As it was getting closer to being able to come home from the hospital, all kinds of new issues were cropping up. His therapists were working hard helping him to be able to stand and transfer, walk a few steps with a walker, be able to use the bathroom again, shower and get in and out of bed. Speech therapists got him past the aphasia stage and were giving him simple 2 step tasks to try and accomplish. He was still trying to get his pain under control. The ulcer on the back of his ankle was still a problem that needed constant attention from the wound specialists. His appetite was picking up so they were able to remove the feeding tube. He still had problems with blood clots in his leg which he was taking medication for. But he was showing signs of improvement all around, which meant that he would be able to eventually leave the hospital setting. However, he would still need to continue with physical, occupational and speech therapy on an outpatient basis.
For me, my husband coming home posed many more problems. Our house was not set up for someone who was now handicapped. The front and back of the house had steps, which he could not do yet and our bedrooms were upstairs. The stairs going up to the bedrooms were carpeted and steep and even if we could get him up there, his wheelchair would not fit through the doorways. He could do a few steps, but was pretty much dependent on his wheelchair. We did have a bathroom and shower on the first floor, but it was not handicapped accessible, a wheel chair could not fit through the doorway here either. So as the therapists were getting him ready to come home, I was trying to figure out how I was going to get him home and ready our house for it. Pretty difficult when I was still spending every day at the hospital and had not been to back to work for the last 3 months. A lot was laying on my mind at this point in time.
However, we thankfully have a group of wonderful friends and coworkers who came to our rescue. Their generosity simply overwhelms me to this day. One of the first steps to bringing him home was to be able to get him into the house. Almost overnight, these wonderful people built us a ramp alongside of the house and connected it to a deck at the back door. Years ago we had pulled out the carpeting on the first floor and installed hardwood floors, so we were ahead of the game here. The next dilemma was, where was he going to sleep? I agonized over this for quite some time. I remember talking to the social worker at the hospital about this. She looked at me, patted my shoulder and said, “Don’t worry about this, remember, this is only a temporary thing.” I thought, “Is she drunk? Does she know who my husband is and has she seen him lately?” I’ll never forget those words. Anyone of his therapists who had been working with him would have laughed at her words. I knew better and started to hatch a plan that had been on my mind way before my husband was ever moved to the rehab unit.
We have a one car garage attached to our house that we have never been able to put a car in. I thought, I bet we could turn it into a bedroom. It would eliminate the risks of the stairs and the issue of where he would sleep. My family thought this was a good idea. I then talked to our friend who had connections to the building community to see if this could be done and the cost. My in-laws thought it would be a good idea to put a handicapped accessible bathroom into the room. I was looking at the cost of just a simple room, but I’m glad that they convinced me to include it.
So with this idea in mind and an accessible entrance in place, things were looking up. Bringing my husband home was not as troubling as I previously thought.
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