Home is Where the Wheelchair Is

My 110-pound granddog Frankie came into my room to check on me. It's quite important for his gentle soul to ensure grandma is feeling well and hasn't fallen. Today is the day I return home to Roseburg, in all my glory so I will miss his beautiful fluffy face. 

Terry spent several hours cleaning our home, washing the bedding, and throwing the couch covers into the wash as well. He swept floors, did dishes, took all the cans and bottles to the bottle return, and hammered out all the details to give me a clean home to come home to, bless his "housekeeping is kryptonite to my species" little heart. 

Meanwhile, back on the ranch, Marina helped me in the shower one more time before my return. She wanted me to be "fresh," and so showering it was. It made me think though. If I am not "fresh" now, do I offend? Am I stinking? I just had another shower a couple of days before. I wouldn't think I would smell, but one never truly knows about the aroma coming from their body as well as those in their general vicinity. So showering was essential to keep my broken body from smelling. 

After a nice hot shower, I brushed out my hair while Marina grabbed some maple flavored, crunchy topping yogurt. Always a treat. While I ate spoonful after spoonful of the yogurt, I realized, "Wow. I'm going home." Long time coming, for sure, although as I looked around the farmhouse kitchen, I knew I would be missing Wolf Tree Ranch as well.

I knew I would miss all the beautiful scenery as I do each time we leave Wolf Tree. But I also knew I could come and visit. Missing the dogs, my daughters and son-in-law, all the company, and Marina's amazing food was definitely going to happen. But then again, I was traveling home to a husband, my home, and my beautiful beloved fur babies. Good cooking? Well ... Hubby Mac can make a mean spaghetti!

The night before I left the ranch, Marina made one of the best meals ever in a big old pot of Zuppa Tuscana soup! She made some garlic bread to make the experience even better. I plunged into the soup, not caring how many calories or carbs that lucious delight had in it. Carb filled bread? Hey, it's sourdough. If I'm going to binge, it's going to be sourdough with butter baked in, topped with a sprinkling of garlic salt. OMG, so good. I swear I heard the birds serenading us from their storm weathered trees. 

For those who have led a dull life without Zuppa Tuscana soup, it's a heavenly mixture of Parmesan cheese, potatoes, onion, garlic, spinach, milk, chicken broth, and thick, creamy cream. You begin the process of making this beautiful dinner by sauteing Italian sausage with onion and garlic to create one of the most beautiful, delicious smelling aromas ever. Whatever chef came up with this soup should be held up high, on the highest of pedestals, and worshipped. Hearty, hot, delicious, semi-good-for-you meal. 

We slurped down the soup, watched a bit of TV, and then it was off to sleep. Dreams of being able to walk, and pet my dogs, hug my husband, and living my life whole and complete once more danced in my head like sugar plum fairies during Christmas. Last Christmas I do believe I saw a sugar plum fairy hobbling around in a cast. Hmm. Maybe it was an omen? 

In the morning, I spent time eating and taking another look at all the beautiful scenery that is Wolf Tree. The skies were a little gray, but not dark. We were able to see the sun or at least the light coming from the sun, as it gracefully danced through the clouds, with rays spearing the large sliding glass windows to greet the floor. It made one thing clear; it would be a fairly decent day for a drive and to move my stuff into the house. 

Strips of fog lightly glazed the mountains in the distance. It was a beautiful thing. 

Loading the stuff in the car was easier than we thought it might be, and with wheelchair, commode, and walker in the back, off we went. Destination? My hubby's open arms in Roseburg Oregon. We passed by Dexter Lake along the way, admiring its natural beauty. 

Loving the scenery along the route. Like I said in a couple of other posts, I do love the simple beauty of a stripe of fog across a mountain. 

Dawn drove her car to carry more items and Marina and I rode in Marina's vehicle. I seemed to have more room in Marina's car to stretch out my leg. If it is kept in a downward position for too long, it throbs and the pain tends to come more. I learned quickly that I needed to keep my leg moving. Crossing the cast over the other leg would suffice as movement in the car. Then it would go right back down onto the floor for a while. 

We decided to meet in Creswell, a city near to Lowell. This way the girls could get gas and Marina's vehicle seemed to have a tiny leak in one of the tires. Dawn was there when we arrived. Her car was filled with fuel and we were ready. Marina pumped a little air into her tire. Once again, Roseburg, here we come. 

Putting the bad leg on top of the other knee in the car seems to balance out the blood flow to avoid quite as much pain. 

A little fog, but not a bad day actually. I could see where rain had sprinkled a tiny bit on the highway, but I was expecting plenty of the wet stuff on the trip home. Turned out to be pretty tame weather wise. 

As we drew near, I sent Terry a text, advising him to move both cars from the driveway. We were going to pull up across the front of the house so I could land on the deck. There was a slight step up at the deck and the height of the car would help us in getting me onto the wood surface of the platform. From there, it was two concrete steps. 

I was given some crutches the last time I crossed these steps. The crutches kept sliding around under my arms, so I dumped them. My family began to tell me that was not a good thing to do. They immediately scrambled for a solution to complete my journey. I fell to the ground and began an army crawl into the kitchen, through the living room, and up onto the couch. I could hear yelling from the family, but I was there. 

This time, we had a wheelchair. Marina tried the wheelchair to see if it fit through the door. Miraculously, it did. That helped us immensely. Now the object was to bounce the crippled old woman up the last two steps and into the chair. Yeah. Score! Two points!

