Thanksgoating - Day ten. The chair is against the wall

So…. I had that thing that I went through.  I broke, I got better, and learned a lot about me.

It turns out there are lots of types of therapists.  Physical, speech, occupational… all sorts of wonderful people trying to get you back on your feet after a trauma.  Literally.

Today, I’m thankful for Lollie.  Lollie was one of my physical therapists.  We had a love/hate relationship.

Lollie was kind of a mix of a physical and occupational therapist.  I think she was qualified in both.  She helped me move around and also helped me relearn fine motor skills.  And there was the chair. I could barely move my legs and laying down in bed was the easiest thing for me, but she wasn’t having any of that. It turns out that sitting in a chair is much better for you than being sedentary in bed.   She and a colleague would help me stand, make me walk 5 feet with my walker and sit in the chair for two hours.  I had my laptop and my TV remote, so I wasn’t without something to do.  I came into the hospital at around 180 pounds and at this time I was weighing in around 120.  I had no body fat and had lost a lot of muscle mass.  Tl;dr I had a bony butt.  I could sit for about 45 minutes before it became painful.  At two hours I was miserable.  But in retrospect, people who work in hospitals might just know what they are doing.

I hated the chair, but I started to respect what Lollie was doing. One day, Lollie asked me what was going on with my hair.  That kind of caught me off guard because I hadn’t thought about it and hadn’t seen myself in a mirror in two months.  I had been growing it out to donate it as I had done once before and had forgotten it was past my shoulders when I came in.  Her next visit she came back with a comb and spent a long time combing it out for me.  It was painful, but she was tenacious. After an hour or so I could actually put it in a ponytail again.  Then she made me get up and walk to my room door and back to my bed with my walker.  Because Lollie time comes with a cost. I walked a lot with Lollie. It was exhausting but that lady would not take no for an answer.  If I was tired after an MRI she would just say, ok… you’ve got 30 minutes for a nap, then we’re walking.  I was almost a foot taller than her, but she had this strap that she would put under my arms and tighten around me.  I felt like she had complete control of my balance in the event I lost mine.

My 100% absolute best memory from my time in the hospital was when Lollie and her cohort showed up with a wheelchair and said, ‘We’re busting you out!’.  They put me in the rolling chair and we headed to the elevators.  It was like Thelma and Louise and CapnJB   Down to the first floor for the first time in over two months.  I remember seeing the gift shop and just being so happy about seeing something new.  I wanted to buy all the things. Then they took me outside to a courtyard.  I had sun on my face and felt a breeze for the first time in 10 weeks.  It was everything I needed.  I sat there for 10 minutes just soaking up the moment.  It was the best.  Then Lollie says, ‘Now you’ve got to walk 20 steps without a walker’. DAMMIT LOLLIE!!  That escape really pushed me into challenging myself with my recovery.  It made a world of difference.

When I had my final surgery at the end of April, I awoke in recovery with a nurse I recognized from my time in the ICU.  When I was ready to move, the attendant rolled my bed to the elevators.  The elevator doors opened and Lollie walked out.  Providence.  Made my day.

She came by to see me later and I was thrilled to point out there was no chair in the room. Heh.  An hour later, a chair showed up.  DAMMIT LOLLIE!

This has again gotten wordy, so I’ll shut it down, but there is a lot more to this story.  And I love my Lollie   Be thankful for the people who don’t just check all the boxes at work.  Celebrate the people who go above and beyond.