I had prepared for DH coming home - or I thought I had. I'd ordered one of those full arm plastic bags, so he could shower. We already had a little bed table. I had made some alterations to an old tee shirt, and was really proud of the results. I was ready for a bit of hassle.
I was somewhat niaive. I had imagined that D would come home, have no use of his arm, be a bit stiff. I had not imagined that he would be barely able to put one foot in front of the other, that he would be away with the fairies, and that he wouldn't be able to lie down, or sit up, or anything in between.
DH fell asleep while sitting on the sofa. Unfortunately, he was holding a glass at the time. It wasn't a problem. He went to bed because he was so exhausted. He couldn't lie down, so I made some sort of arrangement with numerous pillows so he could be in a bit of a half way down position.
It was 5.15, and I went out to buy some sort of "sippy cup" so he could have it on the bed, and it wouldn't matter if it rolled over. I decided to go to one of the nearby towns and see if I could get a V pillow or something at the same time.
The local department store was just about still open when I got there. I raced up the escalators to the homeware department. Their website had showed they sold V pillows, but there weren't any to be seen. I rushed through the shopping centre, googling the various shops to see who was likely to have something. I passed a Wilko, open until 6pm, so I popped in there, and they had one. I bought it.
Boots next, for the sippy cup. I don't have children, I have no idea about suppy cups. The choice was overwhelming. I bought 3 different sorts.
Next was also supposed to sell such things, and the town had a massive Next which was open until 8pm. No luck. TK Max, open til 8, no luck. They did, however, have some "box" pillows, so I bought the only two they had. I looked at the dog beds to see if I could find a beanbag type, but no luck.
On the way back to the car, I passed Hobbycraft, still open. I went in and bought a massive bag of beanbag beans.
I was very stressed about how we were going to manage, scared that we might do more damage to DH by his not being able to lie as he needed to.
At home, I unpacked everything. I started to make up the side arm for the bed, and then I realised it just wasn't going to work, even if DH slept on my side of the bed. DH woke up, and I helped him get up and go to the toilet. I tried out several combinations of pillows (myself) and found a combo that would provide more support. DH went back to bed, and seemed marginally more comfortable.
I still wasn't happy. I started looking online for wedge pillows, then I remembered that Argos sold disability aids. I searched the local ones, and found one in another nearby town that had some bits in stock. They were open until 8. I ordered online, and got there at 7.50.
I put the table in the middle of the bed between us, where he could reach it. I put a sippy cup of water on it, and the control to the ceiling fan. I asked DH to wake me whenever he needed anything, and he had to do that because he wasn't able to sit himself up.
It was a long night.
