JimK's Journal

Wednesday, October 14, 2009 – 10:00 A.M.

Last week I began taking some steps to getting a few things done outside while the weather was nice and winter had not yet arrived. This meant that I had to push aside my fears of going outside alone. There were two things I wanted to do, and I was determined to accomplish both of them during the week.

The first thing I really needed to do badly was to go to my doctor's office and get a written prescription for some pain medication. I had been putting off doing this for most of the week, but knew that I finally had to take some action when I only had one or two pills left at home.

In order to get to the office at a reasonable time in the morning, I arranged for some transportation to take me there. Once I arrived at the office, all I had to do was go to the receptionist’s desk and pick up the prescription that had been waiting for me. That took all of three minutes. I am shaking my head as I think about all the weeks of anguish I went through just worrying about making that trip and getting a prescription. Why did I go through all that worry and inner turmoil? I must somehow find a way to get over this fear of doing things.

From the doctor's office, I rolled six blocks to a bus stop and waited less than 10 minutes for a bus to arrive. I made about another five-minute trip to a light rail, where I took a train about five miles south of that location. From there I went north (by wheelchair) three blocks to the former home healthcare agency I used to be with, which is called Atlantis.

I have not been to Atlantis in about three years. After I had changed home healthcare agencies, I went back to Atlantis a few times just to see the clients I had known, as well as some of the people I had worked there with. I had planned on doing this one or two times each year, but the longer I remained away from the company, the less enthusiasm I had about going back there just to visit.

Once I got to Atlantis last week, I received a warm reception the moment I entered the property. I talked with various people I had known, and was soon brought up to date on the state of affairs there.

A large number of their people either had gone to Atlanta, Georgia, or were preparing to do so this week. The Atlantis clients usually make one or two trips to Washington, DC, each year where they work for the rights of people with disabilities. That part of the organization is known as ADAPT. This week, rather than make their annual trek to Washington, they are going to Atlanta instead. The administrator for Atlantis said that if she had seen me a month ago, she would have arranged for me to go with them.

I questioned her about the possibility of my rejoining their company as a client if I ever decided to leave the home healthcare agency that I am with now. She said that she would have to speak with their Director of Nursing, and that she would give me a call within the next week or two.

While I now believe that she may have inadvertently thought I intended to switch agencies immediately, I am not going to say anything until I hear from her. I mainly wanted to know if they would be in a position to help me since I no longer live within the area that they usually serve. I live beyond that territorial boundary by less than a mile, but so do a few of their current clients. I am just "feeling the waters" so to speak.

The combination of leaving home alone and seeing the people I knew at Atlantis seemed to have buoyed up my spirits. I noticed a large improvement in my mood almost immediately. That always seems to happen whenever I am around the people of Atlantis, which is one of the reasons why rejoining that agency might offer some benefits to me. It doesn't mean that they are perfect, because in some ways, they are far from it, but it does suggest to me that it cannot hurt to consider them as a viable alternative to the home healthcare agency that I am currently with now.