Injury Timeline


Sunday, January 31, 2016

Guest Post: I'm just here so I won't get fined

Hi Bloggers!  I've let my husband (Nate) take over for a blog post this week.  I asked him if he would be so kind as to share his thoughts with my blog friends, since he shares his thoughts with me everyday.   Here he is, totally unedited:

Apparently I've been called out to write a blog post so here I am to answer the challenge. I've decided to go with a top 10 list of advice for the significant other (or maybe it will be more than 10; or less than 10. It's my post, I can do whatever I want).


This injury to my wife has been one of the toughest times of my life. My life has always been in my control and other than dealing a job I didn't have a lot of responsibilities. Suddenly everything changed. For the next 3+ months she isn't going to be able to walk; activities we enjoyed doing together will never happen again; possibly more surgeries if arthritis develops. BOOM! WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED!!!!!

Eventually we found a 'new normal' and life keeps on going. To help the significant others out here, here is my advice to get you there.

  1. Get them a knee scooter and keep the crutches on the sidelines. If they don't have to navigate stairs the knee scooter will get them around a hell of lot easier and faster. It also helps stop the crying (more below).
  2. Eventually you want to play with the knee scooter when they aren't actively using it. Try to keep the speed of the scooter under ~7 MPH. Faster then that and it gets pretty dicey, trust me.
  3. If your SO has to spend the night at the hospital, ignore the signs that say what the visiting hours are. I still regret leaving her alone and suffering in the hospital that night.
  4. Get out of the damn house. Slipping into depression is way too easy and once they are comfortable getting around it's time to take them out on a hot date. This should be a frequent occurrence.
  5. Husbands: There will be crying and there's no predicting when it will happen. Do not try to find a solution. Give them a hug, say something nice and let them cry it out.
  6. Google everything you can about this injury and educate yourself. It's a lot easier to be supportive when you know what the hell is going on.
  7. Watch for cars backing out of parking spaces because your SO can't really move fast enough to get out of the way. Yeah, I chewed out an old lady and I don't feel bad about it!
  8. It's temping to take advantage of the handicap parking sticker when your SO isn't there. Don't, you asshole.
  9. Netflix. Inevitably they will still need lots of time to relax so find some good shows to marathon. They have control so if you end up watching Veronica Mars, just suck it up and enjoy.
  10. Eventually you need to stop trying to be so helpful. Treating them like they are helpless will get you snapped at.
  11. I turned this list up to 11, because I can.



Well, that's my list. There's nothing particularly helpful here but that's just how it goes. Be happy, make your SO laugh every day, tell them you love them and get through it together. There will be tough times but there are also good times. Your responsibility is to make them happy and they deserve it because of all the times they had to put up with YOU, so make it happen.

3 comments:

  1. CC, you are so fortunate to have such a terrific husband. I'm thankful every day for the way that he takes care of you. Love you both.....Ma.

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  2. Hi to CC's SO,
    Love your challenge. I am an LF person not an LF SO. So many of your points met with a cheer in my head! My husband is so, so helpful and I am so so lucky. BUT point number 10 meant a lot to me and point number 5. Why there is so much crying I don't know but just letting it happen is the answer for both. My husband is so helpful but it was difficult to get a balance between being really helpful and letting me develop, take risks even. When I read this is a life changing injury I didn't quite get it at first. Now I know how. The relationship, the power, the control, without a solid base this would have finished us off. Thanks for blogging.

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  3. Wow! Great post. I am a LF person. I can't explain the tears either. I am stubborn and strong-willed and am not a crier, but for some reason I was a crier. You are so right with your advice. One time I just head to tell my husband, hug me and let me cry and tell me it will be ok. As far as helping me, I told him if I need help or ask for something do it. Otherwise let me-strong-will:). So glad CC had and has you to help her through.

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