Most weeks come and go with little change and everything blending together. This week went relatively well, but ended with some excitement.
Tuesday, I had an appointment with my pulmonologist in Des Moines. However, I didn't receive my usual email reminders. I called Tuesday morning to confirm my 11:00 appointment and was told I needed to arrive at 10:30. That gave me 75 minutes to get dressed, in my chair, and drive for over an hour. My caregiver and were late, but five-minute appointment went well and my lungs are doing great.
Friday morning, I spoke at a school about 15-minutes away from home. While driving through the Iowa country side, we heard a kind of screech or rubbing sound. Upon arrival, I called dad and let him know the issue. I helped with the school's morning worship and enjoyed being around kids again. Kindergartners reviewed their memory verse along with different grades doing various activities.My presentation was on God's name and giving Him proper fear and glory. The K-6th students seemed to understand and listen, but they may have been concentrating more on my wheels and footwear by their eye direction.
Returning to the van, I found a note from dad that we should be okay to go home. That was good to hear, but then my wheelchair lift didn't work. My caregiver, Sara, tried the indoor emergency controls and got it to work. A friend followed us home just in case, but we got back in the garage without trouble, other than noise. Sara had to again use emergency controls to get the lift to work, but I was finally home and out of the vehicle.
Friday evening and Saturday morning, dad spent time diagnosing problems and researching solutions. Parts look hard to find for my 30+ year-old van, but he did a temporary cleaning solution that solved the noise. A little wiggling of a sensor also fixed the lift, so my transportation is hopefully good again.
I'm thankful for the parents God has given me in this quad life and everything He has enabled them to do. As I write this on Saturday afternoon, is now having muscle pain in his leg. Since he does most of my physical care on weekends, it makes everything harder. Such is the quad life, but I continue to pray for ease for my parents. Hopefully this coming week will go more smoothly.