58
...Continued
Elation, for a while
Jim had feelings of both fear and elation about going home. He
couldn't wait to spend more time with his family. But none of them
knew how to take care of him, and their home had no ramps or wider doorways and showers, or lower countertops and tables - things that make it easier to get around in a wheelchair.
On his second night at home, Jim fell and lay on the floor for an
hour before his wife heard him calling. Tina couldn't lift her
husband, so although it was 2:30 a.m., they called a friend and
asked him to come pick Jim up off the floor.
"Now I wear a cellphone on my belt all the time," Jim says. "I'm
really afraid of falling and being on the floor all day. I tried to
get to my knees when I fell, but I kept falling flat. It was like
trying to pick up Jell-O."
Ms. Snell says Jim needs to have at least an hour a day of both
physical and occupational therapy in order to progress. The Liebos'
insurance will pay for only 20 days, which began in early October,
Jim says.
"Any time lost," Ms. Snell says, "you can never get back."
With two days of therapy a week, he'll be finished in early
December. After that, he says, he'll be on his own. He's looking to
raise money to pay for it. He's looking for ways to work so he
might be able to afford more therapy.
As the bills pile up, Jim becomes more stressed out about not
working. "We're going to have to have more income," he says. "We
can't live for long on what Tina makes. I really believe I can walk
again, but I'm afraid that I'm going to have to make a choice
between working to support my family and walking again".
Fighters
Slowly, Jim is regaining some of his mobility. When he tries to
walk, his right leg shakes and bounces until he puts enough weight
on it to settle it down.
That can be difficult: Not only does he experience pain, his legs
don't receive the messages his brain sends him about what to do.
"Just lifting myself up is like an out-of-body experience," he
says. "It's hard to explain. My brain is saying one thing, and my
body's not responding."
It has given him a better understanding of what Eric's gone
through. "I've always felt Eric's inside there, understanding more
than it seems, but unable to respond. He's kind of trapped inside
his head," Jim says. "Now I'm trapped inside my body."
But, he says, he knows that someday he'll walk again. Eric's
condition and now his own have taught him that, if nothing else,
he's a fighter.
"What else can I do?" he says. "I can't give up. I know it's in
me."
Patient'S Story