Monday February 22 – Rant the Worries Away

Martha visited you early this morning. You had breakfast together. “I rant to her until she has to go so I then I have to stop the rant.” You said. Ranting and letting go of your worries and fears seems to be the best medicine lately. Once you put a concern into words, out of nowhere, some kind supportive person allows your words to fall on their ears and they help you throw the worries away. It seems that once you verbalize your fears, you are able to acknowledge how unimportant they really are. Today, it was Martha, last week it was your Mum, before that the nurses, OT and PT.

Tonight, you shared your latest fear with me. You fear that I will leave you for another man ... someone who has been there for me through these past rough months. “Yeah, I might do that, but I won’t have to leave you to do it because you are ‘that man’. We will help each other through this.”

Even though this sounded like a bad movie script or a rather sorry country music lyrics … it still makes you feel better. When you feel good … I feel good.

Last night I talked with you about getting a weekend pass for next weekend. I am on call and can’t come to the city to visit you. You asked the OT what she thought of the idea. She is concerned about a weekend pass. You felt that she is specifically concerned about your safety doing transfers and getting into the house. Of course, with me on call, the weekend will be unpredictable. I won’t know whether I will be called in to see an animal or not. Typically, February isn’t a very busy time, but there really is no predicting it.

You respect the OT’s concerns. You have gotten to know her and feel like she is a concerned friend. I appreciate that she is very safety conscious and has to be. Your left neglect is a big safety issue.

I had a call from the OT who works out of the local hospital today. She is coming to do a home visit tomorrow. Among many things, she is going to help us plan what we need to do to facilitate your homecoming.

I am a little worried about what she might say. Past experience has shown me that when my anxiety increases … then is usually a good reason. I guess I’ll have to wait until tomorrow to find out. You are a little worried too. You want me to call you as soon I can after she sees the house.