Progress, even if still fuzzy
Dear friends, family and general loved ones all,
I understand that Airasa and Linda continue to provide updates for you lot, but I rarely see them, so I may very well be telling you things that you already know. If so, just regard such comments as entertainment, as they will be made in my voice rather than theirs.
Last Wednesday past, I had my 'Mini Case Conference', which wasn't all that 'mini' in the event, as representatives of every relevant group concerning my care/situation was there, except for someone from the financial office. Well, maybe that was enough to make it a 'mini' case conference after all!
The gathering went pretty much as expected, as each rep said pretty much what I had been told in previous days at different times. Mr Jamil said that, insofar as my general health goes, I am stable, also implying that my neurological recovery was as it is, and unlikely to change.
Sister Abraham, representing the nurses, reported that my vulnerable skin region was fine, something I had been hearing from her and others quite gratefully and joyfully for the past three or four days. I continue to hear this judgement on my bum and so I continue to feel grateful and joyful. Indeed, last night I was up in my chair for a solid 9 and a half hours. I did feel impelled to speak out that I had been battling vulnerable skin for some time, not entirely sure the source of this impulse, but I think it had something to do with making clear that my fine skin had not been going on for a long time and without a fair amount of effort.
The liaison nurse, as expected, had nothing to say as she is not involved with my transition to the community of Santa Barbara-Goleta. Too bad for her, because if she were so involved, she would have to make a number of trips to my home community to ensure that reintegration was proceeding smoothly.
Vicky, of occupational therapy, reported that I was making progress with brushing my teeth and washing my chest and face. She also reported that I had been working on the computer using the roller ball mouse and hand sticks but that I tire easily so that we had moved to working with voice activated program (Dragon 6.0) and was doing quite well -- better than they had seen in years, in fact. She also mentioned I was doing these things 'with assistance' and believe you me, they all do, especially brushing the teeth and washing my face and chest. She also remarked that I was back up to speed with feeding myself; true, but the time that setting me up and taking me down takes almost as much time as simply feeding me would do. I say this not as a criticism but as an illustration of the curious independence I am developing in that everything I do on my own requires significant assistance.
Even reading the newspaper or a magazine requires, beyond the hoisting me into my chair and positioning me properly, proper placement of a table, putting the newspaper on the table, and putting on my pushing gloves (I use the friction pads to turn the pages). It is true, once I am in my chair, that I could, and have done on a couple of occasions, propel myself to the patients' lounge and onward to a table at which point I can, with some effort, put the reading material on the table and be on my merry reading way. However, I still haven't managed to propel myself completely over the aluminum door strip and once I am done reading, I don't have the ability yet to back up and turn myself around to propel myself out of the patients' lounge back to my bed.
Anyway, Vicky also mentioned that we were working on giving myself a drink, but that it would still require using a straw. I am also working with her on devising a way for me to write/sign my name. Another point she made, which caused Linda to yelp in excitement, "Wow, I didn't realize you were writing your name -- no more X's??" This last is exciting, but 'working on' is the operative term because we are a long ways from my doing so.
Jane, sitting in for Simon, my principal physiotherapist, said they had concluded I had reached the plateau of my physical capabilities and therefore had reduced my time in the gym from 5 to 3 sessions a week. (They wanted to cut me to 2, but I protested that this was too drastic, and said that if they had to cut it that 3 seemed a much more reasonable number.) The reduced time in the gym, in their view, was simply to maintain the level I had reached. I said, "I strongly disagree," explaining, as best I could in a non-provocative way, that I had been doing a number of different things before I had the skin problem cycle, with which I felt I was making progress and could continue to make progress if I could continue to do them.
Lastly, the issue of repatriation was discussed. In a nutshell, we reached consensus that it was in US government's hands. Where things stand today is that the embassy person handling this matter is going to try to persuade my original commercial carrier (KLM/Northwest Airlines) to make accommodation for my return and, if they are not agreeable, to proceed down the list of airlines until she finds one who will. Engaging an Air Ambulance is too expensive so I suppose it's conceivable that I would be in England indefinitely, in the unlikely event that no airline would be willing to cooperate with the Feds.
So, we don't know when I'll be returning, but it's highly unlikely to be sooner than two weeks for a number of reasons. For purposes of the documentary film Linda has written you about, it would be good for this process to take two or three months! For myself, I can only say that I am both anxious to get home and scared sh*tl*ss about the process, while also feeling quite gloomy about living in England despite the presence here of the most precious person in my life and having the opportunity to have frequent personal contact with her, rather than every year or two.
As far as my medical state goes, the staphlophorous infection on my leg is healed and the dry patches on my face and arms are sufficiently so that I am no longer treating them. I still am treating some dry skin on my front shoulders and using another cream to help reduce the pain in my shoulders. The excitement about my good skin in that vulnerable area goes beyond being able to sit up for an extended period of time; I am also able to lie on my back when I am in bed, for up to six hours during sleep time. For at least two months, I have been sentenced to being just on one side or the other when in bed, which treatment for my unfine skin I'm sure thrashed my shoulders a bit.
