Day 20 at Shepherd. Jan had a good day today. We were actually laughing quite a bit. She did not cry nearly as much as yesterday. The worst episode was tonight because she wants to go home so badly and I do too but she is not ready yet. I am not sure but it did not seem as though she complained of the dizziness as much today either. Mentally she is almost normal Jan. Conversations are almost completely normal. There are some cognitive difficulties that are being worked on. I was her therapist today and she did very well. For cognitive exercises we did several what are best described as reading problems that involves mental deduction. She would get frustrated at times but with minimal suggestions she did very well. She got up and walked several times today. A good friend sent us a note today that was great. This note was along the line of HTFU that I had mentioned previously which by the way I have written in big letters in her room and have threatened to put a sticker on her walker with this. The note said but with toned down language so as to not offend anyone
"anyone could get hit by a car going highway speed, get run over, fight for their life for weeks, and survive. She's already checked all those boxes - big !%@$#ing deal. Now it is time to kick ass, take names and do something challenging for a change. So, own everyone of those exercises, claim every opportunity to do the little bit extra, tell the nurses that they can't work her hard enough - that they are a bunch of !%@$#. Then rub their !%@$#ing noses in how good she is doing! HTFU! Get well and come home. We miss you."
Some may cringe at saying something like this to a "sick person" . Jan has a sense of humor and has no problem laughing at her self. She smiled when I read this to her but said it will be hard. After she ate lunch I asked her what she wanted to do, she said it was a trick question and it was. She said she wanted to walk (that answer made me proud) but no thinking because that was too hard. She proceeded to walk further than I had seen her walk and did even more later on. She also did several problems. I had been picking on her about entering her in a grandma 50ft walker race. She laughed at this but laughed hard and several times through the day spontaneously when she thought about me telling her I was entering us in a team toilet dash race. Points off for missing the toilet and points added for hitting her partners shoes.
Don't get me wrong, this is very hard mentally, psychologically and physically for her and as I have said before she still has a long hard row to hoe (road to go?). She is very unstable when standing, hurts all over when she moves, has difficulty concentrating for long and some problem solving difficulty. There are likely other problems that we have not discovered yet but she is far better than I would have dreamed 8 weeks ago and some day this will be a distant memory.
Do not forget why she is here. Continue to spread the word for motorists to be responsible and aware of cyclists and pedestrians and not driving distracted. The proposed three foot law amendment is a good thing but a very serious thing. I do think share the road philosophy should be taught in drivers education and part of the licensing exam. The motorist is not always at fault. We as cyclists and pedestrians also must be responsible. We must know our rules, pay attention and make ourselves seen as much as possible. I for one never ride on the road with music. You need all of your senses to know what is happening around you. Always (always!!!) wear your helmet. I have told many people that I have seen buying a bicycle at Boardtown Bikes to wear a helmet or wear a diaper. You can not imagine how real that statement is. I do not have to imagine. I am convinced Jan's helmet saved her life.
SHARE THE ROAD, IT'S A LIFE
PUT THE !%@$# CELL PHONE DOWN BEFORE YOU KILL SOMEBODY
GET OFF THE COUCH, LIFE IS FOR DOING STUFF
SUPPORT BIKE WALK MISSISSIPPI, THEY WILL HELP MAKE CHANGES HAPPEN
BE BRIGHT AND BE SEEN
I Love My Little Darlin, we could win the team toilet dash race!
David
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