Tomorrow (Thursday) will be Benjamin's last full day of in-patient rehab. On Friday, he will attend the morning session, and then he'll be released and - we'll go HOME. He's excited. He's made a lot of progress. It's amazing, really - like witnessing a miracle. A part of me doesn't want him to leave and lose the momentum he's got going. I'm afraid he'll get home and take it easy. It's easier to push forward when a physical therapist is challenging you versus mom & dad telling you to do something. He will be getting outpatient rehab 3 times a week, though.
Tomorrow we're invited to his morning rehab session where they'll communicate more about his move home. We ordered equipment he'll need for the home stay. When Tricia got to the hospital yesterday, they were practicing getting into and out of a car.
I still don't know how they got this car up on the second floor. Regardless, he's able to get in and out. His mobility is getting better in his legs. He got off of the muscle relaxer and most of the pain medication. When he tried to get off of the Gabapentin (nerve blocker) medicine cold turkey, he experienced excruciating pain. He didn't sleep a wink that night. He's back on it and feeling better. Benjamin is feeling lots of pain in his right leg/ankle/foot as they try to stretch it. It is still swollen. That's the leg that is not load-bearing, yet. He'll have an appointment in 2 weeks. Once he is load-bearing on the right leg, he'll start walking with a walker. Things still have to heal up for now.
He's had his sights set on returning home and sleeping in his own bed and eating home-cooked meals. I wanted to set his sights on a more ambitious goal. As I passed his place of employment in Westlake, LA, I took a photo of it and told him and his physical therapist that his new focus needs to be on getting healed so he can get back to work. He's ready to work toward getting back to gainful employment as fast as he can.
So two left feet. I'm not a good dancer. I've never been a good dancer. I always say I have two left feet. Tricia, on the other hand - that little lady can dance. Tricia always wants the boys to kick off their shoes and dance around the kitchen with her. The boys are always not too thrilled with that idea. After much coaxing, they'll dance with their momma, but it takes a lot of arm-pulling.
Earlier this week Benjamin received a text from my brother. Tricia asked Benjamin about it. My brother told Benjamin to keep up the hard work - that he'd be up and dancing in no time. After Benjamin told Tricia about the text, he got real quiet. Tricia looked over and noticed Benjamin was real emotional. Up to that point he'd been real stoic throughout this whole ordeal... until now. He told Tricia, "Mom, I'd do anything to be able to dance with you right now!"
So in addition to getting home and into his own bed and eating home-cooked meals and getting back to his job, he's got another goal - to dance in the kitchen with his momma! Get your dancing shoes ready, Benjamin!
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