The New Chair

     I stopped at Albertsons on the way to the hospital this morning. Picked up some apple cider mix in packets. Bruce likes hot apple cider which should help with his chills.

    Breakfast was a ginormous sweet roll with a caramel drizzle topping, scrambled eggs, alas no bacon, two glasses of apple juice and a small bowl of strawberries. We heard the Brahm's lullaby during breakfast. 

     I heated the rice bag for Bruce, he fell sound asleep in less than 30 seconds. We are patiently waiting for OT. 

   OT will be the time of PT as PT is moved to 4 pm so we can get our wheelchair.

So at 10 we call Chris to ask about the van. Bruce wants to get a hook put in the shotgun side so he can roll into place and the hook will secure the wheelchair in the van so I won't have to mess with three clamps to secure his wheelchair. It will take four  hours to do. Now we need the okay from SAIF. We only have four days left to get 'er done.

    PT was ranging and stretching.

  We met with Erin our case worker at 11 and she explained that Norco would deliver a list of items we will need to care for Bruce at home. We talked about our home care providers, out patient rehab and me getting trained. They want to know if Bruce has any goals. He wants to walk. 

   Lunch was salmon, rice, side salad and milk.

   OT was shooting a Nerf gun. We thought that was a waste of time. Then 10 min on the hand bike exerciser and a wax job on both hands. Back to the room to remove the wax.

     They don't want Bruce to take naps, they want him up and doing things during the day. He fell asleep in his chair and I had a short nap on the uncomfortable plastic narrow, hard couch. 

    At 4 we met with Scott and Kevin the wheelchair men. They explain the parts, adjust the chair and fix us up.  Bruce says the chair is a much better fit. He loves the gel headrest and gel arm rests. I think I understood everything they said. We shall see. The chair even has a tray. Bruce didn't sit in the shower chair. He will wait for that on his next shower day on Saturday.  I think he was tired, it took us an hour and a half to go over the chair info. 

     

    The new chair is front wheel drive and La Grande high school colors, blue and silver. He is sitting straighter. No wraps, we are down to just thenwhitensocks which are called Ted Hose. Who was he?

    

     Dinner was a meatball, pepperoni and sausage pizza, side salad and milk. I asked Bruce when we would wake up from this nightmare. He says it is pretty real. 

    We met a nice lady we had seen around. Her husband had brain surgery and looked scary with half his head shaved and a nasty looking scar on the other side of his head. Turns out he is an art professor. They found a melanoma lump in his brain and it had to be removed. They had no clue until he passed out. They are leaving tomorrow for radiation treatments. He is up and walking around and mostly recovered. He can only read on a second grade level and that is very frustrating for him. We wish them luck. 

       Returned to our room, read scriptures and Bruce got ready for bed. I am helping now to use the lift, remove his socks, lotion his feet and position him. They want me to spend the night. I will have to turn Bruce three times a night. He usually sleeps through it. I am thinking about staying tomorrow night to do this task. It will not be easy. Bruce snores like a freight train. In the morning I would learn bowel care. I am totally not looking forward to this. I will need to know in case home care providers are absent. 

        Yes, I sound depressed. Our lives are changing. I have grey days.

     I take a bag full of dirty clothes to be washed. I am tired. 

   I told Bruce I would need flowers and chocolate after the bowel care training. He smiles. I can be bribed. Then I say maybe not chocolate after bowel care. I think making jokes will get us through this. How would you handle this?