There's no place like home

The home assessment visit took place today. Rick brought the wheelchair I will be using at home and with the assistance of the therapists got me into our car. That first transfer was a little rough, but things would get smoother as the visit progressed.

I had not been out of the facility since my last radiation treatment in late May or early June. The ride to our home was comfortable.

Once at the house, we have to back into the neighbors driveway for access to the sidewalk. This time, Rick and I performed the transfer out of the car ourselves and did it flawlessly. It was teamwork at it's best. I was so proud of Rick at that moment I was nearly overcome with emotion. What did finally make me break down was the realization that I was home. As Rick parked the car and opened the house, I needed to wheel the chair from the neighbors driveway, across the front of the house, make the turn and go down the side of the house to the entrance to the back yard (we have a corner lot). This gave me a chance to look at the entire garden and explain to the therapists what everything was. Rick has done a great job of keeping the gardens up and they looked beautiful.

We reached the garden gate. One of the therapists opened it. I felt as if I was Dorothy in "The Wizard of Oz" when she opens the door of the Kansas house in the sepia tinted section and it changes to the Land of the Munchkins. The ramp looked like the Yellow Brick Road.

Alan and Chris - the ramp is a work of art. Even the therapists were impressed. It rises out of the bed of Pentas (red flowers, blooms constantly, attracts butterflies) on the left, next to our dogwood, stops at a turning platform overlooking the fountain in the corner and the central bed under the huge live oak. This bed contains Ruellia (Mexican petunia, a constant bloomer in purple), Birds of Paradise, African Iris, Shrimp Plants, several varieties of Croton and a few others. The second part of the ramp takes me past the raised bed of impatiens that are a riot of colors - magenta with splashes of red-orange. The ground level of that bed is geraniums, New Guinea impatiens and some double impatiens. These are all in pinks, purples, salmons and oranges.

Once on the deck, I'm able to have access to the entire deck. Rick let Margo and Simon out and they ran over to greet me I stopped moving in the chair and just drank it all in. I was in Paradise.

It was time to get down to business. We went in the house. I was able to move everywhere easily except the laundry room (schucks) and parts of the kitchen. We will need to rearrange some furniture, but other than that, they deemed the house safe and appropriate for my return.

I was also able to access the front porch. Rick and I love to sit on what we call the "viewmaster" porch. We have outdoor fans in the ceiling and in cool weather we can sit out there and enjoy watching neighbors walking their dogs.

The exit from the house and down the ramp was flawless. Rick and I again did the transfer back into the car unassisted for the trip back to Heartlands. The same with the exit from the car to go back into the building.

It was a most emotional and exciting day. Rick and I functioned perfectly as a team. We know we have a lot ahead of us and that there will be challenges with my care. We will meet them head on. We are ready.

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