Sunday

September 25, 2011

It’s Sunday afternoon, and I’m watching New England beat the Bills though I wouldn’t mind if the Bills did win.  (Right Patti?)  Weekends are very slow compared to the rest of the week.  And it was great to have all the visitors yesterday.  And the chocolate cake and the homemade cookies are yummy.  Visitors are great, but I find that the best place for me to visit with people is in the lounge.  Given my claustrophobia, I find it difficult to have a lot of people in my “small” room.  I like visitors but I prefer to be in my chair and in my lounge.  NOTE:  The lounge IS mine now because most of the time, there is no one there and that is where I eat my meals. 

Last night I got a really good night’s sleep from about 10 o’clock pm to 10 minutes after 4am, then it was on and off napping until Darcy arrived shortly after 10am.  Weekends as I’ve mentioned before, there’s no routine.  Breakfast seems to come late and lunch seems to come early.  And I have to wait for a nurse to come feed me, and wash my face and hands etc.   Although now, to wash my face they just hand me a wet washcloth and let me do it myself.  Maybe I mentioned this before, but I can now brush my teeth with an electric toothbrush and can get about 90% of my teeth clean. 

Today, for some reason, I don’t feel too lively but I think that could be from spending about 12h in bed.  The good thing is, I seem to have a good appetite and the nurses who feed me comment on how much I do eat.  Darcy or Meghan are usually here to feed me lunch and dinner.   Today I had lunch outside with Darcy and Kenny Jobba. 

Kevin Marsden came up yesterday and did a whole bunch of work on my computer so I can have easy access to programs.  I can work the mouse but I have difficulty double clicking, and when I try to double click one or two of my other fingers seem to hit the “right” click.  But I think it is good training for my fine motor skills, frustrating though it is.  Kenny , who also likes working on computers, was able to increase the font for my emails as initially they were coming through too small for me to read.  So hopefully now I’ll be able to open and read my emails and when I learn how to use “Dragon” effectively, I’ll be able to respond.Next week I should get a large roller mouse and hopefully that will let me move the cursor more smoothly/effectively. 

Occupational therapy gave me some goals which are in the next week to 10 days, I should be able to feed my easily with hand foods and hopefully I’ll be able to use some utensils.  I think I could use a spoon now, but it would have to be bent in the correct position.  I think it will be quite funny to watch me eat soup with a spoon, but - damn it - I’ll get there.  (Hey Patti, Bills just scored and they’re now tied with New England!!!) 

I’m starting to learn that I must do things in moderation as I got a cramp in my left thigh when I was showing off to George, The Sarge, on how fast I could spin the pedals on the moto-ped.  The physio did tell me, “Not to do that!”  I also found that the easiest way to explain it, when I over work, my nerves or my brain seem to get “jangled”.  And then I need to take a rest for a while to get back to normal.  This also happens when I have too many visitors in my room

Okay, signing off.  Talk to you later.

(Typed by Kenny Jobba)