Good Thursday morning from FL Linda
Good morning all,
Well I didn't go in to see Graham until the very end of the day and it was probably as well as they had him up yesterday and took him to the gym! They strapped him into the wheel chair and took him to the gym and then they strapped him into this machine that will help exercise his muscles. It was sort of a bicycle thing, but not like we know it, apparently. The foot pedals hold his feet and then the legs ride round and round by the machine, first forward and then backward. They strapped his hands as well and they went back and forth I think. I am not really clear because he was pretty tired when I got there (actually he was snoozing when I got there!). He says he is meant to help push and pull the hand things and that it was very tiring. But he needs to build up his strength now.
I think it is great they are getting him up now -- he says they aim to do it twice a day. They must keep his muscles moving or he will lose them altogether I suspect. It would be as if, for example, being in a cast and not able to move a broken leg for example, and when the cast comes off the leg muscles are a bit withered away and have to be built up again. I know they move his body in the bed, but I think these exercises will be great. But tiring!
I have to bring in more clothes so he can be dressed and decent for his sojourns to the gym.
He really seemed to like the plant, so that was a hit. Telling him it was related to the pineapple and that it should remind him of palm trees went down well I think.
He got a package yesterday -- the political book whose author and title escapes me -- a pressie from...er, sorry, can't remember that either -- it came through Amazon and there was a nice little card, but my mind is not letting me remember and I don't want to thank the wrong people. But thank you, you know who you are! It is 11 CDs, I think a book he had started to read. I only opened it the last minute before I left last night so I forgot to plant the information in my long-term memory!
My letter yesterday almost got lost to the great computer in the sky and crashed my email program. When I got it back the last bit was missing, but then it was long anyway. What I had said was a personal story. Some years ago my mother fell and broke both her wrists. She was walking across the floor to answer the door and slipped on a pile of magazines! My dad had to take care of her and he told me on one of my visits, after she had died, that he had learned such a valuable lesson from that incident. He had told her he would never do dishes when they got married back in 1938! And he never did until she fell. As you can imagine, she was totally helpless with two broken wrists, and he had to do EVERYTHING for her. What he said was so precious -- he said he had never realized before what a joy it was to take care of someone and he was sorry he had not learned that earlier and done more for her and for us over the years. He understood how wonderful it must be to be a mother and to care for a baby 24/7 as it was such a loving thing to do. I was very touched by that and thought how great that he could learn this in his 70s! It also taught me not to leave piles of magazines on the floor and to walk very carefully!! So 'mind your step' as they say here in England and as Graham says regularly now, 'be careful'.
As far as the iPod is concerned, what a lovely idea. I think he would appreciate it from one point of view, but he is not yet ready to spend a lot of time listening to books. I would like to ask you to wait for a week or two and see how he is getting on for a number of reasons. for one thing, right now we are having trouble finding places for all his things as he has such a tiny space to put his belongings -- the picture I sent shows the little cupboard on the left of his bed -- it has a miniscule hanging spot and there is not enough room for all the clothes, or his shoes in that. He has two drawers -- one has all the toiletries and so forth, the other has two CD holders, paper, envelopes and so forth. The bottom cupboard had the package in it and then has other things. There is food for him there and it is scattered around and now two plants. Not really much room!
For another thing, I know an iPod is not that big, but if you could hold off for a while I think that would be good. It is something to look forward to in the not too distant future. He would not be able to work it himself which might be quite frustrating. It is so tiny we would have to work it for him, and when we are visiting him he wants to talk to us and hear us read him letters. I hope you can understand that it might be frustrating to him at the moment.
It is so lovely you are thinking of him and how to help him from afar. Your continuing contact is so important to him. As I said in yesterday's email, we thing he would benefit so much more for the time being from phone calls, even if they are only short -- the nurses will bring the phone and hold it for him. He does perk up with the personal touch. I know you all want to do something and that would be the greatest gift. Just take care the timing of the call. I think Airasa gave instructions about the number and time in a previous email. Just 5-10 minutes on the phone every few days would be great. It would be like a visit and should not be that expensive from there. There is no surcharge on the phone number she sent (like there was at the LGI phone).
They will eventually get him an electric wheelchair and teach him how to use a joy stick. They have this wrist brace already which holds his arm and hand tight and straight and it would help him to move a joy stick. I know getting out of the bed in the chair and going to a different place yesterday was a great adventure for him. The ceiling is very boring!
I believe he is improving on a microscopic level. I think he is keeping his spirits up and doing the best he can to image his injury to be healing.
I left him last night watching rugby on the TV and he seemed as content as he can be in the situation he is in.
I continue to print out any messages to him and appreciate all the love and support you are sending. I believe the vibes get here and help him. Thank you all for your continuing love.
I write long letters because I still type 90 wpm and always have lots to say! Don't feel you have to write long letters like I do! Those of you who know me probably know I can't help myself.
OK, everyone, take care and kind regards to you all.
Mind your Step!!!
