June 11, 2006 (8:13pm)
This morning I learned how to give Gary a bath. He will eventually be able to do this himself but will need assistance with it until he is healed up from the flap surgery. The process was straightforward enough :-), though since I’ve never given anyone other than myself a bath, I was glad of the instruction since I am always concerned about “doing things right.” (“Over-concerned,” I hear you say?)
Speaking of which, I briefly worried I had put Gary’s bivalves on wrong, because this morning he did end up with a reddened area on his foot that didn’t resolve. But the nurse assured me it wasn’t anything I had done but rather that the bivalves needed refitting. Gary will not be wearing the bivalves tonight – we want the people “in charge” of the matter to do what needs to be done so Gary doesn’t have a problem with them.
My brother called mid-morning to tell us he’d made it to our home at midnight last night. He pointed out that all the street signs out where we live are short stone posts in the ground and therefore hard to see – especially in the dark. This was a factor in his trip because it caused him to miss the turns to our place. As he needed a map of the town anyway, his fortuitous ending up in an area of town with stores and gas stations provided him with the opportunity to get one ;-).
Aside: Do smileys and other emoticons drive you nuts? There is a Dave Barry article about them. He thinks all the classics should be rewritten incorporating them, as they add so much to the text. It was the best of time :-), it was the worst of times :-(
Tigger was on hand to greet my brother (poor kitty – he must be truly desperate for affection if he greets a dog person); Blackjack, unsurprisingly, was nowhere in sight. In fact Tigger was so glad to see Joe he jumped on the bed and woke Joe up this morning just to tell him so (or maybe it was in hopes of getting an early start on breakfast).
The cats must have been preparing for Joe’s visit for quite some time, because in the house Joe found a bird and a ground squirrel, both aged to perfection – Joe took note of the fine bouquet. (Actually, at first Joe thought the ground squirrel was a toy, until he noted the smell and saw the maggots – thank you, Joe, for sharing those details with me. I just knew my readers would want to hear them too.)
Joe is going to spend the day recovering from his trip and checking out the house to see how well the recommendations of the OT and PT match up with the realities of a home remodeller. Tomorrow he will come to Atlanta to visit with us and go over his thoughts on the matter.
After Joe’s call, I removed Gary’s lunch tray (I had waited until he finished lunch before passing the phone to him, suspecting Joe would want to share his cat experiences, which he did). As I moved into the outer room where the sink area is and where the food trays are left, I heard someone say “hi.” Not to be rude, I gave a quick glance back and said “hi,” thinking it was someone leaving the curtained area of one of Gary’s roommates. I did a double take. “Stu!”
So we had a surprise visitor, Stu Baldwin. Gary and he talked math, math department, politics, and general chit-chat for about an hour and a half. As Stu left, he asked Gary if he had any message for the department. Gary told him to tell everyone thanks for their concern and caring.
In the evening Helen dropped by. She told us about some good restaurants near here (both for the times when Gary wants to order out and as places for his family to go when they are here). She also told more stories about her nephew who has been paraplegic for years, about how full his life is. Gary said that’s what he liked to hear. After that, he called his mom – he is so excited about his family coming at the end of the week. I noted he mentioned to her about Helen’s nephew and about the “Been there, done that” guy he’d met, about how great it’d been to meet someone who’d had an SCI who was so fully engaged in life, fully involved with his wife, his little boy, his job. I also know that when we were all in Birmingham, Gary appreciated hearing my brother-in-law John talk about his brother Jim, another paraplegic who hasn't let his disabilities get in the way of meeting life head on.
So, I was thinking, if any of you out there knows of someone who had an SCI and adjusted well to life after it, please, if possible, share their story with Gary, through email, a letter, or by telling Gary the story when you see him.
All for today.
This morning I learned how to give Gary a bath. He will eventually be able to do this himself but will need assistance with it until he is healed up from the flap surgery. The process was straightforward enough :-), though since I’ve never given anyone other than myself a bath, I was glad of the instruction since I am always concerned about “doing things right.” (“Over-concerned,” I hear you say?)
Speaking of which, I briefly worried I had put Gary’s bivalves on wrong, because this morning he did end up with a reddened area on his foot that didn’t resolve. But the nurse assured me it wasn’t anything I had done but rather that the bivalves needed refitting. Gary will not be wearing the bivalves tonight – we want the people “in charge” of the matter to do what needs to be done so Gary doesn’t have a problem with them.
My brother called mid-morning to tell us he’d made it to our home at midnight last night. He pointed out that all the street signs out where we live are short stone posts in the ground and therefore hard to see – especially in the dark. This was a factor in his trip because it caused him to miss the turns to our place. As he needed a map of the town anyway, his fortuitous ending up in an area of town with stores and gas stations provided him with the opportunity to get one ;-).
Aside: Do smileys and other emoticons drive you nuts? There is a Dave Barry article about them. He thinks all the classics should be rewritten incorporating them, as they add so much to the text. It was the best of time :-), it was the worst of times :-(
Tigger was on hand to greet my brother (poor kitty – he must be truly desperate for affection if he greets a dog person); Blackjack, unsurprisingly, was nowhere in sight. In fact Tigger was so glad to see Joe he jumped on the bed and woke Joe up this morning just to tell him so (or maybe it was in hopes of getting an early start on breakfast).
The cats must have been preparing for Joe’s visit for quite some time, because in the house Joe found a bird and a ground squirrel, both aged to perfection – Joe took note of the fine bouquet. (Actually, at first Joe thought the ground squirrel was a toy, until he noted the smell and saw the maggots – thank you, Joe, for sharing those details with me. I just knew my readers would want to hear them too.)
Joe is going to spend the day recovering from his trip and checking out the house to see how well the recommendations of the OT and PT match up with the realities of a home remodeller. Tomorrow he will come to Atlanta to visit with us and go over his thoughts on the matter.
After Joe’s call, I removed Gary’s lunch tray (I had waited until he finished lunch before passing the phone to him, suspecting Joe would want to share his cat experiences, which he did). As I moved into the outer room where the sink area is and where the food trays are left, I heard someone say “hi.” Not to be rude, I gave a quick glance back and said “hi,” thinking it was someone leaving the curtained area of one of Gary’s roommates. I did a double take. “Stu!”
So we had a surprise visitor, Stu Baldwin. Gary and he talked math, math department, politics, and general chit-chat for about an hour and a half. As Stu left, he asked Gary if he had any message for the department. Gary told him to tell everyone thanks for their concern and caring.
In the evening Helen dropped by. She told us about some good restaurants near here (both for the times when Gary wants to order out and as places for his family to go when they are here). She also told more stories about her nephew who has been paraplegic for years, about how full his life is. Gary said that’s what he liked to hear. After that, he called his mom – he is so excited about his family coming at the end of the week. I noted he mentioned to her about Helen’s nephew and about the “Been there, done that” guy he’d met, about how great it’d been to meet someone who’d had an SCI who was so fully engaged in life, fully involved with his wife, his little boy, his job. I also know that when we were all in Birmingham, Gary appreciated hearing my brother-in-law John talk about his brother Jim, another paraplegic who hasn't let his disabilities get in the way of meeting life head on.
So, I was thinking, if any of you out there knows of someone who had an SCI and adjusted well to life after it, please, if possible, share their story with Gary, through email, a letter, or by telling Gary the story when you see him.
All for today.
posted by Peg Daniels at 7:15 AM
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