After I was released from Fontaine on Wednesday, May 7 (exactly 4 weeks from the day I was admitted), I moved into my new home for the next 10 days - an accessible room at the Hilton Garden Inn in Charlottesville. I got to rest and detox from the whole hospital/quasi-hospital experience and start doing more things for myself. The hotel stay led up to the big event - graduation from UVA. The weekend began with a lovely cocktail party in Pavilion I on the Lawn with my amazing group of friends and our parents on Friday night (May 16), followed by a barbeque hosted by the Hardie family at a gorgeous venue in the mountains on Saturday. Graduation was Sunday, starting with the processional down the Lawn at 10 am. My friend Laura pushed me to help me through the wet grass because, of course, it started sprinkling at about 9:45. All 8 of my friends and I navigated our way down the ramps in the light rain with only a few minor mishaps. The commencement ceremony ended around noon and the family and I moved to the English department reception to relax for about an hour before the English diploma ceremony began. Unfortunately, thanks to the inclement weather our ceremony was relocated to John Paul Jones Arena - a less picturesque version of the intended location, the Lawn. Nevertheless, the ceremony went smoothly and we even got to meet John Grisham. The day ended with a graduation party at 44 University Circle thrown by my friends and I and our families.
So now, I'm a college graduate doing what every college graduate dreams of - living at home. I came home to Powhatan on Monday, May 19 to a very different house than the one I last remembered visiting. There is a series of ramps leading up to the front porch so i can get in the house, and a newly-painted bedroom and bathroom equipped with some necessary adjustments to accommodate my new lifestyle. While there are some remodeling projects that remain unfinished, being home is a huge step forward from living in a hospital. I can do most things for myself now and have become much more independent even in the last couple weeks. It's definitely not easy though - the hospital environment and the rehab environment are bubbles that keep the real world essentially shut out so you can recover. Once you're out of the bubble, the real world comes at you fast (funny - that's what they tell people when they graduate from college). So I'm dealing with the double shock of being finished with college (eek!) and re-integrating into a society that, let's face it, is not always "wheelchair accessible," in more ways than one. It gets better every day, though, and I think the more quickly I can get back to feeling like my old self again, the easier it will be.
What's next? Learning to drive and getting into a better wheelchair that gives me more mobility, for starters. Then hopefully another rehab center to do some more advanced, higher-level therapy. The plans aren't made yet, so I'll be sure to keep everyone updated every step of the way.
Thanks so much to everyone who sent cards, letters, gifts, flowers, and other tokens of care and sympathy. Knowing how many people there are out there who care about me and want to see me succeed has meant so much to my recovery.
