Since some people may not be familiar with my family dynamics and I can't remember if I've already explained, but they're my younger siblings. Christopher is 5 (6 in December) and Katlin is 7. Christopher has been an amazing help to me since the accident. For example, when Dad came to pick me up Friday evening, I hobbled out to the car with my oh-so-stylish walker clanking and attempting to cause me to slip on every rock in between the door and my SUV (I swear, if it's not carpet, maneuvering that walker can be just as difficult as riding a mechanical bull). I finally got in to the passenger seat, and Christopher said, "I got a book from the liberry today.. Will you read it to me? It's about ameeances (ambulances)." I told him of course I would, and asked why he got that particular book. He responded with, "Because I love you." It almost brought me to tears, and instantly all of my frustration about not being able to get around well just went away for a few minutes. When we got back to the house (I'll have to fill in the rest of the 'just getting home' story later in this post), he asked me to read him the book. This kid is smart, so I figured I'd elaborate more than the book did. It's called Tools We Use: EMTs. Apparently it's a series that shows all types of careers. Throughout the book, which had very vague one-sentence pages, I was pointing things out to him and explaining them to him. I was amazed at how intrigued he seemed by the book. The next day, he "read" the book to Mom and pointed out all sorts of things. "That's a defibalator."So great. Saturday, at one point, he was running to his bedroom, stopped in his tracks (I'm surprised there weren't skidmarks), and turned around, moved my walker within my reach, and continued on his run to his room. Little moments that make my heart melt.
But back to the "when we first got home". Mom was crying, and I couldn't figure out what was wrong. She grabbed Dad's hand and pulled him in to her bedroom. From the way she was crying, I thought a family member had passed away. So I went in there, and got down on my knees beside her, holding her and stroking her hair, trying to comfort her. She was crying so hard she couldn't talk, and Dad said what sounded like, "She shot the cat." I was wondering who in the world trusted my mother with a gun. Then I realized she "shocked" the cat. She was using an electrical appliance that had raw spots on the cord, and the cat bit on to it. To make the long story short, he's fine. Burnt his tongue, but the vet said he should be good to go in about a week.
Saturday night, Mom arranged a make-up Halloween party for me. It was great. So nice to have everyone together and just goofing off. I even got to throw on my Robin costume. In the Batman comics, Robin's family were trapeze artists, and all fell to their deaths from the highwire. I told everyone I was the Robin that fell along with his family, but survived. Seems legit, right? I laughed more that night than I have in a long time. It felt great. However, I definitely paid for it that night. Around 11, my back and hip started throbbing. It was miserable to go from standing to sitting or from sitting to standing. That night, I couldn't get to sleep to save my life. I dozed for about 10 minutes two or three times, but each time, I either woke up from nightmares or sweating profusely. The night sweats are horrible. It's almost like hot flashes, that last 30-45 minutes. The doctors say it's probably a side effect of the medications. It's one of the worst things about this, because if I get too hot, I'll end up vomiting.
Sunday went pretty well, too. I worked on some exercises from the woodburning book Mimi bought me, and I think they turned out pretty well. I've been getting a few orders from my site, and it's really perking my mood up. I actually feel useful when I get going with the wood burning. It's getting more difficult though, because my hands are getting horribly sore from the walker. The bases of my palms throb most of the time, and it's getting harder and harder to use the walker to get around because of it. When one thing gets a tiny bit better, something else goes wrong.
And that brings us to today, which has started off fairly well. For once, I woke up not stiff and miserable. I'm loathe to say that though, because when I say I'm having a good day, I usually end up eating my words shortly after. Since my physical therapist will be here any minute, I don't think it's too far fetched to say that I'll be in more pain soon. I slept fairly well last night, and I'm assuming that's from the lack of sleep Saturday night.
Well, the devil's walking up the porch steps. I have to go to the dungeon for torture now. Hope everyone has a good day!
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