A Sign

Today I went to the follow up appointment with the orthopeadic surgeon about my knees.  I should mention the surgeon is a lovely creature though his ego enters a room about 10 minutes before he does. The vanity of my winter hat hairdo drew me to the ladies' washroom to fix myself up a bit before I went in to see Dr. Dream Bone Cutter.

On the counter I spied an opened note and being beeky enough I couldn't resist reading it. "You are perfect just the way you are today" signed Anonymous. I looked around to see if someone else were there. Nobody. I thought about the message in the note and wondered just for a nano second if this wasn't an inspired note intended just for me. (I'm not superstitious but receptive to Heavenly instruction).

I have been viewing Youtube accounts of knee replacement and most recently saw Ed Head's Virtual Knee Replacement. Those chisels, saws and hammers were enough to put a healthy dose of delay into my plan for knee surgery. Maybe cutting down activity is easier than having your knees sawed in half.

A few minutes later, Dr. DBC was probing at my knees and showing me how the arthritis, now in its advanced stages, is restricting my range of motion and limiting my activity. He brushes an errant lock of hair away from his forehead and looks up at me over his glasses: "But I don't think you need this just yet. Your quality of life still includes hiking 15 km, snowshoeing for an hour, cycling for 90 minutes. When you can't walk a block, come back and see me. Wear your brace, restrict the load on the knee and strengthen those quads/hamstrings." And with that Dr. DBC dismisses me promising that he will see me soon.

I'm good with this news. I am perfect just the way I am today. I can't run anymore. I can't dance for long. I can't hike every day. But it's -30 C so who cares?