My Daily Life: Part I
I peer through the clear plastic of my mask to see if it is light out yet. I listen to the sounds in my room to see if Brenda, my caregiver, is awake yet.
“Brenda?” I say, “Can I get up now?”
“Be right there.” She says. And so my day begins!
Brenda comes and takes off my mask and eye blanket. I like to sleep in total darkness so at night I put a bandana over my eyes. I guess you could call it a permanent side effect of too many hospital stays.
Brenda sits me up in my hospital bed and sets me up to do my two breathing treatments. I impatiently wait for her to get my tray and laptop computer so I can check my e-mail. Brenda gets my tray and laptop and props my elbows up with pillows and stuffed animals. I open my e-mail window, one-hundred and three new messages.
After reading all my e-mail, checking the SMA message boards, and finishing both breathing treatments, I’m ready to use my cough assist. I cough and cough and get up lots of mucus. Brenda uses my suction machine to clear the secretions from my mouth. I feel much better and am ready to have some breakfast now. I shouldn’t be hungry though because I “eat” all day and night via a jejunostomy tube. I also have a gastric tube for medication and air venting.
After breakfast, it is homework time, my least favorite part of the day.
“Which one first?” Brenda asks, holding up my Physics and Precalculus books.
“Neither” I say, but I will end up doing both.
I am an eleventh grader in the honors program. Other than Physics and Precalculus, I also take English, Forensic Science, Choir, and American History. I like all my teachers, even though I only saw them nine days before becoming a homebound student.
After I finish homework, I go back online. I check e-mail again and instant message a few friends. I also listen to some music or watch television. I love to multitask! While I am doing that Brenda usually makes dinner, tonight it’s Macaroni and Cheese, my favorite.
Brenda and I have dinner around 5:30pm and watch the news and Oprah until 8. By 8pm it’s time for three breathing treatments along with my Vest. I use my Vest to loosen the mucus in my lungs. When I can tell where a plug in my lung is located, I use a percussor instead of the Vest. When using the Vest, I do three consecutive sessions, which take about an hour or so to do. Luckily, I can do my breathing treatments and the Vest at the same time. I watch my favorite television shows while doing my breathing treatments and the Vest to pass the time more quickly.
My father and his wife usually get home sometime between 8pm and 10pm. By then they are ready for bed since they both leave long before I get up. I tell them good night as Brenda gets me ready for bed.
While Brenda makes my Tolerex, my formula that goes through my jejunostomy tube, I listen to a book on tape or CD. Listening to a book helps me to relax and get ready for sleep. When Brenda comes back, she hooks me up to my new food and to my “belly bag”. My “belly bag” is a drainage bag I use at night to let the air out that builds up in my stomach because of my vent.
After putting on my new food and my “belly bag”, Brenda gets my mask on and fills up my humidifier for my vent. I get covered up and snuggle under my sheets, My eyes drift closed, as I drift of to dreamland, where, just like in the real world, anything is possible if you just believe!
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