Back in the saddle again…

Monday was AWESOME. I was up and out of here cruising around with my puppy by 11 o’clock. It wasn’t as cold as it has been for as I thought it would be. The sun was in and out as we cruised through the lagoon, to the end of the wharf back and to the boardwalk and back. The last time I cruise through the wharf I met a guy named Jimbo. He sits on the bench by one of the restaurants with a guitar and some sort of simple things or maracas on the end of his shoes. He stopped me one day and we had a nice conversation. I’m still a little scared to follow the path down the river because I’m afraid of being too far away from home if the motor goes out in my wheelchair. There was not a lot of people around, I love that about the weekdays. I leaned back on the boardwalk for a while and just look for objects in the clouds. I wish I was able to take a picture because it was so beautiful. I headed back home because it was sprinkling but as soon as I got home the sun was out and shining. Heather came by to cook and I decided to take Robby for another short cruise through the lagoon. On the way back I found some really cool branches with different colored moss. Whenever I see sticks with moss on them I just have to stop and have Robby pick them up and put them in my lap, he hates the way that the moss feels in his mouth but he is a trooper. I bring them home for my air plant terrariums, I know I have way more sticks then I need but it’s hard to pass them up. I came home and went to bed and listen to more of my audio book, watched intervention and then slept really good.


‎"Dogs are the most amazing creatures; they give us unconditional love. For me they are the role model for being alive." quote by~ Gilda Radner

Tuesday was a lot warmer outside than it has been. Today was my day for a manicure/pedicure. I took Robby for cruise through the lagoon and down to the end of the wharf and back before my appointment, the place where I get my nails done is up the Hill from the wharf. I think the funniest part is picking out the nail polish, we do a lot of experiments on me. Today I noticed on their fingernail color wheel that Samantha did one with a lime green color with a black spider on it, I was going to have that done on Halloween… I don’t remember why I didn’t. We already found a really cool one, actually 2, for next month. After my appointment Robby and I cruised down through the boardwalk and back home. Karen was still cleaning, I’m so glad she agreed to do it because she does such a great job. Teresa came and brought me an awesome salad, I want to eat more salads with my meals… I love salads.

Being stupid is not a reason to cry. One cries because one is sad. For example, I cry because others are stupid, and it makes me sad. -Sheldon Cooper

Wednesday I ended up staying in bed but I kind of thought that what happened so I wasn’t too disappointed although it was gorgeous outside. Of coarse personal-care took a long time but as usual I got a nice long hot bath, not as hot as I would have liked to have been… I don’t know what’s wrong with my water heater. Kathy, the wound care visiting nurse, came to see how I was doing. The pressure sores on my butt are totally healed but now I have one on the back of my left ankle and a huge blister on the back of my right ankle, it’s always something. She looked at my night braces and my day braces and did some alterations to my night races, that’s what she thinks the problem is. She is the one everybody raves about when it comes to wound care. This is the 1st time that she has seen my new mattress and she loves it as much as I do, again I’m sorry Michael that I doubted you. I told her it would be great if I could get these all healed up before my trip in February, she said it is possible. I got an e-mail from James, he is the guy at CCI who trained Robby… his 1st graduate. He gave me some really great tips on how to deal with Robby’s new barking problem and dog obsession. James is awesome!

Thursday was such a beautiful day. I got up and out of here and the weather was perfect. I got to the wharf and I just couldn’t stop looking at the view, Robby kept looking at me like he was saying “let’s go, let’s go”. I got to the end of the wharf and you could see the lighthouse across the water but you could just barely see cowell Beach. The surfers were riding the waves all away from the lighthouse almost to the beach, I only saw about 4 or 5 surfers and I was really surprised. The waves weren’t really high at all, just really long. It is so gorgeous out there. We cruise through the boardwalk, they’re taking advantage of the nice weather and redoing a lot. I stopped again to see the view. My chair is starting to get really loud and I’m afraid I’m going to get stuck somewhere so I didn’t want to go too far, I figured we could just do it again after Robby got some water. Days like this are why I moved over here.

"The reason dogs have so many friends is because they wag their tails instead of their tongues." ~ Unknown

Friday went by really fast. When Susan, the massage therapist, got here I was still sleeping which is awesome. I had a nice long massage and we always have a great talk, some massage therapists don’t like for you to talk because you’re supposed to be concentrating on your breathing and your body but she doesn’t mind. My personal courage and seemed to take very long either, I actually fell asleep and slept really hard. After that my favorite part, a nice long hot bath and then back to bed and dinner. Teresa brought me a really awesome salad and I put some chicken adobo that Heather made in it, man that was good. Cassie came over to visit for a while, it’s always so nice to see her. After that we played cribbage with the regular Friday group. We had cheese, crackers and salami… I love that stuff.

