ARRIVALS

PRIMO ARRIVAL

Over the past weeks we have been submitting letters and applications regarding Richard’s work future.  Last Wednesday, March 30, he submitted a letter to his employer requesting an old-fashioned leave of absence.  He is currently off work under a federally mandated Family Medical Leave which expires April 19.  Since there is no way that he could be ready by April 19 to return to a nursing position providing care for 50 residents, he hoped the old-fashioned leave of absence without pay would push off the date of return while keeping the job door open. 

Back on March 9, Richard had submitted application through his employer for long-term disability. He had been informed that the disability application was received and the material he had sent was adequate to support a ruling. As the time moved on he felt the time pressure of the April 19 deadline to return to work. 

Yesterday, he received a reply from his employer declining his request for the additional four months of leave, but instead was granted two days. His employer said that he had been approved for long-term disability and the two days she granted would create a seamless transition from his leave to his disabled status.  Once he enters the disabled status he is automatically classified “voluntarily resigned in good standing.”

We took that all in with mixed emotions. This was a second-hand report about his disability status being approved. After all this is Missouri, the Show-Me State, so show me the official papers.  Anticipation will heighten our vigil for the postal carrier until it arrives.

DINNER FUTURES #1

Meanwhile, other things have arrived this past week.  In all, 26 chicks arrived on Thursday – Buff Orpington cockerels.  The little fluff balls are so very entertaining as they scamper around of the brooder area.  I could just pull up a chair to watch them for hours on end. 

That brings to mind a story…

In Africa, Sarah was on a safari trip with her cousin Carla.  Sarah happened to comment to a guide that there are seven children in our family.  The guide snidely asked, “What, don’t your parents have television?”  “No,” Sarah retorted innocently, “they have chickens.”  He didn’t get it, but Sarah had a good laugh at his puzzlement.     

DINNER FUTURES #2

Another arrival with a future to be invited to dinner was five or six baby bunnies.  As a part of Richard’s therapy, the family made it clear to him to decide when our bunny couple could strive for progeny.  While they had come of age back in November, they had been held back from breeding, first to avoid a winter birth and second simply overlooked amid the surgery hustle. Early in March Richard declared that it was time to permit them to be fruitful and multiply.  With a 30-day gestation period, we are proud to announce the arrival of the baby bunnies today.

But this brings to mind another story…

Let me share a flashback to clarify just how passionate Richard is for rabbits.

One of his last comments before his surgery involved the rabbits. When he was in the pre-op holding he had vowed that “the next person who asks me if I have any questions, I have one for them.”  He was prepared to ask his then-most-recent favorite joke. 

The joke goes…

As the rabbits were put together for mating, what did the male bunny say to the female bunny? “This won’t take long, did it?” 

Sadly, after he made that resolution, no one asked him if he had any questions.

TRIUMPH

The socks were done three days before the temperatures got warmer.  Yippee.  Let the warm air come in. 

The Week's Snapshot

The sock is finished.

The next one is underway. 

Richard is decreasing his post-op anti-convulsion medication and will be completely finished with it this coming week.  As that medication has been decreasing I feel he has been having an increase in good days.  Once, he actually spontaneously stated, “Things are getting clearer.”   While he has not had Level 4 or 5 (defined in March 6 entry) episodes this week, he was still dismayed when he digressed to Level 3 once or twice.  His progress is a combination of consistently clearer thought or more effective coping with his deficiencies. Either way seems to be a winner.  

Turned The Heel – Pivotal Proof

Back on February 13 I told you about Richard’s knitting project – wool socks – he’d started pre-operatively with the idea he would have it to occupy his recovery days.  Little did he believe that he would be “brain damaged” and thus challenged to perform the knitting.  The knit-purl ribbing of the sock top was a breeze, but the heel with the intricate stitch-by-stitch directions had the better of him. He grew weary looking at it and finally put it away, out of sight, to bury the nagging reminder of his brain weakness.   

Today, March 13, one month later, he dug it out and completed the heel! Happy dancing was in order. I danced not only for that cognitive progress, but the socks are for me.  I am now ½ foot closer to warm toes.  The race is on about which will happen first to facilitate warming my feet – warmer temperatures or completed socks?  Regardless of the winner, Richard now is obligated to admit he is improving!!

Richard and I are moving on to doing some tag team sewing.  We proved our sewing compatibility last week by completing a quilt for our latest great nephew.  This week we are moving on to design and construct TWO quilts for a most delightful reason.  Sarah and Neal are anticipating the arrival of TWINS in three to four weeks.  The twins are 15 months old and joining the family by way of adoption.  The twins are an “at-risk” adoption meaning the final papers will not be completed until after a waiting period to assure no previously unidentified extended biological family members come forward to request the children.  Looks like we will have a full and busy week.  

Rehab Lesson Planning

Back in Botswana in 1998 when Richard had Hepatitis A, he needed to take a couple months of rest to recover. To keep him down in bed, I brought home skeins of yarn.  He started knitting and did not stop until he had produced 2 sweaters, several pairs of socks and a hat or two.  Intense knitting was just the thing to assure compliance to bed rest recovery.

With that in mind Richard was thinking ahead to have a knitting project at hand for his post-operative recovery this time.  Socks worked last time, so why not again?  Before his surgery he had started about 3 inches into the cuff for one sock in a pair of nice wool socks for me.  When he returned home from the hospital, he picked up the sock and blankly stared at it. After a day or two he was able to remember enough to get another inch or two on the ribbed cuff before he came to the heel.  Turning the corner of the heel requires knitting row by row while reading the pattern. He just could not make his brain circuits operate to coordinate the reading and the knitting.

I offered him my simpler project underway - knitting a scarf on a circular needle.  In two weeks I’d only completed about 8 inches toward the 48-inch scarf and was frankly feeling overwhelmed by the single knit stitch effort.  I really am not a knitter.  Well, today (Sunday) he finished the scarf! A mere 7 days after taking it up. The sock heel is still beyond him, but bit by bit he will get there. 

On another manual craft, he is starting to perform some simple sewing projects on the machine.  Hemming vintage plain white feedsacks was his first production.  Slowly he was able to perform all the little stages of sewing – threading the machine and needle, loading the bobbin and folding the edges of the feedsack.  I have great hopes that manual performance is the gateway to verbalization.  So far he can do and show but is limited on verbally explaining his performance.  The next goal?  It is time for the therapist tomorrow to help us sort out the plan.