(Ed. Note: Due to user error by the author, the post Out of ICU did not get shared until a number of days after it actually occurred.) I have always known – and comforted many others with – the reality that recovery or healing is not a straight line. You have good days and bad … Continue reading
45 days. Two hospitals. Three ambulance rides. Three collapsed lungs. Four bronchoscopies. Two intubations. One tracheostomy. A bowel infection and countless tube insertions, medicine alterations, litres and litres of mucus and saliva suctioned. And Deane is finally out of the Intensive Care Unit. What has this arduous, emotional and exhausting journey taught us? As much … Continue reading
There’s a lot of time spent doing nothing in hospitals. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll take that any day over hurried action. In a hospital, that usually means something is going very wrong. Obviously, the staff is not doing nothing, but as a support person you spend a lot of time waiting. Waiting for doctors … Continue reading
Deane was supposed to be at camp this week, hanging with his friends, chatting with the cute counsellors. He was going to be a junior “nurse’ this session. Instead, he is intubated and sedated in an out-of-town hospital. Five days ago, Deane woke up late at the cottage, groggy and definitely not himself. Checking his … Continue reading
A non sequitur? Bear with me. It’s not a secret that making friends is a challenge for most people with disabilities. This is especially true for those with communication issues. Whether it is discrimination, stigma, a lack of understanding or just a simple awkwardness, many people don’t see the disabled as people with whom they … Continue reading