4 weeks out of the hospital

Tomorrow marks four weeks since I got out of the hospital. I have made a lot of progress, but still have a long way to go to get back to normal. Since I last posted, Jeff and I have moved to Regina and started  our new jobs. The movers still have not brought our belongings, and we will not have our stuff until sometime after September 5. We expected things to arrive much sooner than that. So while things are a little unsettled in that respect, other things are starting to settle. I have been able to go into work for about half a day most days since about August 15. I am not teaching this semester, so so far when I have been doing at work, is mostly just getting settled. Jeff starts teaching on September 5, so he is frantically trying to prepare to teach a new course.so far everyone has been very helpful and supportive, and it seems like this department is a good fit for us.

We have also so far enjoyed the town of Regina. It is about the same size as Eugene, a little bit bigger, and feels more like a real city. The weather has been very nice, and we have visited several parks in town of which there are very many. We also went to local farmers market, which had a fairly good selection including pierogies which we brought home frozen. There is apparently a large Eastern European community here in Regina, including a Polish community which has been here for about 100 years. There are pierogies in all the grocery stores, much more so than what you can find in the Northwest. This makes me very happy.

Also the University has a very nice fitness center, and last week Jeff and I got our memberships there. I may not be able to walk on my own yet, but I can go to the gym and work out. I am able to ride a stationary bike, and there is an indoor track that is 200 m long which is a great place to practice walking with a walker. Since last week we have been to the gym every weekday. I think exercising every day will help me get stronger faster, and hopefully I will be walking on my own sooner rather than later. Last week I was able to walk all the way around the track, rest, and then all the way around again for a total of 400 m in one session. This is definitely a new record for walking with the walker.

I have also been able to become more independent over the past month. I am now able to transfer on my own from the wheelchair to the couch, chair, or bed, and just last week I have been able to get to the bathroom on my own. This greatly improves my quality of life, and frees Jeff up as well. Although I am still very disabled, and this is definitely the hardest thing I have ever gone through, I am starting to see that eventually my life might get back to something close to normal.

Right now my biggest limitations are my mobility difficulties, double vision, and inability to type or write very well. I am also still very fatigued, and sleep about 10 hours a night or so. I am not really able to do much with my job right now, and fortunately the department and all of the people that I work with have been very supportive of that. I am fortunate that they are taking a long view look at this situation, and do not view my current limitations as a permanent problem.

About a month ago, Jeff mentioned that I have been checking my e-mail regularly.This is true, I check my e-mail every day. However, because I still have a great deal of difficulty with typing, I have been very bad about replying to the many nice e-mails I have received. I appreciate all of your good wishes, and just know that I am reading those e-mails, and will eventually respond.