Good point. The one I got didn’t quite fit on the tiled section, so I put it on the fixed glass wall (the stall has 2 tile walls, one fixed glass, one sliding glass). Not enough to put a LOT of weight on in my case, just enough for some extra balance, and it was helpful. I don’t know that I’d try to really lean on it, however, and for more permanent use real grab-bars would be a lot better.
Bill is getting discharged tomorrow. Yes, I’m nervous.
Bill is doing very well. I still see some short term memory loss and the Doctor told me that Bill will probably not remember much about his hospital stay. My job will be to help him up because he can’t push himself up with his arms. I need to be sure that he eats and I need to take him for at least 1 walk a day.
I can do this. Bill is very motivated to recover, and has not once complained of pain or refused to exercise. He’s in good shape for a 59 year old man who has pretty much been driving a desk for the last 5 years.
After the cathetor came out, Bill refused to use a bedpan, so a nurse and I would help him stand. We would look at each other behind his back to give him as much privacy as possible. There was a bit of performance anixaty the first time, but then he seemed OK with it.
The next day, he was allowed to use the restroom (with that plastic thing in the toilet so they could measure output). I helped him get up and started to follow him into the restroom. He closed the door in my face!!!
Of course I threw myself at the door and sobbed hysterically.
For the most part, Bill lives on the ground floor. I have the second floor. This is why I had a daybed moved into his room, I want to be able to hear him if he needs me in the night. However…Bill is very interested in climbing stairs. His Doctor told him that he couldn’t resume sexual relations until he was able to climb 3 flights of stairs.
That’s just great, I already have a history with that staircase (for those who don’t know, I had foot surgery a while back and hated the stairs).
Bill is probably going to want to start climbing it tomorrow evening. Once he gets to my rooms, it won’t be enough, we will have to go to the mall and start going up 2 stairscases, and then 3. I don’t know about Bill, but I think that I am going to be permantly scarred for by learning that climbing stairs is foreplay.
“News at 11. A recovering heart patient climbed 3 flights of stairs at the mall and had sex on the landing. When the couple was questioned, the reporter was told that it was “doctor’s orders”.”
I did get him an appointment with a grief counselor. While I was telling what I was loading into his calendar, he didn’t say anything about not going. I really hope he talks.
I will have to have a talk with him about how churlish he has been. I had no idea I was breaking the rules by not carrying a gun! How could he do such a thing to me?
I’m learning that the problem with buying a roof mounted flame thrower is that there aren’t any mechanics in the area that know who to install one without voiding the warrenty on Bill’s suv.
Funny, I thought those came standard down there…
d/r
I know what you mean about the flamethrower - seems you have to find a shade-tree mechanic to install one! Plus, it sticks up so high that vans and SUVs won’t fit in the garage! (Hint: heavy-duty magnets.) Is the truck 4WD? If so, you won’t need caterpillar tracks to get around the highway debris…
If Bill orders a home stair climber, you’ll never see the gym in the same light again, but that might be less of an issue than the mall!
Good luck!
It might be the drought. Fire restrictions and all…
I hates driving here. Every other time I’ve been here, Bill has picked me up at the airport and I’ve not had to drive. Mostly, I’ve just done the “get in, hold on and shut up” thing. Houston traffic is worse than the cluster at Skyharbor.
That’s saying something because once I was going to Skyharbor in the middle of the night and the delivery driver in front of me ran up the curb which caused his tailgate to fly open and his load of watermelons to fall on around my car.
Now I’m going to get to drive all over Houston with Bill in the back seat. I hope the poor man doesn’t have more heart problems because I’ll be driving like a wimp and he will want me to drive like a Texan.
I was just reading an article in the newspaper which says that Texas has the 11th highest auto insurance rates. I’m surprised, I’d think that we’d rank higher. Especially with the roof mounted flame throwers.
I’m howling here !! :D.
Flamethrower: The SUV dealer should be willing to install a roof-mounted luggage rack.
What you have attached to that rack is none of their business, as long as it doesn’t exceed whatever weight limits the rack / car manufacturers list.
Would that more wives were like you.
My mother had one installed over her bathtub when she redid the big bathroom, 12 years ago. It hasn’t been particularly useful, partly because the location isn’t so good. I got her a couple of those with suction cups and those were a lot more useful. We have this kind both in my mother’s shower and in Grandma’s. They’re removable, so we can put them in different places depending on who’s going to need them, and cheap, so having four of them in one shower is not very elegant but a lot cheaper than having that many permanent grab bars.
Note that you can’t use the kind with suction cups on painted walls, it’s got to be glass or tile.
You’re just gonna have to put the pedal to the floor and close your eyes, just like all the other drivers!
Make sure he has his huggy pillow for getting up and down. Don’t make him laugh, hope he doesn’t sneeze or cough.
Best thing he can do for himself is quit smoking.
Once you get the roof-mounted flame thrower installed, you can’t use car washes any more. The attendant will point at the sign saying “non-standard equipment” and send you on your way.
Try one of the truck washes near the freeways. They handle everything.
~VOW
I just want to say that yours is probably the worst possible thread title/user name combination.
Good luck to you - when my mother had a bypass, she spent most of the first two weeks (as I recall) in a recliner, including sleeping there. It was much more comfortable for her than a flat bed, adn easier to get up from. In fact, the recliner was recommended by the surgeon and they went shopping for a new one before teh surgery that they knew would be comfortable for a long sit.
StG
Now, this bites. I tried to reply and the internets got it. I’m in a big city now, the internet shouldn’t act like it does in sticksville.
