That’s what I had decided on the Tuesday after arriving on the floor, probably August 31st. For some reason, or many reasons I had reached a point where I needed to be in more familiar, comfortable surroundings. The hospital was wearing me out mentally so I decided that I really needed to leave. Around my waking time the Doctors had prepared my family for an extended hospital recovery time, they were guessing about 6-8 weeks. But that wasn’t what I had in mind. I feel as though in a strange way I was afraid of being in hospital as it was the place where I had been sickest and ultimately the place where I would sleep for 3 1/2 weeks. Whatever the reason I knew that I needed to get out of there.
I know that I never considered all the obstacles in my path I was just focused on getting out of hospital. The first obstacle was getting the Doctor’s clearance, this proved to be surprisingly easy as Dr. Adams agreed that I would probably progress just as well at home. He agreed that as long as I didn’t require IV medication or blood products that there would be nothing holding me back from leaving on the upcoming Friday or Saturday. That set the wheels in motion, from there arrangements were made for my hospital bed and a host of other equipment that was required for me to make the transition home in my dependent state. In preparation for my departure we made a dry run in transporting me from the hospital to my Dad’s van on Thursday. I was out for about 30-45 minutes, it was the first time I was in the real air in well over a month and it was a beautiful day, sunny and about 30 degrees. Of course our first destination was Signal Hill to see a sight that I hadn’t seen for quite some time, I’ll never forget it.
On to Friday. I finished my last bag of Magnesium, which was the last IV medication(it isn’t technically a medication) I have received to date, and from there I was pretty much ready to make the move home. Some time that afternoon I, with the help of my two Physio’s and Dad, made the move to my Dad’s van and home to my Mom’s house. I have been told I smiled the whole way home, where I would meet a buddy and settle in my new environment which was custom made for me. I stayed in the family room, which is on the main floor, as the stairs would have been too much work for everyone. Now that I was home I would move into my rebuilding phase and during the next month I would reach many milestones that I have mentioned before. Perhaps the most significant was learning to walk again. Each time I write that I have trouble believing that I had to learn to walk again, but I did and today my legs are as strong as they have been since July. Not quite ready for Signal Hill yet but I’m working on it. My motor control would start to come back and I would eventually return to my keyboard and get in touch with you all. It was also around the latter part of September when I began reading many of your emails and they were are great source of inspiration. I can’t explain how good it feels to know that you have been to the war and back and there are so many people right there with you/me. I can’t imagine my past 14 months without this email group, especially in times of trouble and there have been a few of them.
“Life is an experience, made up of millions of little experiences. One of the keys to life is to have many little experiences, of many different varieties, and to enjoy, learn and understand them for what they are, the foundation of who you are.”
I wrote this shortly after arriving home from Toronto, not sure why but it just flowed out of me one night, thought I’d share.
Geoff
#4
