The Gardener Guy Blog

My Injured Arm

Many of you have inquired about the strange, cyborg-like device I'm wearing on my arm in the latest round of shows airing on HGTV. Well first let me say that I actually shot those shows last year, so I'm no longer wearing the contraption. And now let me explain why I was wearing it in the first place.

Four years ago, I got into weightlifting, primarily as a means of losing weight. And it worked. I lost just over 45 lbs in the first year, and although I never imagined that I would actually enjoy weightlifting, the truth is I loved it. Problem is, I loved it too much. I started out lifting moderate weight, but as time went on, I felt the need to lift heavy stuff. And when I say heavy, I'm talking about certain routines in which I was routinely lifting over 300 lbs, and in some cases well over 400 lbs. Not bad for an old man, huh?

Yeah, that's what I thought. Unfortunately, I didn't realize that as you get older, your connective tissue (ligaments and tendons) loses moisture and elasticity, which makes you more prone to injury.

So one day, nearly a year ago to this day, I was working out and having one of my best days ever in the gym. I was focusing on singles, a routine in which you lift the bar once, rest 30 seconds or so, then lift again for a total of ten reps. I was doing dead lifts with 345 lbs. After the tenth lift, I decided to do a few pullups just to stretch my spine a bit. I jumped to grab the pullup bar, but my left hand slipped and my right arm took all of my body weight. I heard a snap in my arm, and then felt an excruciating pain.

Although I didn't realize it at the time, a trip to my orthopedic surgeon (Kevin Dukes) confirmed that I'd ruptured my bicep muscle. Basically, the connective tissue snapped, which caused my bicep to curl up toward my shoulder. Ouch! Kevin suggested that I have surgery right away, but I told him I had to be in Detroit in two days to do a fundraiser. So he put my arm in a sling, gave me pain pills, and said I was going to have a miserable time in Detroit.

He was right. In fact, I don't even remember much of the trip. When I got home, I went straight to the hospital and had surgery. Kevin made one incision at the inside bend of my elbow, through which he retrieved my bicep. He made another incision at the outside bend of my elbow, drilled a hole through the bone, and screwed my bicep back into place. I wore a shoulder-to-fingers cast for two weeks, then I was fitted with the metal brace, which I wore for about six weeks or so.

I'm okay now, although the arm isn't what it used to be. And I've had to rethink my approach to weightlifting. But what's really strange about this whole story is the response I got from HGTV when I notified them of the accident. One of the programming directors asked if I could continue taping the show, but create shots such that you couldn't see my injured arm. I laughed at first, thinking he couldn't be serious. But he was! So in two segments we actually had me partially behind a tree, squatting behind the compost pile or wheelbarrow, and in various other settings where you couldn't see my arm. Finally, even the network folks realized how limiting (and stupid) the idea was, and I began to reveal the injured arm in all its cyborg splendor.

So there you have it -- the real story behind my injured arm. And now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go lift weights.

Paul

Website Update

When I launched my website in May of this year, I had no idea what to expect. Would it languish in cyberspace with only a handful of visitors, or would word spread like a pre-school cold and crash the server? In fact, neither has happened. And I'm okay with that. I chose not to do any promotion, preferring instead a quiet launch, much like a new restaurant chooses to do a soft opening. That's just my style. And the truth is, I suck at self promotion.

Now four months later, I'm thrilled by the response you've shown. And in a way, the website has become much like my show, in that although the number of visitors (viewers) isn't huge, at least not yet, those of you who do visit (watch) seem to genuinely enjoy what I have to say.

So what are my plans for the future of the website? Well first, I'm pleased to report that based on several excellent suggestions in response to my last post, we're testing a new RSS feed that will allow you to upload content to my web-based network, GGTV. That's something I've wanted to do from day one. I can't give you an actual date for when it'll be up and running, but it'll be soon. My goal is to create a community of gardeners who can share their ideas with others so that the website isn't all about me.

I'm also playing around with the content of the site. This month I decided to drop the Living with Latin section, for reasons I've made clear in my latest entry. I've also been forced, due to time contraints, to update other sections "periodically" rather than commit to weekly updates. The Store is still "under construction" and has turned out to be far more difficult to create than I ever imagined. To be honest, I didn't realize just how much time a website would require, and with two kids in college (and another on the way next year), I still have to make a living.

And that brings me to the most sensitive topic of all -- making money off the website. At this point, the site is functioning as a non-profit corporation. Of course, I expected as much, and I'm not complaining. But at some point it needs to at least break even, and it would be nice if it generated a profit, even a small profit. And while there are a number of ways to generate income from a website, I would prefer to rely on advertising revenue, which means getting more and more visitors to click on www.gardenerguy.com.

So help me spread the word. If each of you were to tell three friends to visit my website, it would have a huge impact on traffic. And I'd be even more grateful than I already am.

Peace,

Paul