Almost two weeks ago, my husband fell on an uneven sidewalk on our way to play Pickleball. This time he broke his collarbone so no more walking the dog for at least six weeks. When we do walk around the neighborhood, we leave Roxy (the dog) at home and I insist we hold hands because I'm afraid he might trip again and even do more damage. I am trying to think of places he can walk where the ground is even, or on grass so it wouldn't hurt so much if he did fall.
Emergency told us it should heal on its own without surgery but would take about six weeks. He has to keep that right arm still and cannot raise it at all which means he is stuck in that shirt (unless we cut it off), he can only do sponge baths (can't get the sling wet), and pretty much only has use of his left hand. Even reading is difficult because turning the pages is not easy. He came up with a great idea though--get some audio books on CDs from the library, which I did. The first one he listened to and reviewed was
Box of Butterflies by Roma Downey.
He wants very much to join Roxy and me on our walks, but I'm just not comfortable with that yet. Our dog is very, very strong and unpredictable so holding hands with the leash in my other just doesn't work. I feel bad for him though knowing how much he loves to walk, so I got him a Cubii. I figure he can use that while I am out walking Roxy. It didn't work with him sitting in the swivel rocking chair, or on the couch so we set it up in the basement where he can use it while sitting on a straight chair watching TV. At least it gives his legs more exercise. Hopefully I can get over my fear of him falling again enough to allow him to join us on a dog walk perhaps on our church grounds.
It's been so nice outside lately that I told him he could pull weeds if he wanted and he was thrilled with that idea. He loves being active and that's something he could do I think without falling. Then though, he wanted to do more and worked at trying to pull out some of the day lilies that are no longer good.
Poor guy. Other things that have changed are as follows:
I vacuum. I wash the dishes. I wash him. I get him his meals. I cut the grass. I take out the garbage. I clean the toilets. (He used to do all these things--I should dust too, but haven't gotten to that yet but I will one of these days.)
I thank God that it happened in the summer so I don't mind walking the dog as much and that he can go outside without wearing a coat or boots and even sit on the porch to enjoy the fresh air. I am thankful he isn't in the hospital and can be at home. I'm thankful that I get the whole bed to myself because he is much more comfortable sleeping in the chair. I'm thankful this is a temporary situation and that he will heal and recover from this.
Thanks to all who have been praying for us as we navigate through this tough time, adjusting to a new normal and figuring out the best way to do things.
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