traveling up and down the blind highway

Well I have been home for 10 days and I received a PT evaluation. No OT . Good thing I didn’t wait for bath instructions. A PT did call last week but his Indian accent and quiet voice would have made it difficult to follow directions. His solution”,”I will just show her” With a totally blind person that means manipulation. I wanted nothing to do with that. You have to advocate for yourself. A reasonable accommodation. is the ability to hear and understand the therapist. I am a co-worker in my therapy sessions.

Now a poem of how some therapy sessions sound.

Go right…no the other right . Turn 180 degrees…keep turning go straight and go forward faster…no! stop you are veering to the left straighten out turn, turn, turn, turn,I have completed a 360 and am totally disoriented Sigh.. this is progress?

Healing gives you surplus time on your hands to pause, dream and remember. I find I think of being able to see . Especially, when I find I have maneuvered my walker into the living room for the third time . I sigh and think about my childhood .I had two old apple trees left from an orchard. One was tall and difficult for me to climb. I used it to escape from the neighbor’s goose.The other tree was in the middle of the yard. It’s branches were low and easy to climb. I loved to climb, sit and pretend that I had a real tree house. When Mother called me to the house, I jumped down into the green grass sea to swim to the house. I loved that tree and would explore each section of the tree with a loving touch.

The Old Apple Tree
In the backyard of my childhood home,stood a gnarled tree, a survivor from an ancient orchard. It’s branches invited me to climb and play. I would imagine that this was my island home in a sea of green .One branch was perfect to recline to read a book.Another long branch invited me to nap.There was a stump of a branch that made a perfect table for my precious treasures.These, I hid in the tree’s hollow.I would spend long afternoons relaxing in the shade of this tree.When I was hungry, I would pick several ripening fruit.I felt safe, protected and hidden from the world.In this place , I could allow my imagination to roam.

Sent from my iPad

My Mother used to tell me,”All in good time or time will heal” I have ample time to reflect on the issue of time and healing. I have found that time varies in how quickly time passes. The more I interacted with others, I didn’t notice the passage of time. Constructive work makes time pass quickly.What can we make from this time? If you have to go through a time of pain and healing, concentrate on others , not yourself. It will keep you connected and you will find you feel better.I was thinking of healthy food and I desired an apple. Here is my poem about apples. Read in good health!
applessweet, tart or juicy red, yellow,green round globesSliced or cut in half, revealing seed star

It is with sadness and joy thatI bid farewell to this life change. I have not asked for this but accepted it.

I wish to thank friends daily and the staff for teaching and sharing

I also wish to Thank John for keeping the phone and talkin to this coffee deprive wife early in the day.You and I have been through a lot.

Finally Thank you to the readers of this topic Thank you with all my heart.

Things can wreak a body

one step a slip or fall

there you are in a new world

of pain, hurt for you and your love ones

You strive to return to what you were

knowin that you are changed

You seek strength in all you touch

But you put your hope in the healer of all

Thank you all for your healing touch

Sleep is important .Wake up

  I know that hospitals run on a 24 hour schedule  I do not .When I am told that the staff is finished for the night I believe what I am told.

  I slip into sleepwear and package the hearing aids for the night. I sleep deeply and am startled several times a night performing certain tasks . I have to point to the ears and wake up while I put in the hearing aids. I am not disturbed with vitals and shots but yesterday, I was startled with a head close to mine she said that I had stopped breathing and was holding an inhale it scared me and i couldn’t get to sleep afterwards.

  I still have to tell staff, even blind , I can be startled .

  Lord lay me down to sleep

don’t disturb me in the nest

if you call I won’t reply

hearin aids are packed away

allow sleep to heal and cure

I will call you for the rest.

may 20 2020i will be going home with more that i planned on i have a bladder infection This could e due in part, to long use of catheterWhen i arrived at the hospital all i wanted was pain relief and a drained bladder. A week later and I am working to do this simple task I suspect that I had the infection before I came to the hospital , I would not want to learn to self-catheter as a blind person. I have had my share of poor and good draining.I hope to be discharged by Saturday.

hard day walker shuffle are push off from the weak leg I look ahead towards. my goal homeward

i take my body to the repair shop to fix recent dents and bumpsthe doctor said “ do you have an ulcer “We can fix that we would like to study it”Also you may have sleep apnea
i protest’ this is a four door not a Ferrari,Give me the 29.99 special!
As my time here in medical lockdown is coming to an end, I find that other medical issues are being found to bring to my attention to try to resolve.In the middle of the night , they would like to insert oxygen to help with sleep apnea. It irritates my nose and interrupts my sleep. My doctor said it would go down in my notes but not worked on now.The issue of the bleeding ulcer is one that they would like to resolve. They took samples and want to study it. I said, Just help heal it and I will moniter the issue. Once doctors have you in their system, they want to fix all of you. I find that I am an older model and don’t mind a few nicks and scratches. Just give me the standard fix and we will call it good.Tomorrow, getting to leave lockdown.

fix and we will call it good.Tomorrow, getting to leave lockdown.

Spring scents in misty morns-crisp on the outside but sterile withinI long to feel the breeze lift my tendrils as the risen sun warms thecheeks and hands looking forward to the day

last evening , I had a low hemoglobins count and a dark stool. I thought about the questionts they asked “did you see the color?” “Have you had blood on your paper?” Now as a blind. person, I have not checked this nor asked John to do so What does a single blind person do?I ended up with a bleeding ulcer. But it could be worse.It is so important for all of us to stay up to date on our health. I could have had this issue for months. How would I know?As an aside, I was tested for the corona virus before I was given an upper GI. To keep the doctors safe.O beautiful waves of. grass encased in plexiglass

I was told that I had a rest day today. The hospital’s idea of a rest day is to get up and try to use the restroom every half an hour. Muscles stretch, arm are used arms to propel my body forward into the bathroom. I have faith that staff will team me right from left.As the day progresses, my hemoglobins drops and i need a blood transfusion . They will check my upper GI tomorrow.But wait, tomorrow is Sunday. and during the pandemic , they are scrambling to find a doctor to preform the GI.If this is their idea of rest,give me a full therapy day.

haiku dark waiting alone with my thoughts losing time
Tomorrow I will tell the outcome.

Many of us when we go to the hospital, try to eat a diet that will promote healing. We don’t always make good choices . Here comes the dietitian . . I tried to pick foods that I like and were easier to eat. last night was the worst . I ordered squash because veggies usually come in a small bowl. They took up half the plate and were between me and the macaroni and cheese. I kept finding ii with my fingers. The coffee and all drinks ar refilled to the top. Not easy to drink. I wear a towel and use 3 napkins.Meal time makes it harder to maintain independence.Tommorow I will write of home care planning.

food acrostic poem

I reach for what awaited ,could be bacon, or squashoh no! the toast in in the coffee. I give up