This is one of the entrance gates to the rehabilitation center in Warm Springs. Behind the gate is a path that presumably leads to the hospital. The gate was closed on the day that this photo was taken. I am not sure how I would feel if I were in a vehicle being transported down this path to the place where I would stay until I was better.
I.C.
My Mom and I went back to Warm Springs today to check on D. It surprised me that D. did not jump for joy when we entered the room. She was sitting in a wheelchair, looking rather listless. Could the lack of stimulation at this facility have lowered her level of awareness ? A nurse came in and gave her two Vicodens; yes two of them ! That would be enough to knock me out for about twelve hours. Perhaps D. was zoning out from her last dose of this powerful narcotic. Perhaps she was going through withdrawal when we walked in. Another nurse came in a few minutes later and checked her blood sugar. It was 290, which is extremely high. That alone could have spaced her out terribly. The nurse then returned with a shot of insulin and an Avandia tablet. My heart goes out to D. I am doing everything I can to give her support but the pain killers and the lack of exercise have created a situation that is conducive to semiconciousness. Anyway, we asked her about her physical therapy and her daily routine. She slowly warmed up to us. When they brought her dinner, we excused ourselves and drove back to Thomaston. Tomorrow I will take pictures of D’s sunday school class and bring these photos to her next week. I will also take photos of her house for her to show to the staff of the rehabilitation center. Today I took photos of the facility in Warm Springs and will use these photos in a photo essay which might begin on this diary as early as Monday.
With sympathy,
I.C.
I am preparing to shower, pack and leave Athens. The visit here has been a wonderful change of pace. A little wide eyed, naive, politically correct, bohemian naivete is good for the soul ! Yesterday I had sushi with Beakey, Mellissa and Veronica. In my record store browsing I actually found a used copy of one of my own CDs for sale. Since this CD, ” Your Miracle,” is out of print, I bought it and will re-sell it at a gig oneday.
Then I went to see Hostel Part Two. Those of you who saw Part One already know the basic plot, only this time the victims are women instead of men. A couple of the characters from the first movie act in the beginning of this one. The creepy hostel desk clerk reappears in this movie who asks the women to make copies of their passports. In addition to photocopying the passports, he scans them into his computer and sends the images to the Blackberries of millionaire sadists around the world, who bid on the price for these women. Once the highest bidders are determined, they fly their private jets to Slovakia and engage in the torture of these women, who by this time have been kidnapped and imprisoned. Some of the characters in this movie display so much disregard for the rights and feelings of others that it is hard to believe that such people could actually exist in the world that seems cruel enough already. This horrific gorno movie is the kind of movie that makes the viewer suspicious of the people sitting around him in the theater. When the movie ended, I was walking to the restroom and noticed one of the other movie goers walking there as well. I turned around and found another restroom in the theater… Completely changing the subject now…
Many thanks to SBC for the well worded ideas and explanations concering what health is !
On to Thomaston,
I.C.
I am in Athens, Georgia, finishing up the remastering of the Nobz CD. Local re-mastering genius Beakey Ludd and I added pitch correction and volume maximization to the whole project. We comfortably sat on his living room couch and tweaked this recording in total comfort. This digital life gets more comfortable with each succeeding year it seems; at least in the recording studio it is.
Before the session I enjoyed the delicacy of an Indian meal in downtown Athens. After the session we ate Middle Eastern food. When I lived in Atlanta I used to take ethnic food for granted, but now I look forward to the luxury of eating it. Today, perhaps sushi… and another luxury, record shopping ! Athens has a lot of hard to find recordings from the 1970s. The record store owners take a lot of pride in offering hard to find music. And another benefit, Hostel Part Two is playing here. This movie, like Grindhouse, will never be shown in Thomaston.
Fun !
I.C.
My Mom and I went to Warm Springs, Georgia to visit D on Saturday. Our directions to the facility were sketchy and contradictory. The rehabilitation center is on a huge piece of property of aproximately 200 acres. There are twenty buildings on the property, some of which have almost the same name, which increases the confusion in finding a specific patient in this community. The buildings have names such as ‘ Roosevelt Physical Therapy Center’ and ‘Roosevelt Occupational Therapy Center’ and ‘Roosevelt Medical Center’ etc…When I say buildings, I include houses; houses that are wooden frame houses; painted white and in need of a fresh coat of paint. The brick buildings are old, red brick buildings. The hospital itself is one of these red bricked buildings. Some of the white framed houses seem deserted, in addition to needing paint. The whole community has the atmosphere of a World War One military hospital; not very uplifting…Perhaps next week I will bring my camera and publish a picture on this site.
I helped my Mom into the back door of what we guessed was the hospital. We guessed right and found D’s room. She, fortunately, had a couple of other friends visiting her there. The inside of the hospital is fairly modern and sanitary. Like I said before, this facility has a good reputation for physical therapy.These hospital visits to D have been jobs for the day that I did not forget about half way through the job. I saw them to completion with as much relaxation and attention as I could. The necessity of giving her support at this time was just too great to screw up ! She only has one living family member left and he is a partially disabled man in California, who cannot travel easily. A person in D’s predicament could easily fall into a deep despondency if not given adequate support. My job is to let her know that I know where she is and will be available to her and will check up on her.
