May 18, 2007
*Gary’s Big Adventure*
We got to the camp about elevenish. It was not an easy push to get to the registration hall. I joked Gary should get a merit badge for making it, and after taking several rests, Gary joked, “I’m pooped, let’s go home.” In the hall, Gary picked up his registration folder and signed up for a few of the activities (it’s not necessary to sign up for some of them, for example, canoeing, because they figure they have plenty enough canoes to accommodate any takers). For today’s activities, Gary signed up for jet skiing and “Confidence Course,” which involved climbing up a vertical wall and then zip lining from the tower to another tower. Tomorrow he’s signed up to do waterskiing.
Gary asked one of the people doing the registering how far apart the various activities were. The guy said most were fairly close together but that others (maybe the rifle range? I forget) were “a fur piece.” Love those Southernisms.
After signing up, Gary did an I.C., and then it was off to lunch – refried beans and hamburger tacos. In the dining hall his inpatient PT came up to greet us, as did his RT (rec therapist). After lunch, it was time for Gary to change into his swim suit. Unfortunately, there really wasn’t a good place for him to change – since we weren’t staying overnight, we didn’t have our own place, and although he could’ve gone into the “male cabin,” I couldn’t go in to help him, and it would take him too long to change by himself. So, we ended up changing him in the car. Which would have been far easier if my knee wasn’t preventing me from getting in certain positions. I changed too – wore some oversized IVY CREW swim trunks that I had bought him in Birmingham and which he never used, and also a tee shirt. I asked him I looked okay in them. He said I was no more handicapped than anyone else and then talked as if he was making an announcement: “Peg is sartorially challenged.” Funny guy.
Next we made our way to the jet skiing. Unfortunately we listened to the wrong people in getting directions to it (note to camp organizers: make signs!). We traveled down a gravel path, which was quite a challenge to Gary, very tiring. He was not looking forward to coming back on it – that was going to be even worse since it would be uphill! He told me that if it weren’t for my knee he’d be asking me to help push him. I told him I’d been watching him struggle and that if not for my knee I would’ve already offered to help. I did then give him a little bit of assistance.
At the jet ski landing, Gary was required to pass a swimming test. He and I greased him up with sunblock, and then they put a life jacket on him. They wheeled him in his chair backwards down toward the water, and even getting the chair into the water a little bit. Then a couple people did a two-man lift on him and put him in the water – by his intake of breath you could tell it wasn’t bath water temperature! But he said it really wasn’t that bad after the initial plunge. His test was to roll onto his stomach and hold his breath for 20 seconds with his face under water and then roll himself over onto his back. The staff person told him that if he had trouble holding his breath 20 seconds, he could breathe. I laughed at that; the staff person didn’t seem to know why I thought that amusing. Anyway, he passed his test fine – but there was one problem. They didn’t take him deep enough in the water and when he rolled over he scraped his knee. They stuck a bandage on it and told him not to worry, there weren’t any sharks in the lake.
Next he was lifted onto a jet ski, and one of the staff climbed on behind him. She showed him the controls, and the two of them went off on idle until he reached a certain buoy far enough out, and then they zoomed away! I watched a little bit, but they went out of sight for a while and I couldn’t keep track of which jet ski was his. I asked how long they’d be out and was told a half hour. I then wished the van wasn’t so far away so I could get my laptop and start writing some of this and if finished with that, work on my story (I am not one for idle time). But it was too far so I tuned into a conversation being held near me. One of the conversationalists was the father of a young man who was being put on the next jet ski. The son had broken his neck in a motorcycle accident three years prior – an SUV plowed into him, and in fact landed on top of him and they had to call in special machinery to lift the car off him. He regained some use of arms and legs, as is not that atypical of incomplete cervical injuries, but I’m not sure how much use of his limbs he has as I didn't see him moving. He is going to China and having a stem cell operation – $30,000. (When I later told Gary this, he said he would want to wait until it’s more proven a treatment and is afraid such people having it now may be being taken – but on the other hand, are serving as guinea pigs for “the rest of us.” )
I saw Gary coming back in on the jet ski, and I was surprised because his time wasn’t up. Then I heard someone yell and ask if I wanted to ride behind him this time. I yelled, “Sure!” I went down to the water and climbed on. We started going on idle, and Gary told me that he’d gotten up to 45 mph and it was scary-fun when going over the waves at that speed. Then we passed the buoy and took off, and I was . . . petrified when we hit those waves! There was nothing to hold onto except for him – believe me, I kept trying to reach out and grab the handlebars but they were too far away, and there was nothing to grab onto on the seat, and I couldn’t squeeze the seat with my knees like I was on a horse – and I kept thinking, here I am hanging onto him for dear life, and he has no abs nor legs and I’m afraid I’m going to pull him off! But if I didn’t hold onto him as I tight as I was, I was afraid I was going to go flying right off the jet ski! Scary fun indeed. He told me his hands hurt after from gripping the handlebars so tight, and I told him I was glad he WAS gripping them that tight.
