Huge hurdle - Work starts ! - Thanks Jo.

All praise and thanks has to go to Jo, former boss, friend and now boss again ! And still friend, he, throughout my stay in Alcatraz always referred to my coming back to Genesis once on the "outside".
Continually referring as to how the office would be adapted to incorporate my 4 x 4, and as to how I could function with one hand and be as effective as before. To begin with, if I have to be honest, I thought it was more of a ploy to encourage me with my rehabilitation and on-going quest to recovery.

So wrong I was !!! , Discovering that on release, the Genesis team had transferred my somewhat bleak abode into a far more homely abode with all the personal touches - lamps, candles, pot plants, flowers etc etc etc - once again guys, THANK YOU !! And, without any pressure, Jo simply said
' Let me know when you are ready to come back to work '

The first month after discharge, was coming to terms with the realization that I had to get used to the Jeeves's 24/7, together with an added double up person every day to help the Jeeve's on duty !! A feat thought to be easy, however, quite grueling to set up routines and regimes in order to maintain as best possible a life as prior to my injury. This took much longer than I had expected, and gladly, after two months we have settled into quite a streamlined regime ! A big thanks too, to C, who spent a couple of weeks here and had all the ' staff ' jumping, and getting small, but relevant things in order ! Thanks C, ...............and I notice that the toaster is being turned upside down over the sink every day :)  :).

Sooooooo, having gone the long way around, I found myself being ready for the day by 8am, all dressed up, and nowhere to go ! Sitting in the patio / lounge doorway sipping copious amounts of coffee and having the odd cigg. Yes cigarette !! Making any kind of menial chore to be FAR bigger than it was ! Buried myself in paperwork and shit, but anything to prevent me having to venture out. Again, thanks to C, he was having none of this, and as I mentioned in my last blog, he was inspirational in re-introducing me into everyday life - albeit in a 4 x 4 !!

So, there are a few choices here , stay indoors and become reclusive, grasp the day and hit the streets, or find work again !!! The easiest is to become a recluse !, hitting tha streets does not pay the bills, OR go back to work ?

I have chosen the third option - Thank you Lord !, probably the hardest choice, but I HAVE to beat this chair with my ongoing quest to find my legs again !

One call to Jo, he comes over for a coffee and we chat, arbitrary crap to begin with, then the real stuff about my return to Genesis - he simply says " when do you want to come back " I say Wednesday ! He says " Great ", see you Wednesday ! Suddenly, the realization hits me !!! Oh shit ! What about the paperwork ? What about this and that etc etc - Reality check !! Get back into mainstream Mullen !!.
Paperwork sorted within one day, clothes sorted same day etc etc etc - this I can do, I keep reminding myself ! Work is Wednesday !!

With less than a week, calls from Jo for measurements , heights of 4 x 4, etc etc. I question nothing and allow my universe to tilt as much as it wants to get back into some kind of REAL life. Jeeve's responsibility is to see me to and from the office - I arrive ! I have been moved from my old position to the end of the office, desk tweeted to incorporate my 4 x 4, still needs some more tweeking, done, and here I am sitting back in the office one year up the line !! Toby at the ready for any adjustments, together with his wonderful sense of humour with regards the cripple ! Justin plugging away at his key board, Eileen at her station, full of flu - so I won't allow her near me, Jo trying his best to accommodate me ! Then Connie makes an appearance, hugs, welcomes me back, Marcio ( Spelling ) arrives - his wife has baked a beautiful cake, plus condensed milk cup cakes ! And Umit arrives with flowers ! Jo has given me a touch screen computer together with a voice recognition program - So this tetraplegic can now do what I used to do by just speaking !! Yes - for real !!

So, yet another hurdle conquered - defying the stats of SCI people not wanting to go back to work !
At the end of the day, if one can get back to as normal a life style as before ones injury just do it !

As always, sent with love and on-going health ! I feel real again .... Thanks Jo !

G.