Disaster Area

Lent - A Time for Reflection

As Lent is now upon us, it seems everyone is asking me what I'm giving up for Lent. As Maggi Dawn explains, Lent is indeed about "giving something up" but can be so much more meaningful than giving up something trivial.

It's a common misconception that Lent is about self-improvement. Somehow a half-remembered custom of giving things up has been mixed in with our society's obsession with self-help and self-improvement, so that we've blurred the true meaning of the fast into a rather individualistic concept, more like a New Year Resolution to detox or de-clutter.

Fans of Maggi's writing (and you all should be) will be pleased to know that her next book will be a Lenten meditation series for 2010, Giving It Up, due in stores later this year. Availability in the US will be limited as the book is being published only in the UK, but you can sign up to be notified when it becomes available at Amazon US. Hopefully, the US ordering experience will be better than it was for her Advent 2007 book Beginnings and Endings. Failing all else, it's not too much more expensive to buy it from Amazon UK and have it shipped internationally.

A daily reminder of what Lent is about is a good thing, so I have signed up for the Episcopal Relief and Development daily meditation. As for discipline - I will have plenty of daily rehab for my knee that will be enough additional daily discipline for now.

Another aspect of Lent that is useful is to maybe take a step back and reflect on the larger aspects and impacts of our faith. To that end, I highly recommend taking the time to view Brian McLaren's keynote address to the Episcopal Diocese of Washington (DC)'s diocesan convention. I have been a big fan of McLaren's work for some time, but feel that he lost his way with the last couple of books - jumping on one too many bandwagons. However, with this address he is back on form with a very coherent message, and one of great hope and promise. It's great viewing for anyone, but especially for Episcopalians and Anglicans, as he tailored the presentation very carefully for his audience. It's over an hour, so it is a bit of a commitment, but if you're interested in the big picture of where faith could be headed, it's definitely worth your time. (HT: Tim Mathis)

Bleah...

Spent a miserable few days sick, and still feeling significantly under the weather. Knee recovering nicely, though, so it hasn't all been bleak.

Then again, our church band just got asked to play for another memorial service on Saturday, making three in the span of 15 days. On the one hand it really is a privilege to be able to contribute to these services in a meaningful way. On the other, though, I'm starting to empathize with what priests must go through in these rough periods with a string of deaths in a parish.

Interesting way to start Lent.

In Honour of Knee Fortnight...

It just seemed fitting to commemorate the operation with some British knee related songs, so here's a real old school one:

And to see it being performed Music hall style:

And finally, while we're on the topic of the contribution of indigenous cockney music to the broader music world, here's Bill Bailey to set the record straight (this is brilliant, trust me...)

More on Knees

Follow up appointment today with the orthopedic clinic. The result? Fabulous. Throw away the crutches (haven't used them for days), throw away the big knee brace (hadn't worn it much the last couple of days, put it on this morning just for show).  Off the serious pain meds, and the pain is peeking through a bit here and there, but overall this is great news. Clear to drive, too, which makes a huge difference.

I went out to run a few errands in the car, just because I could, and ended up wandering around the supermarket looking for stuff to buy but being fairly unsuccessful as I don't really need anything. Then I started to get tired and my knee hurt and I just wanted to be home. Good lesson to learn - no matter how little you can do - don't overdo it.

Off to physical therapy in the morning, so we'll see how that goes.

Knee Update

Well, what with band rehearsal and the the memorial service Thursday and Friday, and going out to dinner with friends (another recent widow and her two daughters) on Saturday night I was pretty wiped out. The painkillers certainly do their job, but I'm so drowsy all the time it's an effort to do anything. Despite all that, when I woke up this morning I found I could walk unaided. Not elegantly, mind you, but my right leg can take enough weight for me to be able to walk unaided if necessary.

The big decision this morning was whether to go to church or not. I'd need a ride, of course, so I thought I'd leave it to chance to see if anyone called and offered me a ride. My friend Dave B did, with about 45 minutes notice, so I thought I'd shower (only the second since Monday) and be reasonably clean. Well, what with the dismantling of the knee brace (see right) and the unwrapping of the dressing and the rewrapping of the knee in clingfilm it took all of that time to shower and get dressed and in the rush to get out I forgot to take my medications. In fact, the last I'd taken had been 11 pm the night before. I have one set on a 4 hour cycle, another on a 6 hour cycle and another on 12 hours.

The useful thing about easing off the pain meds is that you can figure out how severe the pain is and where it's located. By the time we got to the end of the service I was starting to feel just where the pain is coming from. By the end of the service I could tell that the knee itself isn't painful at all - stiff, yes, but not at all sore. The sore part is the hamstring, where they took a piece of tendon to use as the replacement ACL. Even that isn't too painful. Except that the pews at church are curved so that they just manage to cut into the backs of your thighs in such a way as to aggravate any tenderness just like I have.

Last Thursday was the first time I unwrapped the dressing on the knee, and for less squeamish among you, I have some pictures after the jump. They aren't too bad, but if you'd rather not see them, don't click.

John Crowley Obituary

  Here's a nice obituary for John, whose memorial service was last night.

Triskadecaphobia?

Yes, it's Friday the Thirteenth. And not just this month, but next month too.

It won't be a particularly happy one round these parts, but not for what you might think is the obvious reason. This evening at church we have a memorial service for a parishioner, John, who succumbed to brain cancer three weeks ago after a long battle. He leaves a widow and two young daughters. Our contemporary band at church - Radiance - is playing all the music for the service, something that is both a great honor and a great responsibility. With my surgery and other people's schedules we have had a hard time finding time to rehearse, but last night everything came together nicely, so I think we're ready. It's weird playing guitar sitting down - well, not weird, but as I haven't played that way much it is more awkward than I'd like. The hand angles are all slightly different, for example.

We have quite a bit of music, and the offertory song is one that I first heard during the weekend Sue died. I was driving from a friend's house back to mine on the morning of the day they did the organ transplants and turned on the radio, decided for once to listen to the local Christian station, and tuned into the middle of How You Live. The line that caught my ear right away was, "So go to the ball games and go to the ballet...". We had season tickets for both. It was too late to try to use it for Sue's service, but we have some great singers who can pull this off so we'll be playing it tonight.

Rest in Peace, John...

So This Is How It's Supposed To Feel...

Last night I began to experience some pain in my knee. Not much, but I got to wondering why.I tried rearranging the brace several times, and couldn't make a difference, so feeling extremely dopey and tired, I went to bed very early. As I woke up this morning it dawned on me that the numbness has finally worn off.

So I basically got three days pain free thanks to the numbness, and now all I have to deal with is a dull ache - somewhat reminiscent of the times I've twisted my knee in the past - very manageable and hardly excruciating. I'd even dialed back the painkillers the last couple of days, so now I can go back to full strength.

OK, back to winning the Premier League for Sunderland today on FIFA '09 on the Wii. We beat Chelsea 8-2 yesterday and Man Utd 5-2, so it's pretty much plain sailing from here.

And the Answer Is:

...numbness is perfectly normal. So basically I get a pretty much pain free period here while everything settles down internally. Follow up with the doctor's assistant next Wed, then first physical therapy the next day.

48 hours...

...and all's well. Still no pain, as it appears that the nerve block hasn't worn off. Waiting for a call back from the doc's office about that. Took my leg out of the brace yesterday a few times and tested range of motion very gently. Seems to be doing fine. It can bear a little weight, too.