We are off, another day in the saga of Bob and Cherie

5/25/06 Thursday
We are off. As I watched the news I heard Cherie’s voice coming from the living room, “That *&%#, I can’t believe this”. That got my attention. She had just read the comment Nate had put on my last entry. It wasn’t a surprise to me at all. Pretty much the way he reacts to any kind of criticism. Now I am debating what or if I should say anything. Nate doesn’t get it at all. First of all the visual of someone doing laundry in the front yard is just plain old funny, the kind of scene you would expect to see on the “Beverly Hillbillys”. But beyond that I really just want him to open his eyes and see himself. Not to put him down but to get him to be a better person and show just a little respect for his grandparents, in who’s house he lives rent free, and for his neighbors. The internal debate continues. I’ll let you know.

This morning I will take Wayne’s paperwork down to LMHA and NPI properties to keep the process of getting him out of drug city moving. I am doing much better than last night. These partial seizures are always a pain in the ass but that is just the way it is. I don’t get all bothered about things I can’t change. That is just a waste of time and energy. If the price of still being alive is these slowdowns and constant pain I have no problem paying it.
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12:51 – Now everything is a struggle. I just made copies of all of Wayne’s medical records to send to his lawyer. I couldn’t find her address but fortunately put it in my Yahoo address’s. The headache is there and it is hard to keep my thoughts clear and stay on task. Now I will take this to the post office and then run the records over to Wayne after I drop the forms off at LMHA and NPI.

3:34 – Just got back. Getting angry clears my head a little at times like this but it doesn’t last long. Still rough, running a 5 on the Bob scale. I got Wayne’s records mailed to the lawyer. Made 65 copies so it was a package. Didn’t write a letter with it as I had intended. With the copies made I went to LMHA where I learned I needed to take the form to NPI and have them fill it out, then return it. That’s OK so I headed to NPI. I forgot where I was going a few times but finally made it.

Going in the office I handed the form to the receptionist, telling her it needed to be filled out, and sat down to wait. A half hour later the girl comes back with the form and informs me that Wayne must be personally present for this. “I’m on his paperwork as his advocate” I protested. She didn’t care and when I protested further she pretty much sat down and pretended I wasn’t there. That doesn’t work well with me so I went out the door saying something about bureaucratic assholes. Calling Wayne I said “Get ready, I’m going to be there in three minutes” and explained what happened.

Like I said, getting angry clears my head. I made it to Wayne’s in record time. Pulling up I honked the horn. Wayne wanted to sit there and talk at the door but I said “Get in. We’ve got to go”. I drove straight back to NPI and they didn’t seem to be happy to see me but I really don’t care if they are happy or not. They’ve been a pain in the ass and I am glad to get Wayne out of there. Anyway we got the form filled out.

Getting out to the car I realized I had forgotten Wayne’s medical records despite putting the folder out where I could see it. Not unusual for me. I decided to take Wayne with me when I delivered the form to LMHA because it was most of the way to my place. That way I could run by the house and pick it up. After LMHA Wayne offered to buy me a sandwich at Subway. That works so we spied one on the way and pulled in. Picking up the sandwiches we went to my place. I ran in, grabbed something to drink, finished the chips that came with the sandwich and went back out to the car.

Wayne and I talked about things on the way back to his place. He could tell I was tired and not on top of my game. Pulling up to his door I popped the trunk and reached back to get his medical records off the back seat. Damn! I forgot it again. This drives me nuts and I suppose always will. You know it is really inconvenient to have brain damage. Just F’s everything up. Oh well. It took me three weeks to get his stuff copied and mailed. Maybe longer than that. Can’t really remember. I could look back in this journal to find out, after all that is one of the reasons I keep it. Nah, I don’t think so. Don’t like reminders of how bad I am. I got it done so that’s good enough.

I drove back home. Slowed down a little but was still a bit aggressive though not as bad as earlier. Now I am home and can unwind. I called Allen to make sure he got his paperwork in to welfare. He said he would get to it today. It’s 4:30 so the day is pretty much done. I need to push him because not only will he not get approved for medical without it but he may have to start the process over from the beginning. Nothing like being a babysitter for adults. I will be glad to get to Texas but knowing me I will adopt some other’s who need help.

I think I will just post this and lay back for a bit.
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Allen had told me he bought a couple of steaks and wanted me to come over and cook them. I at first said I would but called him back and said we could do it some other time. Not really ready to deal with him and at this point my tolerance for crap is low so we can do it at some later time. Interestingly he did not know what day it is. Not good but I often have to look at the calendar to check what day it is myself. I have a good excuse, hell there were times when I first woke from the coma I didn’t know what year it was. Allen is a different case though he has incurred several brain injuries from what I can gather. For him it is a matter of isolation and the large amount of pain killers he imbibes coupled with depression.

7:44 – Still a little rough. Right now there is a tornado watch issued for this area. It got up to 75 today. Tomorrow it will hit 80, which is the warmest it has been this year. I don’t mind too much though one of the results of the brain injury is the ability of my body to adjust to temperatures. Cold is no problem, in fact I do well with it. Cherie would always get upset and make me wear a coat because I could wear a T shirt when it is freezing and not be bothered. Heat is a little harder for me. Strange but that’s the way it is. Heat is also bad for Wayne because of his MS. Last year a woman with MS died when she was left outside in the sun at the nursing home where she lived. One of the good things about the apartment we will move him to is there is an air conditioner. That will save me a fight with NPI. I had already gathered statements from his doctors testifying

We are calling it a night so I checked my E mail. My son Bruce will be coming home from Iraq soon. There is no specific date yet but it is good news none the less. I look forward to seeing him soon. Perhaps he will be back in time for my 50th birthday June 8. That would be sweet. So I close with good news. Night all.