When time was up, we went back to the landing. We were at a slight incline, sloping down toward me, and as I started to get off by sliding backwards Gary suddenly falls over backwards and lands on my head! After we got off I asked him what had happened, and he said he took both hands off the bars to remove his life jacket, and as soon as he did, he had the thought, “Oh-oh, I shouldn’t have done that.” I suppose it was a good thing my head was there for him to fall onto.
By the way, saw a funny T-shirt a guy was wearing: “Seen it all, heard it all, done it all. Just can’t remember it all.”
I asked Gary what he wanted to do next. We were right next to the canoeing and kayaking. But he said that after gunning an engine, that stuff was too tame. So we took a leisurely return to the van – fortunately we found out there was an alternate paved route to it! He didn’t have another scheduled activity for over two hours and somehow about an hour and a half of that disappeared while we made our way back, had snacks, and changed Gary’s clothes. (Actually, I wasn’t a complete idler during this time and during his ICs. Yesterday I had jotted down ideas that had come to mind for a different final scene to my mystery story (a scene I had written long before most of the first draft was written and which didn’t quite satisfy me) and I had enough time to sketch it out more fully; I think I like it better than the other versions I’ve had for this scene but won’t be able to say for sure until I get it fleshed out.) At one point we were laughing because someone kind of peered into our van, I guess to see what the interior looked like, but the sun must have been such that they couldn’t see we were in there. At the time, Gary was sitting in his wheelchair with his pants on only halfway up, eating a power bar (to give him the energy to get his pants up the rest of the way, I joked).
He said he was very unconfident of the upcoming “Confidence Course,” since he couldn’t see how he was supposed to climb a vertical wall. Well, they put him in a harness, knee pads, elbow pads, and helmet, then hooked him up to climbing equipment, and he went up a rope hand over hand. Staff members hung onto the other end of the pulley system so he wouldn’t lose any ground. It was a four-pulley system, so at each of his pulls he was in effect only lifting a quarter of his weight – but also only going a quarter of the length he pulled (that is, if he pulled three feet of rope on the pulley, he traveled only 9 inches). There were protrusions with handholds on the wall, but they were of no help to Gary, he said. The guy ahead of him had some use of his legs and used the protrusions to help him climb the wall. There was also a climbing “ascender,” but Gary said it was hard to use – far easier to just climb the rope. Then they attached him to a zip line and sat him on the edge of the climbing platform. He said this was the scariest part, because he couldn’t feel them holding him – though he assumed they were because they’d probably get in trouble if they dropped him. Next he went flying through the air, gravity taking him down the inclined cable. After he had gotten to the top of the climbing tower I had made my way as quickly as I could to the other tower to watch his flight. He went fast! (Unfortunately, I didn’t get to do this.) I had forgotten to bring my cell phone so I couldn’t take a picture, but a staff member did, and hopefully he’ll remember to send it to me so I can post it on the blog.
His old PT was there to cheer him on, and afterwards she asked me, “NOW what are you taking notes on?” She laughed and asked how many memo books I had filled at Shepherd (two or three, I forget).
Next Gary did an IC, and then it was time for dinner, which is probably best not gone into ;-). They told us at the dinner that there were 59 participants, 60 family members, and about 70 staff and volunteers there for the workshop.
There were more activities in the evening, but we went straight home. Sure am glad we’re not in those group cabins – there will be people getting up for 5 am fishing! And we heard the cabins are cold.
The weather was perfect for the activities – it could’ve easily been too hot with the weather we’ve been having lately. And because it hasn’t rained recently, the water was a pleasant temperature, though it might’ve been slightly too chilly in the morning. Which is why Gary didn’t sign up for waterskiing tomorrow until the afternoon. He hopes to ride an ATV in the morning. Golf seems to be only an evening activity, so he won’t do that at all. Rugby is only for the quadriplegics, so he won’t have to worry about that (I guess that’s to make sure the chairs are evenly matched).
We were hoping Gary’s redneck roommate would show up at this, but he didn’t.
The adventure continues tomorrow.
