Hunt permits and getting in shape

If you’re like me, you are eagerly awaiting the notification of successful drawing permit hunt applicants for their chosen hunts. This notification is scheduled for the middle of February. I applied for hunts involving bison and moose. Rather than use my six hunt applications per species in a “shotgun” approach to win a permit, I concentrated the six applications for each species into a couple of hunt selections each. We’ll see how well that works out!

Like many of you, I’ve spent a lot of money applying for permit hunts over the years and, occasionally, I’ve even drawn a permit. When I did, I thought I had it made and began a limited program of trying to get in better shape to deal with the rigors of the hunt. (This limited program was my usual increase in activity as spring gave way to summer.)

Over time, I’ve had three joint replacements. Initially, I was concerned about my shoulder after the replacement surgery I had in January 2017 impacting a permit hunt. As it turned out, my shoulder was not the concern – my right knee was! As I have mentioned before, my knee hurt too much to allow any amount of walking in the woods while hunting for a moose. I was sadly disappointed with the lost opportunity!

I started checking into what was required to get my knee either partially or totally replaced. In viewing the x-rays, the surgeon flatly stated my knee had too much arthritis to allow a partial replacement – it would be all or nothing! The next hurdle was getting my diabetes under control enough to allow surgery. I developed the condition in the years after the shoulder surgery was done.

I was told that significant research data has shown that A1C blood glucose levels above about 7.5 resulted in a 10-fold increase in the rates of possible infection of the replaced joint. My A1C was around 9.0 at the time. This delay prompted a strong effort in collaborating with my regular doctor to lower the A1C and get the diabetes under good control with insulin and other medications. The surgeon told me to come back in two months.

Another A1C blood test showed my levels had decreased to 8.0. This is a significant drop but still not enough to allow surgery. My knee was hurting more each day so there was no lack of incentive to keep going. In the meantime, my surgeon said to come back in six weeks.

Yet another A1C test yielded a reading of 7.2. The surgeon scheduled a date for surgery and directed me to get clearances from all the doctors I was seeing for assorted reasons. My regular doctor was already in the loop and was keeping an eye on my diabetes situation. I have two appointments with my heart specialist; one to get some testing done and the second to discuss the surgery and whether he’ll give me a “go” to get the surgery done. I didn’t expect any complications here.

I should have known, but the one medial caregiver I hadn’t thought about was my dentist. The surgeon and the dentist both told me that any bacterial infections in the mouth and gums will get into my bloodstream and go directly to the replaced joint during recovery – not a good thing!

I had been a good dental patient for a long time and then “fell off the wagon” a few years ago. My first return visit resulted in x-rays and the realization that I have periodontal disease, which is erosion of the bone supporting my teeth because of bacterial activity below the gum line. The “deep cleaning” necessary to get my mouth back to a normal and healthy status began.

The knee surgery was a success, and I did an intense six-weeks of physical therapy and several months of healing. I was hunting for caribou on a permit six months after the surgery with no knee problems! So far, both the shoulder and the knee were holding up well. My damaged ankle was the hangup here.

I had put off ankle joint replacement for years, but the pain was only getting worse. I scheduled appointments with the surgeon my regular doctor recommended, and the process began again. The surgery was a success, and the pain was eliminated. Now that the ankle joint is healed, I need to get a good pair of boots, and, once again, begin the “get in shape” routine. Hopefully, I’ll get a permit!