Elevator Friday - Andrew, Alberta

Thank you Dale Redekopp.

Something new

My days seem to be a little less painful. My legs are more stiff.

I started physiotherapy as an outpatient on September 30 and had my second session on October 2. The first appointment was just an interview and assessment. The second one they put me on an anti-gravity treadmill, the hospital I was in did not have that. You get zipped into a harness that gets inflated and lifts you up so that you are not supporting your full body weight. I was set for twenty percent of my weight and then set to walking on the treadmill for seven minutes. I was nervous trying it out. I am looking forward to doing it again. I think it helps. I signed up for twice a week physio appointments.

I am still using a four wheel walker. Using a walker to walk down my building hallway, elevator to the parkade, then into a vehicle to have a friend drive me to an appointment is a bit of a workout. I know it is over one hundred feet in one direction. I am getting a little better at getting in and out of a vehicle. Getting out of a car, grabbing the walker, and getting up on a sidewalk is a bit scary. I think, I am not sure, but I think I am slowly getting some more range in my knees. I am finally starting to sleep a little better.

I am still trying to build up my upper leg strength. I can now get out of a chair using one arm to help me get up. As always, progress is slow.

Elevator Friday - Borden, Saskatchewan

Courtesy of Dale Redekopp.

The Bonnie Banks of Loch Lomond - Ella Roberts

Amazing Grace

Yet another roommate hospital encounter

Thank God for Dave.

He was yet another diabetic leg amputee that was there to make sure he was healing properly and would then be sent home only to return in a few months to be fitted with a prosthetic leg.

I first ran across Dave in May when he was there for a short time and then again in August when he returned to get acquainted with a new leg. I did not have much interaction on his first go around. We got to know each other fairly well the second time. Dave is about four years older and helped me in ways that he did not know. Dave just made things better.

Even if you were someone I disliked I tried to encourage everyone I ran across. For all I knew some people may not have had any friends or family to visit them, or visit that often. I tried to be uplifting and tell people on my ward to keep at it. If they were in the same physiotherapy session I would tell them later I thought they were doing great. Whether I liked you or not, and vice versa, I truly wanted people to recover and do well.

On the main floor of the hospital there is a little shop that sells coffee, soda, and snacks. If I had a really good session in physiotherapy or if I reached a milestone, like walking up a set of stairs, I would go to the shop and reward myself with a Coke or root beer. My thought was I had to earn it.

Dave was in a different therapy block than me. One day Dave mentioned that he accomplished something in physiotherapy that had not done before. I told Dave that was not good enough and to meet me on the ground floor. I bought Dave a can of Coke Zero (for some reason they only stocked cans, not bottles) and I told him accomplishments have to be recognized and to tell me about it. This became a ritual with us.

The coffee in the hospital was not great. You could get decent coffee in the cafeteria that was only open from seven in the morning until two in the afternoon Monday to Friday. As soon as the nurses finished checking our vitals in morning we would meet for coffee. We also had breakfast there once a week. The hospital breakfast usually had scrambled eggs with the eggs likely coming out of a container and never any bacon. The cafeteria had a cook that cooked actual eggs and they had bacon. Life is better with bacon.

We tried to get others involved. A few guys joined us a couple of times at coffee or breakfast. We encouraged people that we knew on the ward, life has a patient can be depressing. Mostly there was about five guys in my room and visit. Nurses because to refer to my room as the frat room during this period.

Dave and I kind of fed of each other. He is an easygoing guy with a sense of humour. I know he had good taste because he enjoyed my company. Dave and I motivated each other and pushed each other in physiotherapy. Dave adapted to his new leg quickly and left about three weeks before I was discharged. 

Dave had to come back for a quick follow up and dropped in to see me before I got discharged. He brought me chocolate chip cookies that his wife made.

We keep in touch on a regular basis. 

Another hospital roommate tale

“Moe” was probably the worst of the lot. Thankfully I had him for a short time. He was another leg amputee that was there to make sure he was healing properly and would then be sent home only to return in a few months to be fitted with a prosthetic leg.

He was a member of a certain faith that did not entertain the thought of eating pork and had a very low opinion of women. He saw women as only existing to serve him. He had a very high opinion of himself, a classic narcissist, and I do not think he thought the other people in the room existed. This was kind of amusing since I found out over time that he was a retired janitor. You would have thought he was a king by the way he acted. He was adamant that he would not eat the usual hospital food, his food had to conform to his faith. That option existed, it was very limited. There were a few that had certain dietary requirements. He was the only ass about it.

