It's been 2 1/2 weeks since John Flynn broke his knee in a nasty backyard fall, and the eight-term Ventura County supervisor still spends most of his days in bed, cell phone at his side.

"I talked on the phone for 130 minutes yesterday," he said Wednesday. "People call me with their problems, just like always."

Since his fall, Flynn has missed all of one Board of Supervisors meeting and most of two others. He said he plans to return to work full time sometime next month, though he won't know for sure until he sees his doctor Friday.

"I'm improving every day," he said. "I just have to take it easy, the doctor says."

Three Sundays ago, Flynn, 74, was sitting in the living room of his house in Oxnard, drinking a glass of milk. He looked out at his rose garden and decided the flowers could use some water, so he got up and headed to the back yard.

Knee broken in five places

"I turned my foot, and I just went flying, and I came down on my right knee," he said. "If I didn't have the glass of milk, I probably would've been able to break my fall."

His kneecap was shattered broken in five places, Flynn said.

An ambulance took him to Ventura County Medical Center, where he had surgery to repair the knee.

Flynn said he's scheduled to get his stitches removed Friday. After that, it will be five to 10 weeks before he can straighten his knee.

He's using walker, cane

He was using a wheelchair at first, and now he gets around with a walker, or sometimes a cane.

Flynn takes pride in his physical condition, pointing out in an interview last month that he works out five days a week. He's also known for his tireless precinct walking during campaigns.

He said the knee injury won't end his career. The 2008 campaign season officially begins June 1, when candidates are allowed to start raising money, and Flynn said that "unless things change," he plans to run for re-election.

Flynn's absence from the board this month has robbed the room of some of his jokes and fiery speeches. When he returned for the first time, to sit on the board for about half of last week's meeting, he said with a laugh that he should probably disclose that he was taking pain pills.

On Tuesday, he missed the entire public portion of the meeting, then arrived for the board's closed session. "By the time I got to the board room, I was exhausted," he said.

Flynn said he expects to be back on a full-time basis by the time the board starts its hearings on the budget for the next fiscal year. The first discussion of the budget is scheduled for June 5, with a final vote likely on June 18.