I am so sorry for ignoring all my friends that are wondering just how I am doing. It's been a really long 2 years (about!) and I was sure that most of you were bored with hearing about my amputation and struggle with life thereafter.
I have been in a rehab facility since March 3, 2010. Challenges with facility management regarding personal equipment not allowed, "speeding" in the hallways and confrontations with a fellow resident occupy my days. They have laid off nagging about my curling iron, clothes iron, etc. only to pick on me for other cockeyed things. From threatening to take away my power chair to moving me back down to the first floor, they have kept me going down the path of temporary insanity.
One Sunday I was going to my room to get info for one of the activities girls. Robert Unanimous was blocking the hallway by slouching over in his chair and pretending to be asleep. I raised my voice (just in case he really was sleeping) calling out, "Robert wake up, you're blocking my way." He sat up and immediately started swearing by using the "F" word. He then proceeded to call me a selection of "bi**h, fat a*s, fat a*s bi**h, ugly bi**h, etc. I held my tongue and refused to return in kind. When I got clear of him (and behind him) I touched him with my pointy finger and said, "You will never speak to me like that again." He actually had his hand cocked and had the look of a devil on his face. I was literally afraid of him hitting me. My mistake, that was technically assault! He took the offensive and became abusive but I was wrong. He let loose with another string of abusive language -- note at this point I had not called him anything yet -- I responded by yelling that he was a "son of a *it*h" and stormed off to my room. To this point, the 3 staff persons standing around had not even intervened. Next day, management came to talk to me to get my story. Of course, it was my fault and, in fact, the staff witnessing this had said that we had "exchanged" profanities, making it look like I was as foul as this ugly old troll!! Now I am in a closet of a room which is less than one-half the size of my former room. I had to put a lot of stuff in storage just to get a minimal amount of room to move around. I've been just as close to tears in the last few weeks as I've ever been.
Beside trying to cope with the loss of a leg, I've developed other problems. Mostly in my hands and arms. The DR thinks I have a torn rotator cuff problem in the right and nerve problems in the left. In fact, it is moderate to severe carpel tunnel problems His first reaction is to schedule surgery but I said it would not be convenient, Can you imagine the problem I'd have with one leg gone, arthritis in the other knee, rotator cuff problems and THEN surgery on the left? Well, then he suggested PT/OT. That's funny since the facility has shut down the therapy dept. What is a person to do?
If I haven't indicated before, I think the facility is going under. They have fired a lot of staff and consolidated 4 floors into 2 and one-half, They also closed the therapy dept. and sent a lot of equipment back. What does that indicate to you?
One thing good is that I have finally got Milwaukee County involved. I have a new case worker, nurse manager and been approved for Title XIX in the community. If I can't find a place to go to, I am sure they will find somewhere. Maybe assisted living or a group home. I am quite independent in some ways but still need a lot of help getting started in the a.m.
They have also cut out PT on me because they said I was being "uncooperative." ME?? HA! I would do my OT things and then go to the PT mat/table and do my exercises all on my own. I would try to encourage others to go on and do better, cheer them on and kid them when they were trying to goof off when their therapist wasn't looking What the situation was is that the prosthetic wasn't fitting right. It was too tight and I couldn't fit it on properly. They were trying to get me to fit the prosthetic instead of fitting the prosthetic to me.
Since the biggest problem is mostly caused by others with their situations, I don't seem to be able to get a handle on the situation. I just hope it eases off soon.
By the way, I have retained a lawyer who specializes in elder law (I'm not THAT old) to put together an irrevocable trust to help me meet the requirements that the government is asking of me. I am hoping this will help in financial planning and management.
So, with this summary of the "things" happening, I will sign off. If anybody needs more details, I will be happy to "talk" with them.
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