A number of nurses flat out refused to deal with him. The nursing staff loved me, I never caused any problems and went out of my way to thank them. He would call them stupid or liars, pick fights, and not cooperate for the simplest thing. He would only go to physiotherapy when he felt like it. His family would come to visit him and he was rude to them. I got the impression they were glad he was in the hospital so they could have a break from him. When he was discharged he was waiting in a waiting room for a few hours for his family to pick him up. I think they were in no hurry to claim him.

You would think that a guy that had to have dialysis every two to three days, was a recent amputee, and an insulin diabetic would be kinder to the medical staff since he was so dependent on them.

He would play his tablet when he was in bed. I played mine when I was in bed at night as well. The difference was I played mine at a very low volume so as not to disturb others. He would play his at full volume. One night I asked him politely to please turn it down as I was trying to sleep and it was very late at night. After being ignored for the third time I yelled at him in an unpleasant manner. Before I could do it again a nurse cam into the room and got him to turn it down. He wanted to know who was complaining so he could do . . . actually I not sure what he thought he would do with that information. I was about to shout out it was me but the nurse told him to knock it off which he did. I declined to say anything further, nurses had it hard enough with him.

On another occasion he was back to blasting his tablet again. So I retaliated with AC/DC at high volume. After “You Shook Me All Night Long” and “Money Talks” I got creative and found some bagpipe music that I played at full volume. Having Scottish ancestry the skirl of the pipes stirs something deep within my soul so I could keep it up all night long. He folded. To emphasize my point I played it longer than necessary to drive the point home.

I shall not miss him.

The hospital roommate chronicle

One of my other roommates was a guy named "Ralph". I was in the hospital for months and I had roommates that had shorter hospital stays than mine. There was some turnover.

Ralph was an amputee. He lost part of his leg due to diabetes. I ran across a number of guys during my stay that lost part of their leg due to diabetes.

He had a low opinion of women. He had told me after one nurse had left the room after making her rounds that no woman was going to tell him what to do. I asked if he realized that the vast majority of the nursing staff were women. I did not get a response. He had a number of run-ins with nurses.

We had bit of an adversarial relationship. He was there for some rehab on his leg for a few weeks, then would be sent home, then slated to return a few months later for a fitting for a prosthetic leg. I was intent on quietly doing my time until I could get well enough to be discharged. He would decide to hurl occasional insults at me because he enjoyed it. Then at times he sincerely wanted to be my friend and have a decent conversation.

If you are familiar with hospital rooms they usually have a tray-like table on wheel for your bed. I had a cell phone and an iPad. There was no working television in most of the rooms but there was free wifi which kept the inmates sane. Ralph had a cell phone and a laptop. He kept his laptop on his table.

A lot of guys had urinals to use as some of them had difficulty getting to a washroom or could not use a washroom. Ralph would use one during the night when he had to. He usually placed the urinal when he was done on the bedside table.

One morning I woke up before five in the morning because my roommate was yelling and cursing. I asked him what the problem was. He had woke up, bounced around in his bed to get comfortable, and while moving his arms grabbing covers he managed to knock over his partially full urinal dumping the contents onto his laptop keyboard.

I hit the call button for a nurse. He angrily asked me why I called a nurse. I told him he is going to need some help saving his laptop and cleaning up the mess. Everything got cleaned up and amazingly enough his laptop suffered no ill effects.

Hospital roommates

The majority of the time I was in the hospital I had two roommates in a room that was only set up to accommodate two beds.

One of those roommates I will call Jack, not  his real name. The only redeeming quality Jack had was that he was quiet.

He was in the hospital for rehabilitation due to being stabbed in the neck.

Jack liked to steal hand sanitizer. The stuff would come in containers with a hand pump to squirt some on your hands so you could kill germs. He would steal it and drink it. The contents would be emptied into a travel mug and he would drink it all day with a straw. Staff would hide hand sanitizer on the ward so it would not be liberated by my roommate. Once is a while they would search his room when he was not it and take back full containers that he managed to steal. Occasionally staff would find him passed out at various places in the hospital. A few times he was found passed out on the floor beside his bed.

He would disappear for hours at a time. Sometimes he would roll out in a wheelchair at some early hour like two in the morning. There is nothing to do in a hospital at that time, I would guess he would go outside to smoke.

Visiting hours were over at 10:00pm. He was quiet, his occasional late night company after visiting hours were not quiet. My other roommate said Jack had sex in his bed once very late at night with either his wife or girlfriend. Thankfully I had slept through that. Painkillers really help you sleep.

He was eventually discharged. I am not sure if the administration decided if there was nothing further they could do for him or they just were fed up.

