First week home in Taos
1/30-2/6
First few days: Mom stayed at a friend’s place in Taos the first night to give Patrick and I some space. We’re both—well really all 10 of using including the pups, ducks, and chickens—filled with joy to be back home together. Mom stayed in town until Thursday, when my cousins came up from Albuquerque to see us. We had a nice visit over delicious Indian food. It sure felt weird to separate from my mom for the first time since the accident; another big milestone and also hard to be away from each other. My new cane (photo) arrived shortly after family left Taos, so that was a nice little pick me up.
New providers and home PT:
PT: I established with my new PT and am excited to work with her. She is my mom’s neighbor’s daughter in law who I hadn’t yet had the pleasure of meeting. It feels good to be working with someone that we know and who is so passionate about her work. Given the accident affected most of my body, we didn’t complete the eval in the first visit but I feel good about how we started and will continue to see her 2x/week.
Home PT: We moved my pilates reformer inside so I’m starting to do more of my PT there 🤗. I also have the stationary bike and am up to 4 miles in 20 minutes.
Other Appointments: Monday 2/6 I drove myself to my first appointment and got to see my Ayurvedic + Naturopathic doctor in Taos who does movement therapy, energy and body work, and nutrition and supplement counseling. So lovely to finally be seeing her regularly in person again! I have additional appointments for massage and a chiro/myofascial/nerve exam this week.
Settling in: Over the week, and with lots of help from Patrick and mom, I slowly unpacked and started to feel more settled. We've been enjoying the hot tub daily - thanks again to the awesome team at Aqua Spa of Denver! Friday 2/3 was the first day home alone with Patrick at work and I spent the day doing my PT routine finishing unpacking. The last items in my big suitcase were my dad’s sweaters that I was wearing in the hospital; finishing unpacking in general, and that specifically, sure made me miss and feel close to him at the same time. Grief truly does come in waves. Patrick and I then had a nice celebratory dinner out in Taos and I walked a little bit in town — another big milestone. Saturday 2/4 evening we had a homecoming/bday combo celebration at a friend’s airbnb - so heart filling to see so many friends I hadn’t seen since the accident! It was a nice reminder of the love and support we have locally and people I can call on to come be home with me if I need help or simply want the company. Sunday 2/5 we went for a short walk in the neighborhood on Sunday and plan to make that a regular thing (photos here and here)! We had a couple friends over for a mellow dinner last night (2/7) which felt like yet another milestone in getting back to some normalcy.
On the horizon: This next week is really focused on seeing what life is like with Patrick working W-F as normal, me settling in to appointments (energy/body work/movement therapy, 2 PT, massage, mental health, chiropractor/myofascial/nerve pain expert, and pain injection specialist) and home life. Today, 2/8, is another day on my own with Patrick at work and is a big test of seeing if I can tolerate multiple appointments in one day. I have a gut feeling may not be the best thing for me and also know it will all take some time to get the rhythm right.
