Nov 20, 2006

Thanks to those who told me “HOV” stands for “High Occupancy Vehicle.”

One other thing from yesterday. Gary’s weight was about the same, though he’s been eating more than he did before (the creep! Wish my metabolism would let me eat more and not put anything on!). He was hoping the doc would say he needed to gain weight to get more padding on his butt so he’d have an excuse to have more ice cream ;-), but the doc said there was no need for him to gain weight, and “it never goes where you want it to go anyway.”

Today Gary called and got it straightened out with the helicopter people that we owe about $2000, not $9000.

Gary told his therapist at rehab that his flap restrictions have been lifted, so she had him practice getting his socks and shoes on and off while in the chair – he lifts his leg and crosses his ankle over the opposite knee to do this. He didn’t even have to scootch way forward in the chair and grab his leg while falling back to get his legs in position, which shows he is more flexible than when he left Shepherd. He’d better be, with all the stretching we’ve been doing of his legs!

This evening, when I was giving him his bed bath, I said, “You should be able to do this now, right?”

“Yeah, except my back,” he replied.

“So, maybe you should start doing it.”

“Thought you were going to suggest that soon.”

“Notice you didn’t bring it up yourself,” I said with a smile.

“Well, it’d be too overwhelming if all at once I started to do everything for myself I now should be able to,” he replied, and I am sympathetic to his viewpoint. He then went on to say how at first getting his own trousers on had seemed so daunting, how he wasn’t very good at it and how it’d taken him forever. But now, with all his practice, he’s pretty good at it – though he doesn’t think he’ll ever get them on in the few seconds that “Been there done that guy” can.

In Kroger on Sunday I found a greeting card that had me laughing out loud in the store. Gary and I were looking for birthday cards for our mothers – amazingly, they were born the exact same day the exact same year. I got two for my mom, one specifically a birthday card, and the one I will share here (so, mom, don’t look at this before your birthday). On the card the font gets continually smaller – hopefully I can reproduce that on the email/blog (oops, I see the blog won't let me do that -- oh,well). Here is what the writing on the card says:


When in doubt, repeat this:

Let me change what I can.
Let me accept that which I cannot change.
Let me ignore that which I cannot change or accept.
Let me run away from that which I cannot change, accept, or ignore.
Let me lock myself in the bathroom, hold my hands over my ears, and hum about that which I cannot change, accept, ignore, or run away from. Let me ...