Rehab Days 4-5

Day 4

Sunday was lovely. My wife, Cat, and one of my best friends, Rob, came by for the Mother's Day brunch at the nursing home. It was perfect because not only was Sunday not Mother's Day, but I am not a mother. So, we basically had a lovely brunch for no reason, and I loved it. The food was excellent, but it needed more mimosas.

Day 5

Back to work. By 10:30 a.m., I'd met with the nurse practitioner, the occupational therapist, and the physical therapist.

We had what they call a Care Conference—basically an assessment of my progress thus far and setting some targets for the near future. My next check-in with the insurance is 5/13, but based on my current rate of progression, I will likely be discharged to head home around that time.

One major area of concern for me is that, even when I'm more functional, walking longer distances is going to take time to work up to. We did lay out some things to explore, specifically working with a Rollator, which is one of those wheeled walkers you can lock into place and sit on if you need to. That would be a huge help until I get my left leg's stamina up to snuff.

The last piece to deal with is the FMLA paperwork. Working out who needs to fill out which form has been a bit of a trial. I think we finally have it worked out. The problem is that the insurance company assumes you'll have the same doctor working on whatever issue you have the whole time. This is not the case. By my count, I've had no fewer than seven medical professionals engaged with my case in the last three weeks. Makes paperwork a pain.

Throughlines

Each day affords me time to think. I spend a lot of time contemplating what I want to do differently once I am back at home, working, dealing with the day-to-day.

These past two days have raised a lot of questions I've been working through.

My job is very even-keel, not super stressful. So why am I so exhausted at the end of the day? What could I do differently to have more energy in the evening?
Not having a laptop here in the home has meant that everything I do at the keyboard has been focused. It's not been my go-to for entertainment or, bluntly, time-wasting when I don't know what else to do. What things will I do to make sure I'm not pouring all my free time into a distraction machine and getting not much back? I'm not talking about actual projects, but filler time, scrolling, etc., that burns time but does not recharge me.
Books are good. You have a lot of them. Why aren't you reading them? And why do you keep buying them?
Why don't you just listen to music like you used to?
One thing you are learning is that you need to physically slow down, or you are going to fall, what with the weak leg and all. Are there other areas where you need to slow down? Not because you'll fall, but because you'll miss the great stuff around you.

Food for thought. Where's that journal of mine?