Good news today from Christie L. under intensive physical therapy at the Indian River Rehabilitation Center and Nursing Home in Granville, N.Y. It was the most optimistic and hopeful message I’ve gotten yet in my dialogue with Christie on Facebook.
“I had a good night,” she wrote. “I am not feeling so bad about being here. I can make it work. Hopefully, I will only be here a couple of weeks. I really need the physical therapy. I don’t want to sit forever. Give Red a hug for me. I really miss my friends at the Mansion. I think about them all the time.”
This is the most determined message I’ve gotten from Christie, she is adjusting to Indian River and accepting her need to undergo physical therapy so she can walk on her own again. Christie is only 60, she is strong and clear. All of the Mansion residents have to be mobile and able to transfer themselves from a bed onto a wheelchair or into a walker if necessary.
Her previous messages have been distinctly different in tone.
The doctors have said Christie’s mental state and willingness to work hard are the keys to her getting back to the Mansion. They are out of medical treatments to help her, she needs to move much more regularly and frequently, change her diet and focus on her rehabilitation.
I’m not at Indian RIver, but it seems she is coming to terms with these challenges and accepting them. This has made me think it’s soon time for Red and I to visit her at Indian River, about an hour from the farm. I think boundaries are essential here, this is Christie’s show, not mine, her decisions, not mine. But the visits from Red clearly help. Maybe Wednesday or Thursday.
Christie has to commit herself to her treatment, and it seems from her words, that might be happening. This is the first time she has expressed confidence that her rehab can work. One of her doctors told me that if she thinks it can work, it can work.
If so, she will get back to the Mansion, where the staff has refused to move her things or permit them to be moved. They expect her to get back there. They have not given up on her, and from her message, Christie is not giving up on herself. She is missed there, her friends ask about her every day.
There is much at stake in Christie’s mental attitude towards her health care. To change is one path, to not change is another, and that is her decision and hers alone.
Today’s was a good message to get.
Your messages to Christie are a combination of oxygen, fuel and inspiration. I am not here to save Christie or to pity her, but she does have the option of saving herself and getting herself back where wants to be. You can write her if you with at this address: Christie L., The Indian River Rehabilitation Center and Nursing Home, , 17 Madison Street, Granville, N.Y., 12832.
Christie, like some other Mansion residents, has felt invisible and forgotten. It matters greatly for her to see people believe in her and are watching her.