Back to Real Life

Yesterday, my mom and dad, aunt and uncle left for home, and Bob and I are back to our routine. Yesterday, too, he had a doctor's appointment, then a trip to have his monthly blood tests and I am exhausted, sad and thankful--that latter for the nice visit and respite that it brought, but sad to see them go.

Mom & Dad with Bob (and Boomer, too!)

While here, my father changed the oil in The Green Machine and also "recharged" and cleaned the air filter (I didn't know that such a thing needed to be done! duh). He also fixed our front screen door which was sticking--thus making it a complete bitch to get the wheelchair out to the front porch. And he got a new faucet for our old bathtub and paid the plumber to install it. Then, he and my Uncle Don helped me get my "new" used computer set up as my old one was gasping its last breath. My mom redid my door wreath (which was a mess) and hemmed a pair of pants for me and even restrung a windchime that had fallen apart. (Thank you, mom, dad and Don, you don't know how much these things mean to me.)

Bob and I managed to get to the beach (where they were staying) three times, though Bob was decidedly uncomfortable by the end of the day with severe pain in his back and neck. I wish I knew how to make him more comfortable in his wheelchair (I had thought the new customized chair would do the trick, but alas...) His neck muscles are still very weak and atrophied from the CIDP, even though that disease is "gone", the damage still lingers. My poor father was once called into "urinal duty" when my mom and I went for a walk on the beach.  Otherwise, I think it was good for Bob to get out of the house to do something different and fun, even though he was exhausted at the end of the day. It was also good for Bob to socialize, even though this was quite difficult for him, he did give it a good college try. Although, for some reason, he kept calling my father, "Grandpa".

I got to get out of the house for a few days, which was terrific. We went shopping and to the flea market and, last but not least, we made a trip over to Clearwater to see the famous tail-less dolphin, "Winter" who swims with a prosthetic tail. The place was packed because a movie about this dolphin has just been released (A Dolphin's Tale). I wish Bob could have seen that dolphin, she was quite inspirational.


So now it's back to "real life" here, and back to our daily routine.