My Nighttime Routine, or Why Girls’ Night Out is Mostly a Thing of the Past for Me

A few times since my accident, there's been an opportunity for me to go do something later in the evening. Early on, there was a wedding I would have loved to attend that started at 7 and was all the way across Houston. A few times, there have been invitations to hang out with friends till 9 or 10 PM. I’ve  come to realize (and begrudgingly accept) that, barring an emergency, I really need to be home no later than 9, preferably 8. And yes, it makes me feel like an old lady.

I’ve told you before about having to do a bowel program every day night, so with that in mind, let me walk you through my evenings.

On a perfect night:

7:00 – Get the boys going cleaning up their room
7:30 – Cleanup done. Ty takes the boys for tooth brushing, etc. I go set up for the bowel program
7:45 – Read with the boys, pray, tuck them in
8:10 – Get in my bed so Ty can help me stretch my legs (and doesn't have to wait till after the bowel program to do it)
8:20 – Back out of bed; Head to the bathroom
8:21 – Transfer to shower chair, start bowel program
(Bowel program starts with a suppository, wait 15 minutes, stim, wait 15 minutes, stim again, repeat as necessary)
8:25 - end of bowel program (between stims) –

• Change my catheter bag to the larger overnight bag
• Floss teeth
• Remove makeup
• Change into pajama shirt
• Binge watch Netflix or Amazon Prime

(On a perfect day, only 2 stims, so…)
8:55 – Clean up
9:05 – Get back in wheelchair
9:06 – 9:45 -

• Continue binge watching 
• Use face toner
• Take nighttime meds
• Clean out daytime catheter bag and let soak with vinegar
• Brush teeth
• Mouthwash
• Clean off bowel program tools
• Drain daytime bag
• Store daytime bag and replace bowel program tools
• Take out hair clips
• Plug in iPad
• Gather supplies needed for the morning

9:45 – Get back in bed and set up all the things I need for morning on my chair next to my bed
9:55 – Get pajama pants on
10:00 – 11:00 - hang out and talk with Ty a little while I simultaneously...

• Change the dressing around my supra public catheter insertion site
• Lotion arms, hands, and feet
• Take melatonin
• Get set up in my sleeping position
• Read
• Go to sleep

Let me just tell you how many perfect nights we have.

Let dinner get on the table late, or the kids’ cleanup to take more time, or me need a third stim, and the night gets later in a hurry. I simultaneously love the bowel program for helping me keep a handle on my bowel movements and hate it for the chunk of time it takes out of every day. There are many nights I don't get to sleep till after midnight, and then have to wake up around 7 AM, 6 AM during the school year. So farewell, girls' night out! I miss you already!