This morning, March 1, four months after my injury. I will be returning to work.
I think would be a good time to put *How I Spent
My “Fall” Vacation* finally to rest and tell you about my return home and the
progress I have made in my recovery.
Going back to Episode 73, you all know I checked
out of the hospital and arrived home at my townhouse on the afternoon of January
11.
Aided by my wonderful neighbours, Pam and Dennis,
we were able to set up my bathroom with aids that I would be required for my
day to day living. When I say “aided” I really mean they did all the work while
I hobbled around the house.
After they left, it was time for me to take a
shower in my own home, in my own bathroom. This was the only time I used the
bath seat I had purchased as an actual chair. I discovered the hardest part was
getting back up from the seat. After that I found it was easier just to stand
in the shower and used the back of the chair as a bit of a support. I made a
point of using all the hot water in the tank in that first shower. It was the
first time in over three months that I felt almost clean. It would take a
couple of more days for my hair to get that soft and squeaky clean feeling back.
After the shower, it was time for dinner. I had
now escaped the disgusting hospital menu and the tyranny of hospital dietician.
What did I do? I ordered a pizza, of course! It was extraordinarily delicious
that day. I vowed that for today nothing existed and my recovery would begin
tomorrow.
You may remember that two of my immediate goals
upon release were get the mop on the top of my head under control and to get
the claws growing at the end of my feet
back to normal. I made an appointment for Tuesday for the hair and my dear friend,
Allana, hauled me off to her aesthetician for a mani/pedi the following Sunday.
I finally felt human again with my short cropped locks and pink, sparkly nails. BTW - Tanya, thanks for the offer! :-)
My recovery and rebuilding could be split up into
three separate components; physical, mental and emotional.
The physical component is the easiest to deal
with. The biggest hurdle I had is that there are thirteen steps leading from
the main floor of the townhouse to my bedroom and bathroom and the same number
from the main floor to the basement and laundry room. To start with, I always
required my cane and the hand rail; taking one stair at a time moving my left
foot up then bringing my right up to the same stair and using the opposite
going down. I’m still using this slow method most of the time although I rarely
use the cane. Also, carrying anything was extremely difficult. I could only
take a small weight each trip; carrying it in a small shopping bag. This has
gotten a lot easier now because I have at least one free hand especially going
upstairs.
One ordeal I still have is getting my laundry
baskets up and down the stairs. Luckily, I have more than most other straight
guys have even though there are an inordinate number of pink and purple golf
shirts. At least this means I don’t have to do laundry that frequently.
The other most difficult thing I have had to
conquer is getting up from a seated position. I overcame this originally by
stealing the cushion from one armchair and doubling it up on the other as well
I had three throw cushions stacked up on my dining room chairs. Getting up from
the bed was a little easier because the mattress already sits high but I originally
required the cane as a brace.
Speaking of braces, I threw the left leg brace in
the closet the day I got home and have not worn the right brace at all for at
least two weeks.
I still use my cane when I am walking any
distances outside and it comes in handy as a sympathy tool.
I am still going back to the hospital as an
outpatient for physiotherapy twice a week where, Leslie, my physio beats me up
pretty good each day and each day I can do more. My left knee is almost at
fighting strength while my right still has quite a way to go. The highlight
last week was when Leslie got me on the mini-trampoline and had me jogging on
the spot. This brought me joy because it gives me hope that I will be able to
run again. This is important to me because running the trails below my house
clears my head and I get best writing ideas cruising along side the creek. This
is good news (or maybe it’s bad news) for you my loyal readers because I will
find more things to blog about.
On top of my lower body rehab, I’m going to have a
few other health issues to deal with now that I’m out. I lost a lot of weight
while inside and I will have to continue my struggle to keep it off and burn a
few more pounds off as well. I will now have to also work on keeping my blood
sugar under control with the aid of exercise, diet and medication. The third
issue is a little more complex. It was discovered while in the hospital is that
I have a vitamin B12 deficiency and could lead to anemia. I’m treating this
right now with supplements and may eventually be forced to eat more beef. This
does not get me that excited because beef and I don’t get along that well. I’d
rather have a slab of salmon than a juicy steak.
The mental component struck me shortly after getting
out of the shower when I saw the huge pile of mail sitting on the dining room
table and realizing the place had needed a thorough cleaning even before I went
into the hospital. There were also all kinds of regular maintenance that needed
to be done around the house. I spent a lot of time tossing and turning in bed that first night thinking
about all the things that needed to be done.
Waking up the next morning, I realized that I
would just have to take everything in baby steps doing just a little bit at a
time. This was the same approach I was taking physically. Once I realized that my
anxiety levels dropped quickly. I worked at dealing with all the paperwork a
few minutes per hour and then resting rather than tackling it all at once. I
took this approach with cleaning up the place as well. There is still a lot of
work to do around but I’ve now taken the attitude of looking after myself first
and worry about the house later.
One big mental block that has come up and still
occurs is the idea of standing up. As I said before this is one of the most
difficult physical things I have to do. There is also a mental component because
every time I get ready to stand up I know there is going to be some pain so
sometimes I have position myself and then I will think about what I’m going to
do for several seconds and occasionally it will run in to minutes. I’m still
having some of these difficulties.
The emotional component has become a little more
complicated. Several of you know that awhile back, someone special had walked
into my life or rather limped into my life. (Actually you could even say she
rolled in if you include the gurney she arrived on into room 621) This would
have been the purveyor of the “...er...um...sparkling apple juice” on New Year’s
Eve that I told you about in episode 62. She was there to understand and share
all those simple small victories and feel the pain from the setbacks as well.
She made the tough seven weeks that I had been home so much easier to deal with
and she had made me happier than I had been in many years. The storybook ending
would have been her becoming Version 3.0 and we ride off into the sunset. Sadly, the “happily
ever after” isn’t there at least for now. She felt that she had some emotional
healing to do on her own and that I wouldn’t be able to help her along the way.
I cannot bear her any ill will because she is a beautiful woman inside and out
and she made me extremely happy for that tiny sliver of my life. I can only
hope she can resolve her issues and she finds peace. Perhaps she’ll realize her
happiness was right in front of her all along and that would be n***.
Regardless, I know she knows at least she will always have a loving friend in
me. Thank you, C, for a few weeks of happiness; you will always own a piece of my heart.
Thank you and enjoy the rest of the day here in
the Magic Kingdom...Oh crap, wrong theme park! ;-)
