We talked for 2 or more hours on the phone. SHE and Eddie have this "Hospital Syndrone" thing from being there for so long. Sounds like the nurses are watching her as close as they are watching Eddie and I think she is cracking just a tad from the strain of it all. She said the phone calls, cards and visitors have all but stopped, it has been over a month since anyone but their kids have been there to see them and she sounds so down, spirt wise.
His day is pretty ful of his OT and PT and stuff that she is now spending most of the day alone and just killing time, waiting for him to be brought back to his room. The other families that she had made friends with have been long gone. It just sounds so depressing for her. It sounds to me like they are expecting her to have a breakdown because she says no matter where she goes, they are watching her like a hawk and asking her if she is alright. The loss of contact with people on a personal level is greatly effecting her spirit. She understands with the price of gas that people have to cut back and it is a long way from where they live to Norfolk but it seems to still hurt her that no one comes anymore for a relaxing visit.
Could I ask all of you to send cards to her and to him? Cheerful "thinking of You" cards? It would mean so much that people still think of them and care enough to send a card or a note and one card, goes a long way in cheering a person up that feels like they are forgotten. PM me for the address if you would like to send one and I will get it right back to you. Just a moment of your day could pick them both up so high!!
Edited note... a friend reminded me that I needed to explaine the situation a little better and I agree since there are so many more newbies here that do not know the story.
My son in Virginia is an electrician. On May 4th he was working on a electrical panel box and it exploded on him, setting him on fire. He had 82% of his body burned second and third degree burns. He was in burn trama for 4 months, having many, many, many surgeries. He is lucky to still be alive and it is only his healthy condition before that happened and his inner strength that we credit his surviving to. It is rare that anyone burned that bad lives. We are now into the 5th month and into rebuilding his body. He has had to learn to sit up, walk, balance himself, do simple everyday things and there are still a lot of things he can not do yet. The skin on his entire body are skin grafts and Epicel (a lab grown skin grown from cells from his own skin) from the knees up to his neck, front and back.
The hospital they are in is a long way from where they live so they are pretty much up there now without friends or family. People we flocking around in the beginning, ready to help, but now, so far into it, all that has stopped. Being confined in a hospital effects your mental health and that is where the words "Hospital Syndrone" come in. They both have it now...
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