Thursday, April 22, 2010

Wednesday April 21 - We’ll Find Our Way

Yesterday, I received a resume already. It came to me through the grapevine at work. The lady comes highly recommended as a homecare helper for you. Tomorrow, I will be meeting with the homecare coordinator and the nurse manager who get the homecare started.

‘Helper’ isn’t the right word. The people who are going to be in your life as your ‘support help’ aren’t babysitters, as you called them. I see them as a ‘Team of Coaches’. Their job is to coach you to make the best recovery that you can. Like any athlete or person undertaking a major event in their life, we all need coaches and mentors to help us along the way.

Your journey is no different except instead of one coach … you get to have a team of coaches. A team of people who work together to facilitate your recovery.

This team is going to be big. Many people with different specialties. There are the obvious areas like: physio and occupational therapists, psychologists and doctors. But the bigger and the most important coaches on your team are the people who coach you every day. The homecare workers and the people from the community will coach you in some of the finer details of your recovery.

There is no professional service that can do this type of coaching because it comes with a heart.

Annie was full of energy this morning. It is very uncharacteristic for her. She acted more like a Jack Russell Terrier then a Good Ol’ Cape Breton Farm Dog. She chased the cats relentlessly. They had slipped outside at 3 am this morning when I had to go in to the animal hospital for an emergency. They probably smelled like they were hunting.

Poor Annie, she has been so ripped off lately, forgetting her birthday, being taken out for token poop and pee walks – some birthday yesterday. She needed a real walk …a long birthday walk.

It was a beautiful day. When I realized that I didn’t start work until a little later in the day, I looked at Annie and Annie looked at me and we decided to go for a good long walk … just like in the old days.

It was great walk. My energy was good. I even ran for a little way. I haven’t run in a long time. Today the air was just right and the warm sunlight in my eyes made me feel little running. Some people are not designed to run. I’m one of them. But today I didn’t feel like a prisoner of my body, I felt free to run and I did.

Last year when I ran with the children in the fun run, my knees hurt for a week. So don’t get excited …let’s see how I’m holding up in 24 and 48 hours before I make any commitment to run again.

We even found our favorite type of path … one less traveled by. Annie found good smells and tracks and I found fresh air and clarity in my mind. Annie even spied some deer, but she resisted the urge to chase the deer and stayed by my side. What a good civilized dog.

I am recharged for the rest of the day.

Tara had another music festival competition today. She did well and sang beautifully. She didn’t seem as nervous as she used to sound in the past. I think she is growing up.

You sound good on the phone today too. You joke and praise Tara for her accomplishments at the music festival. She giggles and laughs and acts a little ‘nutso’, as you call it, on the phone. Both Tara and Quinn squeal with delight at the thought of you being home in two days.

You had another good day with your therapists. Tomorrow is your OT’s last day with her. You are going to give her something to remember you by. You want it to be your ring with the ‘Unforgiven minute’ inscribed on it. But you are prepared with a back up plan if she refuses it … a Boston marathon running hat.

Today you got her to read the inscription on the ring. Her young eyes can read it. The two of you discussed the meaning. She suggests it means if you are dealt a raw deal, you play the cards anyway and make the best of it. You heartily agree. Now you really want to give her the ring. We will have to see if she will accept it or not.

You said, “Tomorrow is my last shower!” “Hopefully, it’s not your last shower because I’m not sure I want you home if you don’t plan on staying clean!” I correct you. “Right, well, it’s the last shower with my male OT!” This has been the hardest part of your therapy. You hate shower day. I hope that you come to like it more when you get home.

A fellow lady patient, a smoker, who is next door to your room, asked you for a cigarette today. You gave her a cigarette. Not just one, but you gave her the whole unopened pack of the du Maurier. I think you could hear my smile over the phone line when you told me.

You confess to me that you are a little worried about your life at home and how it will be. I confess that I’m worried too. “We’ll find our way … we have so far … We will have challenges for sure but we will over come them – We just have to believe.“ Giving away half of your smokes is a big step.

1 comment:

  1. I was listening to music on the computer while reading your last post. As I finished reading about the family being together "We are family" began playing! A positive rainbow I would say!

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