Oh my, it’s been awhile. Bet you thought I fell of the end of the earth. I was compulsively trying to finish a project and time got by me. I did take notes of certain happenings on different days, so here they are.
Apr 26, 2007
My knee continues to plague me. I joked to Gary I should drive around in one of those motorized carts when we’re at Kroger – with him in his wheelchair and me in a cart we’ll look real cute going up and down the aisles like a choo-choo train.
Apr 28, 2007
Gary went to a baseball game on Saturday the 28th, meeting up there with Jack Brown. Gary said it was a very exciting game and they had great seats – the area for wheelchairs was right behind the area for the most expensive seats. Jack brought a lawn chair and sat next to Gary.
I had a follow-up appointment with the knee doc today. It did not make me happy. My knee isn’t as good as it was before the physical therapists had me add ankle weights to the first exercises they gave me – that turned out to be too great an increase in exercise, causing the knee to be painful again most of the time. The doctor is going to have me get an MRI. I’m going to continue with the physical therapy, and based on whatever the MRI shows and how therapy goes in the next couple weeks, I’ll either simply continue with the therapy, or . . . consider . . . surgery. I don’t want surgery, but the doctor seems to be suggesting that my knee won’t get to a place where I’ll be happy with it unless I have the surgery (this he said after I asked if with just the therapy the knee will ever get to the point where I can do exercises like lunges again). He told me that if I were a twenty-year-old football player, I would’ve already had the surgery done, and that if I were a sixty-year-old architect, I would probably be happy with where the therapy alone would take it. He said he suspected I was halfway in between the two (I didn’t share my thought that I was sure I was more than halfway).
Just when I was enjoying being able to be more physically active . . . :-(
I was able to get a prescription for a TENS machine, and so now I have this small unit with electrodes that I put around the knee and shoot electric currents around it. The technician said it causes the nerves to “flatten” (his words), so you don’t feel pain. I am suspecting it’s just a distraction device – I don’t notice the pain because my attention is on the pulsing of the electric current :-)
The chiropractor has been doing something similar to the TENS on my sacral region, and she said I could put the TENS electrodes the same places she has been putting her electrodes. Too bad you can’t sit on the electrodes – I’d go around all day with my butt wired.
Gary jokes I should get a bunch of the TENS units and hook them up all over my body. Or maybe that wasn’t a joke . . .
I do know you’re not supposed to put the TENS electrodes around your heart or on your head, but I’m thinking it could only improve matters if I scrambled my brains. (Just kidding.)
May 3, 2007
We are watching “The Men,” about paraplegic war vets. Not absolutely sure of the accuracy, though they said they were going for it. Some of it was definitely overly simplistic (“the patient’s bowel and bladder functioning have now been regulated”). The patients were in their therapy a LONG time (“It’s taken you three years to get to this point”), but evidently that was true that the patients were in the hospital for longer periods then – insurance didn’t kick them out. Also, there was no differentiation between level of injury – everyone we saw had their abdominal muscles and were apparently capable of climbing up a rope.
Of course, I think it was meant to be partly a “message movie,” that paraplegics could be contributing, productive members of society. The doctor portrayed in the movie was evidently based on the real-life pioneer who worked in getting the patients back into functional shape for society. And a group of paraplegic vets in Chicago were pioneers too, taking it upon themselves to push for rehabilitation rather than just being left to languish in hospitals.
***
My sister Janet sent me these pages from a dog and a cat’s diary. I have sent them on to a few people already. Amazingly, the dog people seem to think the entries favor the dog!
Excerpts from a Dog's Diary.....
8:00 am - Dog food! My favorite thing!
9:30 am - A car ride! My favorite thing!
9:40 am - A walk in the park! My favorite thing!
10:30 am - Got rubbed and petted! My favorite thing!
12:00 PM - Lunch! My favorite thing!
1:00 PM - Played in the yard! My favorite thing!
3:00 PM - Wagged my tail! My favorite thing!
5:00 PM - Milk bones! My favorite thing!
7:00 PM - Got to play ball! My favorite thing!
8:00 PM - Wow! Watched TV with the people! My favorite thing!
