Wednesday, September 22

What a day!

Today I overloaded on therapy.  My P.T. came and I stood on the tilt table for 30 minutes.  It's always good to feel upright. 

Then I went on to do some O.T. on my own time.  I started by filling my one week pill box.  Seems like a small task to people with dexterity, but not so small a task for me.  I put 91 pills in each tiny compartment, pill by pill by pill.  It took me almost 45 minutes of pinching.  

Then I attempted to fold laundry for the first time.  They looked a little scary but I folded a full basket of the boys laundry in just over an hour.  

Lets just say I'm ready for bed! 

Thursday, September 16th

Today I was measured for my own wheelchair.  I have my fancy neon lime green wheelchair but it's not actually mine.  It's a demo wheelchair I am renting.  We took about 50 measurements and answered about 50 questions to see exactly what I need.  Little things like the weight of the chair, the cushion, the back, the wheels, there are really unlimited things that are changed to make a chair just for me and my abilities.  Now just to get my insurance to approve it without a fight.

I think a lot of people were hoping I would get home and start healing quickly and then I wouldn't need my own wheelchair.  That unfortunately isn't the case.  I am happy to get my own and I know I will get good use out of it.

Bad Company

My right foot is having some issues.  

In the hospital I had a friction sore on my right heel.  It wasn't even a full pressure sore, it never broke open and even at that stage it was some pretty excruciating pain.  It makes my stomach churn to think of real, open, painful, gaping pressure sores.  Well, my unwelcome visitor stopped by again.  My heel has been quite sore so it's been hanging off the edge of a pillow.  This one is hanging on longer than the last.  I am just hoping it heals and doesn't actually break open.


I also had my first ever  ingrown toenail dug out this week ... SICK!

Tilt Table

This week started tilt table therapy.  It's pretty crazy to feel even semi-upright again.  It's good to feel weight through my feet too.  My therapists also say it's the best way to remind my brain that my legs have a purpose.  We are all hoping that this may speed up the healing process.  It went well.  I got a little dizzy/nauseous towards the end but it was still good.  My blood pressure is just so messed up too.  I get tilted to a certain point and it's like the blood just puddles in my legs and hangs out there.  We will keep at it and hopefully see some progress soon.

Q & A - Sensation

Do you have any sensation in your legs??

Yes

I can feel pressure all over my body however sensation is different than I remember it.  Temperature is hit and miss.  I don't feel shots, scratches, and other small things at all.  I do feel nerve pain everywhere and large pains like my hip pain and heel pain.

Mending

Besides the obvious physical mending that is going on, there is also some serious mending going on with my relationships.

Spending 5 months away from my husband has been a huge struggle.  Not that our relationship is bad by any means but it is different.  It's been stressful.  I use to be so proud that Kelly and I didn't argue.  We would calmly discuss any disagreement we had until we came to a reasonable compromise.  Well that has been drop kicked out the window.  Neither Kelly nor I are really "yellers", but there is much more tension in our conversations.  When I went into the hospital my whole family was pulled apart.  I was in Idaho Falls at the hospital, Kelly was in Pocatello carrying on as much of a "normal" life as he could, and Jack went back and forth between Kelly's parents and my parents (thank HEAVENS for their help, we wouldn't have made it without them).  So not only did we lose each other, we lost Jack ... we lost our whole family, the family we had been for only 11 short months.  It threw a serious wrench in our lives. Since we have been back together it's like we have to remember how to be a married couple again.  For 5 months we were single again and now we are married again.  So with long talks and very conscious effort .... we are mending.  Physically, emotionally, spiritually ... in every way, we are mending.