Hello all,
Where to begin… for starters they moved me to a new room yesterday. It’s a little bigger and I have the same nurses/caretakers, but it is in a much more nosier part of the facility. We also have to pay a hefty premium to maintain it as a private room. Since my therapy was discontinued I no longer qualify as “skilled care” and thus had to move to a shared room. I wasn’t exactly thrilled about that, so opted to pay the premium – more incentive to get out of here very soon. However, there is a whole slew of other things that need to happen for me to get out of here. Anyway, my new room is 149 for those who plan to visit.
I was pretty beat after surgery last week, but feeling better of late. It was a planned surgery, and was not an emergency. However, I do need to go back to the hospital tomorrow morning due to some small complications that have developed. this is obviously an unplanned visit but I am not too concerned.
My mother has just done an outstanding job helping me out with a lot of things. She recently made contact with several potential PT’s and OT’s for giving me therapy. She has also been able to track down someone in the area whose therapy is focused on the spinal cord. I am starting to feel confident that I will be able to get some therapy soon. Unfortunately, it’s more cost that keeps adding up since we will most likely have to private pay for it. A friend is contacting the insurance company for me, but I don’t know if they will offer any more assistance.
I was never able to demo the standing wheelchair I was hoping to last week. The pain issues made it difficult for me to get out of bed, let alone try out a new standing wheelchair. We are trying to track down another way to demo one soon. Again, my mom has been such a help with this. I know I said it before but I can’t stress how much she has done for me. This has been great for me but probably not that great for Lindsey who is in the midst of planning a wedding and working very long hours.
I had an unexpected visitor last week, one of my very good high school friends. This was a nice surprise. I did feel bad though because I sat reclined in my chair with a compress across my eyes for most of the time. We still had a good many laughs and it was awesome to spend some time together even if I looked half dead. Although, given our “experiences” and “adventures’ we shared in high school, he’s probably seen me look much, much worse.
Which brings me to today, June 9th. Three years ago today I married my best friend, Kristy. We’ve had an unbelievable, exciting and deeply enjoyable marriage. We shared a tremendous amount of experiences together. Between trips we took, places we lived, people we met, things we did, pets we lost, new pets we gained and all the in-betweens. This last year was not the year we had hoped for; I can remember a year ago today having dinner with her at Pier W. We ate and drank champagne and talked about all the plans for our future. We were happy to finally get back to Cleveland, be close to our family and excited about the new chapters of our life we were about to write. I still have a very vivid memory of us standing on the pier after dinner looking out at the skyline and taking our picture to capture the moment. Less than a month later, I was injured and all those dreams took on a different meaning of their own.
This past year has been full of ups and downs for Kristy and I. While I sit immobile in a chair today, we both were paralyzed on July 3. We both dove in that water, we both broke our necks, we both had our dreams taken away, we both had our lives thrust down a different path than the one we discussed a year ago. The only difference is Kristy can move and I can’t. It’s hard for most people to truly appreciate the effect a catastrophic injury has on the people closest to them, unless, they have experienced such an ordeal first hand. There is a different type of love that begins to gradually replace the previous love we shared. In a way it is a deeper, more profound love, but in a way it can have a dramatic effect on our relationship. Kristy and I are very similar souls – a passion for life, a thirst for experience and a longing for a sense of family, yet we both know this is not the life either of us wanted for each other. There is no one to blame for the accident so we blame the situation. It’s all we can do.
Tonight we will spend the night eating, drinking champagne and watching a movie together. Most likely it will be a very similar to what we might have done even if I wasn’t injured. However, we may enjoy tonight not so much as husband and wife, but more as best friends. Happy Anniversary, Kristy. I love you.
I want to again stress my awesome appreciation for all of your prayers, support, messages and other things you have done for me throughout this ordeal.
Scott