Someone who is paralyzed...
Someone who is twice your size?
Let me tell you, it's not an easy feat.
I've been maneuvering Jeff around for the last 5 months. Lifting legs and arms; rolling his body to one side, then the other; pulling him up in his bed when he slips down and his feet start creeping toward the edge. It's a lot of physical work.
On the plus side, it keeps me in relatively good shape. On the negative side, it takes a toll on my body.
The first two weeks he was home were the worst. I was sore in places I didn't even know could get sore. I would cry in the bathroom over my aching body, wondering how in the world I was going to do this over and over, day in/day out. But just like everything, I got used to it - and so did my body.
Until Sunday morning.
That's when I woke up and heard my body saying Nope - not today.
The side of my neck had locked up so badly, I couldn't look to the left. My shoulders and upper back were in a huge knot, and I began referring to myself as the Huntchback of Huntington Beach. I was quite the pathetic sight.
Evie being the sweetheart she is told me to sit on her bed "so I can take care of you, Mama." She loaded me up with blankets and put dollies in my arms to cuddle on.
When I walked into Jeff's room to help him with something and gave out a weak little cry every time I bent down or reached my arms out, he looked at me and said, matter of factly, "I told you to go get a massage on Mother's Day. Now you're all jacked up."
For two days, I fooled myself into thinking this was going to get better on its own. Finally, with no relief in sight, I caved and went in for a massage.
During the first 10 minutes of my hour-long session, the massage therapist commented THREE times how tight I was. Then asked in a bewildered tone, "You just woke up one day with this tightness?" I knew she knew something else was going on. So I told her the abbreviated version of our situation. How I was caring for my paralyzed husband. She was very sympathetic and said that made much more sense why my back was so incredibly tight.
In the end, I'm so glad I shared our story. I then asked if they do massages on people with fusion in their necks (Jeff's C3 through C6 vertebrae were fused following his accident). I explained Jeff's situation, the receptionist checked with the lead therapist, and I was told they would absolutely accommodate our needs. So within the next week or so, Jeff and I plan to take another trip to the masseuse for a shoulder, neck, and head massage for him. We're hoping this will greatly help Jeff with his chronic pain.
I have to admit I was pretty (well, extremely) sore after my massage yesterday. But today I am finally getting some relief, though I'm still sporting an ice pack. I plan to go back in a couple weeks for another round. I've decided I need to listen to my body when it tells me something.
Taking care of myself has been one of the hardest things for me to do. If I go down for the count, the chain reaction it would cause would not be pretty.
So I'm learning to listen to my body.
Excuse me while I ice my back.
Rockin the ice pack
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