December 2010 London
BLOG 49: new steps
There’s a bed available in the rehab home! OH is taking the next big step to recovery! Onward and upward!
He’s now settled in his new bedroom and looking distinctly perkier. When the physios come round to take him on a walk around the corridors, there’s no saying “no”; they just smile and get him up anyway. It’s hard for him say no to such charming young women! There are rails along all walls to encourage patients to walk by themselves and a little ‘bridge’ with four steps up to a little platform and four steps down the other side to help patients practice climbing stairs, plus many other aids. The food is also a lot better than hospital. A few weeks here should do OH a lot of good: Doctor Daughter says that he needs a minimum of four weeks here followed by continued rehab at home.
I have to get used to the idea that I’m not really a practicing artist any more, nor an art teacher; my primary role will now be as a carer – at least for the foreseeable future. But when I think depressing thoughts, I remind myself that it could be much worse: better to have some of the old OH than no OH at all. And the fact is, I see small improvements day by day. For example, he’s now speaking a bit, admittedly in a croaky whispery voice, but words are words. Nobody can tell me why his voice is affected (“give it time!”) – it’s just one more thing I could worry about, so it’s also one more thing that I’ll worry about later, not now (I’m taking a leaf out of Scarlett O’Hara’s book). Same with the villa: no emails, no news, no photos. I give it a fleeting thought, but instinctively, I feel that L knows I have other things on my mind and that is giving her the excuse not to bother taking the short trip to Koca Calis to take photos to update me. My guess is that the villa is progressing but very slowly. One day soon, I think, I’ll send her a really nasty email about lack of communication, but right now, I haven’t the energy. Right now, I’m thinking about what to do about my return to College and how I’ll cope once OH comes home.
. . . to be continued . . .usually posted on Thursday
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