Springy, Med Update, goodbye to a friend

I have a medical update, but figure it'll look much nicer with these pretty flowers from our gardens. :-)

I went to the surgeon this morning. He is VERY pleased with my progress. Miraculously, the soft tissues in my knee are healing way beyond what he expected.



He has said before that I'd have to have a knee replacement soon, but now, with the healing of the exterior ligaments going so well, and the way things have tightened up (in a good way), he's thinking that it will probably be years before I'll need to deal with the lack of interior ligaments. Yay!

I'm going to go back to him the last week of June for another check-up. I do, however, already have a time-line for returning to work!

I'll be going back to work part time on June 15. I'll work part-time for 3 weeks or so, and if things go well I'll be able to be full-time.

Upon leaving the Dr. office, I called and reported to Mom, MIL, and my boss. Now we can make plans for my return to work, and putting everything at the L back to rights again. Yay again!

Physical Therapy is, obviously, going very well. I've started Aqua Therapy and I LOVE it! I go to the pool 2x/week, and to the land gym 1x/wk now. I'm able to walk really well with the walker, and yesterday I started working with a cane! I'm going to pick up a cane from the pharmacy this weekend - maybe even tonight. It'll be so nice to have a hand free while walking! Imagine, being able to carry a cup of coffee into the family room!

This great success at therapy is why things are healing so well, I'm certain. It's also why I'm glad I don't have to hurry back to work too quickly. I have enough sessions approved to last me through June, and I am glad I will be able to really work hard at therapy and increase my healing without the distraction and stress of working full-time. As the Dr. was saying "whatever you're doing, keep it up."

I must send props out to all my friends who've been giving me rides to PT. It has been so nice to have that companionship, as well as knowing that I can really tire myself out with PT and not worry about getting home safely. I started driving for some other things this week, and Monday is going to be last taxied trip to PT. Next Wed. I'll be driving myself! Go me!

If I find that it is too hard, I'll send another plea for help . . . but I am feeling confident that I'll be able to handle driving, walking in and out of the center, AND doing PT in the middle. We'll find out!

Goodbye to Jerry Thomas:
I would be remiss if I didn't mention the passing of a dear online friend, Jerry, who lived in Hawaii. I know him from our activity on the Wordcraft discussion board. I've been active on the board for about 5 years or so, and he was a member when I found the board. He helped make me feel very welcome when I arrived, and we've had many great conversations over the years about words, language, jokes, his life, my life, etc. He was funny, witty, well-educated (especially in foreign languages and ESL), and very enjoyable to know. He loved poetry and quoted it often, he started a college scholarship program in his old hometown in Iowa(?) and he was a strong advocate for legalizing marijuana. He was a real "piece of work" in all the best senses of the phrase. We will miss him on the board, but I feel that the world is a more joyous place because he was in it for a while. Aloha, Jerry.