Bernadette – What was the hardest part about coming home?

I think you really understand when they come home.  Because this is more or less I believe a safe setting when they’re in rehab, and you come every day and you set a pattern, and there are people here who care for them.  When you come home, there’s no one there.  There’s no safety net, no one there to catch you if something goes wrong.  You’re on your own; you’re insecure about how to deal with things.  And it’s not just the injury; it’s a lot of the different things that go with the injury.  For instance, when he came home, he had a Foley bag, and we had to change that.  And, I have a friend, who was a nurse who was there for me for lot of things, but when we had to change that, she wasn’t there.  And, my husband and I had to do this on our own.  Even though they tell you about it, you’re really not sure until you do it, and we actually wound up calling the fifth floor nurse’s station to get someone to walk us through it.