Somebody's been holding out on us. To be fair, I knew we were being duped, because I knew what was being taught at Magee. BUT, that doesn't mean I wasn't completely shocked when Shannon not only almost completely dressed herself in the morning, but then proceeded to almost transfer herself from her bed to her chair later in the day AND THEN....to top it off, Thursday night showed Krisha how she gets turned in bed. (I'm sorry...why are WE here?) How this all happened in one day can’t be explained. Except that she’s Wolverine. I mean- she has all that super power metal in her back now, so it’s completely plausible.
Thursday marked 2 weeks home for Shannon. We have definitely had our up and down days. To be perfectly honest, we have our up and down hours each day. We decided together that we have her schedule well enough handled that it's time to start adding back in more of Shannon's independent occupational tasks.
It's super hard to get into a routine in a new place, and we are still working on it, so we are adding one thing at a time. Thursday it was "see how much you can dress yourself without becoming exhausted". Have you ever tried to put on pants when you can't lift up your foot/leg? or even stand up, for that matter? OR....sit without holding on? Give it a try. Don't use any of your leg or abdominal muscles. It's an upper body workout for sure. It's probably pretty impossible for you to not use your abdominal muscles because you use them without thinking about it at all. She did a fantastic job!
Then her transfers went super well, with us assisting probably at 5-10%. It won't be long before she can do it on her own. I'm guessing by the end of July she won't need our help. We shall see if that happens. Our friend Leslie came over to do art with Shannon. The nieces and Krisha joined in for acrylic pouring. They turned out super cute. I....don't have photos. Sorry. You'll have to trust me.
Thursday night we were doing her bedtime routine when K wandered in. I joked about her having to start helping with Shannon's night time turning. K didn't want me to teach her how to do it. So Shannon volunteered to demonstrate. I was floored. The ONLY thing Shannon couldn't do was properly adjust her legs with the pillows and get the wedge that keeps her on her side placed right. My jaw was on the floor. Holding out. Completely. Of course now that we know- sleeping beauty might have to started waking up at 3am and turning on her side all by herself with minimal assistance.
K was heading out the next morning for her grand adventure on her own, so it was snuggle time with Shannon. K was less than thrilled with the idea, but I think she loved it. What do you think?
I'm also supposed to mention that Lancer caught and then released into the wild, one of the baby groundhogs living under our porch. And....of course, the police were involved for the second night in a row. He got caught releasing it at the township building property. When the cop asked what he was doing, he told him he was relocating a ground hog, and the cop said that was a good idea, and left him to finish. It's so nice to know the police are checking to make sure we are doing well with all of our extracurricular activities. :)
Friday was hard- for me. Putting my youngest on an unaccompanied minor flight was rough- and the mommy guilt level was extremely high. I'm really struggling to be everything for everyone. It’s a hard place to be when you need help just being a mom. I don't know how all you amazing women work full time and parent. I struggle to keep it together *just* with the parent part.
There was a hot mess situation in Denver at the airport. Krisha texted me to tell me they were taking her off the plane. I texted back that in no uncertain terms were they taking her off the plane without consulting me! UM's can't fly on flights with connections, unless they stay aboard the plane that continues to the destination. So I told her to stay on unless someone from the airline called me to explain what was happening. A few minutes later I got a call from a guy who said he was with the airline. He said she was getting off, and didn't seem to have confident answers to my questions about the reason why, who would be with her, and would she make her connection to AZ. K stopped responding to my texts and didn't answer when I called her phone. Then my friend who is supposed to pick her up in AZ told me the airline called her to see if she was at the airport to get K. IN DENVER. K's flight to AZ was currently boarding, and someone was apparently expecting her to be picked up in Denver?!!
I called the number the guy had called from and got SOME RANDOM BANK. A person, from a bank answered the phone. For reals. If you think I remained calm, you are dead wrong. Have you seen the movie TAKEN?????? Well, I HAVE! Freaking out would be a good description of my next move. After several calls which were basically a wild goose chase of trying to find her, and a lot of panic, we found out that the plane had mechanical issues and they were changing planes for the remainder of the flight. Yes, an airline employee was with K, yes she got put on the correct flight (sorry for the miscommunication, and that we didn't bother reading her boarding pass or travel documents attached to her required lanyard around her NECK) I also had a chat with K about answering her phone when I called during this kind of situation. Four hours later, my friend sent me a photo of her with Krisha, which was the best thing I had seen all day. (Whew!)
Friday was also dual therapy day for Shannon. She had PT and OT together. I had a little chat with the therapists before they met with her reminding them that she’s an adults, she has a brain injury in addition to her spinal injury, and that they need to have a plan for Shannon instead of giving her a bunch of options to choose from. The therapy went well.
Never a dull moment at the Seaman home, but dull sounds so dreamy right now!
Please pray for Shannon to be able to keep working hard with her therapies and daily independence, for her to stop suffering from struggles with regulating her body temperature, and her neck and shoulder pain to subside.
- Hades : I can't believe this guy! I throw everything I've got at him, and it doesn't even...[Hades notices Pain is wearing Air-Hercs]Hades : What... are... those?Pain : Um, I don't know. I-I thought they looked kinda dashing...Hades : [slowly burns up] I've got 24 hours to get rid of this... bozo, or the entire scheme I've been setting up for 18 years goes up in smoke, and YOU ARE WEARING HIS MERCHANDISE?[Hades hears a noise, and sees Panic slurping some "Herculade"]Panic : [chuckles nervously] Thirsty?[Hades screams, and blows up a volcano]Disney’s Hercules
Comments
Post a Comment