“Everyone needs a dog to adore him, and a cat to bring him back to reality.”

Saturday was a really good day. It started out really frustrating because the visiting nurse was supposed to be here at 10:30 AM and she didn’t get here until almost 11:30 AM, I was supposed to leave at noon so I can get to the support group at 1 PM and we still had to get me in my chair. Everything turned out okay and I was actually there a little bit early. It was really nice to see Roger and Joe, Karen and Terryn didn’t make it, again. We had a really nice chat and we discussed ways that we think we might be able to get a support group going again and keep people interested. We talked about instead of just spinal cord injury making it anybody in a wheelchair, I think that will be awesome. I came home and went to bed happy knowing we were going to give the support of another go and happy Robby got a really nice long cruise. I took a couple of PMs and a Xanax so I know I’ll sleep good.

“Keep in mind...to a dog you're family, to a cat you're staff

Sunday was a pretty kick back day. We got everything done as far as personal care and a nice long hot bath. I watched some TiVo and I watched Mr. Popper’s Penguins, was pretty cute.

Really really tired of staying in bed…

Monday was a good day, any day I get up out of bed is a good day. The technician from Hill-Rom said that he would come out and disarm the annoying noise my bed makes when you take off the brake, it was a high pitch squealing noise… we said it’s mostly for the hospitals. He said he was going to come out in the afternoon so I was kind of waiting for him. Heather told me I should give him a call and I’m glad I did, he said he would be out about 3:30 PM so I had time to take Robby to the wharf and back before my caregiver came in at 2 PM, unfortunately I waited until about 12:30 PM to call him. I’m glad I got it done. Went to bed and now I’m just relaxing and watching Dr. Phil.

Tuesday was another day spent in bed. Of course the personal care took a lot longer than we wanted but I did get a nice long hot bath. It’s kind of a bummer when one caregiver leaves and the other one comes in and in our, it doesn’t give me much time to myself. Sometimes I think that the reason I don’t sleep at night is because I know that I will have all night and all morning to myself. For some reason I sleep really good about an hour or 2 before my morning caregiver comes in. I got my portable mattress today and the guys showed me how to set it up, it’s going to be perfect. It came in a box but I found a duffel bag online but it will fit into perfectly for only $20. It will be a good bag to carry and store it in. I saw on the news that James Durbin did a secret concert somewhere here in Santa Cruz, I think they only gave tickets away on a radio station. Robby sister belongs to James Durbin’s cousin’s best friend, small world? She asked me if I wanted an autograph CD, that would be awesome.

Wednesday Daniel from ATG rehab came by to give my chair the once over so I can make sure it will be okay for my road trip. I went down to the Metro bus station and they gave me these really long, REALLY yellow tie down straps to put on my chair but they are way too long. Daniel said they have a tiedown kits that will work better and won’t be an eyesore so he ordered those for me along with a new cushion cover for my seat cushion, it’s getting really ripped up little. I thought the bearings were going out in my back wheels again and it seemed to be pulling towards the right… the bad news is I need a new motor for my chair, I know that’s not going to be cheap but hopefully we will be able to get it ordered and install it before my trip, I’m glad I didn’t wait any longer to call. Everything is coming together and it’s just going to be a matter of starting to pack February 1st and I will be ready to go by the time we leave February 18th. I’m sure we will forget a few things but that’s the way it always goes. I even found, well Karen found them, a couple of apps that go on my phone to find a good place to eat and a good motel were ever were going to stop… that should come in handy.

Thursday was a little bit warmer than it has been so Robby and I took advantage of It and went for a long cruise. We went through the lagoon, down to the end of the wharf and back and through the boardwalk and back. I wanted to cruise along the river but I was afraid to with the motor going out in my chair, definitely not the best place to be stranded. I came back and Gabe came over to show me and the girls how to use the lift on the Van manually in case it breaks again or all the power goes out. Karen was smart enough to think of videotaping it, I’m so glad she did, and we put it on YouTube in case we need to access it while were on a road trip. I found the name of the guy in Watsonville that works on the kind of lift that I have and I talked to him a little bit but didn’t really understand a lot so Gabe is going to talk to him tomorrow, I’m so thankful for Gabe. Teresa put me to bed and I was so glad because it is FREEZING out there. I watched a couple of episodes of Dr. Phil and fell asleep.

