Blog at http://drpeg2003.blogspot.com/
May 29, 2006 (10:23am)
Janet Rogers read my account of getting together with Gary, and told me she had a photo of the two of us from May ’79. Since I started at Auburn in Fall ’78 and didn’t start doing things socially with Gary until after spring break ’79, this was at the start of our life’s journey together. I have uploaded that photo to the blog, at http://drpeg2003.blogspot.com/ . If you are currently reading the blog, scroll down.
Pretty cute, huh? ;-)
(Gary thought so. I didn’t tell him about the picture beforehand. I downloaded it to his laptop and then held his laptop above his head so he could see it. “Oh, wow,” he said. “Who would have thunk it? That’s a cute picture.” He looked at it a long time. I later asked him what he’d meant by the “Who would have thunk it?” That we’d ended up getting married? That the Rogers had the picture? “That everything that’s happened in the twenty-five years since has happened,” he replied.)
The other morning, when I hadn’t arrived yet, the OT came in and hinted that Gary was indeed going to need to hire someone to come in to help him at least in the morning. We started wondering where we would find such a person. Shepherd has a “bridging program” that is supposed to aid in easing a patient back into life and home and work, but when I looked through the binder they had given Gary, tho it covered various useful topics, they only had general suggestions for where to find such people – hospitals (nurses), rehab programs. A lot of the suggestions for where to look I doubt we’d consider – high schools, frats, sororities – as we’d want someone with experience at this kind of thing and medical knowledge. So if some Auburn-Opelikian reading this knows of such services in our area . . . We’re not sure yet exactly what we’d need the person for.
Coincidentally I got an email today (Monday) from a Canadian friend who does this sort of thing; up there they call such a person a “Personal Service Worker.” My sister-in-law Dolores had suggested we look into “Independent Living Centers” for resource information, so I looked on the web to see if there was one near Auburn and if it would have such a program. The only such center in Alabama I could find was in Birmingham, tho Montgomery seems to have some related offices that might prove useful.
This reminds me, I forgot to mention, when Alice Stephens, Bob Stephenson’s sister, came, she showed us pictures of Canine Assistance dogs interacting with their new masters at a training camp. (She works with the program.) It is really amazing what the dogs can do, and I’m sure they’re also a great emotional comfort to their owners. I wonder if Tigger and Blackjack could learn how to do what these dogs do. . . . Nah, they’re too old to be learning new tricks. The only tricks they’ve mastered in fourteen years is to come out to their cat bowls when food is being put into them and to jump onto the table and stare down at Gary’s plate at dinnertime.
No, that’s not fair. They’ve learned to obey one command. Sort of. When they were kittens they got fat, so I devised an exercise program for them: they had to walk around the outside of the house with me before they got to eat. Over the years, Tigger’s walk has devolved into a rather random one, though Blackjack is desperate enough to pretty well keep on track – he is a bottomless pit when it comes to food. Fortunately neither of them has been fat in a very long time, but I kept up the practice just because. Somehow I doubt that Sylvia is walking them, so trying to get them in the habit again when I return will probably be like pulling cat’s teeth.
Today seemed rather a quiet day – a lot of the staff had Memorial Day off, Gary’s roommates are mobile and seemed to be spending the day elsewhere. There was a picnic lunch out in the garden, which of course Gary couldn’t go to. I brought him a plate containing a hamburger on a bun, baked beans, potato salad, a slice of watermelon, and in addition brought him a bowl of vanilla ice cream with Hershey’s chocolate sauce, a chocolate chip cookie, and a Sprite (not that he was able to scarf this all down – I warned him at the start that my eyes were probably bigger than his stomach). He said the food was far better than the hospital fare he’d been eating. I reminded him I’d make/bring him anything he wanted, but other than that kabob he had awhile back and a mango shake yesterday, he hasn’t taken me up on the offer. (BTW, Sasha and Lauren, Gary said the mango was great!). The rest of the afternoon he read from the book “Incompleteness,” a biography of Gödel (fortunately it was a paperback, since he discovered that while lying on his side as he is he can’t hold a hardback), while I did a search for hotel possibilities in the area (I found about five – I’ll have to take a day soon and go around to them to check them out) and also finally got around to answering a few ancient emails. Then we watched more of Dylan. I am liking the DVD more – they’ve finally gotten to the point where I’m familiar with the songs (Blowing in the Wind, for example).
Tonight I am having a massage with a different person (it’ll be odd having it at eight at night, but that was the only opening until next Friday). Tomorrow afternoon I am trying the local chiropractor. On June 13th I have an appointment with an orthopedic doctor – who is connected with Shepherd. Shepherd has outpatient rehab, so it’s conceivable I’ll being doing some rehab program here as well.
So, I am hoping one of these avenues will lead to improvement in the state of my back. :-)
All for now.
