Jim’s MSA Blog

Jim’s First Journey out of the Hospital

July 25th, 2007

Jim woke up feeling great on Tuesday morning. The dyskensia had not returned to his leg and he was ready to throw his pounds of meds in the trash. I convinced his to cut them down, but not stop altogether. When you’ve been on so much dopamine for so long I don’t think it’s wise to just suddenly stop. So he reluctantly took half of his morning dose and wanted to venture out to a grocery store about a block and a half from the hospital.

Even at 7:30 in the morning it’s hot here…steamy. I was pushing Jim in his wheelchair down the street on wide sidewalks that have rubber mats installed on them to keep people from slipping in the monsoon rainstorms. Unfortunately the sidewalks are not entirely wheelchair accessible so twice I had to get him out of the chair, down a rather high curb, lift the chair down, put Jim back into the chair, then repeat in 20 feet.

Rows of short cement pillars kept us from approaching the store. I guess these are to discourage cars from going up on the sidewalks. Bicycles, motorbikes and pedestrians can pass through, but not a wheelchair. After pushing Jim along the wall for a few minutes, contemplating how to get over it, a young man motioned to go around the building. Yes, there was a small opening that we could fit through!

The store is multi-leveled, connected by escalators, but more like the people movers at the airport, set on an incline. Going up was no problem. I set the brakes and braced the back of the chair with my body. Going down laden with groceries was a different story…as I struggled to hold onto the wheelchair, a Chinese lady half my size came up and grabbed a hold with me. The people here are so kind.

We strolled past a display of roasted, blackened ducks, hanging like criminals by their necks (ok, we watched “CAPOTE” yesterday), and huge bins of different dried fish and sea vegetables. Produce that is weighed and priced in the aisles after you put it into bags. Butchers doing the part of butchering that we never see in the States. Aisles and aisles of brightly colored packaging without our tendency to put a photo of what is inside on the outside of the box. Coke’s are recognizable by their distinct packaging, even in Chinese. As Jamie used to say when she was little: “Dad, I smell a coke!”

Jim had a sudden need to use the restroom, and having had this experience at the airport, I knew that the toilets in most public restrooms here are holes in the floor…not exactly good for a disabled person. So we had to hurry back to the hotel in high gear. Down the escalator (with assistance from an angel), out the side door, around the building…and to save time I made the decision to push Jim in the street…in the far right lane reserved for bicycles, motorbikes and cycles. I hugged the gutter to keep from being mowed down…trotting as fast as I could…Jim clinging to a six pack of Coke in his lap. We must have been quite a sight.

We made it back to the hospital and then it took 15 minutes to get an elevator up to the 20th floor. The elevators here are another story all together!

Jim is resting awhile now getting ready for his afternoon workout with James. James intends to get him up on the stairs today.

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