Friday of coarse was my massage, personal care and a nice long hot bath. The gang came over to play cribbage and I lost 5 bucks, I’ll get them next time. Robby was acting really funny all day and when my uncle came to get the cribbage table set up Robby through up all over the floor and just acted like he kept wanting to go outside but didn’t really do anything. Before everybody left he looked like he was feeling better so if he’s not better in the morning I guess I will take him to the vet, thank God they are open on Saturday. After everybody left I started feeling really bloated, having spasms and sweating… thank God I was not getting that headache. I waited for a while to see if it would go away but it just got worse. By this time I was almost in panic mode and it was about 2 AM so I had to call my mom. We checked the bladder tube and it seemed to be okay so the next step is to check the bowels, as I figured there was a bunch of gas and then I immediately felt better. By the time 4:30 AM came around we were finished and now I get to translate until Teresa gets here at 7… man I hope she’s late. I did take a Xanax so at least I felt really relaxed now.

Saturday of course it was almost impossible to wake up. Teresa came in at 7 AM and I had some coffee but even that didn’t help. She changed my SP tube and checked my bowels but everything seemed to be okay, after a while the chills, the sweats and the spasms stopped. Needless to say I didn’t get out but I slept pretty good all day and hopefully I will be able to sleep through the night. I figured after yesterday both Robby and I could use a day of rest. I’m having a real problem with my Bose surround sound system, every once in a while it just shuts off and I have to wait for somebody to come down and turn it off and on several times to get the sound back. I woke up at 1:00 AM because my phone was ringing, I could see that it was my friend Jerry but I wasn’t really awake enough to answer the phone. I was a little worried but I listen to the message and she sounded like everything was okay.

Sunday was another long personal-care day. I think my body is becoming lactose intolerant. Heather made some mahi tuna and it was so good that I ate it all, that was Friday and probably why I was so bloated… Karen told me this morning that there was cheese on it and I didn’t take my pill. Hopefully I will never forget to do that again. Not only do I need to get up and out of this bed but Robby needs a nice good run, we will do a marathon tomorrow rain or shine. Luckily the days have been going by fast and I’ve been sleeping pretty good during the night’s. I got an e-mail from Roger yesterday wanting to have a meeting next Saturday to try to figure out how we can attract more people to the support group, I am so excited… I hope we can do it.

Getting back to the old routine…

Monday…yay…I was up by 10 AM and out of here cruising around with Robby, it sure felt good. We went through the lagoon, down to the end of the wharf and back, through the boardwalk, Down alongside the river and back in through the Boardwalk again… all of which were totally deserted and it was awesome. I came back and my uncle was outside talking to Otis, the guy who takes care of my yard. I did my exercises and went to bed, it was a really great day.

Tuesday almost turned into another day in bed but I’m glad it didn’t. It was colder than it was yesterday but still nice, I can’t believe it’s winter. Robby and I went for a long cruise, I love cruising around when everything is basically deserted. I came back and Teresa put me to bed and then went and got some food at wing stop, we are still trying to use up our groupons… I think we only have 3 family meals left. My aunt came over with her 2 granddaughters Luana and Melia. They were both dressed like little princesses and they look so adorable. Melia wants to be a doctor so she can fix aunt Tammie, how cute is that?
That is not sure what she wants to be yet, they are 2 and 4 years old and just as cute as can be.

Wednesday was a great day, any day out of bed is a great day. I got a kind of early to take Robby on extra long cruise. As we got down to Cowell beach there was a guy by the water stretching with his paddle, it looked like he was going to go paddle boarding. I have on a thermal shirt, another longsleeve shirt and a poncho, this guy had on long shorts, a T-shirt and tennis shoes… I understand the water was about 54°. I followed him along the wharf and I saw him go around and she disappeared out to see, what fun and freedom that must be a thought. Cruising along the river is getting a little scary because there’s a lot of homeless people that don’t have their dogs on leash, I never know what’s going to happen… usually they see me or hear Robby’s tags and grabbed their dog before we get to them. I cruised back home and Teresa and Karen were putting away the last of the, almost the last of the, Christmas decorations and straightening out the garage. While we were at the Boardwalk we practiced a couple of commands and Robby did awesome, he’s such a good boy. We practice a couple when we got home but he got really scared when his vest got caught on the knob of the drawer so we decided to take a break.

