By David Fortier 

Come Sunday morning, I will have had a new knee for just over a week.  I have a hard time comprehending this, but I will have been walking with a walker and later a cane, every day. My routine, I laughingly tell Mary, is that of an elite athlete. I spend all my time exercising—baby exercises but necessary ones if I am going to regain full mobility; icing—I have an ice machine, a cooler like thing with a tube and an attachment that I wrap around my knee; eating—to keep up my strength, but not eating too much and certainly eating foods that help the process; and sleeping, including napping. 

Of course, there are the meds, which make all of this possible, and for which, I have been reminded, to stick to the recommended dosages to stay ahead of the pain. I have been fairly successful at this “staying ahead of the pain” but not totally.  

Silly me, I thought I might be able to get some of my own work done.  I have found that my ability to focus has been compromised, so that I have spurts of energy where I read a few pages or do some research, but that is about it. Most of the time, I have been replenishing the ice machine, wrapping my leg—I have added two large ice packs to the ice machine attachment so that I ice my entire leg—and exercises—walking on the second floor with the walker and doing the exercises. I have learned to do things the right way and to do them on schedule, but it takes effort and time. 

The goal is to ice for 30-45 minutes and get up on my feet for 30 minutes and repeat for entire day. It’s a bit mind-numbing. I do my best to stick to the routine. Which, fortunately, I do more than not. It’s going to give me a jump on recovery, something I am counting on, since I would like to be in the classroom when school begins. At the same time, often, I find myself considering how someone. who is not as fortunate as I am, is able to manage. And I go off on a tangent about how crazy our health care system is. 

I have been able to catch up on a few podcasts—when I don’t nap through them. Reading is a more difficult task, but I have a few recommendations. 

 I haven’t read the book, but plan to, but here is this week’s recommended listening/reading. Ann Murphy Paul talks about her book, The Extended Mind, with Ezra Klein on this podcast. Click here.  

I have picked up several books after listening to Klein’s show. I mentioned one, Heather McGhee’s The Sum of Us last week. McGhee is a terrific writer, who blends research with storytelling and ends up making a compelling argument about racism—everyone is affected negatively by it.  

This week I have been reading James Suzman’s Work. Suzman is a terrific writer in his own right. It is a book that I might have finished in a couple of days, but have had to limp through because my attention is a bit off, with the surgery and all. I am, more typically, a fiction guy. Having listened to Klein and then followed up his podcasts with the books, non-fiction mostly but not exclusively, I have been converted. Part of the equation, I am thinking, is that I enjoy good writing, which means sound thinking, and these writers are good writers, good thinkers. 

My point, however, is this. If you don’t have the time to pick up the books, at least familiarize yourself with the thinking, and the podcasts are a great way to do that. And you can listen again in the event you nod off! 

Until next week! 

“Come Sunday morning” is intended to be a weekly review, a recounting of the past week and an anticipation of week to come. Among its features will be reviews of old and new books, sharing of favorite podcasts, some family news, Bristol events and happenings and issues surrounding education, work and community journalism. Fortier can be reached at dfortier@bristoledition.org.