15. Exercises, Movement and New Sensations

Daily Routine

Colin Slept Downstairs: Although I’d been out of the hospital for some time, Colin continued to sleep on the sofa downstairs, next to my bed.  As I mentioned before, he wanted to make sure that he would be on hand if I woke in the middle of the night, needed my diaper changed, a drink, pills for pain or anything else.  It was so considerate of him. I never expected how much he wanted to help. I was very grateful, as it was still impossible for me to move freely. 

It certainly couldn’t have been very comfortable or easy for him, but he did it lovingly, sleepily, selflessly and without complaint.  At times, he left the TV on at night, in case I wanted to watch anything while he nodded off.  The problem was that he sometimes forgot to leave the remote within easy reach for me to change the channels.   I knew he had more than enough running around to do and to worry about, so I hadn’t the heart to wake him during those times.  However, there had been some times when it was really necessary to wake him as I still would have very little control over my bodily functions, so I just hated to disturb his peace in the middle of the night.

Daily Chores: During the past week or so, I often woke to the stirrings of the morning noises of Lara walking upstairs, Lucas crying, doors opening and shutting, and Colin in the shower.  I had no choice but to wait for them all to come downstairs, then we began our usual daily routine.  Colin would start with the laundry duty, which meant the washing or hanging clothes up to dry.  He then went onto preparing my breakfast of omelette, a smoothie of whatever fruit had been in the fridge, check if I had taken my pills and then made me brush my teeth. 

Peppa Pig Torment: Lara would later come down with Lucas.  She always placed him in his playpen, in front of the TV. To pacify him, she put on the cartoon programme, “Peppa Pig”.   I tell you, if I ever hear the theme tune and the sound of pigs snorting again, I think I would definitely really scream!  Talk about daily torture!

Della Helping Out: Colin and Lara (or Della if she arrived early) made sure that I had been bed washed and dressed, always in Colin’s T-shirts and no bottoms, to continue ease of movement of my bad arm and diaper change.  It was still humiliating, but it was an essential routine.  I hated this stage.  Della would usually arrive later, concentrated on my leg and arm exercises, fixed lunch, kindly helped Lara with the care of Lucas and some general house chores, while Colin took over my old duties to ensure work in our company continued.   It hadn’t been easy to accept all these caring acts but I was powerless to do anything about it.  Nevertheless, I really hated to being so useless, but didn’t want to seem ungrateful  ………

Passport Renewal

Time For Renewal: I hadn’t realized that my passport was going to expire in May, so I tackled the online application process.  This turned out harder and a longer task than had expected.  I was allowed more limited time on my laptop, but my problem was the difficulty of sorting out my thought process and ability to type with one hand. It took me ages.  My head felt heavy and throbbed constantly,  almost like wearing a crash helmet two sizes too small.  Each time I tried to raise an eyebrow, my head felt even tighter, which made it more difficult to concentrate.  My fingers on the good hand, fumbled around the keyboard, so I constantly made typing errors, which meant I had to start the process all over several times.  It had been really exasperating. I knew what had to be done, but my mind and fingers struggled to achieve anything in unison, and my precious time allowed on the computer always ran out.  I was too stubborn to let anyone help, no matter how long it took me.

My New Passport Photo: Then there was the problem of my passport photo.  I had to have an updated one taken. The instructions stated that I could have one taken in front of a blank wall and attach it to my online application.  I hardly looked in the mirror since my attack, so I was afraid to take a peek.  When I eventually was forced to look, I saw a gaunt and sad looking face staring back at me.  Where had I disappeared to?  Who was that reflection of in the mirror?  Typical that I looked so awful when having a photo taken of me to last for the next 10 years!  Colin told me not to be so sensitive.   It was alright for him to say, it wasn’t going to be his passport mug shot!

Make Up Time: I hadn’t worn any make-up for ages, so this job turned out to be a real challenge.  I wasn’t able to do my own make-up because my good hand was unsteady, so Della made an attempt at it.  I just couldn’t stop giggling because I never had cosmetics applied by anyone else before.  We had to stop several times while Della attempted to apply my eyeliner.  It hadn’t gone right for ages, so Della threatened to “smack” me if I continued to misbehave and distract her by my giggles.  I just couldn’t help the fit of giggles each time that eyeliner closed in towards me.  Della had done her best but she had been given a bad subject to work with. 

Nothing could really improve the awful face that stared back from the mirror, so I decided we had to get on with the photo session.  I was made to stand in front of a blank wall, but standing still had been a problem. In the end, I had to be propped up against the wall.  The photo had to be taken really quickly while I managed to stay upright for a few seconds before I slid down the wall.  The final result had been far from what I would have liked – I guess the alarmed look on my face had to do. I had to push my ego aside as I accepted the photos and application had to finally be sent off.

9^th March – Pretty fingers and Toes

After my battered ego, Della decided it was time I had a “Pamper Session”.  She had been brave enough to tackle my ugly toes, but she had done a great job. I became the proud Owner of bright pink & glitzy toes . Manicured finger nails too!   She also kindly tinted my hair, eyebows & lashes. However, I hadn’t included a photo as I selfishly didn’t want any comparisons to “Grouch Marx” brows!  No offence Della!   Hee hee  ……

First Date Lunch – 11^th March

First Time Out For Drinks: I took my pretty pink nails to a date outing with my lovely Colin.  Our first one in over 9 weeks! It was really great to meet up with some of our friends at one of our favourite bars, the Dog House.  It had been an apt name as Colin often rang me in the past and say, “I’m in the dog house”.  I always replied. “too right!”. 