Thursday I got up and took Robby for an extra long cruise. I met Theresa and Karen at the post office and they took me to Costco, I love going to Costco. I think we got enough supplies to last about a month. We got back and they got me out of the van and they couldn’t get the lift back up to stow, they couldn’t even get it to manually go up so we called my uncle who had just left to go to Costco. He didn’t know what to do so we called Gabe, he used to work on the Metro buses and they have the same left as I do. He came over in the morning and fixed it, it was a fuse that blew out because we try too many times to stow it from the down position… it always worked before but now we have to learn how to do it differently. He’s going to come over when all of the caregivers are here to show them how to do it. I don’t know what I would do without Gabe.

Friday is always a good day. I get to sleep in until 8:30 AM, hour and a half massage… personal care is not so fun and I end up with a nice long hot bath, about always makes you feel great. Then we play cribbage and win or lose we always have fun, tonight I lost.

“It’s all nonsense to say that you can’t love a dog as much as you love a human.” quote by Richard Dawkins

Saturday was a perfect day. The weather was really nice and Robby and I got to go on a really long cruise. Everything was really crowded, not like during the week. I ran into one of my therapist when I used to go to transitions in Gilroy. I went to her wedding reception at the coconut Grove, it must’ve been about 5 or 6 years ago because now they have an adorable little daughter. It was really nice to see them and since they live here hopefully I will see them again.

Sunday I looked at the weather and it was going to be really cold so I just decided to stay in bed and enjoy the day. I got to watch a couple of movies that I have been meaning to watch, crazy, stupid love and limitless… both really good movies. Heather came over to visit a couple of times, I really don’t see her that much anymore but hopefully that will change.

Trying to catch up after the holidays…

Wow, I haven’t written in my blog for a couple of weeks. The holidays always bring lots of family and friends. My Modesto family came down for Christmas and it was so nice. My niece stayed here with us for a week, I’d love to go to lunch and hang out with her. Phil started doing the work on my porch, he’s putting in the sink, a counter and some shelves… it looks AWESOME and really blends in nicely with the railing and my Burrel table.

"It came to me that every time I lose a dog they take a piece of my heart with them. And every new dog who comes into my life gifts me with a piece of their heart. If I live long enough, all the components of my heart will be dog, and I will become as generous and loving as they are."--Unknown

Tuesday was Robbys bath day and my day to see Claudia, actually it was Samantha, to get a manicure and pedicure. After I came back home and picked up Robby we went for a long cruise and then came back and Teresa put me to bed.

Wednesday the Los Gatos Lions invited us to their lunch/meeting so they could see Robby’s progress. We visit them once a year but I wish it could be more because they are awesome people, I wish I could join the Lions Club. Since we were over the hill there was a lot that we wanted to do but mostly it turned out to be errands. We found a Home Depot, which really wasn’t that much bigger than the one we have here. On the way home we stopped in Scotts Valley at Dawgs and got some hot dogs, I had two Groupons that were going to expire at the end of this month. I decided to get the Italian one with mozzarella cheese and marinara sauce, why didn’t I just get a plain hotdog?? We also got fried pickles and their homemade potato chips which really aren’t that great, the potato chips that is.

Thursday my aunt and I went to the movies to see War horse, it was a really good movie. I cruised home with my aunt and then went back downtown to meet Teresa at the post office to send my brother and asked her bed control so he can rig my bed so I can control it from the computer and I sent back a couple of electric throws that I ordered that were the wrong ones, actually the ones I like they don’t make anymore… figures. I met her back here and she took down most of the Christmas decorations, it always looks so bare in my living room without all the decorations. Heather came over and cooked a bunch of amazing smelling food, I can’t wait to dig into it.

Friday is always a great day. It starts off with a massage, personal care, a nice long hot bath, back to bed to relax for a while and then a game of cribbage with family and friends. Tonight we had 84 bean soup, whatever it’s called… it was really good. I usually lay out $5, I lost all but one and then won it all back… it was a great evening.

Saturday was such a nice and relaxing day. I laid on my side, I think I stayed up too long on Wednesday and Thursday. I slept most of the day, it was so relaxing and nice. I watch the hangover part 2 and it was okay but it really didn’t make me laugh out loud or anything. I downloaded about 4 movies last night so if I can’t sleep tonight I will just watch movies. Jess took Robby and I don’t know what they did but he’s sleeping peacefully, except for the occasional squeals and twitches… I always wonder if he’s having a bad dream or a good dream, I hope it’s a good one.

Sunday I really didn’t plan on staying in bed but it couldn’t be helped, sometimes my morning care just takes too long. It was so beautiful outside. Tomorrow I am out of here!