May 29, 2006 (10:23am)
Janet Rogers read my account of getting together with Gary, and told me she had a photo of the two of us from May ’79. Since I started at Auburn in Fall ’78 and didn’t start doing things socially with Gary until after spring break ’79, this was at the start of our life’s journey together. I have uploaded that photo to the blog, at http://drpeg2003.blogspot.com/ . If you are currently reading the blog, scroll down.
Pretty cute, huh? ;-)
(Gary thought so. I didn’t tell him about the picture beforehand. I downloaded it to his laptop and then held his laptop above his head so he could see it. “Oh, wow,” he said. “Who would have thunk it? That’s a cute picture.” He looked at it a long time. I later asked him what he’d meant by the “Who would have thunk it?” That we’d ended up getting married? That the Rogers had the picture? “That everything that’s happened in the twenty-five years since has happened,” he replied.)
The other morning, when I hadn’t arrived yet, the OT came in and hinted that Gary was indeed going to need to hire someone to come in to help him at least in the morning. We started wondering where we would find such a person. Shepherd has a “bridging program” that is supposed to aid in easing a patient back into life and home and work, but when I looked through the binder they had given Gary, tho it covered various useful topics, they only had general suggestions for where to find such people – hospitals (nurses), rehab programs. A lot of the suggestions for where to look I doubt we’d consider – high schools, frats, sororities – as we’d want someone with experience at this kind of thing and medical knowledge. So if some Auburn-Opelikian reading this knows of such services in our area . . . We’re not sure yet exactly what we’d need the person for.
Coincidentally I got an email today (Monday) from a Canadian friend who does this sort of thing; up there they call such a person a “Personal Service Worker.” My sister-in-law Dolores had suggested we look into “Independent Living Centers” for resource information, so I looked on the web to see if there was one near Auburn and if it would have such a program. The only such center in Alabama I could find was in Birmingham, tho Montgomery seems to have some related offices that might prove useful.
This reminds me, I forgot to mention, when Alice Stephens, Bob Stephenson’s sister, came, she showed us pictures of Canine Assistance dogs interacting with their new masters at a training camp. (She works with the program.) It is really amazing what the dogs can do, and I’m sure they’re also a great emotional comfort to their owners. I wonder if Tigger and Blackjack could learn how to do what these dogs do. . . . Nah, they’re too old to be learning new tricks. The only tricks they’ve mastered in fourteen years is to come out to their cat bowls when food is being put into them and to jump onto the table and stare down at Gary’s plate at dinnertime.
No, that’s not fair. They’ve learned to obey one command. Sort of. When they were kittens they got fat, so I devised an exercise program for them: they had to walk around the outside of the house with me before they got to eat. Over the years, Tigger’s walk has devolved into a rather random one, though Blackjack is desperate enough to pretty well keep on track – he is a bottomless pit when it comes to food. Fortunately neither of them has been fat in a very long time, but I kept up the practice just because. Somehow I doubt that Sylvia is walking them, so trying to get them in the habit again when I return will probably be like pulling cat’s teeth.
Today seemed rather a quiet day – a lot of the staff had Memorial Day off, Gary’s roommates are mobile and seemed to be spending the day elsewhere. There was a picnic lunch out in the garden, which of course Gary couldn’t go to. I brought him a plate containing a hamburger on a bun, baked beans, potato salad, a slice of watermelon, and in addition brought him a bowl of vanilla ice cream with Hershey’s chocolate sauce, a chocolate chip cookie, and a Sprite (not that he was able to scarf this all down – I warned him at the start that my eyes were probably bigger than his stomach). He said the food was far better than the hospital fare he’d been eating. I reminded him I’d make/bring him anything he wanted, but other than that kabob he had awhile back and a mango shake yesterday, he hasn’t taken me up on the offer. (BTW, Sasha and Lauren, Gary said the mango was great!). The rest of the afternoon he read from the book “Incompleteness,” a biography of Gödel (fortunately it was a paperback, since he discovered that while lying on his side as he is he can’t hold a hardback), while I did a search for hotel possibilities in the area (I found about five – I’ll have to take a day soon and go around to them to check them out) and also finally got around to answering a few ancient emails. Then we watched more of Dylan. I am liking the DVD more – they’ve finally gotten to the point where I’m familiar with the songs (Blowing in the Wind, for example).
Tonight I am having a massage with a different person (it’ll be odd having it at eight at night, but that was the only opening until next Friday). Tomorrow afternoon I am trying the local chiropractor. On June 13th I have an appointment with an orthopedic doctor – who is connected with Shepherd. Shepherd has outpatient rehab, so it’s conceivable I’ll being doing some rehab program here as well.
So, I am hoping one of these avenues will lead to improvement in the state of my back. :-)
All for now.
posted by Peg Daniels at 7:08 AM
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