I went back to KHC Wednesday morning. Had a meeting that lasted most of the afternoon, then got a motel room, ate and watched HBO. I really wanted to watch the US Gold Cup soccer game, but the Frankfort cable ddn't carry it. After watching my two children play soccer from the ages of five to eighteen, I've picked up a little knowledge of soccer (football to the rest of the world) and now I really enjoy watching it, especially if the men's or women's national team is playing. I only know one other guy, a US citizen, but born in France, that enjoys watching soccer, and he doesn't pull for the US team, but that's okay. I've found that people who enjoy soccer tend to have a more global outlook. I had prepared for the game by buying a 12-pack of Miller long-necks and a large bag of Doritos. Three bottles of Miller and the bag of Doritos made a fine supper, especially since I ate propped up in bed with a bunch of pillows all around me, and watched television. Life doesn't get much better than that. One of the many lucky breaks I got from my stroke was that my swallowing was unaffected. I was on a bland hospital diet for the first week, but basically went back to eating anything after that. When I got to inpatient rehab, they were very surprised. During one of my first meals there, a nurse said, "You can have that?" looking at my plate of salisbury steak, green beans, roll, and iced tea. "Yeah," I said, not understanding her surprise. At that time, I was so uninformed about the effects of stroke, I had no idea how lucky I was.
KHC has never questioned paying for a motel room for me when I stay overnight in Frankfort. They don't have to do that, and, in fact, I'm one of the few people they do it for. It's not a perfect place to work (what place is?) but they've always been good to me, especially after my stroke. I hate to think how most private businesses would have reacted. I imagine my working days would be over. I repay them by working hard and not complaining about the hours I put in.
Thursday morning I got up early and had my shower. I like to shower in the morning, it wakes me up, and one thing I especially enjoy doing is to shower standing up. I used a shower chair in rehab, and when I first got home, but standing up is one of those things that make me feel normal, which is a good feeling. What that means, though, is that in order to wash my feet, I have to balance on one foot while washing the other, then switch. Now I know this is not a good idea, especially for a sixty-two year-old, especially a sixty-two year-old who's had a stroke and has spasticity in one leg, and even more especially, in a motel tub with no rubber mat in it. But I did it anyway, and once more got away with it. I attended another meeting early Thursday morning, then took care of administrative tasks, and drove home.
Friday I worked in my home office and at five, Polly and I went to the Y, she to Zumba, me to the pool. I had tried a little experiment during the day Friday, and hadn't stretched or exercised in any way, and sure enough, the spasticity had been fooled a bit and had relaxed, and I was able to swim better than I had in months. The hardest thing is getting my left elbow up and out of the water, so my stroke is erratic and I list to one side, but I manage to get up and down the pool slowly, but steadily. I showered after 30 minutes of swimming laps, and we came home. Polly made nachos for us and we both managed to stay awake through a rerun of Blue Bloods, Polly's favorite program. She has a crush on Tom Selleck.
I know it sounds like a boring life, and in a few years when we both retire, we plan to do some traveling, but for right now, knowing the struggles that so many stroke survivors and caretakers endure, I appreciate that we can enjoy such a dull and sweet life together. Realizing what might have been makes me appreciate what is.
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