So…here we are making preparations to come home! Or so we think!! Might not be after tonight!!
There were some wonderful men who went to our home this evening late and made some changes. A hospital bed is going to be delivered to our house at some point soon. So they made the bed change for me. And as I was texting our sweet friend Noel he was sending me pictures of what they had done. And this picture, just all of a sudden reached out and broke my heart. My king size bed is gone. Krisann and I will sleep in this bed and now there’s room for a hospital bed. This picture definitely did something to my heart! But my house is now ready for that bed to be delivered. We keep reminding ourself that this is temporary!! But still, even temporary, it is sad and painful!
You think you are as handicap accesible as you can be and then you do things like break a hip and they find other things for you to make it more accessible. So the men also added us a grab bar in the front of the shower! That handle has been a life saver for Zine yesterday and today in getting showered here. So he now has a hand hold in the front of the shower. And before they will let you go home from here they have to know you are as safe as you can be! So we are marking things off our checklist!!
Therapy was hard today but not as exhausting as it is some days. I ran home this afternoon for a bit. Did some major decluttering in a few minutes! Amazing what you can get done when you’re working hard. I felt a bit rushed as I wanted to get back here before the doctor made his rounds this afternoon. Zine had a problem develop on his elbow! And I didn’t want them to do anything to that elbow without being here!
The therapist was concerned about it but the physician here said it is a pocket of fluid that has developed because of inflammation. He possibly hurt that elbow when he fell and the pocket has just developed. Because each open wound is a risk of staph infection the doctor here did not recommend doing anything just yet for it. We are going to continue to watch it, ice it, and hopefully, it will go away on its own. That’s the hope…but we don’t do anything the easy way!!
Yesterday was Zine’s first shower with the OT. We both listened to the therapist and I watched intently but the therapist was the one that did it with Zine. Tonight we got to do a test run on the shower routine. Well, we had an epic disaster to say the least. The transfer to the bath chair went well. He bathed himself! He has a cool new gadget to get his feet and back and such! Dried off and now ready to transfer back to wheelchair! Well, that was NOT a success! The tech and I and he weren’t able to make the transfer. So the tech went and got another tech and all together we still weren’t able to make the transfer. By this time, Zine is exhausted. There’s no way he can try to transfer again. So pretty soon, about five more people joined us in the little bathroom and literally they picked him up out of the bath chair and set him in his wheelchair! This was definitely not cool. And then we notice that Zine has started bleeding and there is blood all over both of his feet and legs. At first glance you think oh my word!! But then you remember this is a guy on blood thinners. But I tell you one little place on his leg left a great big mess! It took me 20 minutes to get his legs all cleaned up. He needed another bath but no way Hosea were we about to try that! So the tech and I together got him all cleaned up and all he needed was one little bandaid!! Go figure!
So our trial run was an epic disaster. I can look back and see some little things we could do differently. But that’s the thing with these transfers…you have to have everything exactly correct, lined up just right and he has to make sure he leans the right way, pulls the right way, etc. It’s not the easiest of tasks…especially uphill like this one was! I don’t even want to know what they have written in our chart tonight. And I don’t even want to know what the OT will say tomorrow! And I sure hope our epic disaster doesn’t keep us here longer! But…it made for an adventuresome evening to say the least. I even took my jacket off tonight…that never happens!! But it did tonight! And poor Zine…that’s so difficult emotionally when things like that happen! He said it is definitely not his idea of fun and this is the worst bed and breakfast ever! Early on in this process, the emotional state was horrid for both of us. Probably the worst place either of us have ever been emotionally. But our emotions have stabilized some and even in the middle of all this…the staff here all love Zine! He continues to make friends, listen, and talk and encourage whomever walks in our room. He said he could even see how God had used him in a young lady’s life one night. But…he says in the same breath…I don’t want to minister to people here. I don’t love these people enough! But the thought I had….God loves these people enough that He allows us to share our faith and struggles with them. It’d be nice if we get to the place that we love these people enough that we are grateful that we get to share our faith and struggles with them. God has truly given us a unique ministry opportunity in medical places!
I want to be here for OT tomorrow and I want to be home in the morning. So pray that God would make OT be after lunch tomorrow!! And our next door neighbor is having a bad night. So you can pray for Mrs. Mary to settle down. Her bed alarm continues to go off. Poor lady! Zine and I have felt for her ever since she got here! So tonight we’re praying for Mrs. Mary to settle down and sleep! And we’re praying that Zine would be comfortable tonight and that he could rest well. He has had pain meds and seems to be settling some!