11:00 PM - Sleeping on the bed! My favorite thing!
Excerpts from a Cat's Diary....
Day 983 of my captivity.
My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre little dangling Objects.
They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while the other inmates and I are Fed
hash or some sort of dry nuggets. Although I make my contempt for The
rations perfectly clear, I nevertheless must eat something in order to
keep up my strength. The only thing that keeps me going is my dream of
escape. In an attempt to disgust them, I once again vomit on the carpet.
Today I decapitated a mouse and dropped its headless body at their Feet.
I had hoped this would strike fear into their hearts, since it Clearly
demonstrates what I am capable of. However, they merely made
Condescending comments about what a "good little hunter" I am. Bastards!
There was some sort of assembly of their accomplices tonight. I Was
placed in solitary confinement for the duration of the event. However, I
could hear the noises and smell the food. I overheard that My
confinement was due to the power of "allergies." I must learn what This
means, and how to use it to my advantage.
Today I was almost successful in an attempt to assassinate one of My
tormentors by weaving around his feet as he was walking. I must try This
again tomorrow -- but at the top of the stairs.
I am convinced that the other prisoners here are flunkies and Snitches.
The dog receives special privileges. He is regularly released - and
Seems to be more than willing to return. He is obviously retarded. The
bird has got to be an informant. I observe him communicate with The
guards regularly. I am certain that he reports my every move. My Captors
have arranged protective custody for him in an elevated cell,
So he is safe.
For now...
May 8, 2007
Gary went to the urologist. Despite the medication that was supposed to make him stop leaking, he never did. The doctor took a urine sample and said he had another UTI. The plan is to knock that out with a rather strong antibiotic, and if it appears again, knock it out again immediately. If the UTIs persist, the doctor is suggesting Gary take a low-level antibiotic daily – from now on. Before resorting to that, Gary plans to looking into which would be worse, to be on the antibiotic continually or to have the UTI continually. There doesn’t seem to be anything he can do to prevent having these infections – he is doing the catheterization for the ICs as he is supposed to. The Bridge Program nurse told him some people are just prone to them.
Apr 26, 2007
My knee continues to plague me. I joked to Gary I should drive around in one of those motorized carts when we’re at Kroger – with him in his wheelchair and me in a cart we’ll look real cute going up and down the aisles like a choo-choo train.
Apr 28, 2007
Gary went to a baseball game on Saturday the 28th, meeting up there with Jack Brown. Gary said it was a very exciting game and they had great seats – the area for wheelchairs was right behind the area for the most expensive seats. Jack brought a lawn chair and sat next to Gary.
I had a follow-up appointment with the knee doc today. It did not make me happy. My knee isn’t as good as it was before the physical therapists had me add ankle weights to the first exercises they gave me – that turned out to be too great an increase in exercise, causing the knee to be painful again most of the time. The doctor is going to have me get an MRI. I’m going to continue with the physical therapy, and based on whatever the MRI shows and how therapy goes in the next couple weeks, I’ll either simply continue with the therapy, or . . . consider . . . surgery. I don’t want surgery, but the doctor seems to be suggesting that my knee won’t get to a place where I’ll be happy with it unless I have the surgery (this he said after I asked if with just the therapy the knee will ever get to the point where I can do exercises like lunges again). He told me that if I were a twenty-year-old football player, I would’ve already had the surgery done, and that if I were a sixty-year-old architect, I would probably be happy with where the therapy alone would take it. He said he suspected I was halfway in between the two (I didn’t share my thought that I was sure I was more than halfway).
Just when I was enjoying being able to be more physically active . . . :-(
I was able to get a prescription for a TENS machine, and so now I have this small unit with electrodes that I put around the knee and shoot electric currents around it. The technician said it causes the nerves to “flatten” (his words), so you don’t feel pain. I am suspecting it’s just a distraction device – I don’t notice the pain because my attention is on the pulsing of the electric current :-)
The chiropractor has been doing something similar to the TENS on my sacral region, and she said I could put the TENS electrodes the same places she has been putting her electrodes. Too bad you can’t sit on the electrodes – I’d go around all day with my butt wired.
