I’ve lately been on a BIG Queen binge since Freddie Mercury’s birthday was this past week and an asteroid was named in his honor as well.  Freddie would have been 70 years old.  It’s also really hard to believe that come November it will have been 25 years since he passed away from AIDS.  A solemn reminder that all of us are aging and doing the best we can with the life we have.

I was only 6 years old when Queen did their last tour and subsequently only 11 years old when Freddie Mercury passed away.  Needless to say, I didn’t have a chance to see Queen live, but I don’t feel bad about it, since there really wasn’t a way for a kid like me growing up in southeast Georgia to have a chance to attend a Queen show.  At the time my main preoccupation were Gobots and Transformers.

I’ve watched almost every Freddie Mercury documentary and Queen video I can find online these past few days.  I never saw Queen live or even listened to their music while they were touring, but it is amazing how one man can reach so many people and inspire them in some way.  When you listen to a song like Innuendo, it’s hard to believe that Freddie Mercury was breathing his final breaths while singing so powerfully on what would be his final album while alive.  It is inspiring that he kept recording passionate music until the day he left this world.

It might sound silly to say this about someone I never really met, but I really love Freddie Mercury and am grateful that he was able to touch so many people’s lives even after his death.  On one documentary I was watching,  his mother and sister were describing his generosity as a kid and the unfortunate experience of watching him slowly die.  It’s always a tragedy when a parent outlives his or her own child, no matter who that person is.  I have to admit, it’s difficult to not get a little emotional when watching friends and family recollect their thoughts of Freddie Mercury’s final years.

On another note, I am glad that many people are experiencing Queen in their own way following Freddie Mercury’s death, and I’m also glad there have been great advances in treatment of HIV and AIDS.  As a doctor, I also want to reiterate that HIV is neither a gay nor straight disease.  The chance of contracting HIV or any other sexually transmitted infection increases with each unprotected sexual encounter or IV drug use with dirty needles.  It’s important that all of us educate ourselves properly about this.

With that said, long live Queen, and may all of us live every day to the fullest like Freddie Mercury did.

NBA basketball players weren’t the only ones in free agency these past few months.  I have been looking for other physician opportunities these past few months and found one that will offer a great practice setting and put me in a better financial state for the foreseeable future.

I will  be leaving Colorado Springs for good next week, but don’t worry.  I will be staying in the state of Colorado.

I found a physician opportunity in northeastern Colorado that will require me to leave the western side of Colorado.  I’m excited to be starting this new endeavor, as it is the first major multiyear deal I have signed as a physician.  With that said, there of course won’t be as many social amenities as there are were I currently live, but the short work week will allow me to come out west and visit all my friends and do all the outdoor stuff I have grown to love during this past year.

I am extremely grateful for having come to Colorado and becoming an avid skier and rock climber within this past year.  I have a lot of love for the people of Colorado Springs and the greater Denver area and am thankful for the friendships I have attained in this past year alone.  Remember, it is never a goodbye, but rather a “see you soon.”

I am going to miss seeing everyone on a regular basis but am excited at the same time for starting this new endeavor in northeastern Colorado, and I am more than ready and eager to begin this great opportunity.  With that said, there are a LOT of things I need to get done between now and the beginning of August (i.e. moving and paperwork).  Let the fun begin.

For the next three days I’ll be camping in Rocky Mountain National Park.  It’ll be my first backpacking hike, which will be a fun little adventure.  Unfortunately I’ll be missing the Germany/France match in the Euro semi-finals, and due to poor mobile signal, I may not even know the result until Saturday when I am back home.

A small loss because camping and hiking at Rocky Mountain will be a blast.  I hope to take lots of pics.  And if Germany makes it to the final, I’ll be able to watch it on Sunday.

I knew the two weeks in Europe would go by very quickly. It was great to visit my friends and family in Germany and reunite with old friends in Prague.  The weather was stormy at times and Rock am Ring got cut short as a result, but overall I had an enjoyable time.

My hip injury is improving a lot and I managed to do a little bit of climbing last week in a gym in Stuttgart and got back to my usual diet routine this week and even did some yoga and mild resistance training. The road to recovery is going well, and I am very fortunate for my good health.

Now, I just need to get to all the errands I have to do now that I am back.  No rest for the wicked.

