An Easy Weekend

Saturday, I was pretty tired and slept in a bit. I typically leave later on the weekend since traffic isn’t as bad. The problem is sometimes, not always, the team comes early to the round. This Saturday, they did, and I missed them. Amanda texted to let me know when I was on the way in. I took a different route to grab some StarBs on the way. We had stars to burn before the end of the month. The StarBs frequency has slowed; Amanda just hasn’t been up for coffee at all, and really hasn’t wanted refreshers much. Our Panera iced tea and lemonade have been what she’s wanted the most.

We finished the Merry and Pippin travel/food show. The last episode was the best, glad we started with it. I wasn’t a fan of the US travel episodes, but it was a nice change of pace from cartoons and cheesy family movies. We moved on to another travel food show that is solely based on Italy. Stanley Tucci hosts it, and I like him as an actor and his vibe. I’d seen a few episodes, but we just restarted the series. Italy is also Amanda’s top spot to travel. We’ve moved on to Dr. Pimple Popper to break things up!

I had been thinking it was good for Amanda to play the Xbox for better motor skills, hand-eye coordination, and cognitive skills, too. I looked up some games, good for OT, and puzzle games for thinking were the best. The one we had been playing had a lot of problem-solving, so I figured we’d just continue playing it. I got everything hooked up, and we went to play, except I couldn’t find Amanda’s controller anywhere. I had no clue where it was, so I went to check the car, and nothing was there. I ended up ordering another one, this time a pink one, to be delivered the same day to the Amazon locker near the hospital. I think anything that will improve Amanda’s cognition is worth it right now. We aren’t only rehabbing the muscles but the brain at this point.

Medically, there’s not much new right now. We’ve just been in a holding pattern waiting for the wound surgery, which will be on Tuesday. The plastic surgery resident did come by and explain their part. They will be taking a muscle from the inside of Amanda’s thigh, an unused spaghetti type muscle, cutting it lower down. Then, pulling it through, leaving it attached at the top, moving it over the wound after thoracic surgery finishes with their work. It will only be a small incision down low and a little bigger one up top. He said the muscle flap is primarily used to provide bulk over the femoral artery.

Sundays are my allotted days to sleep in, and that’s just what I did. I had planned to possibly go to church, even Sunday School, if I were to get up early, but I wasn’t setting an alarm to do so. I have not been invited or received any good recommendations for a church to attend here. I’ve even had a few people looking for churches and asking friends for recommendations, but nothing has panned out. There are no ministries or chaplain visits here at Vandy either. However, I have been called and checked on, invited out, and cared for by many who do not have a church home or even a spiritual relationship with God. We have received fantastic support from our home church and others, but God has used a different crowd to support us in the Nashville scene. I’ve also had more witnessing opportunities and God conversations at a bar top in a burger joint as a result. God didn’t connect me with a church right away; He put me in a mission field instead.

I feel the need to connect with a church and gain local Nashville brothers and sisters, now. I have a solid one from the cleaners, my brother, who’s a hugger! I feel I need to be ministered to, now. This is a marathon, not a sprint, I keep telling myself. It’s time to get some more family here, and since a church hasn’t fallen in my lap organically, I needed to look. I had been looking at churches’ websites, their ministries, and beliefs. I also watched some online services of my top picks to see how their worship, preaching, and invitation styles were. I had two in the top runnings. One was a bigger church with a great website, but still a small one for a such a large city, in my opinion. I settled on a smaller one close to the apartment. It had a better feel and fit for us, I thought. I woke early enough to rush to get ready and make Sunday School, but chose to only go to the worship service instead. Amanda texted me just 5 minutes after I woke up, wanting to know when I was coming in. I could tell she was anxious about me coming in too late, so I skipped church, but told her that next week she’d have to deal with it, and I was going.

Amanda was ready to play the Xbox game. I think she wanted to challenge her mind a bit. I got things ready to play after she had a late breakfast I’d brought in. I went back to the familiar Texas taco spot in a gas station; I figured it would make me feel at home. I got served a taco with an attitude from the lady behind the counter. I ordered in English too, so I was disappointed and even felt more like I was in a foreign land and nowhere close to feeling like home! The Xbox game went better than I thought. Amanda did well, and I think it will help her with thinking. I’m interested to see if the rehab hospital will have anything to help her cognitively.

In the late afternoon, Amanda was able to get a shower, not just a towel bath like before. Two care partners helped with the shower, one of whom had helped Amanda the last time, making things easier. They did a great job and didn’t rush things. I thought we had her shampoo in our dresser, but Amanda had packed it to go to the car when leaving for the surgery, thinking we wouldn’t be in the hospital long enough for her to wash her hair. She just had the hospital shampoo and no conditioner, so her hair was a little tangled afterward. One care partner even stayed after she was in her chair to brush and blow-dry her hair. I’m sure that felt good for Amanda to get a real shower.

For dinner, I ran to Cheesecake Factory to get one of our favorites. Slowly, Amanda is beginning to eat more and a little more variety as well. It’s like everything else, slowly but surely, we’ll get there. We have a friend from Brackettville who is in the area and will be spending tomorrow with Amanda. She had planned to stay on Monday and Tuesday, both to give me a break, but with the surgery, she’ll only come on Monday. With everything going on, I need to be available for rounds with the team change on Monday. I will take it easy after rounds, though. I have a few errands to run, and after that, I plan to relax at the apartment.