The life of a caregiver is never easy. You have to watch over this person who is very needy and helpless and wants you ALL THE TIME for something. You don't get cards in the mail. Nobody sends you flowers. You are expected to be happy, and caring, and loving--without ever a word of complaint. You just keep taking care of this person who was dumb enough to climb up on a ladder without help. And somehow, because of their stupidity--you are stuck cleaning bed pans, making lunches, and taking on the jobs of two people.
Understanding that my Douglas (my caregiver) has been absolutely amazing, I have sat by and listened to a story he has been repeating since I came home on Thursday. Mind you, the last few days have been a bit of a blur. Sleeping a lot. Taking pain meds. Moving my ankle a little. Using the bed pan (highly over-rated). But I keep hearing this story. Over and over. The same story. So I will share it with you now . . .
You will have to have Doug tell it to you to get the full effect . . . something about me thinking that I could walk a mile the minute I got home from the hospital. That he saw my knees begin to buckle when I tried to "walk" to the bathroom and that he caught me from behind. That I kept telling him I was fine--and then I would suddenly go limp again. That he dragged me to the toilet, only to have me throw my head back and start making a deep, guttural sound (he will gladly reenact it for you). He will also show you how my eyes rolled back in my head and that I turned the color of a banana peel. He yelled and yelled at me, but I wouldn't answer. I kept looking worse and making fewer noises. Then he says that he tried to hold me on the toilet while trying to dial 9-1-1 but mistakenly dialed 9-1-1-1 so the call wouldn't go through. And just when he was ready to say good bye to me for good--to thank the Lord for the 15 wonderful years we have had together--I jerked my head up and said, "What in the world are you calling 911 for?!?!? There is nothing wrong with me!!!!"
I think it was at that point that he decided to quit his job as my caregiver.
Say a prayer for Douglas tonight that he will not have heart problems by the time my ankle has healed.
Love to you all!
Anne
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