Its almost time to wake Bill up for pills. The pillbox was such a great suggestion. Bill is all into gadgets so he has something on his droid and he has me so he will get his pain meds on time. Bill doesn’t complain about pain unless he coughs and he does keep his red heart pillow close to hand. When he’s sleeping, I can tell that he’s moved because he makes a soft moaning noise. Do you folks think I should ask the doctor about this?
The home care nurse also suggested that Bill stay on the recliner and helped me move the day bed. That thing sure gets around.
I wonder if I can pay someone to take it to the mall stair landing. I’m not a shy wallflower, I’ve had sex on a idling Harley. (parked out in the middle of nowhere, off the road, hidden by trees…) I just think celebration sex on the dirty floor of a staircase landing wouldn’t be good for him. Not to mention that it would hurt his back because there is no way I’d be on the bottom there.
It would also be rude to the people who are trying to step around us.
Lynn, I think the reason that the insurance rates are so low is because people drive so fast that by the time one triggers her flame thrower, the offender is gone and an innocent starbucks just went up in flames. That is property damage, not auto.
Involuntary moaning from pain in his sleep is not a problem, unless his surgery was three years ago. The surgeon did a lot of banging around in there, and it’s gonna HURT. The body gets pissed off when changes are made, and it will take time to adjust. It should be six or eight weeks EASY before he looks at the Vicodin bottle without drooling.
Maybe a yoga mat for the landing?
~VOW
Thank you, that helps a lot.
I have to apologize to everyone for not paying proper attention to this thread. Sometimes rl kicks me in the butt.
I can ask his doctors anything, its nice to hear from other people as well.
Here is my next question. Can Bill hurt himself by trying too hard? His doctor told me to take Bill for a walk twice a day. Bill wants 3 walks. The doctor told us that we should let Bill set the pace and limit. Bill walks to the end of his endurance and we stop and rest before turning around. By the time we get home, Bill is shaking and he goes to sleep as soon as he sits down.
I know that Bill wants to get healthy again, but I’m concerned that he can hurt himself by pushing so hard.
Bill is also wanting to try the stairs, but I’m worried because he’s not supposed to use the rails. Should I wrap myself in bubble wrap and do the stairs behind him. bubble wrap to cushion him if he falls on me.
I took him to his cardiac doctor today. I thought that I would need to avail myself of said doctor’s services after the drive. Houston has fearless jaywalkers. They run out from between parked cars when I’m looking at roadsigns while doing 45 mph in the right lane and being tailgated because I’m driving too slow.
Tailgaters at warp speed are the norm here. Folks, if I can’t see your headlights in my mirror, you are too close! I’ve got some trick pipes for my bike that include a spark plug and an atomizer on my handle bar. I can shoot 12-16 feet of flame. I found someone who would trick Bill’s suv out with a set, but it would void the warrenty.
I’m figuring out that the problem is that nobody is willing to mess with the warrenty on a new vehicle. So, my plan is to tell Bill to buy me an old suv without a warrenty and then the game will be on!
Another question. Bill isn’t eating well. He says that everything tastes off. Is this the drugs, or is this going to be permanent? He’s never been a picky eater before.
My husband had the big gallbladder surgery four years ago (not the little, easy surgery) - it took him a surprisingly long time to get back to normal (easily a year), and that wasn’t nearly as big a surgery as open-heart surgery. This is a HUGE insult to the body - it takes as long as it takes to completely heal up.
As for pushing himself too hard, that’s a tough one. I usually push myself too hard when I’m recuperating, but I’m getting smarter with that as I get older - maybe sit down and talk with him about it, that you want him to keep doing what he’s supposed to be doing, but you also want him to be careful not to overdo it, and leave it in his hands. He’s a big boy - hopefully he knows his limits.
ETA: I asked my husband if he noticed anything off about food after his surgery, and he said no. Maybe it is just all the drugs Bill’s on.
Thank you for asking your hubby about the food tasting off. I’m thinking that drugs and no smoking is the problem. Food tastes funny to me as well, but when I’m the cook, I expect the food to taste off. The no smoking thing makes a big difference.
The home health nurse came over yesterday and she thinks that Bill is doing wonderful. She says that as long as he doesn’t faint while climbing stairs, all is good.
The problem now is that Bill is mad all the time. He wants to get married because he’s mad at his stepson/wife/grandkids and wants to be sure that I have the legal right to all of his stuff. His wife didn’t have a will and Texas probate is interesting, so shortly before this happened, Bill signed a check to the stepson for $350,000.
Bill thinks that they should be taking care of him. When I suggested that I leave so they would feel more comfortable, rage happened.
We went out for dinner and the waitress didn’t refill my glass fast enough to suit Bill, so he didn’t tip her. We had a discussion about this and I went back in to tip the waitress. This is not like him, he’s usually so kind and generous. It wasn’t bad service, my glass never got empty, it just got low.
I’m pretty sure that the anger is happening because his wife betrayed him by dieing and then his body betrayed him. I love him. Maybe we do need to get married so that I can talk to his therapist.
I don’t think Bill is mad; I think Bill is scared. I don’t recall if I mentioned that the same thing happened to my brother-in-law after he successfully fought lymphoma - my sister says that he has become very angry after that experience. She says things similar to what you’re saying - he gets cut off in traffic, and just loses his mind over it - that kind of thing.
I’ll tell you something else for what it’s worth - when my husband had his gall bladder attack and subsequent surgery, I got quite angry. I’m still not sure what I was mad at, either - maybe I was scared, too.