Look at all the Bales!

Fresh bales on the western slopes of the Cypress Hills of Alberta.

Michael Truman

Past Presence Website

The Witch House revisited

I posted a photo of this wonderful house that Cpt Mo took back on August 14, 2024.

Here is the original photo:

Check out the link:

magpiesmumblings.blogspot.com/2024/09/tah-and-dah.html

Mary Anne at her blog recreated it in fabric. This is a great piece of art. Go visit her blog.

Cpt Mo Wednesday

 

For those that are curious

I have been home since the afternoon of September 11, 2024. It is good to be home.

The food at home is better, not that the food at the Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital was bad. There was a certain sameness to the food there. In the hospital I always felt like I was being underfed. Being back home there have been a few times I have felt ravenous. It is good to eat until you are stuffed.

It is also discouraging to be home. I feel like I am in more pain being home. I am twisting my body more from threading my walker around the furniture in my small space which results in more and different pain. I have a wheelchair that I am trying not to use as I am forcing myself to use the walker. I have a limited supply of prescription painkillers (Tylenol 3) and I am trying not to take any unless necessary.

My sleep at night is fractured. I only sleep in bits and pieces. I have this weird compulsion when trying to sleep. In the hospital I got used to sleeping flat on my back. At home in my much better mattress I feel I have to sleep on either my left or right side as I used to before I went into the hospital. The trouble is that my legs do not hurt but they noticeably ache in those positions. I cannot get comfortable. Every morning I know I will have to face a day of pain all over again. It is hard to face the day with pain in your future.

On the plus side, I went through my mail when I got home and completed my tax file and got that sent off to the accountant. There should be refund in my future.

Elevator Friday - On a farm west of Red Deer, Alberta

Courtesy of Dale Redekopp.

February 16, 2024 - September 11, 2024

If you want a happy ending create your own.

Home. I am home for the first time since the morning of February 16. Quite the rude interruption to my life. I am going to dwell on the positives and there are many.

I will have to continue to pick up the pieces and put my life back together somehow. It will not be the same. Somehow I will endeavour for it to be better. 

For now I am going to take a moment and have a glass of wine or three. 

Random post

More about me

I have not done anything this long weekend. I have been very tired, rundown, exhausted. I got a lot of sleep. I am not sick, no symptoms of anything so far.

I do need a walker to get around. I can take my hands off the walker and stand unsupported. I cannot take any steps without support. Interestingly enough I can stand beside a table with a cane and walk with a cane in one hand and support myself with my hand on the table with the other hand.

I think in about a month I think I will have enough strength in both legs to try walking with canes. If I can accomplish this currently it is not that much of a stretch to try using two canes to walk in the near future.

I have a follow up with my surgeon September 11 and a likely discharge date of September 12. I will be a few days shy of being six months in the hospital. I will be going home with a two-wheel walker, a four-wheel walker, and a wheelchair. I hope to only need the wheelchair for a few months.

I had a short practice with a few activities here. I can get on and off a toilet (with support arms) myself. I can get in and out of a bathtub using a bath bench. I can get in and out of a Dodge minivan that the hospital owns. The hospital has a various rooms set up to help you navigate things to prepare you for when you go home.

I look forward to getting home where a new set of challenges await me.

A Look at an Old New Look

 

This bus has made its last stop.

Welcome to Bladworth, Saskatchewan, on the road between Regina and Saskatoon.

Clad in Regina Transit colours, this GM New Look bus (a T6H-5307N?) sits in a field near the highway.

Who knows why this bus was placed here? It's one of those things you stumble across in the prairies.

Steve Boyko

Traingeekblog

Cue Rocky music

In the physio room (actually there are several here) there is a set of four stairs for those like me that are learning to walk again. I have to use both handrails for stability to get up. I have to lead with my stronger right leg to do it but I can do it. I went up and down four times in one session without a mishap.

Elevator Friday - Munson, Alberta

Thank you to Dale Redekopp.

Leaning

 

This little building doesn't have much time left. Battered by prairie winds, one day it will give up the ghost and finish its slide into oblivion.

Near Bethune, Saskatchewan.

Steve Boyko

Traingeekblog

Something I found while going through my photos from a few years back that I am sure I never posted before

 

Reflection

 

An old house - two chimneys! - near Bethune, Saskatchewan.

Steve Boyko

Traingeekblog

Spotted at my surgeon’s office

Elevator Friday, Hooey, Saskatchewan

Thank you to Dale Redekopp.

Cpt Mo Wednesday

 

This blog used to feature bales

Sometimes it still does.

