Our excursions out of the house usually consisted of going to the Wellness Center, the doctor (several at that), an occasional movie (and I do mean occasional, movies for TBI survivors have to be hand selected for content, i.e. too much noise, too much stimuli, level of information -i.e., can he follow along.), and once in a while to a restaurant to eat (again hand picked as to whether he can comfortably enter a restaurant, parking, bathroom facilities, level of noise and if the food is good -ha ha, that one is for me!- If I have to take all the time to figure this out and get him there, the food better be good!) If Tim has just been cooped up in the house due to the weather, I like to drag him with me to the grocery store or to Walmart. I shop, he just sits in the car and people watches and actually enjoys it! I stop at Dunkin Donuts on the way and get him something to drink and occasionally a little something to nibble on. He brings his Nook which makes a people watching excursion complete!
When were first got married,.we would dream about where we would go visit when we retired. Since Tim played the bagpipes, we had hopes of someday going to Scotland to see pipers at the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo or perhaps a trip to Ireland. Certainly trips to Walmart never made the cut! Boy,our plans have really changed!
In March of 2012, spring break was coming up. Most people think of Florida and the usual warm spring break hideaways. I had a brilliant idea. We would take a trip to Indianapolis to see our son and daughter in law's new house. Tim's durability in the car was getting better. I knew he could survive at least forty five minutes without having to get up. So I figured he could possibly push it to maybe and hour or so (I always have big expectations of him!). I called my kids and put them to the task of finding us somewhere to stay. Their house at this time has not yet been made "Tim-proof". So we thought a hotel room that was handicapped accessible would be the best bet. My daughter in law found us a wonderful place and she even found back up in case this one did not work out.
Packing up Tim to go on a trip is harder than packing up kids! You know if you forget something for the kids, you can just run to the store and pick it up. With Tim it is a whole different ball game. I knew this would be a learning experience and a trial run to see if we could do it. So not only do I have to pack my things, I have to carefully pack all the items that Tim needs to function on a daily basis keeping in mind that this was only going to be a one night stay! I just wanted to make sure all the bases were covered - just in case! Thankfully, we have a minivan!
We had all our arrangements set. Mind you that this is the first time since our trip to the Bahama in January of 2006 (two weeks before his accident) that we have gone more than twenty five miles from the house. My thought was that if we needed to pull over every so often, we would. I did pack some munchies, in case we got hungry, but if one of our stops needed to be a restaurant, then so be it! Thankfully, we had a lovely day to travel. It did start out foggy, but as we left the Chicago area, it started to clear up. Our trip was under way! Believe it or not Tim was actually pretty comfortable. It was me who at one point decided that I needed to use a restroom. About halfway to Indy, we stopped at one of the rest areas on the way. It actually was a very quaint area and was packed with many vacationers on their way, probably further that our destination of Indianapolis. Tim decided that he was going to get out and stretch. Once he got up out of the car, he decided that he was also going to use the restroom as well. The facility said it was handicapped accessible, so we thought, OK, piece of cake. Ha! I was able to get him into the building. The bathroom was a different story. The entrance to the men's bathroom had a narrow door, which opened to a hallway that made a quick left turn as you entered the door. Now, Tim has a very hard time bending his right leg, Even seated it sticks out a bit. I pushed him in and as we made the turn, as fate would have it, he got stuck, leg sticking out and chair wedged in at an angle. Now, this is a rest area with a high amount of traffic of gentlemen, who need to use the facility and my husband was stuck in the hallway blocking their entrance or exit. As I looked up I could see the men's urinals and thought, oh no I am not going any further. Thankfully, a nice young man who just was exiting, hopped over my husband and his chair and helped Tim stand up and then rearranged his chair. From that point on, Tim was able to go to the handicapped stall. Which according to him was another whole experience. It was really a converted closet with a toilet. Me, in the meanwhile, was in and out of the ladies room in a flash as was waiting for him to come back out. I sat and sat and sat waiting. Now I was getting worried and was watching every male who was going in and coming out, for one that looked like he was decent enough to check on Tim. Finally, the custodian of the facility, who saw us originally enter the building, came to my assistance. He told me he would go in and see if Tim was alright. A few moments later he said that Tim would be right out. Exiting the bathroom was much easier the entering. The custodian helped guide him out and we chalked that one up to a real learning experience!
The rest of the drive was really quite uneventful! It had been so long since I had driven out of an urban area, that I couldn't help but marvel at the vast farmlands and open areas. We passed by a windmill farm. We had driven this way in the past on our way to Florida and I did not recall ever seeing these windmills. So it was quite a treat! Indy was soon on our horizon.
We finally made it to their house! Tim's next challenge...the steps! Our son, Mike was actually able to take Tim part of the way up in his chair via the grass. Tim really only had to navigate a few steps. There is only a railing on the right side of the steps and since Tim's right arm cannot help him out, Mike and I were his support. I also brought along a heavy duty walker that Tim could lean on as he stepped. Our daughter in law, Cayley grabbed Tim's chair and tossed it into the house and held the door so he simply walked into the house when we made it to the top. He did it! We got the tour of the house and it was just beautiful! By this time, it was time for lunch and my son thought we would take a walk (since the weather was so beautiful) to a local Cajun place. You guessed it, poor Tim had to go down those stairs! But going down proved to be much easier than going up. Before you know, we were off to lunch. On our return, we went on a driving tour on Indianapolis and checked into our hotel. The room was very accommodating. We made a note that if we ever returned, it would definitely be on our list to stay at again.
The rest of our stay in Indy was just great! Tim managed the stairs three more times. The night at the hotel went well! We now know what kinks we have to work out, should we stay there again. Our visit took in great food, good memories some laughs, and a definite learning experience. But most importantly, we were so thrilled that we actually made it to see our son and his wife and we now know that we can do it! Of course the next time around, we will be better prepared and all the wiser!
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