Red Rover, Red Rover Send A Caregiver On Over…

The game Red Rover was a game I played during my childhood.  Often I, along with the neighborhood kids would get together and play this simple game around the summer holiday time. It did not require equipment.  The only objective was to call one individual to run over and attempt to break the barrier formed by the group of young individuals interlocking their hands.  If that individual did not break the barrier then that single individual joined the group forming the barrier. Each individual that broke the barrier kept having a turn until only one was left and declared the winner.  In our neighborhood we had to sometimes have more than one winner because there were a few boys that always seemed to break the barrier
.
As children I suppose we played this game simply for fun. There really wasn’t a concentrated purpose to increase our knowledge of team spirit.  Perhaps it did that without us realizing it.  Likely it wasn’t based solely on improving our individual strength.   Regardless of the actual premise for the game of Red Rover the goal seemed more about just having fun.  While we played this game for hours I never seemed concerned about time.  Those days of my childhood always seemed to be filled with fun.  I thoroughly loved my youthful years. Maybe it was simply because my whole neighborhood would gather during these holiday times like Memorial Day and we would eat, play, and embrace the festiveness of the time.  We just took time to enjoy being with each other.
 
Certainly, when I was a kid I never thought about the purpose of Red Rover.  If my name was called I ran with all my might to break the barrier of the other children.  Although I always tried to break the barrier more likely I didn’t and I would then become part of the barrier. I never felt defeated. I just took on the role that was determined upon my turn.

Three weeks ago, my husband, a 3 year, 2 strokes survivor was admitted to the hospital due to a grand mal seizure that rendered him unresponsive.  He had not experienced this kind of seizure activity before.  Well, he did in December but in a much milder fashion and we quickly went to the hospital.  At that time they seemed to conclude that he had a viral infection of unknown origin. He saw his Neurologist at the same time and he sent him through a course of test and blood work, which in turn started home therapy.  Somehow, my stroke survivor had aphasia begin after his hospital discharge in December.  While he improved with home speech therapy I still had discussion with the Neurologist of the possibility of stroke or TIA that didn’t show on Cat Scans.  We all seemed to agree that it appeared that he did but there was no solid finding. And, as I said earlier, seizure activity decided to jump on board. Thus today he is in a Skilled Care Rehabilitation Hospital to get back his strength, balance his blood pressure and continue his Physical, Occupational, and Speech Therapy while receiving medical attention.

Since it feels much like playing the game of Red Rover I, along with my stroke survivor am running toward the barriers.  The difference this time of playing the game is I, along with my husband, seem to be breaking the barriers.  Sure all that surrounds care giving for a stroke and seizure survivor is still prominent.  I, for a while, am getting a little break from continual care giving since my husband is in a facility.  Yet, I do still have to keep up on them at the facility.  I have learned there is no place like home.  And, no one cares about my stroke survivor as much as I do. This current medical event really adds to my already very aware care giving self of the deficiencies still in the system.  Hopefully this is a barrier I will continue to break.

So, as I hear the call of “Red Rover, Red Rover Send A CareGiver On Over” I reflect back to those days of my youth when it seemed to just be about fun.  My hope is that my stroke survivor excels and pushes past his current disabled boundaries breaking all barriers so that he can be declared the winner. And I through all this will be content with the idea that we are just having fun.