Thank to Debra from:

shewhoseeks.blogspot.com

Elevator Friday by Dale Redekopp

 

Random thoughts

I have not posted much recently.

August 16 marks the six month anniversary of the event that placed me in the hospital.

Life has been a bit of a struggle lately. There have been some pain-filled days. There are days when it is damn hard trying to get bone, flesh, and the metal holding me together to cooperate. Some days when I am trying to walk I get horrible stabbing pain in my thigh muscles and I cannot continue.

What walking I am doing is with the aid of a two-wheeled walker or a four-wheeled walker. I can stop, take my hands off the walker, and stand in place with no problems. My balance is good. I cannot walk without my arms supporting me using a walker or some other surface. Yet.

Right now both my legs are wrapped from my ankle to just below my knee in compression bandages to combat the constant swelling in my feet. I have put up with this for a day so far. It seems to be working.

Cpt Mo has a shot of my favourite abandoned house

Craik, Saskatchewan

The town of Craik, Saskatchewan has a surprisingly large collection of interesting buildings. From the large brick town hall, built in 1913, to its recently refurbished grain elevator, to a current and a former church, there's a lot to see.

This former church has been extensively modified. I was told by a passerby that it's owned by a local artist. She spoke quite highly of the work put into it.

The next building appears to still be in use as a church.

I do not recommend that you stay at this motel. It gives "Bates Motel" vibes all around . . .

Steve Boyko
Traingeekblog

Elevator Friday - Wishart, Saskatchewan

Thank you Dale Redekopp. 

Quick post

Not much to say.

With time the legs are a bit stronger. I am hoping to get more range in my knees. Using a four wheel walker is damn hard when you have injuries like mine. 

Got an update for you

I got picked up from the Glenrose Hospital at seven this morning and taken to the University of Alberta Hospital for x-rays and a follow-up meeting with my surgeon. Everything looks good. No bad news. He is pleased with my progress. 

My stay at the Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital has been extended into September. I will have more time to get stronger and get better at walking. 

I got to use a four-wheel walker for the first time yesterday. It is harder than it looks. I have a two-wheel walker in my room to practice with under supervision. That means I can use it with a nurse in the room to watch me. More progress being made. 

The United Church in Isabella, Manitoba

The tiny town of Isabella, Manitoba has a few treasures hidden away. One of them is this United Church building.

Built in 1911, it was originally the Presbyterian Church. It became the Isabella United Church after the merger of the Methodist, Presbyterian, Congregational and other churches into the United Church in 1925.

Other Isabella attractions include their grain elevator and museum.

Steve Boyko

Traingeekblog

Melville, Saskatchewan

The town of Melville, Saskatchewan was built for the railway, and today it is still pretty railway centered.

The Grand Trunk Pacific Railway established Melville as a division point and a railway junction. It had a large roundhouse and turntable, coal tower and other facilities for servicing locomotives. Even today it has engine servicing facilities, although the roundhouse and other steam-era facilities are gone.

The large train station was built in 1908 and is the only one of its kind in Canada. It is under restoration and is looking pretty good.

Melville features some impressive municipal buildings, including the post office and city hall below.

Melville was named for the president of the Grand Trunk Pacific, Charles Melville Hays, who perished on the Titanic.

 

Steve Boyko

Traingeekblog

No! Not the pylons!!

Get off the wheelchair, take the walker around the cones, turn around, sit in the chair, get off the chair, through the cones, turn around and sit in the wheelchair.

I managed to do it three times.

Quick note

Today marks five months from my last surgery to put my legs back together.

Elevator Friday - Legal, Alberta

Dale Redekopp with another contribution.

Last update for the day

Managed to walk three hundred feet with a two-wheeled walker.

New first

Walked around the table twice. I had to  have both hands on the table at all times to support myself. First time I did this.

My balance is good. I can stand without holding on to something. I cannot walk without some means of support.

Actually the rest of my day went better . . .

After some pain and agony the last few days I matched my personal best today of two hundred fifteen feet using a two-wheeled walker. I think I badly sprained a muscle that is getting better.

For those that are curious, if I need painkillers they do give them to me. Many weeks ago I was on Morphine or Dilaudid for pain. The strongest stuff I get in the rehabilitation hospital is Tylenol 3. I have had days where Tylenol 3 does not do much for the pain. For me it usually takes about an hour before I start to feel it helping me.

Well I was doing better . . .

Having to deal with a couple of intensely pain-filled days. I tend to do okay for days at a time then the pain gangs up on me.

Bales

Time for some bales!

Michael Truman

Past Presence Website