I saw my surgeon Wednesday. He said I could get rid of the sling I had been wearing after my rotator cuff surgery seven weeks ago. He also said I could get rid of the knee brace I had been wearing since my quadriceps tendon repair six weeks ago. And he said I can drive.

I had given him something close to an ultimatum: I have to drive because Leah needs back surgery, and she can’t have back surgery until I can drive. I’m not sure whether that had anything to do with it. He said his general rule is that if you can take the sling off, you can drive. So Leah drove us home from the doctor’s office, but I drove us to dinner.

I still have a little trouble getting into the car, and my leg seems to get tired after a short while, but I feel like I am as safe as I ever was.

The range of motion in my shoulder is good, but there is a still a long way to go to complete recovery. My knee is swollen and stiff; I can’t bend it very far. The doctor said that’s to be expected with tendon surgery. It takes a long time to recover.

So now we can try to get Leah’s back fixed. She dreads surgery, which I understand, but I don’t think there is any alternative. Her condition is getting worse. She has been having a lot of pain in her back and legs. Now she is having some numbness and weakness, and there is a real risk of her falling. She is afraid that since her first surgery, a laminectomy, was not successful, her second, spinal fusion, might not be either. But, still, I don’t think there is an alternative.