What's this?

my cane!

My cane?  Yes, that's what I said....my cane!  Dang knee!  It sort of buckled under me almost two weeks ago, causing me to fall like a tree in the forest.  Our floors are hard, let me tell you, and I have a tremendously difficult time getting back up off of them.  Once I realized I was still intact, other than the buckling knee, I sat on the floor for a while.  The only things close by were the kitchen cabinets....too vertical and high to get a hand-hold to pull myself up....and Kaylee's high chair and my desk chair....both too roll-y to be a good support.  Hmmm....

I finally removed the cushion from the desk chair and sat myself on it to scoot into the living room, get on my hands and knees (ouch! but the cushion helped) and pull myself up on the ottoman.  Once I was in a standing position, my knee actually felt fine, as did the rest of me.  Of course, that's not the end of it.  Later I discovered that my knee would still buckle unexpectedly while walking, sometimes every ten steps, sometimes every other step.  Darn! 

So I've spent the last two weeks walking around holding on to furniture and kitchen counters and door frames and such, because I never know when it's going to go out again.  Sometimes it hurts when I bend it just so.  Fred went to the drug store and bought me one knee brace that I couldn't even get on, so he got me another one that wraps around and closes with Velcro and has hinges on the sides.  That thing is soooooo uncomfortable!  I've worn it off and on, but the last few days I haven't used it at all and have been walking a bit better (still holding on to things a lot, though) with less knee misbehavior. 

The worst thing is that I haven't stepped foot (or knee) out of the house in thirteen days!  And I have a wedding to go to tomorrow evening....an outdoor wedding.  Last weekend I decided to try on clothes to see what I could wear over a bulky black knee brace....mission accomplished with some nice robin's egg blue wide-leg linen pants and jacket, layered over a creamy yellow blouse.  But I was worried about stability, especially walking through the gardens where the wedding is being held.  So I got online and ordered my nifty patterned folding cane.  I figure that even if I get more sure-kneed over the next few days or weeks or months, I can have a folding cane in my bag for emergencies. 

Now, if the weather will just cooperate for the wedding....