Summer is arriving here in West Michigan. I’ve been spending a good amount of time outdoors in celebration. The nature preserve at Calvin University has been my go to place to connect with nature. I went earlier this week but the sidewalk was all chewed up so I was unable to enter as a result.
I went exploring on the college campus and stumbled upon a nice quiet lookout of another pond located by the theology school. It’s fairly exclusive during the summertime and as well worth the extra length and trip.
I miss playing golf this time of year. I play Xbox golf with Evan, a Hope Network Rec Therapist. It is fun but doesn’t replace the real thing. My last act prior to my accident was playing nine holes of golf at Quail Ridge. You could say I literally went down swinging.
It was later October and there was hardly anybody on the course. I played with two golf balls for the most part. One I kept score with and the other was experimenting with different shots. I scored a 42, which is good for me on that back nine.
Procedure
I had a procedure scheduled last month to look at my drainage site from my gallstones. Despite my drainage bag being removed two months ago, fluid was still draining from the site.
My issue with gallstones have been lingering for a year now. It started with an infection and my gallbladder and three procedures later they removed 60 gallstones. At that time I was amazed the gallbladder could fit that many stones that we googled and found out the world record is over 2000 gallstones from somebody in India. So 60 is considered more than usual but not as impressive as I originally thought.
For 10 months I had an annoying drainage bag with tubing sticking out of my side. On more than one occasion, the tubing got pulled so that it either had to be totally replaced or the stitching redone. It was a glorious day to finally have that finally removed!
They were going to reattach the drainage bag for the procedure. They had me on the table ready to put me under anesthesia. The doctor looked at my site and determined it was finally healing on its own. I would not need the drainage bag again. I almost jumped off the table in joy. Easiest procedure ever!
The employment front
Things are progressing slowly. I essentially have a job waiting for me. My supervisor is super accommodating to my physical needs. I’m waiting to be accredited by a variety of insurance companies, which can take anywhere between a few weeks and a few months.
The last couple of renewal cycles since my injury, I have been late and meeting the deadlines. In this cycle, I’m actually ahead of the game this time around. I got a little ahead of myself in taking live webinars and recorded courses.
Apartment living on the horizon
I am moving forward to the likelihood of moving to a three bedroom apartment located in downtown Grand Rapids. I have a good friend, Marcus, who has been a good mentor for me. He also is a quadriplegic, and is planning to move from that apartment later this summer or early fall.
I am cautiously excited about this. You may ask, what the hell does cautiously excited means. Truthfully, this would be a big step for me. Between Mary Free Bed and Hope Network, I have lived in a rehab rehabilitation facility for all but three months. And even during those three months, I lived in an outdated hotel room attached to MFB with home healthcare.
I had to be readmitted to Mary Free Bed because of my intrathecal pump and poor response to Baclofen that caused me to go back to inpatient care again.
I suppose you could say I’ve been institutionalized. Prior to my injury I either lived by myself or married in a home very comfortably. It’s a different ball game when one is mostly in dependent care. Change makes me a bit more anxious than I previously experienced prior to my injury. But one does not grow if they don’t venture outside of their comfort zone.
Volunteering
Volunteering was the first step in redo developing a purposeful life for me. I currently volunteer at Emmanuel Hospice by visiting a gentleman at a nursing home. He’s hard of hearing so I have to practically yell to hold the conversation. I do this once every 1 to 2 weeks and then write a little note afterwards.
I still volunteer with Disability Dadvocates. There’s more activities going on during the summertime, but I primarily have been visiting various organizations and giving input on accessibility strength and concerns they may have.
I visited the newer Barnes & Noble on Knapp’s Corner a few months ago and they did not have a handicap button to get in or out of the doors. I spoke with a woman working in the front desk about this. She initially deferred this as a landlord problem. I politely persisted by pointing out that it was a company issue also and suggested they work with the landlord and resolving this.
Volunteering was the first step in redo developing a purposeful life for me. I currently volunteer at Emmanuel Hospice by visiting a gentleman at a nursing home. He’s hard of hearing so I have to practically yell to hold the conversation. I do this once every 1 to 2 weeks and then write a little note afterwards.
I still volunteer with Disability Dadvocates. There’s more activities going on during the summertime, but I primarily have been visiting various organizations and giving input on accessibility strength and concerns they may have.
I visited the newer Barnes & Noble on Knapp’s Corner a few months ago and they did not have a handicap button to get in or out of the doors. I spoke with a woman working in the front desk about this. She initially deferred this as a landlord problem. I politely persisted by pointing out that it was a company issue also and suggested they work with the landlord and resolving this.
Volunteering was the first step in redo developing a purposeful life for me. I currently volunteer at Emmanuel Hospice by visiting a gentleman at a nursing home. He’s hard of hearing so I have to practically yell to hold the conversation. I do this once every 1 to 2 weeks and then write a little note afterwards.
I completed an orientation at Mary free Bed last week to become a peer mentor. That entails a monthly group meeting with patients they have suffered a spinal cord injury. There will also be 1:1 contacts with these patients in providing support on the beginning of their recovery.
Leave a Reply