It's Saturday again, and I'm going to finally update my blog while I watch a meaningless college football game.
My mom wants me to go up to my sister's house in Virginia for Thanksgiving, but I wanted to make sure I'll be able to get in to the house and do all the things I need to do. So Gus and Evelyn and I took a road trip up there on Thursday to examine the facilities.
Overall, it's pretty good. I can get in the basement easily, and with my new wheels I fit through all the important doors. I can get in the downstairs bathroom, and I can get in the downstairs bedroom. The downstairs couch is pretty low so if I transfer on, I can't get back off. I can't reach the sink because I can't roll up close enough, but I expected that. I took my commode that goes over the toilet. To get it to fit, we had to lower it significantly. That makes the transfer pretty sketchy, but I guess it will work.
To get upstairs, I can go out the downstairs door and roll around to the front of the house on the street. Unfortunately, the driveway in front of the house is incredibly steep so I can't roll up by myself. And once I get to the top, there's still a big step up to get in the house. It would be nice if there was a ramp, but Gus proved he can lift me up one step if we're careful. I find that technique pretty scary, but I guess I don't have a choice. The upstairs couch is also too low. So Thanksgiving should be interesting.
The other thing that happened this week is I found out that IBM may not let me continue working part-time when I go on long-term disability (LTD) in December. I've been on short-term disability (STD) since my injury in April, and I started working 3 hours a day back in August. Doing some work gives some structure to my day, and gives me a little bit of social interaction every day, and I didn't realize how important it is to me until they told me they might take it away.
I'm still waiting to hear whether IBM will let me continue to put in some hours while on LTD. If they won't, then I'm going to go crazy while I wait for my HO surgery. I'm still hoping they might be able to do that in January, but there's no guarantee. It might be May or even later. There's no way to know yet. I can't imagine doing nothing while I wait. I will literally go crazy. So I'm holding my breath. Hopefully I'll find out this week.
I hope thanksgiving is enjoyable for you. Maybe if they don't let you work, you could still find something "work-like" to fill in that part of the day to keep you busy. Sending positive thoughts your way.
ReplyDeleteIs this a Federal disability regulation, or a company policy?
ReplyDeleteI'm excited to hear how your turkey day goes but sad about IBM. Id suggest writing a program like the one they used in "office space" but I'm guessing since its not Y2K they'd probly notice. Just a thought :-)
ReplyDeleteUpdating prayer chain first thing in the morning for ease of transfer with low couches, steps, and commodes at Thanksgiving and for IBM to come through. We're already praying about the HO surgery timing. Hey! Perhaps you could become a Prayer Chain administrator -- we use a centralized call system...heck, our whole building could use a worship and administrative technology consultant. We could do it via Skype! We just can't afford your expertise. ;-)
ReplyDeleteWe are waiting with baited breath word on your job status. Hoping that your grandmother's saying rings true. "No news is good news!"
ReplyDeleteAny disappointment that you have to endure is a huge disappointment for those of us that love you, too!