How Much Is That Worth To You?

I am the recent victim of a knee replacement. However, this is not a tale of woe but one of redemption. And that redemption has been T’ai Chi Chih. In the 12 years that I’ve been a student and then a teacher, I’ve become a huge believer in TCC’s therapeutic value to heal or ameliorate all manner of ills. I’ve contributed to the Blooming the Flower publications and have enthusiastically preached the gospel of alternative medicine. However, after time, some things become too difficult to overcome. My daily TCC practice ran headlong into 37 years of pounding the pavements as a mail carrier.

My practice and teaching began to suffer as my knees betrayed me. I developed a nasty habit of rolling my knees as the weight shifted forward, to keep the direct pressure off my knees. But the worst was the evening I shifted my weight forward in front of a class and nearly wound up on the floor. It felt like a bolt of lightning had coursed through my knee. And things got worse: I began to miss TCC events in the Twin Cities and nationally. My teaching dwindled to one class, then to substitutions, then to nothing at all.

Fortunately, that’s when my TCC family stepped in. I received an e-mail from that notorious scold, Nancy Werner-Azarski, my TCC “big sister” (who is a senior student of our mutual teacher and TCC “Dad,” Ron Barker). “Have the surgery done!” wrote Big Sis, RN. “You want to walk. How much is that worth you? You can’t do TCC? How much is that worth to you?” That’s when I sought out an orthopedist.

Several rounds of cortisone and gelatinous injections worked a temporary magic. But finally I had to submit to the scalpel, for a half-knee replacement on one knee and a full replacement on the left. Next came physical therapy, with a wonderful young lady I affectionately called “Emily the Torturer.”

I cannot tell you the joy I felt, however, a couple of weeks after the surgeries when I tried a full TCC practice. I set my fingers on the edge of the platter and stepped out with my left knee, began to roll the weight forward and … nothing! My weight slid right to the correct position. Only those who have experienced great pain can know how wonderful nothing can feel. I still do the physical therapy exercises and walk a great deal. But TCC is the best post-operative therapy imaginable; it’s my chief therapy for my knees and my life. I still have lots of rough edges in my practice to smooth (as I did before), but the effort is the message. And once again I can share in the fellowship, the commitment, and the Chi of our wonderful Twin Cities community and family. Interruption over. Like Justin’s tree, the leaves grow back. The Chi resumes. In gratitude, the journey continues.