A special Christmas present
About a month ago while still in the hospital, Teresa asked me what I wanted for Christmas.
My answer was nothing other than for her to come home for Christmas.
As turned out, my prayers were answered; she's been home for nearly two weeks.
When we first got her discharge date a couple months ago, Teresa began planning ahead. As you would expect, she had many goals in mind, but her three main goals were to: 1. Get home, 2. Decorate the house for Christmas, 3. Cook for Christmas.
As it turned out, she fulfilled just one of those goals. Physically she just isn't ready for the last two.
We haven't really decorated (probably my fault) and we are ordering out for Christmas dinner (for Christmas Eve, as Teresa's mother is here but will leave for home on Christmas Day).
While decorating and cooking was something that Teresa wanted to do desperately at first, she has realized that this year was just too early for her to be able to do that. I expect that to change bext year, knock on wood.
In the meantime, things have gone well for her physically. The last two weeks have been hectic, to say the least. Between home health care aides (twice a day), home health nurses, physical therapy and social work, two different doctor's house calls (only in Wyoming, huh?), along with medical supplies being delivered on a daily basis, it has been a revolving front door.
Our dog Sam has greeted every person who has walked through the door, first with a bark, then with his tail waging a hundred miles an hour. Let's put it this way, he's a 120-pound black lab with the need to be in the way at all times. At the same time, Sam has stayed at Teresa's side since the instant she came home. He missed his Mama, too.
While I earlier said things have gone well physically for Teresa, it's been a little up and down mentally. While it has been very positive to finally come home after being in a hospital for 14 months, it has been a little concerning for Teresa as well. She is worried that her being home will be a burden for everyone. Let's face it, she still is a paraplegic and needs constant care with her medication and everything that the nurses did in her hospital stay. That needs to be done basically 24 hours a day, so sleep can be at a minimum at times.
When she is feeling down, I have to remind her that she is not a burden. She's my wife. She's my life. I take our vows of "for better or for worse" seriously. I have no doubt that if the role was reversed, she would have dropped everything in her life to take care of me. That's just the way she is.
A while back we had agreed to not buy each other gifts for Christmas. A couple days ago I found out that Teresa had talked to a friend about getting presents for me, her daughter Cassie and her mother.
Of course, that meant a quick trip for me to Wal-Mart.
Recently, I had to take my car into the shop for brake work that cost me over $800, which is probably the last thing that we needed as I'm only working part-time and we still have a lot of remodeling to do to get the house right for Teresa's disability. Then Friday we got a Christmas card that appeared to be just another Christmas card. But this card was a little different. Inside was a personal check from a long-time friend of Teresa's for $1,000.
When I showed it to her and told her exactly how much the check was for, she screamed (and cried) like we had just won the lottery.
Except for we already had won the lottery. Teresa was home.
My answer was nothing other than for her to come home for Christmas.
As turned out, my prayers were answered; she's been home for nearly two weeks.
When we first got her discharge date a couple months ago, Teresa began planning ahead. As you would expect, she had many goals in mind, but her three main goals were to: 1. Get home, 2. Decorate the house for Christmas, 3. Cook for Christmas.
As it turned out, she fulfilled just one of those goals. Physically she just isn't ready for the last two.
We haven't really decorated (probably my fault) and we are ordering out for Christmas dinner (for Christmas Eve, as Teresa's mother is here but will leave for home on Christmas Day).
While decorating and cooking was something that Teresa wanted to do desperately at first, she has realized that this year was just too early for her to be able to do that. I expect that to change bext year, knock on wood.
In the meantime, things have gone well for her physically. The last two weeks have been hectic, to say the least. Between home health care aides (twice a day), home health nurses, physical therapy and social work, two different doctor's house calls (only in Wyoming, huh?), along with medical supplies being delivered on a daily basis, it has been a revolving front door.
Our dog Sam has greeted every person who has walked through the door, first with a bark, then with his tail waging a hundred miles an hour. Let's put it this way, he's a 120-pound black lab with the need to be in the way at all times. At the same time, Sam has stayed at Teresa's side since the instant she came home. He missed his Mama, too.
While I earlier said things have gone well physically for Teresa, it's been a little up and down mentally. While it has been very positive to finally come home after being in a hospital for 14 months, it has been a little concerning for Teresa as well. She is worried that her being home will be a burden for everyone. Let's face it, she still is a paraplegic and needs constant care with her medication and everything that the nurses did in her hospital stay. That needs to be done basically 24 hours a day, so sleep can be at a minimum at times.
When she is feeling down, I have to remind her that she is not a burden. She's my wife. She's my life. I take our vows of "for better or for worse" seriously. I have no doubt that if the role was reversed, she would have dropped everything in her life to take care of me. That's just the way she is.
A while back we had agreed to not buy each other gifts for Christmas. A couple days ago I found out that Teresa had talked to a friend about getting presents for me, her daughter Cassie and her mother.
Of course, that meant a quick trip for me to Wal-Mart.
Recently, I had to take my car into the shop for brake work that cost me over $800, which is probably the last thing that we needed as I'm only working part-time and we still have a lot of remodeling to do to get the house right for Teresa's disability. Then Friday we got a Christmas card that appeared to be just another Christmas card. But this card was a little different. Inside was a personal check from a long-time friend of Teresa's for $1,000.
When I showed it to her and told her exactly how much the check was for, she screamed (and cried) like we had just won the lottery.
Except for we already had won the lottery. Teresa was home.
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