Thanksgiving

Last weekend was Thanksgiving, and my brother flew into town and drove me up to my sister's place in Virginia for the event.  For as long as I can remember, Thanksgiving has always been at my Aunt Koral's house in Maryland, and many of my aunts, uncles, and cousins attend.  Since I wasn't able to get up there this year, a lot of them agreed to come down somewhere I could go.

Jonathan and I drove up midday Thursday.  We had a little time before dinner, so I got to see my family for a little while before the rest of the guests arrived.

A pretty good turnout

The food was delicious, and I really enjoyed the company.  I got to spend some time with my favorite aunts and uncles who I haven't seen in a while.  I want to thank everyone for coming to see me.  It made my Thanksgiving very special.

After everybody left, I spent the night in the guest room in the basement.  That worked out quite well.  The bed was comfortable and easy to transfer to.  The bathroom worked out fine, and we really didn't run into anything unexpected.

Friday, Jonathan and I stayed through lunch.  The weather was fantastic, and we all spent much of the day on the deck.

Good times

Jonathan and I got back to my apartment Friday evening, and unpacked my stuff.  We had time to go get a delicious dinner at Tribeca Tavern, watch a bad movie and go to bed.  Jonathan's flight left early on Saturday, and I was sad he had to leave so early.  I hadn't seen him since the start of rehab, and I enjoyed spending time with him.

Unfortunately, after Jonathan left, I noticed my hips giving me more trouble than usual.  I think my HO has been progressing, and in the time from Saturday to Monday, the pain in my right hip has gotten much much worse.  It's pretty excruciating when I sit in my wheelchair.  I used to have some pain when sitting in my wheelchair, but now it's almost intolerable.  It feels like someone is stabbing a white-hot screwdriver into my hip joint and trying to pry it apart.  It used to be that I could get relief from the pain by sitting on the couch, but even that hurts now.  The pain even takes a while to subside when I lay down in bed. 

I think my hips have also gotten less flexible than they were just a couple weeks ago.  I feel like I can't sit up as straight as I used to be able to, and I have to curve my spine to compensate.  This leads to pain in my lower back.  Whenever I lift myself up, my spine audibly pops back into place.  That can't be good for it.

So I'm worried that I may be alarmingly close to the scenario I have been worried about where I can no longer take care of myself.  If I can't sit up, I can't do anything for myself.  I can't get out of bed, I can't go to the bathroom, I can't feed myself.  I don't know what to do.  If I'm going to be in this much pain, it's going to be hard to get anything done even if I can physically force myself into my wheelchair.

It figures, I just heard that IBM will allow me to continue to work part time on long-term disability, and now I'm not sure if I'll physically be able to do it.