Monday morning

Well... My computer is still ill, but once it's awake and has stretched and scratched and climbed out of bed, it works. It's working now, as you can see by the blog post I have successfully composed.

This morning, with no wide-eyed spectators present, I hoisted my own left leg over the side of our bath tub no-hands - from my position seated on a plastic stool. I heard the sound of distant trumpets heralding my triumph, but no one else heard or saw a thing. Lance won seven; Valentino just regained the World's Championship and broke lots of records, and I have lifted my leg over the side of our tub. Proud men all.

In a couple of days, I'll see my surgeon. He'll tell me if I can simply walk, or walk with a cane or walk with one crutch. If I can put some weight on my left leg, I believe I'll put my Bike Friday (because I can step through the frame to get on and off) on a stationary trainer and pedal low gears for a half hour or so each day. Pedal my way to health and vitality, I will...

Thanks to my physical therapist and the exercises she suggested, I can bend my leg and lift it from the floor. I can get around okay on my crutches. I feel sure that pedaling will help reduce the swelling in my left ankle and foot by promoting blood flow. That's the plan anyway.

If I had to fall off my bike and break my leg, I'm thankful that it happened when it did - in the first half of August, and not later. My daily walks have preserved my sanity. Had I crashed in the fall and been rehabilitated enough to get out on crutches just as the snow fell, I'd have been out of luck.

I'll write again after I've seen my doc. Thanks for reading these probably sleep-inducing reports; they seem like epic tales of One Man's Heroism and Humanity from where I sit. Hey, I got my leg over the side of the tub no-hands - this morning!