(Photo Description: Codee sitting in a recleining chair with Bailey, a small brown and white fluffy dog, on her lap.)
Tuesday March 8th
Jessica, who is lovingly known as Twofooter on Twitter, has started her second day of a two week vacation. Or was that a staycation? There’s no going to the office for her, as she took time off to help with campaigning for the local elections. She’s number 9 on the SP candidate list. So she’s going to be very busy and I’m going to see a lot of tomatoes (their logo) the coming days.
Today they don’t have any meetings or campaign events, so she’s gonna go with me for a walk on wheels outside. But first I need to wait on a phone call from my GP to discuss further reducing my pain medication.
I was taking 3 tablets a day. After 4 weeks of rollercoaster withdrawal symptoms, I’m down to one, but I want it gone. Though my pain levels aren’t terrible and the occasional paracetamol takes the worst of it away, doc has decided to wait 2 weeks before taking away the last tablet. My body needs a rest from all the symptoms and it will be easier to remove it from the Baxter roll if we wait for the new one to be deliveresd.
After the phone call, we escaped and took a long roll to the local Thrift store, where I got some new second hand pasta plates and a pair of curtains for our office/guest room.
My new wheelchair is a bit bouncy. Which is good, because it’s easier for Jessica to push and reduces pain for me. I’m noticing my core muscles are having a hard time holding me upright. So I think I need to mail OT to discuss a seatbelt.
Wednesday March 9th
I’m sure this day started with some chores. But the changes we’ve made to my pain meds are messing with my memory. So I don’t remember what I did. I do know it’s my friend Emily’s day for FaceTime. She lives in America and we try to FaceTime regularly. I’ll do that a bit later in the evening as I know Jessica is attending a debate and Emily likes to hang out and keep me company when I’m home alone.
Thursday March 10th
Today Jessica went with me to the shops in the village. First we needed to do an errand for a fellow SPer, we also needed sugar. So we stopped by the local supermarket and left with more than only sugar. Hey, it’s staycation. So we gotta have nice food. Also I picked up another flexible tripod for my iPad as I somehow broke the first one. This new one is cheap. Let’s see if I can keep it whole.
On the way home, Jessica took a detour to the toy store. I asked why, she didn’t immediately tell me. I made a joke about pretending to be a big kid if we were gonna be in a toy store. She rolled me to the Nintendo section and we picked out 3 games we don’t yet have. A triple pack with Monopoly, Trivial Persuit and Risk, Rayman and a Match 3 Gems game. That was a surprise. I don’t usually buy games. They’re expensive but these were on offer. It was nice to treat ourselves.
Friday March 11th
Today is not the day for me to wake up feeling ill. I’ve had a lot of trouble with blood pressure and blood sugar since lowering my pain meds. This morning, both are high and I’m obnoxiously tired. Jessica is going with Mom to the theater and I said I’d hang out with Bailey, Mom’s dog.
I slept most of the morning and a small part of the afternoon. By the time Mom came, I was awake and felt a bit better. We ordered pizza for dinner. When Mom and Jessica left, Bailey and I played for a while and later snuggled on the couch while watching Netflix.
Saturday March 12th
I was hopeful that my nurse would be able to do all of my care including shower, in one care moment. Jessica needed to take part in a campaign event during the afternoon. However, she said that we could go out in the morning if the nurse was done on time. I got lucky. We finished my morning care routine in plenty of time. So after breakfast. I went with Jessica for a walk in the woods near our house. The plants and flowers are beginning to bloom. So it was an enjoyable walk.
In the afternoon while Jessica was out, I did some chores and watched YouTube.
Sunday March 13th
Sunday is Jessica day. She can take a break from all of her responsibilities and go on a long nature walk if she wants to. Which is what she did.
After the nurse helped with my care routine, I did a couple chores and took the liberty of spending the rest of the day being lazy while watching YouTube.
Jessica always comes home with photos after a long walk. We cast them to the big TV and look at them together. I tell her what I can see and she describes the things I’ve missed.
Monday March 14th
Today it’s voting day. 3 days long it’s possible for people to vote in the local elections. Before I went to do that, I skyped with my Dad. He lives in England. So we skype every Monday to catch up with each other.
I tried to do some chores after we were done, but I had pain in my arms. So had to stop. Since Jessica is on the candidates list, she’s not able to go with me and help me vote. So my neighbour came and we went to vote together. We decided to go to the bakery where we could sit to drink coffee. She was kind enough to also treat me to a slice of pie. After all, it was Pi day.
We went back to her house for more coffee and conversation afterwards. It was so nice to be out of the house and in the company of someone else for a while. Different face. Different conversation.
So far it’s been an interesting and fun staycation. If you want to know what I get up to next week…. I’ll tell you in the next blog.
CRS Life 