*Gary’s Big Adventure*
We got to the camp about elevenish. It was not an easy push to get to the registration hall. I joked Gary should get a merit badge for making it, and after taking several rests, Gary joked, “I’m pooped, let’s go home.” In the hall, Gary picked up his registration folder and signed up for a few of the activities (it’s not necessary to sign up for some of them, for example, canoeing, because they figure they have plenty enough canoes to accommodate any takers). For today’s activities, Gary signed up for jet skiing and “Confidence Course,” which involved climbing up a vertical wall and then zip lining from the tower to another tower. Tomorrow he’s signed up to do waterskiing.
Gary asked one of the people doing the registering how far apart the various activities were. The guy said most were fairly close together but that others (maybe the rifle range? I forget) were “a fur piece.” Love those Southernisms.
After signing up, Gary did an I.C., and then it was off to lunch – refried beans and hamburger tacos. In the dining hall his inpatient PT came up to greet us, as did his RT (rec therapist). After lunch, it was time for Gary to change into his swim suit. Unfortunately, there really wasn’t a good place for him to change – since we weren’t staying overnight, we didn’t have our own place, and although he could’ve gone into the “male cabin,” I couldn’t go in to help him, and it would take him too long to change by himself. So, we ended up changing him in the car. Which would have been far easier if my knee wasn’t preventing me from getting in certain positions. I changed too – wore some oversized IVY CREW swim trunks that I had bought him in Birmingham and which he never used, and also a tee shirt. I asked him I looked okay in them. He said I was no more handicapped than anyone else and then talked as if he was making an announcement: “Peg is sartorially challenged.” Funny guy.
Next we made our way to the jet skiing. Unfortunately we listened to the wrong people in getting directions to it (note to camp organizers: make signs!). We traveled down a gravel path, which was quite a challenge to Gary, very tiring. He was not looking forward to coming back on it – that was going to be even worse since it would be uphill! He told me that if it weren’t for my knee he’d be asking me to help push him. I told him I’d been watching him struggle and that if not for my knee I would’ve already offered to help. I did then give him a little bit of assistance.
At the jet ski landing, Gary was required to pass a swimming test. He and I greased him up with sunblock, and then they put a life jacket on him. They wheeled him in his chair backwards down toward the water, and even getting the chair into the water a little bit. Then a couple people did a two-man lift on him and put him in the water – by his intake of breath you could tell it wasn’t bath water temperature! But he said it really wasn’t that bad after the initial plunge. His test was to roll onto his stomach and hold his breath for 20 seconds with his face under water and then roll himself over onto his back. The staff person told him that if he had trouble holding his breath 20 seconds, he could breathe. I laughed at that; the staff person didn’t seem to know why I thought that amusing. Anyway, he passed his test fine – but there was one problem. They didn’t take him deep enough in the water and when he rolled over he scraped his knee. They stuck a bandage on it and told him not to worry, there weren’t any sharks in the lake.
Next he was lifted onto a jet ski, and one of the staff climbed on behind him. She showed him the controls, and the two of them went off on idle until he reached a certain buoy far enough out, and then they zoomed away! I watched a little bit, but they went out of sight for a while and I couldn’t keep track of which jet ski was his. I asked how long they’d be out and was told a half hour. I then wished the van wasn’t so far away so I could get my laptop and start writing some of this and if finished with that, work on my story (I am not one for idle time). But it was too far so I tuned into a conversation being held near me. One of the conversationalists was the father of a young man who was being put on the next jet ski. The son had broken his neck in a motorcycle accident three years prior – an SUV plowed into him, and in fact landed on top of him and they had to call in special machinery to lift the car off him. He regained some use of arms and legs, as is not that atypical of incomplete cervical injuries, but I’m not sure how much use of his limbs he has as I didn't see him moving. He is going to China and having a stem cell operation – $30,000. (When I later told Gary this, he said he would want to wait until it’s more proven a treatment and is afraid such people having it now may be being taken – but on the other hand, are serving as guinea pigs for “the rest of us.” )
I saw Gary coming back in on the jet ski, and I was surprised because his time wasn’t up. Then I heard someone yell and ask if I wanted to ride behind him this time. I yelled, “Sure!” I went down to the water and climbed on. We started going on idle, and Gary told me that he’d gotten up to 45 mph and it was scary-fun when going over the waves at that speed. Then we passed the buoy and took off, and I was . . . petrified when we hit those waves! There was nothing to hold onto except for him – believe me, I kept trying to reach out and grab the handlebars but they were too far away, and there was nothing to grab onto on the seat, and I couldn’t squeeze the seat with my knees like I was on a horse – and I kept thinking, here I am hanging onto him for dear life, and he has no abs nor legs and I’m afraid I’m going to pull him off! But if I didn’t hold onto him as I tight as I was, I was afraid I was going to go flying right off the jet ski! Scary fun indeed. He told me his hands hurt after from gripping the handlebars so tight, and I told him I was glad he WAS gripping them that tight.