Love and peace,
Linda
Well I didn't go in to see Graham until the very end of the day and it was probably as well as they had him up yesterday and took him to the gym! They strapped him into the wheel chair and took him to the gym and then they strapped him into this machine that will help exercise his muscles. It was sort of a bicycle thing, but not like we know it, apparently. The foot pedals hold his feet and then the legs ride round and round by the machine, first forward and then backward. They strapped his hands as well and they went back and forth I think. I am not really clear because he was pretty tired when I got there (actually he was snoozing when I got there!). He says he is meant to help push and pull the hand things and that it was very tiring. But he needs to build up his strength now.
I think it is great they are getting him up now -- he says they aim to do it twice a day. They must keep his muscles moving or he will lose them altogether I suspect. It would be as if, for example, being in a cast and not able to move a broken leg for example, and when the cast comes off the leg muscles are a bit withered away and have to be built up again. I know they move his body in the bed, but I think these exercises will be great. But tiring!
I have to bring in more clothes so he can be dressed and decent for his sojourns to the gym.
He really seemed to like the plant, so that was a hit. Telling him it was related to the pineapple and that it should remind him of palm trees went down well I think.
He got a package yesterday -- the political book whose author and title escapes me -- a pressie from...er, sorry, can't remember that either -- it came through Amazon and there was a nice little card, but my mind is not letting me remember and I don't want to thank the wrong people. But thank you, you know who you are! It is 11 CDs, I think a book he had started to read. I only opened it the last minute before I left last night so I forgot to plant the information in my long-term memory!
My letter yesterday almost got lost to the great computer in the sky and crashed my email program. When I got it back the last bit was missing, but then it was long anyway. What I had said was a personal story. Some years ago my mother fell and broke both her wrists. She was walking across the floor to answer the door and slipped on a pile of magazines! My dad had to take care of her and he told me on one of my visits, after she had died, that he had learned such a valuable lesson from that incident. He had told her he would never do dishes when they got married back in 1938! And he never did until she fell. As you can imagine, she was totally helpless with two broken wrists, and he had to do EVERYTHING for her. What he said was so precious -- he said he had never realized before what a joy it was to take care of someone and he was sorry he had not learned that earlier and done more for her and for us over the years. He understood how wonderful it must be to be a mother and to care for a baby 24/7 as it was such a loving thing to do. I was very touched by that and thought how great that he could learn this in his 70s! It also taught me not to leave piles of magazines on the floor and to walk very carefully!! So 'mind your step' as they say here in England and as Graham says regularly now, 'be careful'.
As far as the iPod is concerned, what a lovely idea. I think he would appreciate it from one point of view, but he is not yet ready to spend a lot of time listening to books. I would like to ask you to wait for a week or two and see how he is getting on for a number of reasons. for one thing, right now we are having trouble finding places for all his things as he has such a tiny space to put his belongings -- the picture I sent shows the little cupboard on the left of his bed -- it has a miniscule hanging spot and there is not enough room for all the clothes, or his shoes in that. He has two drawers -- one has all the toiletries and so forth, the other has two CD holders, paper, envelopes and so forth. The bottom cupboard had the package in it and then has other things. There is food for him there and it is scattered around and now two plants. Not really much room!
For another thing, I know an iPod is not that big, but if you could hold off for a while I think that would be good. It is something to look forward to in the not too distant future. He would not be able to work it himself which might be quite frustrating. It is so tiny we would have to work it for him, and when we are visiting him he wants to talk to us and hear us read him letters. I hope you can understand that it might be frustrating to him at the moment.
It is so lovely you are thinking of him and how to help him from afar. Your continuing contact is so important to him. As I said in yesterday's email, we thing he would benefit so much more for the time being from phone calls, even if they are only short -- the nurses will bring the phone and hold it for him. He does perk up with the personal touch. I know you all want to do something and that would be the greatest gift. Just take care the timing of the call. I think Airasa gave instructions about the number and time in a previous email. Just 5-10 minutes on the phone every few days would be great. It would be like a visit and should not be that expensive from there. There is no surcharge on the phone number she sent (like there was at the LGI phone).
They will eventually get him an electric wheelchair and teach him how to use a joy stick. They have this wrist brace already which holds his arm and hand tight and straight and it would help him to move a joy stick. I know getting out of the bed in the chair and going to a different place yesterday was a great adventure for him. The ceiling is very boring!
I believe he is improving on a microscopic level. I think he is keeping his spirits up and doing the best he can to image his injury to be healing.
I left him last night watching rugby on the TV and he seemed as content as he can be in the situation he is in.
I continue to print out any messages to him and appreciate all the love and support you are sending. I believe the vibes get here and help him. Thank you all for your continuing love.
I write long letters because I still type 90 wpm and always have lots to say! Don't feel you have to write long letters like I do! Those of you who know me probably know I can't help myself.
OK, everyone, take care and kind regards to you all.
Mind your Step!!!
Love and peace,
Linda
posted by Fearless Leader Sue at 11:11 AM
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