An elevating topic

This morning I rode in an elevator with a student who had recently broken his ankle in two places. "This is nothing," he said. "Last year I broke my neck."

I think I would have quit playing football after the first injury, but whatever. I certainly wasn't planning to gripe about my bum knee in the presence of that kind of pain. He can't put any weight on his ankle for at least a month so his knee was propped up on one of those little scooters, which has to be a horrible way to get around campus. Historic buildings full of charm and character aren't necessarily easy to retrofit for the differently-abled. (I keep casually referring to myself as a cripple but people flinch. Too Dickensian?)

Yesterday I was halfway down a flight of stairs when I realized that I had forgotten to take the elevator and then I had to make a decision: continue down to the next floor or walk back up and use the elevator? In the past couple of weeks I've spent more time in campus elevators than I had for the previous 25 years combined. Elevators in campus buildings are, variously, slow, smelly, noisy, unreliable, or absent, but my orthopedist says my knee will be happier if I avoid steps for a while, so I hear and obey.

For about four days after the cortisone shot my knee felt great. I was able to walk without a discernible limp and sleep without being awakened by shooting pains. 

Then I twisted it again--not as badly as the first time, but enough to make me despair of ever living without pain. Back to taking piles of painkillers every day, back to limping slowly around campus, back to being awakened by pain every stinking night.

But then it started feeling better. I can sleep! I've cut back on the painkillers! I can walk for a time without a limp! I can put on my socks without being overcome by a strong desire to cut off my right leg above the knee! Stairs still hurt, especially going down, and by the end of the day my leg feels fatigued, but the knee is making steady progress, filling me with hope that I may someday get around campus without having to plan every step of my route in advance. 

For a while I was going to Faculty Council meetings to offer feedback on topics related to one of my positions, but the last time I attended a Council meeting, my knee hurt so badly that I resolved to stay away until such time as Hell freezes over. Council meets on the top floor of the administration building, a lovely historic pile where the steps seem as steep and endless as the Eiffel Tower.  

How would a person dependent on a wheelchair access any of the services available in that building? Well, there's no room inside the building for an elevator, so some years ago the College installed an outdoor chair lift just next to the steps. To operate the chair lift, you have to press a buzzer and hope someone inside the building hears the summons and knows how to operate the lift. Once years ago the chair lift got stuck halfway up with a wheelchair-bound person in it. 

And even if it works, the chair lift only gets you so far: access to the main floor of the building, where all the services most essential to students are located. There is no elevator to the upper floor, where Faculty Council meets and where the Human Resources office is located. How am I supposed to file paperwork requesting accommodations for my bum knee when I can't get up the steps to HR? 

But let's look on the bright side: I can walk! I can sleep! And I'm not trying to play football with a broken neck! I've reached the age when joint pain is a fairly constant part of everyday life, but there's hope that someday I'll be able to walk down the stairs without giving it a second thought. Anything to avoid the elevator!