On a bittersweet couple of days

Well, Steve has left and the Hospital is quieter without him. If I remember correctly, his flight takes off at 5 PM. His RCMP buddy picked him up around 1 o’clock in order to get some lunch in before the flight as well as to have extra time to check-in luggage including a wheelchair. A few minutes after they departed, his friend came up to do one last check of the room and came out with a pair of wheelchair gloves and the bottle of French’s yellow mustard Steve had been using to treat an issue with his stump. I feel just a bit like Paul Simon’s narrative character in “The only living boy in New York” in which he waves goodbye to “Tom” (i.e. Art Garfunkel) who is on his way to Mexico to play a part in Catch-22.

Still, tomorrow the room will be mine. *cue evil laughter* One of the things I have worked out is that my new wardrobe will be easier to access in the wheelchair.

The woman in charge of trimming toenails came by the room yesterday. We had some trouble figuring out how to get my feet onto the bed while I was sitting in the wheelchair. It took some doing but we sorted it out in the end.

As it was a nice day, I decided to go out. After carefully bundling myself up, I headed out the Lindsay Pavilion’s entrance. Roughly opposite it was a wheelchair ramp up to the Mahatma Gandhi Park. I made my way up it, only to be stopped by a ride of ice about 2 inches high. I went back down the ramp and then along to Hudson Avenue. On the way back, I saw a woman and her son coming the other way on the sidewalk. She got her son to give way to me before asking if I needed help. “No, thank you. I’m just out to enjoy the sunshine.”

Today’s progress was simple, though perhaps just the slightest bit risky. After using the toilet, I summoned an orderly as per standard procedure. However, I asked her just to be ready to intervene and to let me make the transition by myself just to see. She agreed and I made it smoothly. I even lifted my left leg into its leg rest. Until I get further clearance, I’m not going to make a habit out of it.