If the pace in New York is fast...

...you can imagine how overjoyed I've been on crutches.

Oh, yeah. I'm a champ.

I didn't do anything ridiculous, like fall down or trip or anything. I've been training myself to run longer and longer distances on the treadmill, and I was up to just over two miles last week. Anyway, at the end of a run, I felt something odd happening in my right knee, just at the kneecap. It wasn't crippling pain, but it was definitely noteworthy. I finished up the rest of the mile, which was only a couple of minutes, then did the rest of my workout on the elyptical machine. I felt some soreness, but that was all. After about twenty minutes in the sauna and a good hot shower, I still felt it, but figured it would pass.

Obviously, it didn't. Well, sort of. The pain of walking has gone away pretty much altogether. That is, unless I'm going up stairs. Or down stairs. Or up and down curbs. Or walking on any sort of incline. Gee... good thing there aren't any of those in New York.

After a few days of trying to work and wince through stairs and ramps and such, I decided to pay a visit to my local quack shack (aka university clinic), just so I could say I had someone look at it. The doctor there said... well, let's just say she didn't hide her concern. I think her exact words were "Wow... it's really not supposed to crunch like that when you bend it. I think it's time for crutches."

Lovely. So now I'm on crutches. I use them as an assist, really, so I still walk on the leg, but I don't bend it at all on stairs anymore, and I take elevators any time I can. Like I said, I can walk just fine, but I'd rather be overly cautious than end up with a life-long knee injury. Besides, I'll be seeing an orthopedic doctor soon, so hopefully I'll have solved this mystery and gotten on with running again before too long. Still, to hell with crutches. Chances are, I won't use them any more, if I can help it. I'll just hop around on one leg when necessary. After all, the shiny new bruises under my arms from the crutch tops will need their own time to heal. Needless to say, I'm a little miffed. I can't work out, I can't go up and down stairs like a normal human, I can't put on pants without having to mind this ridiculous knee wrapping... Yeah, I'm not so cheerfull. But yes, it'll pass, and yes, I've been through worse. I'll manage... no worries.

On a far sadder note, John's grandmother passed away this weekend, and it's been very sad for both of us. Were it not for finances and schedule insanity, we'd have hopped on a plane to San Antonio to be with her, but we had to settle for John talking to her on speaker phone while she was pretty well unconscious. It was terrible. Everyone was very supportive and understanding about our not being there, and John has sent a special ancient coin we recently found, an interesting Roman coin with a cross on it, to be burried with her (courtesy of John's sister, Jennifer). I think John felt better when he resolved himself to the gesture, and so did I, for both our sakes. You'll be missed, Gandma Veale.