Chapter 9 – Home Changed Home
I guess I was really tired, cause when we got home, I don’t recall being taken out of the van, brought into the house, or transferred into my new bed.
I woke up in the middle of the night dis-orientated. I had my CPAP machine on for my sleep apnea, but was not used to my new room or bed. I felt like I was in a crib. It seemed like the sides were way higher than a hospital bed; and there were stuffed animals on my bed too. The stuffed animals were from people sending get well balloons and cards and stuff.
I drifted off to sleep, only to be awoken by mom doing a diaper change “I’m sorry, I know you were sleeping so well, but you needed changed and you need to wake up to take your pills”
“ok”, I say against the pressure of the CPAP machine as I reach up and take off the mask, What is up with the rails on this bed, makes me feel like I am a baby in a giant crib, and where did the stuffed animals come from.
“I know the rails are kinda high, but it is so you can better leverage yourself when you want to sit up on pull yourself over in bed; the stuffed animals came with the balloons and cards you were sent while in the hospital, we just didn’t know what to do with them. OK, all done” Mom said as she finished taping up my diaper “lets get you dressed and tour the house”
“umm this is the same place as before” I said annoyed
“ummm no, it is not, there has been a lot of remodeling and addition to the house smarty pants” mom said as she lowered the side of my bed and helped me get into a sitting position. “ok, Jay the trapezes, or the overhead lift did not come in time to get them installed before you came home so I will help you get into your chair. Just put your hands on my shoulders and then I will slide ya over”
“Mom! This just is not going to work. You hold onto my shoulders and I will do the sliding” She fussed abit, but we tried it my way. Sure enough I was right – Score one for me!!
So far I have made mention to my wheelchair, or the chariot, but not gave much detail. Since I cannot easily stay sitting up since I have no control over the muscles in my hip area, I needed a chair that can keep me positioned. I have an electric reclining chair. I also have to use a over the shoulder harness to keep me sitting upright (think of a racing harness). Since I cannot lean forward with out falling forward I cannot use a manual chair; and having a power chair that reclines means that if I need to lay back and relax, I can. I can also recline flat back in order to be changed.
Boy the remodel on the house sure did change it, almost every room was changed in some way or another. The kitchen was remodeled with counters that I found I could get my chair up to in places like the sink. Our sunken living room now had a sloped entryway. And I noticed a new door off to the kitchen. “what’s that new door?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know” my dad replied
“YES I WOULD!” I shot a look. “I might have been away for some time, but I still want to know what you have done with the house” I grabbed the door handle and opened it up. “What the….. is this”
In a smart tone “what does it look like…. I mean how did you think you were going to get to the basement, or upstairs? Low crawl!”
“Well the thought had crossed my mind, as did the massive amounts of rug burns and splinters” I laughed. The elevator was big enough for my chair to go straight in, turn around (zero turn radius like the lawn mower baby!!), and then somebody else could slide in if they were not too big.
After being shown how the thing works, which is not hard – hit the button that says basement for basement and garage, main floor for the floor my room and kitchen are on, and upstairs for upstairs. Mom and I took a ride to the basement, dad took the stairs. What was once the large family room, looked like a weight room; which I would later nickname the torture dungeon. The patio doors that went out to our lower deck were still there, but so was a pool and a hot tub.
“I hope you don’t mind that we used the settlement money to remodel the house and get the things that are needed for you to do your therapy here at home.”
“absolutely not! That is what it was for, my care and adaptation to my life after the accident” I said
Mom piped in “now today and tomorrow are free days from therapy, but starting Monday you will be working out with a physical therapist some, with me some, and on your own. Also from time to time a nurse will be stopping in to help us all out at least every other day; and you will learn to do certain things that will increase your independence too; like dressing yourself, assisting in changing your your…”
“diapers” I said
“yes your diapers” Mom said uneasily “I know we talked about it, but I just find using that term hard
“well that is what they are, no matter what you call them, that is just what they are” I stated. I was getting annoyed that everybody liked to sugar-coat things and keep things from me like I was 5 years old.
I was not thinking about the next thing, but mom and dad were. “Son, I know you may not think you can be independent again, but in time you will be, and you will be back to leaving when you please and going out driving around” my dad said
Driving again was the furthest thing from my mind. “right now for all I care, I am happy to be home, alive, and am happy to not drive”.
Next stop was upstairs on the second floor with the new bathroom. It had a whirlpool tub that I could transfer into easily and a roll in shower and shower chair. Gone was the spare bedroom, but there was a new bedroom downstairs that they were working on as it is.