Steve's Midlife Crisis

Steve's ready for a little more mobility. He's been essentially bedridden since 3/2010. We transfer him from bed to wheelchair via Hoyer lift, but he needs a special van or Metro Access Bus for transportation out of the house. Steve have always been a huge movie buff, and DVDs just aren't cutting it. He's got cabin fever and he wants to get out!

Last week, his Occupational Therapist used a sliding board to transfer him from bed to wheelchair and back again. This is huge progress. He is now standing four times a day for periods of two minutes at a time - but that is amazing.

As if there weren't enough obstacles already, Steve suffered a nerve injury associated with one of his recent fistula surgeries. His left hand is of little use to him, plus he is terribly bothered by vexing jolts of forearm pain from time to time. Worse yet, the upper body strength he needed so badly was profoundly reduced.

What to do? The answer was obvious to Steve: a candy apple red electric wheelchair!

Steve will be able to move around the house on his own. Plus, when we get the Access Bus operational, we'll be able to go to the Crest Cinema for a $10 date! Life is getting better.

We're not out of the woods by any means. Steve is still precarious. But a candy apple red electric wheelchair, a bit of mobility to remind us of normalcy? We're on our way.

We even made a visit to the Swedish Kidney Transplant Team. "Come back in six months," the surgeon said. "We'll see how far you've come by then. A transplant is not completely out of the question, but you'd have to be willing to die for it."

Something tells me that that candy apple red chair may be the token of Steve's midlife crisis. Read that MIDlife crisis, not end of life crisis.

Take care.
Linda Gromko, MD