Not a Walk in the Park

I fear that I've been creating an overly-rosy picture of Robb's recovery with this blog. Believe me, it isn't all cooking and taking little outings. Much of the recovery process is slow and some of it can be really demoralizing.

For example, Robb still cannot feel the bottoms of his feet, or a big stripe up the back of his legs, or his butt, or his groin. He isn't wearing a catheter, but he is also not going to the bathroom normally. And, in fact the medications he is taking for all of this are causing a lot of trouble.

Our insurance company has been trying to get Robb an appointment with a urologist, but they can't find one in the area who will accept our insurance. Once we finished laughing about what kind of job one might have in order to see a urologist for a work-related injury, we were really sobered by the fact that even if we have insurance, doctors can just refuse to accept it, leaving us without medical care.

After a lovely Saturday of sleeping late, a nice walk in the sunshine, and a delightful dinner with our neighbor Dominique, I had insomnia last night. I didn't get to sleep until after the sun came up. So, I asked Robb to let me sleep in.

At 9:30, he came into the bedroom completely distraught. His medication was causing hideously painful spasms of his bladder, which in turn causes an instant and inexplicable emotional distress the likes of which I've never seen in Robb. He was in so much discomfort that I couldn't touch any part of him.

This had happened before at the hospital, and so at least he knew what to expect. He just had to "ride it out." It was agonizing. After what seemed like a very long time, his body stopped sending these distressing messages to his internal organs, and things calmed down.

So, no, this whole recovery is very much not a walk in the park.

Comments

knitica said…
Robb--so sorry about all the pain and discomfort. You've been doing all of this so well, it's easy for us to become complacent about the level of difficulty for you.

I keep thinking of you and praying for you on the good days and the bad.
Anonymous said…
You two have been going through this whole ordeal with so much grace and humor, that I think it's easy for people *not* to read between the lines of your blog.

I'm so sorry that Robb is having such upsetting reactions to his medicine. It sounds frightening for you both.

Keep up the wonderful work you two are doing. We're cheering for you.

xoxo,
Martha, Neil and Lindsay

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