Elvis has Left the Building…

Heading out of the hospital for home, I saved that shirt for the last day...

Or at least I have. I am now officially a free man, home to fend for myself. I left the SCI rehab hospital Wed afternoon with Eddy and Cheryl, made it into Eddy’s beater Toyota truck without falling on my ass and rode off into the sunset. It felt really good to leave the hospital, but also very scary not knowing what was coming up next. I was heading to an apartment that had been just setup that previous weekend to make a new life for myself and I gotta say it’s daunting at first.

We got to the place and I was happy to see that putting Stacy in charge of the move was the correct thing to do, the apartment was setup almost perfectly. Eddy, Cheryl and I made a few tweaks but a big thanks to the entire move-in crew for doing a great job.

After Eddy and Cheryl left Ethan and Stacy came by and stayed the night to babysit me, I was glad for the company not quite knowing what to expect and how well I’d be able to handle everything. I’d practiced the various things I needed to do in the hospital but the setup of everything at home was different and the last thing I needed to do was land on the floor in the bathroom. Luckily it all went fine and I’m getting acclimated. I need a lot more practice with my transfers, but I made it to and from the shower and the bed without issues. It was really nice to sleep in my own bed for a change, without the noise and constant interruption of the hospital. I can’t figure out how anyone gets better sleeping in a hospital…

There are a few things we need to change in the apartment, the biggest are the carpet, it’s like trying to push through mud. Not quite sure yet what we will do with that one. The other is the front door; it has spring-loaded hinges that slam the door shut which makes getting into the place a pain. I wind up using my feet as a battering ram, which while innovative and painless (due to the lack of feeling) is probably not the best thing to do, so we’re gonna try to replace the hinges. Good thing there’s a Lowes across the street.

So today was my first full day at home, made it though ok. Stacy and I continued to unpack and sort out the apartment, trying to find ways to place things so I can get to them. Not only are upper cabinets useless in the kitchen, but the deeper lower cabinets where pots and pans go can be a problem as well. But we’ve been figuring it out slowly.

I don’t have a lot of deep philosophical insights today or major things to talk about, it’s just time to try and figure out how to live my life in a chair all day. It’s amazing how much you take for granted when you can walk around, but in a chair the whole world can seem like it was setup just to mess with you on purpose. But enough whining about that, need to push on. I’m sure I’ll have more updates next week as I settle in.