One unusual benefit of staying at this hospital is that patients can be wheeled to a fish pond and allowed to fish ! I assume that the hospital provides the fishing pole and worms. D is interested in taking part in this unusual patient recreational activity. I don’t know if the fish are in the warm water pond with the healing properties or not. It appears that President Roosevelt did not actually swim in the warm spring as I previously reported. There is an old concrete building with a big sign in front of it that says ” historic pools.” This insinuates that the warm, spring water was pumped into a swimming pool for the polio patients to swim in.
More later,
I.C.
My friend D has supposedly been sent by ambulance to the rehabilitation center in Warm Springs, Georgia. This is the facility that was made famous by former president Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who was treated there for polio. This facility has a good reputation for physical rehabilitation. My Mom and I will visit D there tomorrow afternoon. Warm Springs is about a one hour’s drive away from here. I performed there as a singer in the Lee High Singers in 1972. I doubt that they actually use the natural warm water outdoor ponds any more. I would think that the water moccassins would be terrifying swimming companions. A couple of people have told me how water mocassins will actually chase you and bite you rather than crawling away and hiding as most snakes do. There are films of F.D.R. swimming in these outdoor ponds with other polio patients, who were somehow helped by the warm, healing waters. D does not have polio; only multiple fractures.
In the spirit of healing,
I.C.
My friend D had her leg surgery yesterday, with three metal parts installed inside her leg. Today she is able to sit up in a chair and talk to friends. I have not brought up the subject of possible leg amputation, but the fact that they did not amputate it yesterday is a good sign. Other good news is that it rained here today; the second time within thirty days. Our front lawns are appreciative.
With positivity,
I.C.
My sitting today was interrupted by a phone call which my Mom answered. Her best friend, D., fell down in her house last night and broke her leg. The 911 ambulance people had to break in a window to get into the house, due to D.’s incapacitation. After church today, we parked at the hospital and began walking past the emergency entrance toward the hospital entrance. A 35 year old woman with long brown hair was outside the emergency room sobbing uncontrollably into a cell phone, presumably explaining to the listener the terrible condition that a loved one was in. Mom and I both know how terrible it can feel when a family member is in a life threatening medical emergency. We soberly looked down as we walked, respecting the solemnity of this grief stricken situation. I wanted to go hug this woman and ask her if I could help her in any way but her phone conversation was still struggling on and I didn’t want to interrupt. I hope that no one in her family had just died.
The hospital staff gave us directions to D.’s room and we found her there, heavily opiated. She told us that her right femur was completely crushed and that the doctor had told her that she might not ever walk again and that the leg might have to be amputated ! Despite her dreamy state, I do not think that she imagined this conversation with the doctor who is an orthopedic surgeon. I told her that Mom and I would help her recuperate from this accident regardless of what the outcome was and that we would be willing to stay with her at her house until she was able to look after herself. D. then said that she was simply going to go to the nursing home so as to not be any trouble to anyone. I told her that she was not in bad enough shape to go to a nursing home and that we would do whatever it took to allow her to live in her own house, once she left the hospital. D. has been a big help to my family in recent years and I intend to be a big help to her in this situation which is a lot more serious than I ever dreamed. You would not think that simply slipping and falling in one’s house could crush one’s femur… The orthopedic surgeon has ordered a “part” from another city to be surgically implanted into her leg tomorrow. I should add that D. has no family nearby, only a brother and neice in California.
Good wishes to all grieving individuals,
I.C.
Today has been characterized by a late sleep in, a quick sitting, yard work, housework and charity work. My opportunities to do a job for the day were squandered, with my mind considering some immediate investment opportunities. This was not good discipline, but at least I have not been a total laggard today.
My fifteen year old male student seems to have reached the saturation point in his guitar training. For the first time yesterday he seemed overwhelmed with the total amount of material that I have given him to learn. I have shown him the major and minor barre chords, using both the A Major shape and the E Major shape. In order to play the Tool song that he has been working on, he has to be able to switch from one shape to another and from major to minor shapes simultaneously. Ordinarily I would not show this to a student until a little later in his training, but the Tool song requires this particular skill. Unfortunately, I have neglected to show him some of the more elementary guitar skills that a beginner guitarist would normally be shown, such as the one-four-five chord progression or perhaps the passing tones that can be added to a pentatonic scale. I may suggest to his parents that he take a break from lessons in order to work on all that he has been shown. I will keep myself available for special lesson needs until he is ready to begin my intermediate guitar program. This situation, like my previously mentioned work today, could be considered an example of giving productivity priority over the process that would yield quality work. Wait a minute, I don’t think that I said that right. What I’m saying is that I should have given priority to the process of working, rather than focusing on being productive. I guess that this is the lesson that I should learn today.
Good wishes to the Crafties on tour in Argentina,
I.C.