A Bumpy Detour on the Road to Recovery

Wednesday,  June 19, 2013

Last night I slept much better than the previous night.  I had taken my pain medication for my arm and slept very well until 5:00 a.m.  I should have gotten up at that time for a pill because the pain was back, but I was able to go back to sleep until around 7:30.  As soon as I was awake and alert I took the pain medication because by now the arm was really hurting. 

With Ron's help I fixed my breakfast and ate and dressed.  After he left for work, I washed my hair, did a little picking up, and cleaned and doctored my ear.  I had asked Mom to pick me up at 10:00 to take me to work.  I told her to let herself in with her key since I would not hear the door.  By 10:00 I was ready and waiting.  And waiting.  And waiting and getting worried.  At 10:30 I texted Ron to tell him I waiting.  He told me to look out the side door.  No one there.  Looked out front and no one there.  Texted back to tell him.  He texted back that Mom was coming.  She arrived a few minutes later.

It turned out that Mom arrived at 10:00, but had brought the wrong key and couldn't get in.  True to my word, I couldn't hear her.  She had also forgotten her cell phone.  She had borrowed a phone from a workman across the street and tried to call.  I did see the flashing light on my phone, but did not recognize the number on the caller ID, so since I would not be able to hear the caller, I did not answer the phone.  So I think (I could not follow all of the story) she went to a friend's office and called Ron. 

It was the usual hot, humid summer day in South Texas, and I know Mom was hot and frustrated by the time we connected.  As I said in an earlier blog: Deafness is Difficult (for all those around me as well as for me).  Eventually, I did get to the office and my original plan had been to stay until 1:30 - the time for my next pain pills.

One of the things people often overlook when dealing with a deaf person is that not only can they not hear you, they cannot hear themselves.  This is why so many deaf or hearing impaired people talk too loudly.  They aren't angry or seeking attention, they just have no idea how loud they are.  Consequently, as I worked in my office, and pains were shooting up and down my arm, I would moan, or mutter, "Ouch",or "Ohhhh", not aware that all my husband was hearing from his office was my "loud" sounds of anguish.  I was hurting, but not as much, I am sure, as the sounds from my office indicated.  Several times he stuck his head in to check on me and I would assure him I was just uncomfortable, not dying.

Meanwhile, I was taking care of some of the chores that really needed to be done in my office.  I went on line and payed the state sales tax on items we had sold and services we had provided the previous month.  I balanced the checkbook and finally finished the rest of my reports for our accountant.  (I had emailed him the figures so he could calculate the sales tax payment, the last time I went to the office for a few hours.  Then he emailed the information back to me that I needed.)

The clock was nearing 1:30; the time when I had planned to leave and the time for the next pain medication which I really needed.  This was the worst day of pain during this entire ordeal of both the hearing surgery and the broken elbow.  I told Ron to call Mom and tell her 2:30 instead of 1:30 and took my pills and got back to work.  Mistake!  I was so tired and so stressed, and had not taken a lunch to the office, since I planned to eat at home at 1:30 when I was to take my meds.  The meds on my exhausted body and empty stomach, were doing their best to knock me out.  I managed to finish making up a deposit just before Mom arrived, but could not get out the door fast enough to get home to sleep.

I know that I put Mom into a state of panic and it didn't help that every crazy driver in town was out on the road, but she managed to get me home.  I was so "out of it", I asked her to stay while I slept.  I just wasn't comfortable being alone.  I slept for 3 hours or so and woke up refreshed, and relatively pain free!  Yea!  I thanked her and told her it was OK for her to leave, but she wouldn't leave until Ron was home.  What a day!  Plus I still need to go back to the office tomorrow to pay bills. 

Feeling better than I had in the last 36 hours, we were treated to a hot, delicious supper brought by a sweet young mother (with a little girl and a fairly new baby boy).  This is when it is hard to let others do for me, when I feel I should be doing for her.  Dennisse brought a wonderful smelling casserole and fresh from the oven rolls, and I remembered I had eaten no lunch.  It was a blessing to sit down to that hot meal. 

Ron helped me with a bath after we had eaten supper and he had cleaned the kitchen.  I think the pain pills are off my list of acceptable medications and I will go to a milder over-the-counter variety.  I think the pain is just from the arm being moved in ways it had not been for a while.  The scar looks better.  There is less swelling, and I think I am back on the road to recovery after a bumpy detour.

Plans are to go back to the office at 10:00 tomorrow and not to stay too long.  I know Mom's day was about as rough as mine and she doesn't get the pain pills.  Hopefully, tomorrow will go much more smoothly.