Otherwise I continue to be healthy, eating tiresome English hospital food, struggling through my therapies, chatting with a variety of patients and nurses, and doing my best when I am in bed to nurture my mental health through listening to music or watching baseball games or movies, using my headphones in both cases, as a way to battle the incessant ambient noise. (Even in the middle of the night, when we are supposedly all sleeping peacefully, the noise never lets up, however diminished it is compared to the day; I doubt I get any more than 3 hours of truly uninterrupted sleep at any time or more than two such stretches at night.)
Linda told me last night that she had predicted, when she moved to England nearly a quarter of a century ago, that England was going to be like America in 20 years. Certainly with the terrorist outbreaks of recent weeks and the uproar over increased drinking hours and binge drinking -- to mention only two subjects -- I can well appreciate the validity of her prophecy. Although it seems more the result of panic and the determination to be doing something about the terror threat, than seizing a golden opportunity to implement long-desired repressive measures, as was the case in America, Blair's torrent of initiatives to combat Islamic extremism, is rushing down the same authoritarian (a column in the 'New Statesman' - a British magazine - used the term fascistic) road on which the US has gone quite a ways. It has also been quite upsetting to learn that the quiet British occupation of southern Iraq is simply the result of the Brits reaching an unspoken accommodation with the Shia religious hardliners, that they won't press the question of equal rights/true democracy, if they don't attack British forces.
The news otherwise is very much what one would expect in the US -- lots of crime stories and scandals. My favorite recent scandal concerns a corporate executive in his early 60s, who went to hospital for a triple heart bypass operation and had the unexpected pleasure of all three of his wives showing up at his bedside at the same time. Haven't seen a follow up story yet, but it appears that he's resolved the situation by going to the police and pleading guilty to two counts of bigamy and instituting divorce proceedings for his last two wives, whom he had married in the last few years. He decided not to divorce his first wife, although they had been separated for many years, out of compassion for the trauma it would cause her (they have two, possibly three, children).
Dinnertime is fast approaching (well, I guess I should say 'tea time') so I'll close with the good news that it's highly likely that Airasa, Ian and I will have a day out together in Leeds on the 21st touring The Royal Armouries. Presently, they are having a wonderful time in Ireland (Donaghadee, Newcastle, Enniskillen, Donegal, and back to Donaghadee on the way home). I'm so glad that they will be able to enjoy their holiday and return to some time with me before I have to catch a flight.
I know from the various communications you all are having adventures and challenges of your own and I just want to reiterate again, before I say farewell, how important to my recovery all the things you are doing for me, however small it might seem to any one of you.
Fare thee all well.
Love
Me
I understand that Airasa and Linda continue to provide updates for you lot, but I rarely see them, so I may very well be telling you things that you already know. If so, just regard such comments as entertainment, as they will be made in my voice rather than theirs.
Last Wednesday past, I had my 'Mini Case Conference', which wasn't all that 'mini' in the event, as representatives of every relevant group concerning my care/situation was there, except for someone from the financial office. Well, maybe that was enough to make it a 'mini' case conference after all!
The gathering went pretty much as expected, as each rep said pretty much what I had been told in previous days at different times. Mr Jamil said that, insofar as my general health goes, I am stable, also implying that my neurological recovery was as it is, and unlikely to change.
Sister Abraham, representing the nurses, reported that my vulnerable skin region was fine, something I had been hearing from her and others quite gratefully and joyfully for the past three or four days. I continue to hear this judgement on my bum and so I continue to feel grateful and joyful. Indeed, last night I was up in my chair for a solid 9 and a half hours. I did feel impelled to speak out that I had been battling vulnerable skin for some time, not entirely sure the source of this impulse, but I think it had something to do with making clear that my fine skin had not been going on for a long time and without a fair amount of effort.
The liaison nurse, as expected, had nothing to say as she is not involved with my transition to the community of Santa Barbara-Goleta. Too bad for her, because if she were so involved, she would have to make a number of trips to my home community to ensure that reintegration was proceeding smoothly.
Vicky, of occupational therapy, reported that I was making progress with brushing my teeth and washing my chest and face. She also reported that I had been working on the computer using the roller ball mouse and hand sticks but that I tire easily so that we had moved to working with voice activated program (Dragon 6.0) and was doing quite well -- better than they had seen in years, in fact. She also mentioned I was doing these things 'with assistance' and believe you me, they all do, especially brushing the teeth and washing my face and chest. She also remarked that I was back up to speed with feeding myself; true, but the time that setting me up and taking me down takes almost as much time as simply feeding me would do. I say this not as a criticism but as an illustration of the curious independence I am developing in that everything I do on my own requires significant assistance.
Even reading the newspaper or a magazine requires, beyond the hoisting me into my chair and positioning me properly, proper placement of a table, putting the newspaper on the table, and putting on my pushing gloves (I use the friction pads to turn the pages). It is true, once I am in my chair, that I could, and have done on a couple of occasions, propel myself to the patients' lounge and onward to a table at which point I can, with some effort, put the reading material on the table and be on my merry reading way. However, I still haven't managed to propel myself completely over the aluminum door strip and once I am done reading, I don't have the ability yet to back up and turn myself around to propel myself out of the patients' lounge back to my bed.
