Day 17
Home or Bust!
In my Day 16 post, the last thing I talked about was being awake at 6:30am and deciding to start my day. I could not sleep any more. I wanted out of my bed. I wanted to pack everything up....I was ready to go home! I paged my friendly, sadistic nurses! They came and bagged my legs for my shower. They brought in all of my towels and supplies. I grabbed my clothes, got into my wheelchair and into the the shower I went. It was great to sit under the jet spray of warm water and think about going home. I just sat there and praised God for His blessings! I got dressed, brushed my teeth, did all the normal morning things. I left my bathroom ready to GO!!!
Breakfast came and my doctor stopped by to cover any last minute things and to tell me they were working on my departure paperwork.
Soon after this, Robbie showed up and started packing my stuff. Some of our friends also showed up to help take home my rehab equipment. What a blessing to have friends and for them to come when you call for help!
Finally, my nurse come in at 9:30 with papers to sign. I signed them and at that point, I was a free man! Yee Haa! Hurray! Go! Go! Go! It is Home or Bust!
Home At Last!
I wheeled into my house with such delight, joy and a wee bit anxiety. What? Anxiety? You have got to be kidding. How in the world do you have anxiety when all you could think about was coming home. Well, it was there, in the pit of my stomach, anxiety! Questions starting going through my head:
- Who will help us with Collier if Robbie is called to the hospital on call night?
- How will I get around a house in a wheelchair when the house was not built with a wheelchair in mind?
- How am I going to be able to help around the house to keep my wife from being overwhelmed by all the added responsibilities?
- How in the world will I be able to take a shower since my wheelchair will not fit into any of the bathroom doorways?
- How will I keep from getting lonely sitting in an empty house each day for 10 or more hours?
It was then that I was reminded of the verse in Philippians 4:6: "Do not be anxious about anything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God."
I just let those thoughts drift away and I continued to soak up all of the excitement of being home.
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We hung around the house for a little time and then decided we needed to get my prescription filled and go to Wal-Mart to get some supplies to help me with my new environment, home! So we took off, had lunch and ran our errands. We headed home, stopped by to pick up Collier and back to the house we went. We were all home...just the 3 of us! I was back home with my family. Temporarily disabled, but home nonetheless here at home, with my family!!!!
We spent the afternoon together. We setup my portable potty. Tested my ability to get from the wheelchair to the bed. Wheeled around the house to see where I could and could not go. I have to admit, it was a tad bit frustrating. Everything did not work as easily as I had hoped for, but I had to keep reminding myself, I am home...who cares if there are small little difficulties...I am home! My feet were swelling from all of the day's activities. Therefore, I got up on my bed (oh! It felt so good!), elevated my feet and just laid there for a several minutes.
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Around 5:30pm, people started showing up at my house. Robbie and our friends planned a coming home party and they were arriving with food, drinks, and their wonderful kids. So I got into my chair in the living room and spent several hours with friends and family and playing with the kids. It was pure joy! Everyone left and it was time for our nightly cuddle time with Collier. You see, Collier typically goes to bed around 8pm each night. Just after he has his last bottle of milk for the evening, he will cuddle with us until we put him into his bed. So Robbie, Collier and I sat in the big, over sized chair and ottoman....and we just snuggled for several minutes. Again, it was PURE JOY!
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