Saturday, January 16, 2010

Norm, we now have similar spare parts

Back in July, Norm, whose resoration blog is Captain Wilson's Overlander wrote about an unfortunate slide into second base and resulting ankle injury that kept him on the shelf for awhile.  I joined the club this week.

Many of you know my wife Pam has Alzheimers and I’m her fulltime caregiver.  Sometimes you push too hard.  Three nights ago we were both were feeling poorly, weak, nauseous.  It came on quickly.  Weird thing is that Brissy the cat got sick too, so we’re thinking it was something environmental that got the three of us.  Anyway, it was nearly bedtime and I thought I should try to get her up in her berth on the boat before I felt too badly to do it.  Nearly made it—teeth were brushed, face washed, and loaded into her jammies.  I passed out and fell straight down and broke my right ankle.

Alzheimers really makes these deals hard.  I can’t leave her alone longer than an hour or so and it takes time to arrange for care.  And the care needs to be familiar as consistency is everything with the disease—we do everything the same way at the same time, all the time.  The surgeon wanted me in right now, I couldn’t do it, but yesterday I got Charlene, our regular respite care nurse to come here early and plan for an overnight stay and Jim and Rich, two of my best friends and the big part of my Alzheimers support network in the marina got me hauled out of the boat (not the easiest thing) and into the hospital.  I was back on the boat at 8 PM last night.

So, I’ll be leaning on my friends, especially for the next two weeks while I’m in the hard cast, and I’ll still be able to take care of Pam for the most part.  Everything is cool.

Island Girl, though, goes back burner for a time, except for the delivery of the new recliners on Tuesday.  I will be there for that.

-steve

2 comments:

  1. Steve:

    Sorry to hear about your accident. Glad to hear your friend's will come through for you. I hope you heal soon!

    -Tim

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  2. Oh Steve, my heart goes out to you. Caregiving isn't easy, we had a similar situation with my father. I can sympathize with ankle fractures and know what a horrible twist that throws on things for you.

    If only I wasn't a coast away, I would be over to give you a hand with Pam. Best well wishes to you both and my your ankle knit quickly.

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