My Week With Dave: Part Three the last

David's condition improved over the weekend. He was even able to go to the grocery store with me and the next day try to drive. His neck was still a little stiff while turning but he was confident about his ability to drive himself to his appointment. It was better for him to go by himself anyway because if the doctor gave him clearance to return to work he would go straight from there.

His appointment was at 9 AM and at about noon I sent him a text asking him to call or text me with any news. Time ticked on and I started to get worried. What if he had been in an accident because he wasn't healed and couldn't react quickly to avoid driving off a bridge into the lake? I wondered if the doctor had sent him somewhere else for x-rays or if he was still waiting to be seen. Finally at 2 PM I called him. He was at work.

I swallowed my anger at him not calling to at least give me a, "Hey, I am alive. The doctor said I can go back to work. I'll see you when I get home and tell you all about it." That's all I wanted. I didn't need a long story. I wouldn't have asked five million questions.

The doctor prescribed over the counter pain relievers and told him to be diligent about doing back exercises. David has been dealing with chronic back pain for years so all he can do is try to strengthen his back to prevent further injury. No matter what he does he will always be at risk for injuring himself again. Then we manage the pain the best we can. David's injuries aren't because he doesn't use proper lifting techniques in his warehouse or shouldn't be lifting anything at all. He has a bad back just like some people have bad knees or bad eyesight. To suggest anything else is absurd.

Life has returned to normal at our house. David is relieved to be mobile and back at work. I'm relieved that he's relieved. He's back to his old self which means not calling me to relay important information and assuming I don't need the car so it's okay to take it into the shop for brake work with no clear time frame when it will be returned, leaving me with no way to get myself to the one hair appointment I have scheduled in six months. The hair appointment I scheduled four feet away from him within hearing distance and then wrote on the calendar for the whole world to see: HAIR APPT 10 AM W/FAITH. The whole entire point of my learning to drive was so David wouldn't have to be my taxi. Well, guess who gets to go to work for two hours tomorrow, come home, pick me up, drop me off at my appointment, go back to work and then drive me home when I am finished? And I was really looking forward to being a big girl and driving myself to the salon. Never thought I'd see the day when I didn't want to be driven around by someone else.