Aug 1, 2007
Gary drove by himself to Atlanta and back (!), for his check-up with the doctor. We joked that it was all right for him to go without my help, because for the first time they wouldn’t need to check his butt (flap) and so he doesn’t need to get up on one of those examination tables. It still amazes us that Shepherd, geared toward spinal cord and brain injuries, has examination tables that are so difficult for the patients to get on by themselves (high and narrow), particularly the newly injured. But of course the staff has sufficient training to aid in the transfers!
Gary talked to the doctor about his never-ending urinary tract infections, and they did a “KUB” while he was there – that’s a radiograph of the kidneys, ureters, bladder, and urethra – to see if they could determine any reason for the infections. He is also going to finally have the urodynamics study done in about three weeks. Because of the radiograph, the day went much longer for Gary –he left about 9:30 and didn’t get home until after 7:30. His trip there took the usual two-and-a-half hours, but the trip home took four: two-and-a-half for the time moving on the road; a half-hour to eat (he would need a third hand to eat in the car); fifteen extra minutes to account for rush-hour traffic; and a half-hour of crawling along because of an accident. So he was one pooped puppy by the time he got home, but I think he was pretty proud of himself for doing it himself. I know I’m proud of him.
I checked his flap after he got in bed (and so did he), and it looks pretty good -- a bit redder than usual but nothing like what it looked like after one day of our journey to Mo. last spring. Since he was in that car seat for six hours today, we thought this was pretty good! I told him he had finally developed a tough butt.
Tomorrow is our wedding anniversary. He says I can pick out a new car. He then said I am the only person he knows who would not be excited by this (too much trouble deciding what to get
;-)).
Gary drove by himself to Atlanta and back (!), for his check-up with the doctor. We joked that it was all right for him to go without my help, because for the first time they wouldn’t need to check his butt (flap) and so he doesn’t need to get up on one of those examination tables. It still amazes us that Shepherd, geared toward spinal cord and brain injuries, has examination tables that are so difficult for the patients to get on by themselves (high and narrow), particularly the newly injured. But of course the staff has sufficient training to aid in the transfers!
Gary talked to the doctor about his never-ending urinary tract infections, and they did a “KUB” while he was there – that’s a radiograph of the kidneys, ureters, bladder, and urethra – to see if they could determine any reason for the infections. He is also going to finally have the urodynamics study done in about three weeks. Because of the radiograph, the day went much longer for Gary –he left about 9:30 and didn’t get home until after 7:30. His trip there took the usual two-and-a-half hours, but the trip home took four: two-and-a-half for the time moving on the road; a half-hour to eat (he would need a third hand to eat in the car); fifteen extra minutes to account for rush-hour traffic; and a half-hour of crawling along because of an accident. So he was one pooped puppy by the time he got home, but I think he was pretty proud of himself for doing it himself. I know I’m proud of him.
I checked his flap after he got in bed (and so did he), and it looks pretty good -- a bit redder than usual but nothing like what it looked like after one day of our journey to Mo. last spring. Since he was in that car seat for six hours today, we thought this was pretty good! I told him he had finally developed a tough butt.
Tomorrow is our wedding anniversary. He says I can pick out a new car. He then said I am the only person he knows who would not be excited by this (too much trouble deciding what to get
;-)).
posted by Peg Daniels at 7:57 PM
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