But happen it did! Dawn forgot the ramp, so that was out of the scenario. Marina stood on one side of me while Dawn was on the other. Gait belt was on and ready for a rescue maneuver if need be. Each daughter grabbed the belt in the back and asked me to wrap my arms around their shoulders. I have never prayed for muscular daughters before, but this was the right time. Both daughters have back and neck issues. I am praying as hard as I could in the hopes that neither offspring had weakness in their knees or back. 

I hopped to the first step, jumped, and made it to the second. From there, I hopped one more time, reaching that solid concrete platform I was hopping to feel. Once on the porch, my chair was sitting, waiting for me inside the last little lip into the utility room inside the house. My old friend of late. I swear it smiled. 

I reached forward to grab the chair handle. I pivoted my good foot until I could safely sit in the chair. The question now was, "Could the wheelchair make it through the laundry room door into the kitchen?" Yes, yes it could and did. Thank the wheelchair Gods!

Home. I was home, actually sitting in my kitchen. Making my way into the living room, I saw my sweet man putting together the commode. Dawn and Marina went into Super Woman mode and Terry was already working on assembling items. The family group began to put together my bedside table, plug in a long extension cord, set up a TV tray, and plug in my new Himalayan salt moon light. Laptop was plugged in. Bluetooth headphones were ready to work. All was good in my world as it was coming together, slowly, but fulfilling any of my daily needs. 

As I moved the chair around, I found spots of blood all over the floor. A twinge of panic severed my heart. Who was bleeding? I began to ask Terry what was happening when I noticed a napkin in his hand, soaked in blood. He had cut his finger on a sharp pair of scissors we have, while he was opening a box. It would not stop bleeding. A couple of hours later, he finally got it under control. We considered having it looked at and possibly a stitch thrown in. 

Everyone had the much needed equipment set up within a matter of a few moments, including the bedside commode. What a team! The girls wanted to stop by Reustle-Prayer Rock Vineyards to grab Marina's selection of wines from her wine club before heading home. She wanted to take Dawn there as well so she could see the beautiful site. I asked Mallory if she would like to see it as well, and she grew excited. So off they went to share a little time together as sisters before Dawn and Marina left again. 

While our offspring were off on their adventure, Terry and I chose to have some time sharing Valentine's Day celebratory moments together. I gave him his gifts, which consisted of a coffee/drink silicon cup and a t shirt that said, "In my defense, I was left unsupervised." I thought it was fitting with our current situation and time away from each other. 

We celebrated our day on February 16, a couple days after the actual date, but the day before our eighth month anniversary date. It's so hard to believe it has been eight months already! But, here we are, sitting next to each other again. Terry gave me my gifts, including a bouquet of a dozen roses, a beautiful card, and an Swarovski crystal anklet. My hubby did good!

Excuse the foot and leg. My skin is so dry right now and my ankle is swollen from doing all the work of both ankles. Anyway, I typically wear anklets on the right foot, but that's not happening right now. 

Mallory brought me a bag of my favorite candy and a sugar free selection for her dad too. His was dark chocolate with no filling. We both love the sugar free candies made by Russell Stover. If you have to or choose to eat sugar free, this is the one to buy! That and the Hershey's sugar free chocolate bars. I have some now that are milk chocolate with pieces of almond. So good!

We spent a while together, chatting, laughing, and nibbling on chocolate. Soon the girls returned and Mallory walked in the door. My daughters drove home before darkness set in, always making the drive a little more difficult.  

Mallory seemed to thoroughly enjoy the winery. It's definitely a beautiful place to visit. Since she was here and I was now settled in and home at last, we chose to order food. Terry suggested he run and pick it up after we ordered online. And order we did!

We chose an order of cheese sticks with marinara sauce from one of our favorite places here, Red Robin Gourmet Burgers and Brews. 

Once we ordered our separate meals of Avo-Cobb-O salad for Terry, and Mallory and I each ordering a BLTA (bacon, lettuce, tomato, avocado) croissant, we had some time to sit and chat. Through our family group chat, I received a photo of the three girls at the winery. Very cute photo. I wish Brandy and Shar would have been included in the picture, but they were working. Anyway, this will be framed and hung on our picture walls. 

The bubble heart was still up in the winery, sitting against a sparkly wall. It made a great background for photos! One of the men who worked there snapped this picture for the girls and am I grateful. Now we have a lovely photo of these three together. We just need one with all of them and it will be great. The bonding process always takes time, but I do know my girls care about Mallory and vice versa. It's going very well and Terry and I love to see them bond. 

We ate and chatted, just like old times before the accident. I am home. Back with my babies and back with my family who lives here, in Roseburg. Healing is a must. Getting back to my original state physically is something I am focusing on. Learning how to move around this home is a little bit of a challenge due to the smaller square footage, but it will work. Terry is trying to create a maneuverable, safe home for me like Marina did at her house. 

All is great and I am blessed. Blessed that these beautiful people surrounding me are my family. Blessed that I have my fur babies, both in Lowell and in Roseburg. I could not be happier, even with the ankle issue. 

For those who ask, I have about three weeks left before being able to return to my surgeon, when he will remove this cast. I will have some more x-rays and then, depending on how this looks, I could be wrapped in a new cast. Hopefully the new one will have a heel on the bottom, should the healing have progressed enough. I might be able to place a bit of weight, meaning I can use the heel to put my foot down to have balance, but not the ability to walk. At this point though, any added balance is helpful. 

Four weeks in that cast and then hopefully we will come to the next step in a walking boot. That will remain on me until I can begin to put some weight on my right foot and can proceed to return to normalcy, which includes many weeks of physical therapy. Here's to healthy ankles! 

Bless you all. Until our next post, please have an awesome week. Share your love, shine your light. Hugs to you all. 

Vicki & Terry Macrae