Rehab, Day Three

Bright and early on Saturday morning, the occupational therapist strode into the room. Briskly she told us what we'd do today as she laid several odd-looking objects on each of our beds - a very long shoehorn and a half-pipe with strings, among other things. Then she gave us each a pink dishpan filled with the toiletries we'd been scrounging for ourselves for two days already. Toothbrush and toothpaste! Soap! Deodorant! Towels! Well, that started us off. Why hadn't we received these when we first arrived? Well, my roommate and I gave this poor woman an earful about our treatment during the first two days. She was duly horrified.

The weekend nurse came in, also very nice and concerned about how we'd been treated. From that moment on, everybody was very nice to us. We think the aides were lectured; I really hope the "fricking sleep" one was fired.

The occupational therapist sat down with my roommate and showed her what each of the tools was for. I was on the CPM machine and couldn't see what was going on, but she said she'd go over them with me later. After I got off the machine, I ate breakfast, and an aide took me down for a shower. (She was a trifle ungracious about it, but at least she did it when I wanted it done.) By the time the OT got to me to show me the tools, we had run out of time before her next appointment. She showed me the thing that you can use to snag something at a distance. Frankly, tongs work better. I was sitting there in socks and sneakers I'd put on myself without the aid of any special tools, so she didn't show me the long shoehorn or that other device, which was to help you put on socks. In fact, I was doing so well I didn't really need this part of the training at all.

Then, two physical therapists, one of whom was perky Jen, dragged us down to a "group therapy" session. We were snickering about what to expect - would we all hold hands and share our struggles? What we got was an exercise class, sort of wheelchair aerobics, since half of them were in wheelchairs. The other six participants were elderly and much less able than we were. I know I was wondering why we were there...

After I got back to my room, my sons arrived and we played cards for awhile. It was lively and probably the most fun I've had while I've been here.

That afternoon, my mother and sister visited. It strikes me as particularly funny that I may be the only denizen of this facility who has ever been visited by her mother...

The staff were going out of their ways to be nice to us now. The weekend night nurse was young and inexperienced, but eager to please. The aides weren't openly hostile any more. What an improvement!