About a month ago I asked Jeff if we could knock out a home improvement project over the Christmas break. Nothing so ambitious that it would prevent us from visiting family, just a small project that could feasibly be done in a day or two. The options included painting the guest room or installing hardwood floor in our bedroom. The wall-to-wall carpeting in the bedroom was the more desperate situation of the two potential projects so we removed it and the subflooring a few days before Christmas and installed prefinished hardwood the day after. I am no stranger to the flooring nailer. I learned how to install hardwood flooring at Kerry and Theresa’s house during Jeff’s first year of recovery. He provided the know-how and some of the muscle. Theresa, Kerry and I tried to minimize the number of times Jeff had to get up and down which was still exhausting for him at that point.
For our project, I fully expected to
bang boards in place and whack the nailing gun.
Jeff started without me, addressing the tricky closet door opening and
getting a few rows down. When I showed
up on the job, I did the cutting and some of the puzzle-piece board selection
but I began to develop a horrible headache despite wearing hearing
protection. I took Alleve and went back
to work. The many trips to the chop saw
in the garage provided some relief. The
chop saw seemed quieter but I wonder now whether it was because I was in
control of it and knew when to expect the noise.
Around lunchtime I could see Jeff
was fading. I suggested that we leave
the rest for another day.
“No,” Jeff said.
“Let’s eat and see how we feel then,”
I said.
Jeff was quiet as we ate. As soon as he finished his usual workman’s lunch
- peanut butter and jelly sandwich and an orange - he returned to the project. As
each row of boards was installed, Jeff’s pace slowed. I tried harder to anticipate which tool he
would need, which boards would fit, what cuts needed to be made. It was painful to watch him get up from
kneeling – he was in agony. Still, he
would not stop until all ten cartons of flooring were down! “We” got the job finished before dinnertime -
except for some special fitting in the last row and replacing the baseboard. The poor guy is so sore he winces every time
he sits in - or gets up from - a chair.
Then Jeff spent the next two days at
church to prepare for installation of a new heater. I believe he will be having a nap day
tomorrow.
A lingering sinus infection has been
annoying Jeff and may be affecting his stamina.
On the other hand, his blood counts were excellent last week. Dr. Porter did not taper the
immunosuppressant but he did extend the next visit and blood work to three
months instead of two. That’s
simultaneously exciting and nerve-wracking.
