Click the picture for the story of Calypso, the Three Legged Green Sea Turtle, and why she's my symbol

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

The View From Up Here

I actually have an excuse (sort of) for not writing for a while. I'm currently writing from Albany, NY. I'm here taking a summer class for my bachelors degree, one not offered in Middle-of-Nowhere, NC. My aim is to graduate in the spring, finishing only two years after I initially planned (to be fair I had a few events that “interrupted” my scheduled course load). So here I am. At the moment the internet is only available though the local library and/or a local coffee shop but we're hopefully in the process of remedying this.
Care for my back has continued to follow me no matter how far I seem to hobble. The wound on my back is still open and healing ridiculously slowly. It's being drained by a Wound V.A.C. pump, a vacuum powered drain. My mother has now taken over the dressing changes for my back, mostly out of frustration from dealing with stupid schedulers. She's a registered nurse and does a better job than the majority of nurses who've done the job before her. My dressings need changing every 2-3 days so I'm lucky to have her.

Love you mom!

Though I still have the vacuum pump, I did loose the JP drains (my horse tail) and the PICC line IV pump that I've lived with the last two months. I feel like a free man! Anyone who's seen me lately knows that every time I left the house I had to carry the bag with my IV pump, bag with my Wound-VAC, dragging at least one of my multiple drains, and hauling my gigantic backpack full of medical supplies for the above. I began to feel more and more like a bionic pack-mule. 

 This picture came with directions for how to outfit your mule for a coming apocalypse.

My class lasts six weeks and I don't know how much time I'll have to write. I'm taking Developmental Biology, learning all the ins and outs of developing organisms. It's sure to be an interesting class but also an intense one. As a matter of fact I should be studying right now. Ah well, back to the salt mines...

Sunday, June 10, 2012

Boredom in Wonderland

Sorry I haven't written in a while. I've been extremely busy with being completely bored. The last I had written I was out of the hospital on home care. We stayed an extra two week in Baltimore to make sure that the infection in my back didn't return. We've now finally returned to North Carolina.

It turned out I'm more stuck than I expected to be. I'm getting regular changes of the PICC line that delivers my antibiotics and the dressing on the vacuum pump on my back. I'm under the 'Home Care' box on their forms. Effectively this means I'm stuck to the grounds of this house. I'm not allowed to do PT or go out. I'm allowed to go to the doctor, get my hair cut, or make short infrequent trips for specific purposes. I'm lucky that I have a few great friends who've visited me regularly. I emphasize this point because I live 20 minutes outside town in the middle of nowhere.

Take the second right and go until you run out of land. Then you're almost there...

I've filled my time with watching shows online. I'm watching Sherlock (which has curiously homoerotic undertones) and United States of Tara, both of which have kept me quite busy.

 Though the show has maintained that they are both straight I still think they'd make an adorable couple.

I've also been posting pictures to facebook in an addictive fashion. I've certainly been paying closer attention to that than I have this blog. Here are some examples of the fun and hilariously random pictures that await you on The Turtle Walk's facebook.

Everything Turtles

 Not-For-The-Disabled Disability Ramps

 Walk This Way

More people are reading the blog and looking at the pictures but in the end I write this blog for my own mental well-being. If that's accomplished through prose or through random pictures... I'm okay with the outcome either way.