The title pretty much explains all my happenings for this week.  I enjoy rock climbing, and this past weekend I tried a climb that was harder than anticipated, and before I could clip in a rope, I took a free fall 3.5 meters  (12 ft) downward and injured my left hip and pelvis badly.  Fortunately, I had a great belayer and a spotter who both prevented my head from hitting the ground.  My rock climbing friends mean the world to me, and I will never be able to fully repay them for saving my life.  I was able to walk with assistance afterwards, and a full exam in the ER and a CT scan showed no fractures or internal hemorrhages.

The really hard part was recovering to a point where I would be able to travel with this Germany/Czech Republic trip coming up.  During the past four days I did approximately 3-4 weeks worth of intense physical rehab in my home which included stretching, water therapy, and deep tissue myofascial release.  I guess it helps to have a medical degree.

I am feeling much better and I am ready to travel in the air to see all of my friends and family in Europe.  I will be able to rest for some days before attending Rock am Ring .  I’ve taken the recovery day by day and have improved each day, but we’ll have to see how a full day of traveling in an airplane will be.  Again, I feel extremely fortunate that this is not much worse and cannot express how much gratitude and love I have for my friends in the rock climbing community who aided me this past weekend.   I don’t know how well I will ever recover from this or how/if I will be climbing in the future, but like I said before, I will take this day by day.

With that said, I am excited for my trip. Los geht’s!

God, it’s been forever since I last wrote on this page!  It’s been cool being back in Colorado and getting back into shape since working all day long for five weeks straight in New Mexico as the urgent care doc.  In the past full week of being back home I’ve been skiing, gone rock climbing, and got back to my dietary and workout habits.  It’s been awesome!

I am getting ready to head back to Germany to rock out at Rock am Ring and see my friends and family on the European continent.  Should be fun.   And when I get back to the States afterward, I’ll figure out what to do with my life.  At this moment, I’m just going to stay in the moment.

Speaking of the moment, go check out my favorite band of the moment The Amity Affliction.  Fucking powerful music!  Can’t wait to see these guys in Germany.

I’m at the midpoint of my physician assignment in the middle of New Mexico, and things have been going alright.  It’s been great to get back into urgent care medicine, and I’m relieved that I can still do acute emergency care.   I’m also humbled by how little the residents have here, but they somehow find a way to put a smile on their faces and live life to the fullest.  It’s good to serve these underserved patients.

With that said, I can’t wait to get back to Colorado in three weeks.  I think I can get about one or two more ski trips in, and I’m looking forward to getting back into rock climbing.  I’m a little out of shape and expect to be a bit rusty, but pretty soon I hope to get back into proper rock climbing form.

I’ll be spending the next month in New Mexico for a physician assignment.  It will be mostly for work, so I won’t be able to explore the outdoors too much.  However, I’ll make it a point to get outside a little on my off days, and I will have my rock climbing equipment on hand in case the opportunity arises.

Before all of this I get to see Iggy Pop in Denver tonight, so that should be a lot of fun. I’ll be back in Colorado in May, and then I’ll have to look and see what is up.

Uncertainty sometimes makes for exciting times.

It turns out that a huge snow storm last week left a bunch of snow in the Colorado mountains, and I was able to do some skiing in Keystone this past weekend.  I skied through trees and did some black diamond runs with moguls.  It’s amazing how far I have come along in these past few months.

I have skied a total of 19 times this season and if I go out next weekend, it will be a total of 20 plus days of skiing.  Pretty good investment in my season ski pass.

Most likely, next weekend will be my last weekend of skiing fun because I am most likely heading out to New Mexico for the month of April for a physician assignment.  That will most likely signal the end of the skiing season for me, but there is rock climbing in spring and summer (and fall) and of course I am looking forward to that!

I never thought I would get so interested in skiing after being in Colorado for over a year now.  In my first season I have already skied a double black diamond and am getting better at moguls.  Needless to say, Colorado and its activities can be quite addictive.

I’ll probably be skiing this weekend since there is fresh new snow during this week and next weekend may be my last weekend of skiing, since I could possibly be in New Mexico next month doing urgent care work.

No need to feel sad about it, since rock climbing season will soon be around the corner.