At long last I’ve finished a report on what happened to me on Mount Everest (download PDF). If you have any corrections please contact me and I’ll revise the document as needed.
I’m now nearly 3 weeks out from surgery. I had all 60+ stitches removed last Thursday. It wasn’t fun but now I can wear shoes and socks for the first time in three months. This helps with walking considerably. I’m wearing some lovely Isotoner gloves on my hands to help reduce fluid retention. My knuckles are still swollen and my fingers are very weak; my forearm muscles have disappeared over the months. So I spend a lot of time flexing my fingers and working to get my range of motion back. My thumbs did not undergo surgery but they still have scabs at the tips.
I’m doing a lot of things very slowly. Between the shortened fingers and the gloves I really have to think about what I’m doing. I’m back on the exercise bike and will be doing as much non-impact aerobic activity as I can to get my general level of fitness to where I can put in a full day’s work.
I’m not going to post any photos of my hands and feet; I’d rather deal with my injuries in terms of what I can do rather than how I look. While I will occasionally mention a significant milestone in my recovery, this pretty much ends my 2009 Everest expedition account. I thank you all for your wonderful support and best wishes over the past few months.
Here’s a photo of me with Bernice Notenboom and Walter Laserer in Kathmandu. They found me at nearly 8400m and took precious time out of their ascent to care for me, for which I will always be grateful. See my report for a full listing of those who helped me.
Mike Farris with Bernice Notenboom and Walter Laserer in Kathmandu.