Anyway, Colin had to pack the wheelchair into the back of the car, unpack it and then wheel me into the place.  The best area to “park” me was near the entrance by a comfy seating area, to make sure my chair wouldn’t be in the way.  To be honest, I felt a bit self-conscious at first, but I had a lovely welcome by the Owners, staff and regular drinking friends.  However, I felt very conscious of being at a lower level in the wheel chair and aware of people’s reaction and kind sympathy toward me.   As I had been stuck in one place, it was nice when someone joined me, sat down or lowered themselves to my face-level for a direct conversation, while Colin had the freedom to wander around and be sociable. 

First Lunch: We later went onto The Robin Hood Pub for Sunday lunch.  Poor Colin had to go through the same procedure of the wheel chair and wheeled me inside. Yolanda, one of the owners, had been very kind in settling me in and situated us near the ladies toilet, in the main bar entrance area.  Colin had his usual favourite of a full Sunday Roast Lunch, while I picked something that I could cut one handed and eat comfortably with a fork.  Oooh, the dessert was wonderful.  Yes I made a “Pig” of myself with their rich chocolate cake! However, the guilt soon developed after.   I definitely got too used to solid food, regular samplings of Colin’s cooking and knew I had put on weight. I resolved that my diet would have to start the next day!  Yeah, right!  Hee Hee ……

GENERAL BODY CHANGES & NEW SENSATIONS

My Left Leg: Della made sure that I had regular massages, then we moved onto my bad leg. I had to straighten and bend, lift up and down, while she tried not to help me.  It had been awkward and laborious to get my leg to make any movement in the right direction at all!  We also worked on trying to bend my left knee more naturally, move it from side to side, which had been equally difficult because my foot would not stay in place again.  It annoyed me because it wouldn’t stay still!

My First Independent Steps: I was still dependent on sitting in a wheel chair when I got out of bed.  When I first sat down, my left foot would be placed on the foot support, but my leg quivered uncontrollably for a few minutes.  The only way to stop it was to hold the leg firmly down with my good right hand.  It only happened for a few minutes each time, but it really felt strange. There were times when Colin or Della encouraged me to stand upright and take more steps to improve my balance independently.  I was quite excited when I actually managed a couple of steps, but I would stumble and grab hold of an arm for support to stop me from falling. 

Each session had been really tiring and I rested often.  I certainly began to feel old.  However, as I eventually managed to do a few more paces, my confidence grew a little more.  I wasn’t near to saying that I could walk.  My efforts resembled a small child tottering around when it first learned to walk, as demonstrated in my video.  Even little Lucas had better balance and could walk better. However, anything for me at that stage was a huge improvement.  I really was past caring how I looked.  I began to get back towards being mobile again for short sessions.

My Left Arm: Although I was able to slightly move my left hand fingers, my whole arm couldn’t move properly, unless I grasped it with my right hand.  I just wasn’t able to move that arm at will, no matter how hard I concentrated.  I asked myself several times if I ever would get any where near normal feeling or movement back.  I got despondent on occasion, but Colin and Della wouldn’t let me sit and brood about it and often lightened the atmosphere with jokes and teased me.  Laughing had been a really good tonic for me.   Colin had placed a photo of me on a shelf, swinging my golf club, so that I would continually see it on the way to the W.C.  Some people might have considered that he was cruel, but I knew that he just tried to “fire” me back to imagine getting back to normal.  Mind you, I managed a few choice words when I first saw it!

Tackling The Stairs: I got to the stage when it was time for me to tackle going up the stairs.  I really was determined because my reward would be to reach the top, enter our bathroom and have my first decent shower in months.  Della had to hold my bad arm and waist, to give support, as I held the stair rail with my right hand and inched my bad leg up to get onto the step above.  It was tough because I wasn’t able to lift my leg high enough and stubbed my toes, as my foot constantly banged against the next step up.   I resorted to kicking my leg out to the left, then let it slide across the top of the upper step.  It wasn’t a pretty technique, but it helped to get me up eventually.  The cats showed their natural curiosity and prowled around to watch.  I thought I had been doing quite well, until they both easily ran up and down, as they overtook me.  The show offs!

My First Shower: When I finally reached the top, it felt like another huge hurdle.  Della guided me into the bathroom and helped me, as I gingerly moved inside the shower cubicle.  I had to hang onto to the inside rail to keep balance and stay upright while Della turned the water on.  I just didn’t want to move as I felt the warm water fall over my body.  Absolutely glorious and heaven.  After so many weeks of bed washes, this was such a luxury and I had no desire for it to end.  I must have stood under the water for ages, because it began to get cooler and my skin wrinkly.  So what!  I actually managed to get upstairs for the first time and felt really clean again ……

Please view next page 16 at link “Mobile, Pains & Back In Normal Clothes”: https://www.rebootinglinda.com/more-mobile-new-aches-pains-and-back-in-normal-clothes/

CONTACT FORM: Please leave a comment …..
We would love to hear from you and appreciate if you will “Share” your comments or experience with us. This will help us make a compilation of stories to help others to give hope and encouragement for their journey to recovery.

Your email address will not be published. Please fill in the form below with a brief description of your experience so we can contact you for more details.