My brother-in-law was laid up in the hospital with liver failure. He had a trach put in, his kidneys shut down, he had pneumonia and a small stroke. Then his kidneys started working again, and his liver recovered - and after months in the ICU flat on his back, he needed physical therapy. Fortunately he went to a great rehabilitation center, and he says he saw people there who would complain about the effort involved in PT, about how it was too hard. He just said he wasn’t going to spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair, and did what they asked him to.
And yeah, it’s astounding how much physical degeneration happens. I had my wrist in a cast for maybe three months after I broke it, and I was shocked after the cast came off at only being able to bend it by maybe 5-10 degrees before there was intense pain.
I’ve been watching this seasons Survivor and noticed contestant (and former TV star) Lisa Whelchel in the news last week talking a bit about her bout of West Nile. She had a relatively mild case and her doctor is telling her to expect to take a year to fully recover her strength.
So when TOS gets down about things going too slowly remind him that he’s got multiple recoveries going on and some he can’t just power through BUT it will get better it’s just more time.
Bill only had open heart surgery and it was a couple of weeks before he could climb 3 flights of stairs. I can’t imagine how much rehab its going to take until TOS is back to 100%. Is he talking to anyone besides you about his feelings? Like a professional who will explain that his feelings of betrayal are valid? When someone’s body breaks, a lot of outrage happens.
Anyhow, I’m so happy that TOS was able to work out for an hour. Things just keep snowballing in a good way now. Happy dance commences
Or - do you have any online billpaying or whatever that he could do from the hospital? I could spend hours just getting our Quicken files up to date. Stuff like that.
If the iPad has 3G service it would be OK for that, but you shouldn’t do banking stuff on open Wifi that many hospitals and motels have. It isn’t secure. You can turn off Wifi in Settings if you need to do secure stuff on 3G only.
It was huge, an entire canvas grocery bag stuffed to the rim. I’ve, ah, gotten behind on folding/putting away laundry. :smack: In fact, it turned out that something like 1/4 of the laundry pile was just socks (largely his, as it’s the only item of his own clothing he can wear right now) and getting that all out of the way made quite a difference!
I also slept an enormous amount last night and the night before AND got some shit done around the house, so my stress level has gone down considerably.
Cleaning bathrooms = not fun.
*Having *a clean bathroom = well, not fun but nice at least.
Hurray for sleep! Getting stuff done around the house is good as well.
I’m going to share my method of washing cat boxes with you, because its so easy. I take them outside, dump them, then spray them out with the hose. Next I fill them with water, pour a couple of glugs of bleach into them and go do other things. When I remember the boxes, I go out and dump them out and let them air dry.
(No worries about bleachy, cat pee water on plants. the bleach is diluted enough that its not harmful, and uric acid, when properly diluted, is a good furtilizer. I learned this when I tried to use it to kill weeds.)
Anyhow…its so good that things are going so well now. How long did TOS exercise today? Is there any resistance on the machines yet?
Continues dancing with everyone. Happy, happy, joy, joy!!!
Hurrah for sleep and hurrah for clean, even though I don’t much like the actual task either. I do like the improvement.
Mamma Zappa has a great idea for helping to keep TOH’s mind busy. You could also bring him a laptop and a pile of your CDs to turn to MP3s, scan old photos to digital, or even have him take classes at a university or learn info through Khan Acadamy.
I only just managed to get time to read this thread and cannot imagine having to go thru all of this AND stay sane purplehorsehoe. Will you please send me the info so I can donate to the PayPal fund?
He’s hoping - and I don’t know if he’s being optimistic, realistic, or what - to be back at work before those 18 months is up. And holy shitballs%&*#@$! the monthly payment will be just slightly more than half our monthly rent. So, thanks to curlcoat just now (check yer PMs) and everyone else, because we were already paycheck-to-paycheck before all this. (Venting moment: This. Sucks. Dammit!)
Will do, thank you. If he can’t go back to work as soon as he’s hoping to, we’ll look into disability as well. And, having seen the posts here about that, we’ll plan for him to be initially rejected.
And, shit, if we wind up having to declare bankruptcy over all this, it won’t be the worst thing I’ve faced, at least not if you still count this year.
Some wonderful progress going on, purplehorseshoe! So glad to hear it.
You might want to call about Medicaid as soon as you can, while TOS is still in the hospital etc. They have their own people who check out applicants and usually don’t deny help when the need is acute, as is his case, and the immediacy of the situation will be very evident now, which is in your favor. (Silver lining? :() My brother was okeyed for coverage within just a very few weeks after being assessed.
After you make the initial phone call, get someone familiar with the system to help you fill out all the forms that will come. A Social Security worker or Patient’s Advocate there at the hospital…somebody who knows the key phrases that put you in the “express line.” You can basically hand it over to them and be spared that headache. Just keep EVERYTHING on file.
Please tell us that you managed to smuggle some turkey to TOS!
From what I’ve learned about disability/social secuirty…you should apply sooner than later. If you don’t need it, you can tell them that, but its a long process.
More hugs to you. You honestly are an inspiration. Your strength and love show so strong.
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