When time was up, we went back to the landing. We were at a slight incline, sloping down toward me, and as I started to get off by sliding backwards Gary suddenly falls over backwards and lands on my head! After we got off I asked him what had happened, and he said he took both hands off the bars to remove his life jacket, and as soon as he did, he had the thought, “Oh-oh, I shouldn’t have done that.” I suppose it was a good thing my head was there for him to fall onto.
By the way, saw a funny T-shirt a guy was wearing: “Seen it all, heard it all, done it all. Just can’t remember it all.”
I asked Gary what he wanted to do next. We were right next to the canoeing and kayaking. But he said that after gunning an engine, that stuff was too tame. So we took a leisurely return to the van – fortunately we found out there was an alternate paved route to it! He didn’t have another scheduled activity for over two hours and somehow about an hour and a half of that disappeared while we made our way back, had snacks, and changed Gary’s clothes. (Actually, I wasn’t a complete idler during this time and during his ICs. Yesterday I had jotted down ideas that had come to mind for a different final scene to my mystery story (a scene I had written long before most of the first draft was written and which didn’t quite satisfy me) and I had enough time to sketch it out more fully; I think I like it better than the other versions I’ve had for this scene but won’t be able to say for sure until I get it fleshed out.) At one point we were laughing because someone kind of peered into our van, I guess to see what the interior looked like, but the sun must have been such that they couldn’t see we were in there. At the time, Gary was sitting in his wheelchair with his pants on only halfway up, eating a power bar (to give him the energy to get his pants up the rest of the way, I joked).
He said he was very unconfident of the upcoming “Confidence Course,” since he couldn’t see how he was supposed to climb a vertical wall. Well, they put him in a harness, knee pads, elbow pads, and helmet, then hooked him up to climbing equipment, and he went up a rope hand over hand. Staff members hung onto the other end of the pulley system so he wouldn’t lose any ground. It was a four-pulley system, so at each of his pulls he was in effect only lifting a quarter of his weight – but also only going a quarter of the length he pulled (that is, if he pulled three feet of rope on the pulley, he traveled only 9 inches). There were protrusions with handholds on the wall, but they were of no help to Gary, he said. The guy ahead of him had some use of his legs and used the protrusions to help him climb the wall. There was also a climbing “ascender,” but Gary said it was hard to use – far easier to just climb the rope. Then they attached him to a zip line and sat him on the edge of the climbing platform. He said this was the scariest part, because he couldn’t feel them holding him – though he assumed they were because they’d probably get in trouble if they dropped him. Next he went flying through the air, gravity taking him down the inclined cable. After he had gotten to the top of the climbing tower I had made my way as quickly as I could to the other tower to watch his flight. He went fast! (Unfortunately, I didn’t get to do this.) I had forgotten to bring my cell phone so I couldn’t take a picture, but a staff member did, and hopefully he’ll remember to send it to me so I can post it on the blog.
His old PT was there to cheer him on, and afterwards she asked me, “NOW what are you taking notes on?” She laughed and asked how many memo books I had filled at Shepherd (two or three, I forget).
Next Gary did an IC, and then it was time for dinner, which is probably best not gone into ;-). They told us at the dinner that there were 59 participants, 60 family members, and about 70 staff and volunteers there for the workshop.
There were more activities in the evening, but we went straight home. Sure am glad we’re not in those group cabins – there will be people getting up for 5 am fishing! And we heard the cabins are cold.
The weather was perfect for the activities – it could’ve easily been too hot with the weather we’ve been having lately. And because it hasn’t rained recently, the water was a pleasant temperature, though it might’ve been slightly too chilly in the morning. Which is why Gary didn’t sign up for waterskiing tomorrow until the afternoon. He hopes to ride an ATV in the morning. Golf seems to be only an evening activity, so he won’t do that at all. Rugby is only for the quadriplegics, so he won’t have to worry about that (I guess that’s to make sure the chairs are evenly matched).
We were hoping Gary’s redneck roommate would show up at this, but he didn’t.
The adventure continues tomorrow.
posted by Peg Daniels at 7:15 PM
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