I had a really nice catch-up with my manager on the phone this morning, which really cheered me up. My meniscus tear recovery has been very slow, although at least I am a bit more mobile now. Recently, I have been getting depressed, bored, and worried about work, missing work, and my ability to carry on enjoying my leisure activities.
The positive side is that with rest, medication, and exercise I have my Osteoarthritis under control and have been told that I could have up to 10 years before one or the other knee enters end-stage (stage 4) arthritis if I continue the stretching and exercises that I am doing. But now a new set of issues seem to have arisen which are impatience, frustration, and anger. The bottom line is that my meniscal tear will not totally heal, I need to build up the muscles around the knee to alleviate the pressure on the knees. I have been told that within 3 to six months I may be able to get back to enjoying all my outdoor activities such as hiking and wild camping, which is encouraging.
Of late I have felt of no value, but the management at work is (and has been) extremely supportive, and as soppy as it may sound, I miss many of my work colleagues and the people I help look after. So it is time to calm this frustration and anger and positively focus on getting fit enough to get back to work. I am at a stage in my recovery whereby being impatient could seriously set me back and cause another arthritis flare-up.
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A few people I know have said things like,
"Well, you are getting old!"
"What do you expect, years of martial arts, crazy outdoor hobbies, and being a gas engineer"
Sorry guys, that does not cut the mustard. I would rather suffer from arthritis than have heart/lung disease, from being a couch potato, life is for living!
I think this quote sums up my way forward.
"It is better to take many small steps in the right direction than to make a great leap forward only to stumble backward."
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