Routine with Ups and Downs

It has been a busy week.

   Bruce has worked hard. Monday night he had a leg spasm and his leg fell off the bed. He yells at me to get his leg back on the bed. I am groggy and grumpy and he tells me not to snap at him. He asked for Tylenol because his shoulder hurt him. 

   Tuesday night his leg fell off the bed twice. He was nicer asking me to put his leg back on the bed for him. I guess we were expecting it so that helped. 

  Our health care provider found another bed frame to add to the side of the bed so his leg will stay on the bed. Trouble is it has to be removable so we can get him in and out of the bed with the sling. I saw one with legs that looks like it could slide under the mattress. 

   Pool time included Bruce walking on his knees and doing some standing. He was able to float on his back and do the bicycle kick. He was excited about that.

   Bruce has been able to get himself set up to use the urinal during the day. He uses it about five times a day. So the more he does the less we do. It takes about 15 min every time. We help him by emptying the urinal, putting his leg back on the pedal and re affixing the tabs on the attends. He has no feeling in his fingertips and it is difficult to get the tabs back in the right places so one of us, Duncan or I get him fixed up. One more step toward independence. We have to stop what we are doing to help him and sometimes it is annoying. Some days we don't begin a project until he is taken care of. Our lifestyles revolve around him. It is a personal encounter so only family can do this. Or a health care person could do it but what would they do every two hours? 

   It is the end of the week and he hasn't had any more leg cramps. good. We figure his leg muscles are starting to work again, they are firing up and he is getting spasms. 

   We got a heart attack this week! Thank you activity day girls (ages 8 - 11) for thinking of us!

  I saw a movie preview called Me Before You and liked the previews. I got the book out of the library. It is about a handsome, rich 35 year old business man that is in a motorcycle accident and ends up a quadriplegic C5 C6 like Bruce only his recover is just minor movement in one arm. He is able to move his motorized wheelchair with his fingers after two years. His mother hires this energetic young woman to care for him. So this is my review. 

   The book gives a lot of insight into the life of a spinal cord injury person. It talks of the anger and frustration Will has to deal with as his whole lifestyle was very physical. I felt the story gave insights to what a quad has to deal with, but it left out shifting weight during the day. I liked that it talked about people feeling sorry for a quad and talking down to some one in a wheelchair. I did not like all the f bombs. I do not like stories with rape violence in them. It is sweet love story with the My Fair Lady theme (Pygmalion) for Louisa to change and grow but Will did not come to terms with his life and his choices would not be our choices. It includes right to die issues and overcoming sexual violence and not letting one nights events govern your lifestyle. Seems to me what happened Louisa was devastating and I would have curled up in the fetal position. Will was giving her experiences and showing her what the world had to offer as she wanted to be safe and not leave her hometown. I think the negative outweighs the positive in the book and wouldn't recommend it to read.