STROKE Part 5 - Are You Freakin Kidding Me???

4:00 am comes awfully early when you are weak, exhausted and heavily medicated! I opened one eye and asked the C.A., why are you turning the lights on? it's only 4AM!!! Yes she said, it's time to get up and start the day! Are you freakin kidding me? I asked, no and someone will be in to assist you to the shower shortly. "How often can I shower?" I asked,..... twice a week she replied. Already I could see we were gonna have problems! I was used to showering once if not twice a day. I sat in my wheelchair while she made my bed and handed me a clean gown to put on until my gym clothes came later in the day. She also handed me what looked like an adult sized pull-up and all I could think of was, "I'm a big kid now!" however I told her there was NO way I was wearing it, end of subject. Yes I was a bit hard to deal with concerning some things but it was ALL I had to hang on to.

A young woman training in occupational therapy came to assist me to the bathroom and to the shower. Metformin is a medication to lower blood sugar and is supposed to prevent weight gain. Well the WAY it prevents weight gain is keeping you on the toilet with a rip roaring case of diarrhea and later on teeters back & forth between diarrhea & constipation.
well I was unable to clean myself up after using the restroom so I had to rely on the kindness of others. The young woman they sent me couldn't find a C.A. to assist so she proceeded to wipe my butt CHEEKS!.....I said "uhhh it doesn't come from my butt cheeks....I'm not feeling too clean" She assured me I was good to go and assisted me to the shower chair. She turned on the water and handed me a washcloth and told me to do as much as I could with my good hand and she would assist with the rest.

After my shower I was dressed in underwear and a gown and placed in my wheelchair with a sheet over my lap. For my first trip to the gym, the occupational therapist came to get me, but made it known from here on out I was responsible for getting myself there (back & forth - 4 times a day) 5 days a week.
I sat with her in occupational therapy for an hour and was wheeled back to my room to sit for the day because I couldn't exercise in a gown.
I sat up in my wheelchair from 6am until 2pm and noticed I was feeling uncomfortable and a burning sensation....I called the nurse to help me to the restroom where we found that I had not been cleaned earlier that morning (not in the shower either) and was left to sit in that all day long.
It took weeks for the infection to go away. It was very degrading and depressing and I was just about to give up on everything. I cried myself to sleep after dinner and slept like a rock (besides a couple trips to the bathroom and a few vitals checks and medication) till 4 am when the florescent lights stung my tired eyes once again.