Floor Transfers and the Transitional Apartment

I don't want to write much today, but it was a productive day so I want to say something about it.  This morning, it was decided by the daily therapist round table, that I could spend the night in the transitional living apartment if I could demonstrate that I could transfer onto the tall soft bed in there.

Very soft and very tall

So during the day, I had to demonstrate that particular transfer twice, each, to Emily and Raheleh.  Apparently I did well enough because I'm writing from inside the apartment.  It's supposed to simulate my apartment when I get out of here, but I can tell you I will not keep my apartment at 65 degrees in the summer.  It's freezing in here.

Freezing

The other thing I did today that I was proud of was some floor transfers.  I used Emily's "From your knees" technique to transfer directly from the floor onto my wheelchair.  It was ridiculously difficult, but I did it twice.  I hope I don't find myself on the floor too often, but when I do, it's VERY nice to know I have a technique I can use to get back up.

Buddha Bear in the Garage

This is Buddha Bear again.  The other day, I had to bring my car down to the hospital to help out a friend.  Afterwards, I was bored so I killed some time around the parking garage.

Parking my car

Loitering

Hanging out in the elevator

Getting money at the ATM

I pushed the button no the help box and ran away

I fell

Riding a blue bull

Stealing a Pepsi

Joyriding on a golf cart

This is not my bike

Waiting at the bus stop

Waiting at a different bus stop

Who is that?

Oh, that's me

Living on the edge

Thanks to Gus Carey for helping take these pictures.

When I Get Out

Sometimes I forget that my readers don't actually know what's going on with me unless I tell them.  My plans for after I leave here are in constant flux, but certain aspects of them have solidified, and it seems only fair to share those plans with you.

The UNC Hospital Rehab Center is going to put me on the curb at 11:00 AM Friday, June 22nd.  My sister should arrive shortly thereafter to collect me and take me to my new apartment.  Hopefully her car has room for all the stuff I have collected here in my hospital room in 6 weeks.  And Buddha Bear.

He takes up some space

Once we arrive at my apartment, Jessica has told me she is prepared to stay with me for a total of five(5) days(!) which is amazingly good news.  I was extremely happy when she told me that.

My priority once I get to my apartment will be to get it set up so that it works for me, and I can function in it.  I need to get the furniture placed where it does not obstruct my wheelchair, and I need to figure out procedures to do all the things I need to do on a daily basis.  In medical circles, they call these ADL's or Activities of Daily Living.

I don't know if this is going to work

One thing I plan to do on a daily basis is eat, but I'm going to be busy figuring out how to survive in the real world, so my friend, Kelly, thought it would be nice to setup a food train for me.  You may have seen these before, only this one is for a paralyzed man instead of a new mother.

Here it is: http://www.takethemameal.com/meals.php?t=UXFX3954

No pressure

Feel free to sign up, but don't feel any pressure.  I probably won't starve to death either way, but it's something nice you can do to help out that would be appreciated.

I will continue to write my blog when I get out.  I enjoy writing it, and I will continue for as long as I have things I want to write about and time to write about them.  There will probably be an interruption when I leave the hospital.  And depending on my schedule outside, I may not be able to post every day, but I'll try.

I expect that I will go back to work at some point, but I don't know when yet.  I imagine that once I get myself a solid daily routine that I feel comfortable with, I will start to get bored, and once I start to get bored, I will start to want to go back to work.  That's how I see that happening, but I think I have a lot to figure out before it happens.

For instance, I'm going to need to get a car.  Yes, I can drive a car, but I'll need hand controls.  I'll want to pick a car that makes sense for me, and then get it modified.  Then I'll need to learn to drive it.  Getting a car isn't the first thing on my agenda, but obviously it's important.

I'm also expecting to start outpatient therapy at some point.  I don't know where or when yet.  I also don't know how often that will be, but I imagine I will continue working on some of the skills I learned here and do some strength exercises.

I expect to get my permanent wheel chair a week or two after I leave the hospital.  I'm looking forward to that.  It should be a lot nicer than the one I'm in now, but I expect that I won't feel comfortable in it right away.  We'll see.  Hopefully I like the one Todd picked out for me.  Later, I'm going to buy some fancy lightweight wheels for it.  They're going to make it so much nicer.  Todd said I should use the factory wheels for a little while so I appreciate the difference the lighter ones make, but I already know it's a huge difference, and I may not be able to wait long.

Beyond that, I don't know what I'm going to do when I go home.  I'm hoping to go to a Railhawks soccer game with Sue and Mike at some point to test my ability to tolerate outings and to experiment with handicapped seating.  I'm going to investigate all the restaurants in my neighborhood to make sure their sanitation grade is good.  I'm going to meet some of my neighbors and see if they want to be friends with a cripple.  I have no idea what else I might do, but at a minimum, it should be interesting.

Magical Sunday

Today I had absolutely nothing on the schedule, so I used the opportunity to stay in bed until 11:00.  It was magical.

When I got up, Gus called and wanted to come over for lunch.  Gus and Uyen and their daughter Evelyn, who is cute as a button, but whose name I still don't know how to spell, came over around 1:30, and brought me a sandwich from Firehouse Subs.  They also brought me a Coke.  Lunch was also magical.

Magical!

We ate outside on the patio by Starbucks, and enjoyed the magical weather, and then went inside and probably spent an hour admiring the kinetic ball exhibits in the lobby of the children's hospital.  It nearly lulled me to sleep.  You could safely describe it as 'magical'.

Evelyn asking me something precious

When Gus and Uyen left, I went upstairs and had a lovely phone conversation with my Dad about Father's day.  I wouldn't describe is as 'magical', but it was certainly nice.

