This journey of recovery has been an extremely humbling experience. A big step for me was accepting my situation for what it was. Neither good nor bad. Trying not to place labels or judgments to it. Am I successful in doing this? Maybe 65% of the time. That’s better than where I started.
The severity of my paralysis makes it difficult to do 90% of what I used to do. I depend on care workers to help me do a lot of tasks. It wasn’t natural for me to ask for help. As a social worker, I’m used to being the helper.
A role I inherited since the accident is a coach. I direct my care with residential staff and coach them on each step until they become familiar with it. Most of them are female college students.
Caretakers do not get paid enough considering the importance of theIr work. I don’t say this because I am a recipient of their services now. Their work is hard and the ranks have been depleted since Covid. In general, healthcare has taken a big hit, which has led to staff burnout along with mental and physical ailments.
It’s fun bantering with most of the staff. I give most of them nicknames. I offer up various thought-provoking questions to begin discussions with most of them. We also talk about tastes in music, classes they are taking, shows being watched, etc. Hope Network hired a new batch of staff recently.
Introducing two of the newer staff in the attached photo. On the left is Kayla (Marsha, K town) and the other is Jessica (Guadalupe). Together, I called them the Spice Girls. They are childhood friends and are joined at the hip. I’ll have one give me the dirt on the other. They have been great additions to the residential team.
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