Balance

I will be completely honest....I am a bit gritchy today. I think my body is finally telling me that it is rebelling against the last two weeks. During the night last night I woke up with a horrible headache. Just as I got back to sleep....David woke up crying. I think he is pushing himself too hard during the day and causing himself to maybe cramp up. The doctors had told me originally that David's worst pain would be in the first 72 hours and it would be mostly muscle spasms from the stretching of his hamstrings. Thanks to his baclofen pump he didn't seem to have muscle spasms or at least he didn't make me aware of them. Of course the first 72 hours he went from being so out of it from valum to so sick from the infection that he didn't really have a lot of time for muscle spasms. Now though it seems he may be having spasms....not in his legs, but in his back. At any rate....David and I neither one got much sleep last night and today my lack of it is showing in my attitude. Z has already pointed my less than pretty attitude out to me several times today! Grrrrrrrrrr

Davids spasms seem worse when I transfer him from his bed to his wheelchair or vice versa....the back of the bed or wheelchair must be straight up. If it is inclined at all he just screams. After the transfer then he can slowly go down and be fine, but he will just hold himself straight and arch his back otherwise. I am thinking that he is having pretty severe  spasms. I also think that because of the hip surgery....it pulls those hips when he tries to transfer flat. The funny thing is....once he is in bed and relaxed in a slightly tilted position, he then does sit ups on his own. He will pull himself to a 90 degree angle and then lay himself flat again. He doesn't seem to be in pain then. I have no idea what is going on.

When we left the hospital...the doctor said that David needed to spend at least an hour per day in his wheelchair. She suggested to spread it out over three different times. David loves being up in the wheelchair (once he is there) and yesterday when I put him in it in the morning he was there for about 3 hours. He has learned to wheel himself but unfortunately my house is a bit small for him to have too much leeway. I am really not a fan of the wheelchair as the width barely accommodates his legs in the splints and it doesn't allow him to sit fully back. Also the recline doesn't work well causing one side to be off and his back to not be even if reclined. Luckily he refuses to recline much. Perhaps when he is without his splints during the day the chair will accommodate him better. As it is though...it gets him out of bed and up and moving and that will make both him and his doctor very happy.

The hospital bed has been a Godsend. Without it, transferring David and giving him any sort of comfort would be extremely difficult. Being able to have his bed at close to a 90 degree angle when we transfer makes it so much easier for both of us. Also...being able to keep his legs elevated is wonderful too. Speaking of his legs (and also his feet) so many people have commented on how great his feet and legs look. David has always had poor leg circulation and his feet are always cool to cold and bluish purple....especially if he has sit for any period of time. Since he has had this surgery his feet are always warm and a beautiful pinkish color. Of course his feet are reclined most of the time....but for now...his feet look awesome.

I must thank some people here today. Yesterday was once again a day filled with friend blessings. Thiry was here early and watched David and vacuumed and mopped my floors (still picking up after a week and a half of 16 year old boy home alone) while I ran some errands. It felt so surreal and a little uncomfortable being away from David for any period of time and also a wonderful relief to be outside a hospital. Then yesterday afternoon we were visited by David's teacher Mrs. Leonard who brought David more get well cards from the kids along with a Spongebob dry erase board. David was extremely glad to see her. Then Cassie Allen came by and she had purchased for me a calendar organizer to organize volunteers to come in. She also graciously agreed to organize times for me. I told her that as of Monday I would have a better idea of how much help and what hours I would need the help. The reality hit me yesterday that I am going to have to get back to baking cheesecakes again to help out financially and so having people come in and watch him while I bake would be so helpful. And knowing that the scheduling is taken care of is amazing. I then had a friend let me know that he was going to be firing up his smoker and that some pork loin was going to be coming our way. I can't tell you how much I love pork loin and fresh out of the smoker will be so awesome. And finally....my wonderful friend Robin and her beautiful daughter Becky and granddaughter Paisley paid me a visit. They brought me days worth of homemade food that had been frozen and ready to put into the oven. Cooking will be taken care of for a while. Thank you all! You have no idea what all of this means to us. I am still trying to find the balance since 90% of my day is dedicated to David. This means that other things are going to fall to the wayside. Knowing that people are willing to help me keep my head above water is amazing! Balance...that is my word for the day!

Well...as you can see I actually have very little to be gritchy about. I am sure it is nothing that a weeks worth of sleep and a vacation in the Jamaica wouldn't fix. I would even settle for a nap and an hour to sit in the sun and read my book. It will come. Until then...I am grateful for ever single second I have with David because we all know...things could have truly gone a different way.