Walking Without a Cane

It's been roughly three weeks now that I've been without a cane. My leg does not bend or straighten correctly, so I can not go up stairs with both legs but I can walk freely and using a rail for stability I can go up stairs with both legs. This is a huge step forward, literally.

Improvement

At times it has seemed glacier-like in its pace, but my rehab is making progress. I am so very happy to walk without a cane after nearly a year of needing one.  My leg is still limited in bending and straightening but there is definite improvement from week to week. 

Rehab

Having a knee replacement appears to be all about months of physical therapy. I can see the pay-off in the distance but it is strenuous. I have sciatica and the exercise has been triggering a good deal of pain, disrupting my sleep etc.  Nothing to do but get through it. 

New Knee

I have a new knee. I'm still breaking it in, and will be out of circulation for at least another week or two.

The surgery had a couple of glitches; I developed pneumonia and had to stay in the hospital for a couple of extra days. I developed a rash because of one of my medications that went away after it was switched to another medication.

My knee's rehab is glacier-like. The work on increasing its flexibility is a trigger for my sciatica, so pain has been my faithful companion.

After two weeks I've moved from a walker to a cane and I am trying to do more for myself. As my physical therapist stressed, I need to measure progress in weeks and not days.

Final Exams

 It's been hard teaching during the pandemic for a number of reasons, one of which is that many students have asked for more leeway about deadlines, etc. It takes a good deal more work not to lose track of assignments for students that send them via different channels, etc.

What's worse is the number of students who have been violating the honor code. It is difficult if not impossible to prevent cheating on online exams.

A number of students this term have decided to email me their online exams hours after the deadline. I don't understand their reasoning in taking more time than their colleagues took for exams and expecting to be rewarded for this. During the term I have given 0's but offered make-up exams. Now in final exam period when I have fewer options I have had to pro-rate a three-hour exam that was taken over a five-hour period without my consent.

It is always a goal of mine to end the semester respecting all of my students, including those for whom my course is not important. I have not been able to this term.

Wrapping Up the Academic Year

I've taught my last new class in two of my sections and will teach the last class in my third next week. Then final exams. I'll have a brief period of freedom before my surgery, can't see far enough ahead to see how to spend that time. 

Fatigue

Around this time every academic year I along with most of the people around me are fatigued. This is aside from how much sleep we get any particular day. It's cumulative over the academic year. The insidious part is that it's hard to articulate fatigue when you're fatigued.