9 Weeks

I sailed through the 2-month mark last Sunday, a beautiful spring day filled with sunlight. I cleaned the kitchen and washed the floor, and while I was tired and stiff afterward, I felt fine and went about the rest of my day enjoying the sparkling weather.

My cane has been in the back seat of my car since I returned to work last Thursday. After an easy two days last week, I was happy to be managing the work gig with reasonable success. People were watching me for fatigue and/or a limp, but for the most part, I looked just fine. Yesterday I was so confident that I walked all the way from the Centennial Building to 4th and St. Peter, to see the Saint Patrick's Day Parade. Google reports that the distance is 0.8 mile, a 16-minute walk. I didn't time myself, but the round trip didn't take me more than 55 minutes, and I watched the parade for about 20 minutes, so I was fairly happy with my little adventure.

However, the junket may have been too ambitious. Both my knees were sore by the time I got home, and I did not have a good night. This morning, I was stiff and grumpy, weary from lack of restful sleep. By noon I was feeling  quite a bit better and couldn't resist going out for a walk. This time, I simply walked around the park in front of the Centennial Building, past the Department of Transportation on John Ireland Blvd, passing the Capitol and back to my office on Cedar. That walk isn't more than a mile, and there were no ill effects. In fact, I felt fine this afternoon.

I'm especially happy that I don't think about the knee all the time anymore. I can sit at a meeting and concentrate on the subject matter, rather that endure the pain as my mind wanders off topic. The other knee -- I just can't refer to it as my "good knee" -- is often more painful than the right one celebrating 9 weeks today. I walk up and down stairs with little effort and can bend it with ease.

I feel pretty good tonight and am looking forward to an active weekend. I return to lectoring at Nativity for 5 PM Mass on Saturday and don't expect any problems, although I kneeling, even on a padded surface, is certainly out of the question.