July 2007 - Page 1

This has been, I admit, a trying time... but I believe we are climbing.

Trying to limit Tom's movements is like trying to tie a horse to the ground. It just doesn't work. The good news is that he has had no pain since the surgery June 11. The bad news is that without pain, it is hard to remember to keep the 16 restrictions when you are busy thinking about what you are doing not how you are moving. His health is much better and he is feeling more productive.

We are facing cramped and inadequate space in our single-wide mobile home. Tom cannot get through any interior door in the house in the wider wheelchair needed to accommodate his hip brace, so he has to be able to use the walker to get into his office, the bathroom and the bedroom. He was restricted to NO-weight, but that proved to be impossible. It required him to hop, leaning on the walker. Unfortunately, his fused left ankle and his arthritic shoulders and wrists could not take the added stress. Therefore, he tries to walk as little as possible and use the wheelchair whenever possible. The goal is to give the hip time for the tissue repairs to heal - We actually found out that the muscles were torn! That is the "tissue" that is healing. It takes much time for muscle to heal!.

The wheelchair rented for us is extra special with a back that reclines to accommodate the brace which cuts into him if he sits at a normal 90 degrees. Unfortunately, it is also extra heavy and I strained my back the first few days he was home trying to lift it in and out of the car to get him to the doctor's office and so forth. We finally compromised by using our (lighter) wider wheelchair when he was away from home and the heavy one stays at home. Our lighter one requires that he sit up straight which is legal, but not very comfortable with the brace. He did invent a way to ride in the jeep - he scoots in the back seat and stretches across it. That enables him to go places, but mostly he just goes and stays in the car as he cannot maneuver steps at this time.

Even before I got him home, God provided for only $300 the "most comfortable bed" he's ever slept in. It is an adjustable bed, but the important thing for us is that it is higher and harder than our large softy. It is a tight squeeze to keep our bed and a single bed in a 12x12 master bedroom - the larger bed had to be pushed at a cock-eyed angle to allow his walker to get to his bed and that blocks the closet, but we're managing. This new bed provides the support he needs as he cannot sit on a soft or low chair or bed. I have cleared much furniture from the house - at least one chair from every room, extra tables and so forth to allow for his wheelchair to get through. There was not one chair in the house that he could sit in except for his office chair (and that only if it is backed up against something to keep it from rolling away as he gets in) - or room for any either, so his wheelchair IS his chair most of the time. The shed is getting crowded, but the house is navigable. Still, if he is ever wheelchair bound and unable to use a walker it will be inadequate.