By The Skin Of Our Teeth

I think we're going to make it! Beginning last week you might remember, that we significantly cut back on the amount of home health attendants coming out to help me in the evenings and in the mornings.We are currently having my older brother stop on his way to work in the mornings to help me dress and transfer to my power chair. In the evenings we have one attendant command three times a week to help shower. Dianne has taken up slinging me up, inserting this suppository and then getting me to bed following my bowel movement. On the weekends we've given my brother those off and believe it or not we've been doing pretty good. When I raise the bed all the way out Dianne does not have to bend down to get my shorts on and shoes. We again raise the bed up as high as it will go which greatly assists in doing a gravity transfer from the bed to the power chair. Luckily the power chair has ability to tilt back significantly And I can wiggle myself up to the chair.. I still have to be careful to make sure I have my shorts pulled up as high as they'll go otherwise they tend to crawl down the rest of the day. This is okay for weekends I think will do all right. Again the savings are significant.

I'm still a bit concerned as to having my brother so involved with my life but really who else better. He reminded me when I asked him if he thought this was too intimate a job and looked at me sidewise and said don't you remember when you looked at our house? I dressed you put on your Texas catheter every morning and put you to bed at night. What's weird is that I have little memory of that happening. Oh I accept that it had to happen because really, I was not functional enough at that point in my life to take care of myself. Putting on a condom which is glued to the penis is just a question let alone dressing myself. So he definitely knows what he's getting into. And like he says as long as he is on his way to work and the job of getting me up is fairly easy, we visit a little but actually we are totally focused we could probably do this procedure in 7 to 10 minutes he could be on his way. And hopefully the weekend gives him a bit of a reprieve not that he sleeps in, mind you but still just one less thing one has to do on one's time off. I hope he will be honest enough with me to let me know if this assistance becomes too much of a burden. Be sure appreciate it..

I still get the feeling that we are getting by only by the skin of our teeth, just cannot fathom what challenges are on the horizon. However I need to have faith all things will be done as they should be done and I have to put my faith and trust in a higher power. Which I can do it is just scary sometimes.