Now I'm working on my blog.  I would say my day qualifies as magical.  The original title of this entry, started last night, was going to be 'Monotony', but fortunately, fate and some friends intervened and gave me a really nice and relaxing day.  Tomorrow starts my last week of in-patient therapy, but I feel rested and ready.  Bring it on.

Moving Day

Today, my friends moved a lot of my stuff from my house to my new apartment.  I'm extremely grateful that I have people who can do that for me, but I feel fairly helpless that I can't go participate in my own move.  I'm an extremely independent person, and I don't like to ask for help from anybody, but at least for the time being, I'm going to have to rely on a lot of help from everybody.

I want to thank everyone who helped move my stuff.  I literally don't know what I would do without your help:

• Caitlin
• Cullen
• Jessica
• Ben
• Rob
• Brian
• Gus
• Sridhar
• Wil
• Bert

Everybody but Gus.  Wil is hiding behind Jessica.

Apparently the move went well, and here are some pictures, but unfortunately, when my friends got to the apartment, the elevator was broken.  Besides the fact that they had to carry all my stuff up two flights of stairs,  a broken elevator is pretty worrisome since it effectively strands me either inside or outside my apartment.  A couple people my friends talked to insisted it has been a year and a half since the elevator broke last so hopefully there's nothing to worry about.  Maybe it's good we got this breakage out of the way, and it will be another year before it breaks again, but it's hard not to worry.

I found out from Mike and Sue this week that apparently there is a girl from their RIT alumni group who lives in my new neighborhood who is supposedly willing to help me out, so I'm looking forward to meeting her.  It's fun to make new friends.  Hopefully this one works out.

Today, I got a visit from Kelly and Lily, and I only had one therapy session with a guy I don't know.  I also got a visit from my friend, Wil, from work. Wil used to be my mentor at IBM, and it was nice of him to stop by to see how I'm doing.

Every day I feel like I'm doing a little better.  My confidence is increasing, and I'm feeling more and more ready to see what life is like on the outside.  I also think I feel better on the weekends when I get to rest and recover from everything the therapists put me through during the week.  It's nice to not be sore for a little while.

The Outing

Today, with very little planning or announcement, we went on an outing.  It was four therapists, Ashley, Eric, and myself.  Those are other patients.  We had to push ourselves all the way from the hospital to Franklin Street.  Except Eric.  He's got a power chair.  Google maps says it was a little over half a mile, but it felt like a lot longer.  It turns out that uneven brick pavement is not much fun to push a wheelchair on.  Especially if it's uphill.  Or downhill.  Or level.

There were several times when I didn't think I could make my arms go anymore, but ultimately it's good that I did because there was a Qdoba burrito in it for me on Franklin Street.  Also a Coke.  I haven't had a Coke in a long long time, and that may have been the highlight of my trip.

I meant to take some pictures for you.  I even brought my camera, but in all the excitement and cursing, I completely forgot.  Also, my sister showed up for a visit, and met us down at Qdoba.  While we were pushing home, she went to Maple View to get us some ice cream.  That made my day a little better.

When Jessica got back, she had a hat for me.  It's a balloon hat of a monkey climbing a... banana?  I'm not sure.  Whatever it is, it's awesome, and it brightened my day some more.

Monkeys are funny!

 Later, Katie and I worked on putting on and removing shoes.  That went quite well, so that make me a little happier.

The monkey is watching

Then we worked on some transfers onto weird surfaces like a couch and a chair.  The transfers went really well so that made my day a little better.

The monkey says, "transfer!"

Later, Jessica went and got us Mediterranean Deli for dinner.  That made my day a whole lot better.

Delicious food

Jessica stayed with me until about 8:00, and then Bert showed up to spend the night at 10:00, so I have another guest.

Bert hates this picture

Bert is currently busy making me laugh until my surgery hurts, so I'm going to end this post, but it has been a great day.  I wish they could all be like today.

Grumpalupagus

That's Emily's word.  She calls me that when I'm in a bad mood.  Unfortunately, today I was a bit of a Grumpalupagus.

Grumpalupagus?

I don't like being in a bad mood.  I don't think people should have to put up with me when I'm in one, but I was in a sour mood all day, and you can't hide from people when you're in rehab.  I've been trying to figure out what my problem is all day.  I think it's a combination of a two things.

1.) They are backing off my morphine dosage.  I've been on a small amount of slow-release morphine since I got here.  I didn't think it was doing anything, but today I got half the dose, and I was exceptionally sore all day.  Every part of my body that feels anything feels pain right now.  Coincidence?  Probably not.  And I need to be all the way off the morphine by the time I leave.

2.) The fact that I'm leaving soon is becoming real to me.  The visit to my apartment has made me think about it more, and how hard it's going to be living without supervision.  This morning, I tried to sit up in bed without using the rails on the hospital bed, just to prove I could.  I failed miserably.  There was just too much pain and stiffness first thing in the morning.  Then I used the bed rails to cheat.  When I get home, there will be no cheating.  Either I get up, or I don't.  I hope my surgery stops hurting one day.  That would make life a lot easier.

Speaking of my surgery, I finally had Emily show me some of my x-rays today.  You can see the rods and the screws.  There are basically two rigid rods, one on either side of my spine, and long screws attaching each rod to each vertebrae.  The screws look like they might be almost two inches long, so that was exciting.  I'll post a picture here when I can get one.

I think the highlight of my day today was Emily telling a PT student from Duke that I was a model patient because of all the stuff I was able to do.  It made me feel good in the midst of my crappy day.  Then she made me do simulated floor transfers for 30 minutes.  I thought my arms were going to fall off.

Tomorrow should be a better day.  My sister is supposed to visit.  Also, Courtney has masterminded a trip out to Franklin Street.  I think they're going to make me push my wheelchair all the way there and back.  If they do, I suspect my arms will actually fall off.