Marc settled into his new space in his room very well. He’s enjoying the view and now that they have managed to point the cold air vent away from him, things are quite cozy.
He did call me last night complaining that his new roommate was snoring so loud, he couldn’t fall asleep. I tried to be sympathetic but after years of listening to Marc snore like a chainsaw, I’m afraid I wasn’t quite as empathetic as I could have been. He wanted tips to help him sleep but other than sending the guy down the hall to the spare room, I was at a loss. Okay, that and ear plugs. Hopefully tonight will be better for him.
I talked to Marc’s physiotherapist about the botched wheelchair transfer yesterday and she said that she is going to tell the nurses that I’m now allowed to help him transfer to and from the bed and in the washroom. She said I’ve been watching all his transfer lessons and will be just fine helping him. We found that much handier and I’m sure the nurses are happy with one less thing to do while I’m there.
We got new exercises to help Marc’s ankle control that we can do when he’s not in physio. It’s amazing how many muscles the brain has to cue in our bodies from moment to moment, just to perform a simple movement like moving your ankle to one side. It gives me a whole new appreciation for my brain.
Perception is a funny thing. When Marc called me this morning, he was worried about his new roommate. The gentleman had a stroke Monday and according to Marc, he’s in very bad shape. He couldn’t figure out why they hadn’t sent him to Sunnybrook and why he was on the rehab floor already. I explained that they would have only sent him to Sunnybrook if he’d also had a bleed and needed surgery.
“But he’s in worse shape than I was in,” he said. “They came in this morning to talk to him and he’s not responsive. They asked him to move his arm and his leg and he couldn’t.”
This afternoon when I was visiting, the gentleman in the next bed was awake and talking to his wife. Marc’s perception of unresponsive is very different from mine.
While we were visiting in the food court, Marc again brought it up to his father and me. He of course has no idea what he looked like for so long and forgets that when he first started rehab at Sunnybrook, he had just gotten his breathing tube out an hour or two before and that his left arm and leg weren’t moving at all.
The Marc now is well on his way to recovery. Perhaps it’s a good thing that he isn’t really aware of how sick he was. Any stroke is a very scary thing but Marc was well beyond that and to think he has come this far only one month later is mind boggling when I stop to think about it.
Marc sees himself as he is right now and sees where he is going, as far as recovery. Those days of clinging to life will be part of our memories, not his. That’s exactly the perception I want for him at this time.
His mind is protecting him while his brain is re-learning, I guess. If we could feel the intensity of past hurts and joys, we'd all be overwhelmed. And it's probably a good thing that we don't know how tough the challenges are going to be, otherwise we just might not undertake them.
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