Learning to walk again

A little less than two weeks later, I'm guessing some people are probably wondering what ever happened to me after I got hurt. If not, well, just don't tell me, so then I'll think you have been.
I was in my giant, hideous blue cast for about a week, but after about 5 days I stopped using crutches and was putting some pressure on my left leg. Putting pressure on it wasn't painful, but I was starting to get restless from my giant cast. I decided to go to the doctor early to see if they could give me a smaller brace. My wish was granted the next day, and my other brace was a lot smaller. The nurse who gave me my brace asked if I would be interested in seeing the doctor earlier than my scheduled appointment. Of course, I said yes. I ended up getting to meet with my doctor the next day, and she checked my knee thoroughly. The main thing I was scared of was bending my knee. I had tried once, and didn't get very far before excruciating pain hit.  Of course, the first thing my doctor did was try to bend my knee. That was possibly scarier than my whole ER experience right after the injury happened. The fact that I was on a high dose of Percocet in the ER, so everything seemed fine, is beside the point. The doctor was able to bend my knee to more than a 90 degree angle, which I was shocked at. After checking to make sure I got my knee back into place correctly after dislocating it, she said she thinks I sprained my MCL, which is a large ligament on the right side of my knee. She said all my other ligaments and tendons around my knee are super strong, which is very encouraging to hear. The main problem, however, she thinks is in my meniscus, which is right under my knee cap itself. This is something that really cannot be fixed or healed over time like my MCL. This means that the increased risk of re-injuring my knee will always be there, unless I get surgery done.
After all of this news, the doctor said she no longer wanted me to use the brace at all, unless I found it necessary. She said I need to be using my leg normally, and that what has been injured is done, and will heal in time. I go back on May 4 for another follow up appointment, which she might then tell me to proceed with physical therapy or something, depending on how well I have been recovering this week.
In the past two days, it has been quite the adventure trying to learn to walk again. After having my knee/leg completely immobile for ten days, it was a little stiff. It also feels very vulnerable and at risk, so that stresses me out. I can pretty much walk normally now with only occasional pain. There is still swelling, but I am taking noninflammatory for it. I still can't do stairs very well, especially down; it is way too painful. I'm working on walking up stairs today, and will see if I can do that well in the next couple days. It's just little steps each day in this long recovery process. Going up stairs should be something I can get the hang of somewhat quickly, but going down might be a while.
Again, I cannot thank everyone enough for all of their prayers, support, and encouragement over the past couple weeks. God has been teaching me SO much through this difficult adventure.

Now  that we have all that health stuff taken care of, I'll post again soon with everything else that God has been doing in my life. Job beginnings, school coming to an end, friendships, provisions, hard times, and things to be thankful for.