Anyway, Vicky also mentioned that we were working on giving myself a drink, but that it would still require using a straw. I am also working with her on devising a way for me to write/sign my name. Another point she made, which caused Linda to yelp in excitement, "Wow, I didn't realize you were writing your name -- no more X's??" This last is exciting, but 'working on' is the operative term because we are a long ways from my doing so.
Jane, sitting in for Simon, my principal physiotherapist, said they had concluded I had reached the plateau of my physical capabilities and therefore had reduced my time in the gym from 5 to 3 sessions a week. (They wanted to cut me to 2, but I protested that this was too drastic, and said that if they had to cut it that 3 seemed a much more reasonable number.) The reduced time in the gym, in their view, was simply to maintain the level I had reached. I said, "I strongly disagree," explaining, as best I could in a non-provocative way, that I had been doing a number of different things before I had the skin problem cycle, with which I felt I was making progress and could continue to make progress if I could continue to do them.
Lastly, the issue of repatriation was discussed. In a nutshell, we reached consensus that it was in US government's hands. Where things stand today is that the embassy person handling this matter is going to try to persuade my original commercial carrier (KLM/Northwest Airlines) to make accommodation for my return and, if they are not agreeable, to proceed down the list of airlines until she finds one who will. Engaging an Air Ambulance is too expensive so I suppose it's conceivable that I would be in England indefinitely, in the unlikely event that no airline would be willing to cooperate with the Feds.
So, we don't know when I'll be returning, but it's highly unlikely to be sooner than two weeks for a number of reasons. For purposes of the documentary film Linda has written you about, it would be good for this process to take two or three months! For myself, I can only say that I am both anxious to get home and scared sh*tl*ss about the process, while also feeling quite gloomy about living in England despite the presence here of the most precious person in my life and having the opportunity to have frequent personal contact with her, rather than every year or two.
As far as my medical state goes, the staphlophorous infection on my leg is healed and the dry patches on my face and arms are sufficiently so that I am no longer treating them. I still am treating some dry skin on my front shoulders and using another cream to help reduce the pain in my shoulders. The excitement about my good skin in that vulnerable area goes beyond being able to sit up for an extended period of time; I am also able to lie on my back when I am in bed, for up to six hours during sleep time. For at least two months, I have been sentenced to being just on one side or the other when in bed, which treatment for my unfine skin I'm sure thrashed my shoulders a bit.
Otherwise I continue to be healthy, eating tiresome English hospital food, struggling through my therapies, chatting with a variety of patients and nurses, and doing my best when I am in bed to nurture my mental health through listening to music or watching baseball games or movies, using my headphones in both cases, as a way to battle the incessant ambient noise. (Even in the middle of the night, when we are supposedly all sleeping peacefully, the noise never lets up, however diminished it is compared to the day; I doubt I get any more than 3 hours of truly uninterrupted sleep at any time or more than two such stretches at night.)
Linda told me last night that she had predicted, when she moved to England nearly a quarter of a century ago, that England was going to be like America in 20 years. Certainly with the terrorist outbreaks of recent weeks and the uproar over increased drinking hours and binge drinking -- to mention only two subjects -- I can well appreciate the validity of her prophecy. Although it seems more the result of panic and the determination to be doing something about the terror threat, than seizing a golden opportunity to implement long-desired repressive measures, as was the case in America, Blair's torrent of initiatives to combat Islamic extremism, is rushing down the same authoritarian (a column in the 'New Statesman' - a British magazine - used the term fascistic) road on which the US has gone quite a ways. It has also been quite upsetting to learn that the quiet British occupation of southern Iraq is simply the result of the Brits reaching an unspoken accommodation with the Shia religious hardliners, that they won't press the question of equal rights/true democracy, if they don't attack British forces.
The news otherwise is very much what one would expect in the US -- lots of crime stories and scandals. My favorite recent scandal concerns a corporate executive in his early 60s, who went to hospital for a triple heart bypass operation and had the unexpected pleasure of all three of his wives showing up at his bedside at the same time. Haven't seen a follow up story yet, but it appears that he's resolved the situation by going to the police and pleading guilty to two counts of bigamy and instituting divorce proceedings for his last two wives, whom he had married in the last few years. He decided not to divorce his first wife, although they had been separated for many years, out of compassion for the trauma it would cause her (they have two, possibly three, children).
Dinnertime is fast approaching (well, I guess I should say 'tea time') so I'll close with the good news that it's highly likely that Airasa, Ian and I will have a day out together in Leeds on the 21st touring The Royal Armouries. Presently, they are having a wonderful time in Ireland (Donaghadee, Newcastle, Enniskillen, Donegal, and back to Donaghadee on the way home). I'm so glad that they will be able to enjoy their holiday and return to some time with me before I have to catch a flight.
I know from the various communications you all are having adventures and challenges of your own and I just want to reiterate again, before I say farewell, how important to my recovery all the things you are doing for me, however small it might seem to any one of you.
Fare thee all well.
Love
Me
posted by Cosmic Sunshine at 5:00 PM
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