Gary jokes I should get a bunch of the TENS units and hook them up all over my body. Or maybe that wasn’t a joke . . .
I do know you’re not supposed to put the TENS electrodes around your heart or on your head, but I’m thinking it could only improve matters if I scrambled my brains. (Just kidding.)
May 3, 2007
We are watching “The Men,” about paraplegic war vets. Not absolutely sure of the accuracy, though they said they were going for it. Some of it was definitely overly simplistic (“the patient’s bowel and bladder functioning have now been regulated”). The patients were in their therapy a LONG time (“It’s taken you three years to get to this point”), but evidently that was true that the patients were in the hospital for longer periods then – insurance didn’t kick them out. Also, there was no differentiation between level of injury – everyone we saw had their abdominal muscles and were apparently capable of climbing up a rope.
Of course, I think it was meant to be partly a “message movie,” that paraplegics could be contributing, productive members of society. The doctor portrayed in the movie was evidently based on the real-life pioneer who worked in getting the patients back into functional shape for society. And a group of paraplegic vets in Chicago were pioneers too, taking it upon themselves to push for rehabilitation rather than just being left to languish in hospitals.
***
My sister Janet sent me these pages from a dog and a cat’s diary. I have sent them on to a few people already. Amazingly, the dog people seem to think the entries favor the dog!
Excerpts from a Dog's Diary.....
8:00 am - Dog food! My favorite thing!
9:30 am - A car ride! My favorite thing!
9:40 am - A walk in the park! My favorite thing!
10:30 am - Got rubbed and petted! My favorite thing!
12:00 PM - Lunch! My favorite thing!
1:00 PM - Played in the yard! My favorite thing!
3:00 PM - Wagged my tail! My favorite thing!
5:00 PM - Milk bones! My favorite thing!
7:00 PM - Got to play ball! My favorite thing!
8:00 PM - Wow! Watched TV with the people! My favorite thing!
11:00 PM - Sleeping on the bed! My favorite thing!
Excerpts from a Cat's Diary....
Day 983 of my captivity.
My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre little dangling Objects.
They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while the other inmates and I are Fed
hash or some sort of dry nuggets. Although I make my contempt for The
rations perfectly clear, I nevertheless must eat something in order to
keep up my strength. The only thing that keeps me going is my dream of
escape. In an attempt to disgust them, I once again vomit on the carpet.
Today I decapitated a mouse and dropped its headless body at their Feet.
I had hoped this would strike fear into their hearts, since it Clearly
demonstrates what I am capable of. However, they merely made
Condescending comments about what a "good little hunter" I am. Bastards!
There was some sort of assembly of their accomplices tonight. I Was
placed in solitary confinement for the duration of the event. However, I
could hear the noises and smell the food. I overheard that My
confinement was due to the power of "allergies." I must learn what This
means, and how to use it to my advantage.
Today I was almost successful in an attempt to assassinate one of My
tormentors by weaving around his feet as he was walking. I must try This
again tomorrow -- but at the top of the stairs.
I am convinced that the other prisoners here are flunkies and Snitches.
The dog receives special privileges. He is regularly released - and
Seems to be more than willing to return. He is obviously retarded. The
bird has got to be an informant. I observe him communicate with The
guards regularly. I am certain that he reports my every move. My Captors
have arranged protective custody for him in an elevated cell,
So he is safe.
For now...
May 8, 2007
Gary went to the urologist. Despite the medication that was supposed to make him stop leaking, he never did. The doctor took a urine sample and said he had another UTI. The plan is to knock that out with a rather strong antibiotic, and if it appears again, knock it out again immediately. If the UTIs persist, the doctor is suggesting Gary take a low-level antibiotic daily – from now on. Before resorting to that, Gary plans to looking into which would be worse, to be on the antibiotic continually or to have the UTI continually. There doesn’t seem to be anything he can do to prevent having these infections – he is doing the catheterization for the ICs as he is supposed to. The Bridge Program nurse told him some people are just prone to them.
posted by Peg Daniels at 6:21 AM
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