It’s been thirteen weeks since knee replacement surgery and aside from that new annoying muscle I discovered, things are ticking along just fine with my left knee.
I’ve added massage therapy to my toolbox of things to help and that’s been good.
I checked in with the surgeon though and things aren’t so great with my right knee. I’m seeing him again in February and we’re looking maybe–knock on wood, fingers crossed–on a May date for total replacement of that knee. It will be great to have all this over with and while I hate to miss a summer of outdoor riding it will be nice to be recovery walking without the added worry of snow and ice.
Because of my right knee woes we’re not going biking in Cuba this winter. I think it would be too much. But you? You should go with these guys. The trip looks amazing. I’m aiming for 2024. I know and I like the tour guides and strongly recommend them to you.
Cuba Bike Touring
I’m still doing a lot of physio–twice daily, most days–and I’ve racked up more than 400 workouts in the 222 workouts in the year 2022 group. A few people congratulated me when I hit 400 and while it’s true that’s a lot I haven’t had much choice about it with all the physio (plus aquafit and some walking and some weight lifting and riding on the trainer.)
What else to report? Let’s see. It’s unlikely that I’ll finish 7 more books before the end of the year. Wish me luck!
Reading back over old posts I see I had the ambition of riding outside at the 12 week mark and I haven’t managed that yet. It’s certainly warm enough this weekend but we’re away in the big city for a weekend of music and theatre and meals out with friends. Hard to complain about that. I also planned to try classes at my new fancy gym, other than aquafit. Maybe hot yoga? Or a spin class? That might end up being an ‘over the Christmas holidays’ thing.
While November is always a struggle, it’s been great this year having friends who recognize that and who reach out. We’ve had visits with Susan, and with Alice, and with Steve, and Greg, and with Ellen. I also gave a Zoom talk (I don’t love it and each time say that will be the last but this one felt ok) and I’ve been teaching Ethics and Data Science. So more people than usual and that’s been a good thing.
In general, connecting with other people has made me feel better. Shocking, I know. My friend Todd Tyrtle is blogging about his efforts to feel better in winter and I’ve been enjoying our conversations about what helps and what doesn’t. Here’s the silliest list I’ve seen of 53 ways to feel better in winter. The list includes face glitter, drawing on bananas and walking backwards.
Anyway, November is done and I’ve made it through the worst month of the year. Next month is all holidays and parties and bright lights and presents and yummy food. And then the days begin to get longer and there’s bright sunshine and snow (here at least)!
