Daily Log 02/22/2008

I drove my truck for the first time since the accident. It felt nice. My left shoulder and right side are very sore from lifting my wheelchair and my legs are mostly just tired but, I did it. The anxiety is still pretty distressing. My heart starts racing every time I see someone start to make a left or right turn in front of me. I'm going to start riding my exercise bike tomorrow to begin strengthening my legs. My shoulder and ribs will start feeling better over time the more I use them.

Update

Things with my mom are slowly getting better. She's finally starting to open up and believe that her opinion and wants are important. For the first time she asked for something to eat and drink. It may not seem like much but, it's huge. Buffy is making a huge difference. I'm constantly having to fight mom for Buffy. Not much of a fight as Buffy is my baby but, mom is sneaky and is constantly calling Buffy up onto her bed which, can potentially negate some of her training so I'm having to be stricter than I like.

Kat is going Monday to sign up to work for a Care Giving company called Serao. Once she's signed up and trained, she'll take over my mom's care giving. It's going to solve her job delima and help her feel better because she'll be doing something worthwhile. She is a natural. I have heard Kat and my mom talk and Kat really opens her up. She's been reading Memoirs of a Geisha to my mom and my mom is really getting into it.

They locked up my mom's house yesterday and had the trash people over this morning to trash everything. We got almost all of her stuff out but, thanks to my sister Aimee's
unreliability, the second piano has probably been trashed. Such a waste.

Daily Log 02/14/2009 - Valentines Day

I cooked Kat and my mom a wonderful dinner and I say wonderful because I cooked it. For the entree, I made Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms stuffed with light cream cheese, roasted red pepper hummus, and green bell peppers. It was fantastic, everyone loved it. http://www.azcentral.com/style/hfe/food/simplemeals/articles/dt-fresh0114.html#commentform

I got Kat something else but, I'm not going to talk about it as this is public ;o).

She surprised me or rather tried to surprise me by laying out rose peddles all over the bedroom floor along with a dozen or so cards of varying sizes. Each card was hand drawn with a depiction of something memorable that occurred during the year. She is so thoughtful and creative. I can't believe how lucky I am to get to keep her. I say tried to surprise me because she forgot to close the bedroom doors and I was passing by and caught her.

Not even in prison and I got violated

While working around the house, I sometimes put things behind me on my wheelchair seat. Mental note, don't set a pair of needle nose pliers on your seat behind you and forget about them. I did just that and when I sat back, I punctured my right butt cheek. The plus is that I now know that I can stand up in the blink of an eye. I don't think I have ever moved that fast before.

Forgot to mention that while I was standing there with my pants down holding my poor wounded butt cheek, Kat laughed her ass off.

Daily Log 02/10/2009

Thanks again to Crystals family, we were able to save my mom's car. To lose it would have broken her heart. So, here is a shout out to Teele who, went out and picked up my mom's car and is storing it for us thus helping to preserve a constant reminder of a happier time in her life. Once things settle down, I'm going to start saving to restore her car.

Thanks again so much to all of those who helped Kat and I get my mom taken care of.

Daily Log 02/06/2009 - 02/08/2009

Thanks to the efforts of my very wonderful friend Linda, my mom arrived here safe and sound Friday and was greeted by Buffy with a huge hug and lots of kisses. We got her settled into her room and things have been going as well as can be expected. She's withdrawn and depressed which, under the circumstances is to be expected. After all, she lost her house of 27ish years and has to live with and be taken care of by her son. It's going to be a long process to get her to open up and start to live again but, I really think it's going to work. She's already showing some signs of being happy. She's so used to be left alone in her room in the dark that we make sure that her window is open and her light is on until bedtime. She needs as much stimulation as possible. Once she gets more comfortable, I'm going to start introducing her to my wonderful friends/neighbors.

Saturday, Spence and his father in law helped Kat and I move the rest of the big stuff, antiques etc out of my mom's house. Moving the piano was a chore. Several times, I had to look away while they worked on getting the piano up the Uhaul ramp. The piano survived with only some minor structural injuries. Getting it down was easier thanks to gravity and Spence's friend Ivan I think. I felt so bad after Kat dropped Spence off to pick up his care at work. He only made it 2 miles or so before it broke down and I couldn't get a hold of Kat to ask her to turn around and pick him up. Luckily, his father in law was able to take a tow truck out to get him.

We really like my mom's weekend care giver. She is absolutely wonderful. Unfortunately, she is working for someone else during the week so we can only get her on the weekends.

Daily Log 02/05/2009

Kat has been absolutely amazing. She's not even related to my mom and she is literally helping my mom until she's sick. We had to go to Urgent Care today instead of my mom's because she's been sick and she finally just couldn't take the suffering anymore. She broke down in tears because she didn't want to miss going over to my mom's to continue packing but, she just couldn't take the pain or fatigue anymore. It's frustrating the hell out of me not being able to drive and take away some of Kat's stress.

Thankfully, Spence is going to help us pack and bring back most of my mom's smaller stuff. tomorrow. Between their truck and Kat's mini-van, we should be able to get most of the smaller items. If not for Crystal and Spence, I just don't know what we would have done.

They prescribed some strong antibiotics for her sinus infection and a decongestant so Kat should be feeling better soon.

Daily Log 02/04/2009

Still on my way to recovery. Pain is much more manageable but, still can't drive.

My mom's hospital bed got delivered today, now all we need are some twin sheets and we're golden. We're still planning on picking her up and bringing her over Friday morning. My good friend Linda uses a wheelchair van and she has offered to help transport mom over here.

God willing Friday and Saturday will go well.

Daily Log 02/02/2009

Pain is still getting better. Since Kat and I have been going over to my mom's every night to pack, I'm usually hurting pretty bad by the end of the day. Kat is a real trooper. She has been fantastic. Still can't drive and I'm getting antsy. I'm finally able to sleep on my stomach again, I just need to make sure my pillow is squished up to keep my chest from pressing on the bed.