Some of you have asked here and there about Shoe, so since his birthday is coming up in a couple of weeks (
!!) and then soon after will be the 1st anniversary of The Mosquito Bite (:mad: !!) I figured I’d post a bit more info.
I’d mentioned that he had taken up welding for a while. That was nice while it lasted, but it was only a temporary gig for a project that needed an extra pair of hands until completion. (Plus, he was borrowing the welder and doesn’t have his own. Yet.) However, he found out that there’s a rowing (crew) class that does ongoing training at the nearby lake. So he’s signed up for that. Ten classes on the land-based stationary machine (the rowing version of a stationary bike) and then a float test, and then … he can start rowing on the lake!
He’s not worried about the float test, since he was already working in a therapy pool even before he was discharged in January from inpatient PT, so that should be a piece of cake. The rowing in general is doing exactly what he was hoping it would do: work different muscles, and especially strengthen his core torso muscles & his shoulders. Plus, it’s fresh air and sunshine, a new group of people - all of whom seem welcoming and friendly - and if nothing else it gets him out of the damn house a bit more while I’m at work.
So, rowing for an hour 2x weekly, and outpatient physical therapy for an hour 2x weekly. They’re wearing him out! But in a good way, and tired and sore as he gets, he knows that. Still sore and tired, though …
I’ve been helping him at home, too, mostly stretching his legs and back for him when he’s lying on his back on the couch. One leg (the “bad” one a.k.a Righty) is still so stiff that he can’t straighten it all the way, and it clearly hurts to try. But try he does, pressing down on the knee or asking me to help add my weight.
Otherwise … lessee, what else? He’s helping his dad out with some CAD drafting - his dad is “retired” and is working as a consultant on some projects, and can use his son’s assistance with the newfangled computermachine thingamabob all you young’uns use these days. We’ve completely switched on one Traditional Household Gender Role: he deals with the laundry, I mow the lawn. He even handles some of the grocery shopping now, stopping in to the nearby big-box grocery store near his PT when his mom gives him a lift. We rolled one of the grills* up onto the deck, so he’s often in charge of dinner as well. He still has good days and bad days – the constant reminders of what he’s lost, what he can’t do, etc. are grating – but I think the proportions are starting to slowly shift towards more good days than bad days, and fewer bad days overall.
I can’t think of anything else right now, but I wanted to let you know that I’ve seen your “how’s Shoe?” notes and figured I’d respond all at once.
- Yes, that’s right. “One of the grills.”
The dude has an entire herd of them strewn about the backyard. I was a bit nervous at first since the deck is wooden, but it’s a gas grill and nothing hot ever goes downward, so it’s been working out well.
