Hey folks,
One of our posting buddies 1 gardengram was scheduled to have back surgery on Monday the 20th. I'm keeping her in my thoughts and wishes for a speedy recovery. I hope that we'll hear from her or someone will post for her, how she is doing. Sending encouragment and positive energies!
Hope you're up and around soon..
Good thoughts for 1gardengram
My thoughts and prayers are that you are recovering comfortably and will be posting again real soon....
Waiting to hear something. Hope all is well...
Swoz and Keely
Please make a speedy recovery. You will be missed on the Carolina forum til you get back. Thoughts and prayers are with you.
Still keeping you in thoughts and prayers. Hope you can post with us soon....
Awwww, you guys brought tears to my eyes.
I had surgery on the 20th and there was a plan for me to go to Rehab for a few days to start building strength in my lower back and upper legs. This was my third back surgery in five months and we thought maybe that would help. The nerve trauma this time has caused my legs to not function well, be extremely sensitive to even the slightest touch on my legs, have severe muscle spasms and completely numb feet. So I spent extra time in Rehab and came home this last Friday.
For now I am to rest and recover and then in a month or so will return for outpatient rehab. Right now I am using a walker to get around the house. It will be a while before we know how the nerves will heal or how quickly. I share a home with one of my daughters and her family and they watch over me like hawks.
I was so impressed with the people at Rehab that I am going back as a volunteer to work with the greenhouse/raised bed programs they have for the patients. Unbelievable people doing amazing work!!
Thank you so much for remembering me and keeping me in your thoughts and prayers. I had no idea you were doing that and you really have touched my heart.
Diane
So glad to hear that you are home. I wish for you a speedy recovery and that you are able to begin your volunteer work soon.
Made me smile knowing you are okay.
Casey
Welcome back! That volunteer work sounds great. Wishing you a speedy recovery.
Diane! It's great to hear from you.... I'm glad your procedure went well and that you'll progress past those spasms... What kind of stuff are they growing in those raised beds and GH? I'll bet some seeds can show up for your project.....
Write as often as you can so we can keep up with you... Prayers are still in full force for your recovery. Just don't get too wild with that walker for a while....
Swoz
Swoz, I had a birthday on Sunday and turned 68, so now I am officially old. No more races for me!! :^)
I used to work for a man that said if he had known he was going to live so long, he would have taken better care of himself. Now I understand what he meant.
I guess they have no preferences for the little garden spaces they have. These are nicely glassed in spaces with concrete walkways and some benches in the Rehab area of the hospital. You see them as you go down the hallways. Some of the beds are raised, some are not. They have a little GH, but I've not seen it yet. The therapeutic recreation people are the ones in charge of it, and they were so excited that I asked about using it to help patients with their life skills AND getting them out into the air you'd have thought it was Christmas.
I will be going back to see the GH as soon as I can. I don't have any idea what's in there and neither did anyone else. I don't want to assume they have pots, tools, etc., as maybe those were loaned by previous volunteers. I was thinking I could buy flats of simple things (petunias, impatiens, marigolds) that would be colorful and quick, as well as easy to hold onto, but that's as far as I have gotten.
I will not be able to drive for a while and have to depend on my overloaded family to get me there and back. My plan is that on the assigned days someone could drop me off and come back for me in a couple of hours. As I heal, I can do more. We have those ungodly hot summers, so am assuming patients would have to be monitored carefully. Each patient that can has physical therapy twice a day and occupational therapy twice a day. The therapeutic people train the patients to do things like ride the bus, shop, do crafts. Some of it is really boring, and I was thinking that this would add an element of fun.
If anyone has done this sort of project before, I'd love to hear from you.
Gardengram, I have not done a project exactly like yours, but have worked with disabled seniors and children for years.
I can only give you one hint of advice. Get a tape player of some sort and play music in the background. It was the one thing that was given a constant good rating on the surveys that were done. Every person from age 8 to 80 would hum along as they dug in the dirt...
My best of luck on the garden volunteering and even more so to your recovery.
Casey
Thank you CARAT. That's a fantastic idea.
I have begun having very severe low back pain again and have not been able to do all I wanted to do. I have been working on getting things ready for the Rehab patients and have a big box of goodies for them. I have made some little tic-tac-toe games and found things with big bright pieces for them to put together like fridge magnets and those white visor cap things that they can decorate. Found some darling little piggy banks they can decorate. I've done one of each thing to be sure it would work for the patients and also for a sample. I've made two terrariums to take for the nurses' station and the therapists' area. So I've been getting ready. I hope to take a bunch of things by the end of this week, and at the same time find out what is going on with the flower beds, if anything. So far I have only done little short drives on my own like to the post office. I'm on a pretty short leash. LOL
While I'm lying around I am making booties for the NICU babies and the Crisis Pregnancy Center, so trying to be useful even while feeling so useless.
I have managed a little bit of garden work. The weather is too gorgeous to just stay in the house. All those birds out there singing!! I sat my fanny down in the edge of the flower beds and pulled all the weeds I can reach. If anyone ever saw what I look like when I am gardening, it would be grounds for blackmail!!!
I am scheduled for another big MRI on the 8th and then they will see what to do next. They said absolutely no physical therapy because of the problems that have not cleared up much yet. I am walking on my own most of the time and my feet are not as numb, so I have much to be thankful for.
Thank you so much for thinking of me. It means a lot when you are feeling kind of down and out.
Diane
Diane,
I was working in the flower bed yesterday and around the plants you sent me. I was wondering how you were doing and specifically how you were recuperating. Now I read this post... So know that you are held still in heart and prayers.
When you get into redoing those garden beds at the rest home - you need to find help from people looking to do service projects - like the Boy or Girl Scouts... They could give you a day or two and get things rolling in a big way.
Why not post what you see you might need when you take stock - let's see what DG folks may have available...
Let us know how that MRI goes..
Take care of yourself and Dmail when ya want to chat.
Swoz
Swoz,
You made me cry. It's so precious to me to have people I don't even know praying for me, offering help and coming up with ideas. Thank you so much. My family has been through an awful lot for over a year now and we are trusting the Lord through it all, but we still get tired as humans do.
I really appreciate you. Thanks so much.
Diane