Category: Thoughts on Life

Well it’s Valentine's Day. I sent Stephanie 18 long stem roses at work. That was to make up a year and a half of not getting her any flowers.

In other news today was my last day of therapy. I’d done about all I could do there. I finally have the right combination of crutches and braces to move pretty well I think.

Progress on driving again seems to have stalled. The state is paying for it but I have yet to get the evaluation rescheduled. The woman that does the evaluations has been out of town. So the wait continues…

Well, I went to a Mardi Gras party at John 23rd Friday night. I walked in, with crutches. I danced with Stephanie too. Quite a change from last year when I arrived in a wheelchair and could barely get out of it to sit in another chair.

In other news I finally met with Vocational Rehabilitation in Knox County. They’re going to pay for my driving training at Patricia Neal, but I have to pay for the hand controls and any other modifications to my car. At least I got something paid for. But since I’ve been waiting on Voc Rehab my on the road driving evaluation has been moved back to at least February 14th.

Unfortunately I have to pay for that eye exam that I thought TennCare was paying for. Oh well, can’t have it all I guess.

MDA / Quest Vol 10 No 2 / As the Wheel Turns…

This article talks about the kind of wheelchair that I’d like, a manual chair that has power assist.

I have a scooter that I use to get around campus with, and I also have a manual chair. But once I start driving again all probably just use the manual chair. UT has some monster hills, and there are no flat places, there’s always a bit of an incline no matter where you are.

Unfortunately, these chairs cost around $6000. But around this campus it would definitely be worth it. There are also cheaper options.

I have a power chair that I’ve never used, simply because it’s hard to transport. Also, manual chairs, even power assisted ones, give you that sense of doing something, of not giving up.

Last week was a busy one. Between therapy and classes something had to give. So I cut back to one day a week of therapy and dropped the stats class I was taking. Now I don’t feel quite so stressed and hopefully I’ll be less exhausted.

I’ve also made progress on the quest to drive again. I have an on the road driving evaluation February 3. I’ve also made progress in getting state vocational rehabilitation to pay some of the costs of training and equipment.

Friday night through yesterday Stephanie and I went to an Engaged Encounter. It was a long weekend and 90% of the information and activities wasn’t helpful. The other 10% helped a lot. We talked about things that probably wouldn’t have come up otherwise. For example, if saw wielding aliens are after you, just make peace with your creator and give up.

Well, I finally made it to the eye doctor the driving evaluation people at Patricia Neal wanted me to see. And guess what? There isn’t a thing wrong with my eyes that should stop me from driving. My eyes work a little differently than most people’s, but that’s not a result of the wreck, that’s just me. I have a valid driver’s license and 20/20 or better vision and now a doctor has said my eyes are fine. So now maybe they’ll teach me how use hand controls.

I’ve wasted over a month waiting for a doctor to confirm what I’ve been saying all along. Now my only problem is how to pay for the lessons. I still haven’t been able to figure that out and haven’t been able to talk to the right people to help me figure it out either. At least I probably don’t have to play for the visit to the eye doctor today.

To top it off, it looks like I’m going to lose TennCare, or at least have my benefits reduced. But any changes to TennCare probably won’t happen until April, according to the state’s website. So we’ll see what happens.

I’m just glad that TennCare has gotten me this far. My medical bills since the wreck have been in the hundreds of thousands of dollars range. Thankfully all the major stuff is behind me (I hope) and the only thing TennCare is paying for now is a prescription or two, the occasional doctor visit and therapy. But therapy is still a major expense that I couldn’t pay myself. So I want to hang on to TennCare as long as I can, or at least have some kind of insurance if I lose TennCare.

Well Wednesday I starting taking classes again and Thursday will be my first day teaching since sometime in October 2003. I’m glad to get back to the School of Information Sciences and doing something with my time again. (other than sitting around) But there is a major downside. Since I still can’t drive yet, in order to make it to classes and therapy I’m moving on-campus to the residence at John 23rd Catholic Center.

I’m not at all happy to be leaving Stephanie. But I’m just staying at J23 during the week (Monday – Thursday) so we’ll be together on the weekends. It’s only temporary until I can drive again, which hopefully will be soon. But I’m still not a happy guy.

For those of you wondering how I’ll get around campus I’ll be piloting a red one of these.

I really should be in bed. Instead I’m staring at two things. A heart shaped helium ballon with a smiley face that says I love you and note Stephanie wrote me today. That ballon has been floating above my desk since before Christmas and is still flying high. And the note tells me how much she loves me.

How did I get so lucky?

I got the brace for my right foot worked on some Wednesday. It fits much better now. I also got crutches yesterday.

The crutches are taking a bit of getting used to. But I definately walk better with them, even without the brace on my foot. One problem with them is that I can’t carry anything when I walk with them. It won’t help with carrying dishes, food or anything big, but this crutch bag looks pretty useful for small things.

In other news my grandfather (Papaw), had a heart attack Tuesday. It’s his third heart attack (I think) and he has already had bypass surgery and a defibrillator implanted. But he’s out of the hospital now so everything is as good as it can be I guess.

2004 was one wild year. I left Patricia Neal Rehab Dec.31, 2003 barely able to move at all. I spent New Year’s Eve in bed. Dec. 31, 2004 was very different. I spent New Year’s Eve at a party. To get to this party I had to walk up a flight of stairs, which I did very slowly 🙂 I kissed my fiance at midnight too.

This year has been full of changes. My dad died, I got engaged, my goddaughter was born August 21, and I had surgery soon after that.

In September I moved back to Knoxville and Stephanie. That was a high point. It really felt like my life was getting back on track then, even if the first few weeks back were a little bumpy. I started back to outpatient theray at Patricia Neal November 27, and I’m making definate progress. Dec 13 we got a new dog, Gracie.

Christmas was good, especially since I didn’t have much of a Christmas last year. After Christmas Stephanie started a new job working for LabCorp at UT Medical Center. She likes her new job a lot.

2005 looks to be even more eventful than 2004. I’m going back to teaching and taking classes in about 2 weeks. Lots of things will be happening in the spring semester, some of which I can’t talk about yet. After the semester is over the biggest party of the year will be happening, my wedding on June 10, 2005. 🙂