BLOG 50: coming home
The good news is: OH will be home for Xmas! (family and friends will be here to welcome him home.)
The bad news is: OH will be home for Xmas! (this is sooner than I expected – I’m not ready. There’s so much more he needs to be able to do before coming home. Three weeks in rehab is just not enough. He needs more time. I need more time. Help!)
A week before Xmas, the occupational therapist visits our home to see if it is suitable for OH’s imminent return.
She looks at the staircase which has a lovely purple-silk rope looped on the left-hand wall, held in place by brass fastenings. There's no support on the right-hand wall. The stair carpet is green, the walls white. We’ve had the looped rope for ages and never thought twice about it except when it needed cleaning. It looks attractive and gives the entrance hall/stairs ‘character’.
“No – “ she says, pulling at it, “this will have to go”.
Seeing the surprised look on my face, she adds:
“You’ll need to take this down and replace it with proper banisters – on both sides”.
The artist in me gives an inner groan. The practical me gulps: I've only a week to get this done. Continuing upstairs, she looks at our bathroom: “he’ll have difficulty getting in and out of the bath – we’ll supply you with a bath seat – oh, and you’ll need to put a bath rail into the wall – that will help. A shower would be better. “
“OH prefers baths.” I say weakly, thinking – this is what being a ‘carer’ is all about.
She then looks thoughtfully at our bedroom, fairly narrow landing and the nearby stairs.
“He would be isolated upstairs if he sleeps in the bedroom. I think it’s too dangerous for him to attempt the stairs at the moment.”
“Even with the bannisters?” I ask.
“Even with the bannisters.” She replies firmly. “It would be best if you put a bed downstairs until he is stronger. That would encourage him to get up and walk around, and he’d be part of whatever is going on. He’ll need a frame for walking support until he’s stronger, of course.”
Of course.
So. Mad rush to get the bannisters put in, to transfer a bed from one of the bedrooms and install it in the rear lounge (glad that we have sufficient room downstairs for this - plenty of spare beds now that the children have moved out), and to clear out some downstairs cupboards to accommodate his clothes and toiletries. For the few months it seems we are entitled to local authority home support once a day to help him in the mornings or evenings. Thinking of my fairly imminent return to work (will this be possible?), I choose mornings.
OH is coming home!
. . . to be continued . . .usually posted on Thursday