Harriet and I had training all morning for our first "day pass" and home visit, in prep for coming home and transitioning to out patient treatment.
Her kind of brain injury ... dead cells from oxygen deprivation ... is the trickiest to cure and the easiest to fuck up. Hence their freak out from unexpected visitors walking into her room. I think of her as in mental quarantine. When she does get home, no visitors or phone calls whatever for a period of time. The relapse dangers come from head jolts and brain overload. At home, I am going to become the toughest body guard in the western world and no one is getting near her except through and over me.
It's tricky. Email is bad, doing a crossword puzzle is good: the former is too scattered and busy, the latter is focused.
Today I saw for the first time an expression in Harriet that she is beginning to understand the seriousness of her injury. And the long haul of recovery.
Her driver's license has already been taken away for medical reasons. It will be quite an obstacle course to get it back if she reaches the point where a doctor would approve her to drive.
Clutter is bad. CLUTTER IS BAD. Have you seen our house?
My job tomorrow is to get rid of the clutter, which really means moving it to the basement and out of sight. I had a padlock put on the basement door.
I want to turn the dining room into a small art studio. I will ask for help in doing this. Who can help? What are the basic supplies she would need? If you can help, give me a call or email. Now is a chance for an artist friend to help in an important way!
I am telling Harriet this is our chance to have the honeymoon we were too busy to have 16 years ago. A two month honeymoon together! I can get into that, and I hope she can, too.
Thank you for the succinct explanation of the recovery Harrriet will have with her beloved bodyguard. So glad you are getting detailed ways to capitalize on the focus of her recovery in your sweet home. The honeymoon will be enhanced, I sure by the deck and plants and artistry that awaits ahead.
ReplyDeleteSuggestion:
ReplyDeleteAvailable friends might want to ask Charles what they could do for the caretaker as his job gets bigger when Harriet returns home.
Thanks, Len. Her friends have made generous offers to help from the beginning. I am not so much overwhelmed by the caregiving tasks as by the understanding of the severity of her injury and the difficulty of substantial recovery. My complaint in the marriage is that she is too busy and not home enough. Sometimes you get what you wish for, and I look forward to spending 24/7 with her.
ReplyDelete