steve: Thanks for asking.
Yes, on the road to recovery. Met with the surgeon Wed and scheduled the other knee in three months .
Kicked out of PT as I was beyond what the Physical Therapist could do and am in a "knee clinic" to improve my mobility, range of motion, and strength. No pain, no cane, and as of yesterday, reached 126 degrees on my bend and 0 degrees on extension- a heck of a lot better than my other knee.
Doing some work in the garage trying to catch up as it seems not everyone subscribes to FV.org and was aware of my "closing" post
On a related note, I would suggest that anyone who ships via USPS insure their items at least double their value as the postal service does not seem to care if your item gets lost- cheaper for them to pay than search for the item.

Services should be back on track by late next week.

Dietmar

[FV80]

... I would suggest that anyone who ships via USPS insure their items at least double their value as the postal service does not seem to care if your item gets lost- cheaper for them to pay than search for the item.
...
Dietmar

Great to hear. You MUST be happy if you've already scheduled the 2nd 'swap out'

In the FWIW column.. USPS is NOT the only shipper that feels that way. I ordered a set of 6 motorhome tires (~$600 each) a few months ago and they shipped via Fed Ex. I had tracking turned on and watched as the 6 tires crossed the country.. all the way from Oregon to Atlanta in only 3 days. After arriving at Atlanta 'Regional Facility'.. all 6 moved to an East Point facility.. and then FOUR of them got on a truck, traveled to Athens and then got on another truck and came to MY HOUSE (ON A SUNDAY!). ONE of the other tires, was dispatched to Augusta where it sat for about a week.. then traveled to Charlotte for a couple more days.. then came back to Atlanta for a day and then to Athens and finally onto a truck and to my house. The last one.. DISAPPEARED into the Warehouse in East Point. Fed Ex REFUSED to let me speak with anyone at that facility (so I could ask them to go check and see if they could SEE the tire sitting in the warehouse somewhere) - tracking still showed it in the East Point warehouse. I tried and tried and they just plain REFUSED. I went back to my vendor (Walmart) and asked THEM to contact Fed Ex .. and they refused... I called the company in Oregon that shipped the tires via fed ex .. they REFUSED to call Fed Ex and told me to contact my vendor. I called the vendor again.. (it's now 3 weeks past delivery time when I received the first 4) and they still refused to contact Fed Ex.. so I asked for a refund. They refused to refund until the tire was missing for at least 30 days... I waited the 30 days, called the vendor again and they finally agreed to refund my money - after a LOT OF ARM TWISTING. FOUR weeks later a tire showed up in my driveway - no call.. no message. I'm ASSUMING it was Fed Ex that put it there. I guess someone finally noticed the tire sitting in the warehouse.. probably missing its shipping label.. and then, presumably looked in their records to guess where the tire might have come from - I guess got the delivery address and finally delivered the tire .. presumably because it was IN THEIR WAY . You have to wonder how these companies stay in business!

[BLS]

Good deal on the knee. Glad to hear it's going well.

Echo Steve on FedEx. One problem after another, both business and personal. The others are no better. But I'd put USPS in last place...

[Dietmar]

Part 2 begins May 11.

Quixote Racing will again be closed for 2-6 weeks depending on recovery from right knee replacement.
Will try to fill orders but the "shop" itself will be closed.

Dietmar

[BLS]

Good luck Dietmar!
Hope the 2nd goes as well as the first seemed.

[BLS]

Check in when you have a chance and let us know how you're doing.

[FV80]

Dietmar,
It's been 2 weeks now .. hope the 2nd knee is going as well as the first. I'm happy to report that Linda's hip replacement went fabulously and she seems to be about 90% healed up and ready to go now. She had her 6 week's visit with the doc yesterday and all reports are good.

Steve, FV80

[Dietmar]

Second knee yesterday and again no pain and almost all is well. Having avoided the right knee for so long the thigh and calf muscles have gone by the wayside and I have to work on them. The "bend" in the left knee was 117 after surgery whereas this one is only 87 degrees so I have a way to go.

Steve, best to Linda and Barry, thanks for asking.

Guessing at least 2 weeks before I can get down the stairs into the shop.Right now it is just walking the hallway every hour .

Off the shelf orders can still be filled.

Dietmar

[BLS]

Good to hear you are mending without any serious issues. I'm amazed hearing about all you mechanical men (and women).

Best to Linda, Steve.

[FV80]

Dietmar,
How's things? Getting down the stairs OK these days? Hope this knee is working out at least as well as the first one. Linda is still doing great. She's pretty much over it now. Just like she never had a problem in the first place - only better.

Steve, FV80

[Dietmar]

Steve:
Thanks for asking
Stairs are no problem- one foot at a time. Not allowed to do one after the other yet.
PT( at home) today to remove staples.
Been out to the garden, in the shop, walking with ( and sometimes without) a cane, so I guess that is progress. Actual PT this Friday so
we will see what he says.

Dietmar

[BLS]

Hello Dietmar,

It's been a while. Hope to hear you are all mended and ready for another 75 years or so. Or is it 200 when the knee's are bionic

[Dietmar]

Barry:

Kind of you to ask.
Entered my first ever marathon last week- did not run , but I entered.
Seriously, the knees are mending quite well. No pain walking and stairs are a breeze. So good that I am neglecting my exercises

Dietmar

[BLS]

That's great!
Amazing how well this stuff works for so many people.