Hi everyone, If you are a quad and still living at home with a loved one to care for you or oversee your care, count your blessings!
This is how my morning went here at a nursing home in Ohio. I get a shower three days a week at 4 a.m. by choice. This morning one night shift aide was particularly rude to me. Let's call her, Ms. Behemoth (that refers to her size and the fact that she talks too much. She can be very rough with me even though she can be a good aide. When she gets me out of bed, she doesn't give me time to stand and get my balance to transfer. Instead, she hurries and plops me on my shower chair. If I'm not comfortable, she will not let me stand up and try again. It is very frustrating and painful. That frightens me and makes me upset! A potty run on my shower chair before my shower is usually a challenge. Ms. Behemoth and her cohorts make fun of me and act nasty when I say I'm ready. As you can probably tell, no shower is a pleasant experience. It is something that needs to be done so that bacteria do not totally eat up my skin. This required chore is done even though the aides obviously hate doing it. Tomorrow I'm supposed to go to my sister's house about 50 miles away for a belated Thanksgiving dinner. In order to stay as long as I can, I need to leave at 9:30 a.m. we are always short one aide on weekends no matter what. So it will be a challenge for me to get to my sister's and enjoy a visit before my niece's plane leaves at 5 p.m. tomorrow. I want to go but I do not want all the drama. I may be lucky and have a different crew tonight. But there will be no shower. Hopefully, they will wash me up well so that I feel somewhat comfortable. I wonder what happened to the days when bad baths were done "just so". So when you're all eating the Thanksgiving leftovers and watching football or whatever -- -- send a thought my way. I'm hoping the nursing home staff will get me ready tomorrow. The aides may be mad because they have to work a holiday weekend. And, even though they don't think so, I do appreciate what they do for me. Kathy (C6, C7-almost 44 years post)
