Imagine if one day you went out to play golf. You leave the home that you've lived in for 20+ years; drive your car that you love down a lovely road to play golf with your best buddies. You have a fantastic round of golf; good lunch; couple of beers to re-hash the game. Go home, clean up and meet a favorite friend for dinner.
The next day you are in the hospital.....and you never go home again. You can't drive a car; you can't play golf; you can't walk; you can't even stand up or raise your arms.
This is what happened to my father after a stroke took the use of the right side of his body. He has been battling every day since to try to regain the use of his right leg and the use of his right arm. This is the life that he is now trying to imagine over one year later.
Today I went to visit my Dad at his assisted living home. He lives at Emeritus Senior Living in Manassas, Virginia. It is a lovely home with an incredibly friendly staff and lots of patients with different levels of needs. He has a big room with his own furnishings which, of course, include a huge entertainment center with flat screen TV, surround sound, a Blue Ray Disc and IPOD player hooked up to the surround sound! Always the first one on the block with the new color TV, or the best sound system or the coolest camera, etc. Some things never change! He has a private bath and a small kitchen stocked with cold drinks and snacks to share with visitors.
For Dad, his situation is torture. What he wants is to play golf. What he wants is to drive over to Sandy's office and grab a conversation. What he wants is to fly to California and visit Gordon and I and the girls. What he wants is to hold his greatgrandchildren and give them a big Granddaddy hug. What he has is a new situation that is very hard to come to terms with. And not just for him, by the way, but for all of us. All his brothers and sisters; all the nieces and nephews; all his children and grandchildren and great grandchildren; we all have suffered this tragedy with him.
I visited with Dad for a few hours today. I'm trying to help him organize his computer so logging onto the newspaper or Facebook or blogspots takes only a few clicks. His laptop is difficult to navigate with his left hand only and I will buy him a mouse to use instead of a touch pad. He showed me his walking capability which, to me, because I haven't seen him since February, is amazing! He actually can get around pretty well. The problem is balance....it's easy to think you can just go strolling down the hall, quite another to actually do it. Every step must be calculated and cautiously taken.
Tomorrow I'll visit again and try to repair a broken door on his entertainment center. And I'll install the mouse and see if we can get the computer to be a little easier to use. And maybe I can get him to go sit on the front porch with me little. Perhaps we'll discuss how his disability has screwed up his golf swing!
You have to keep your sense of humor or you'll go crazy and I think I can say that Dad has managed to hang on to his good personality and wonderful humor....even when he finds it hard to imagine his new life.
No comments:
Post a Comment