Camping Trip

We recently took a family camping and fishing trip to Lake Powell. This is not unusual for us, as one of the only ways my husband, John, finds some peace is by fishing. However, we typically camp in our little apartment on wheels, our camper, which is not true camping – has A/C, heat, a kitchen, a bathroom, and a bed. We took our boat and camping supplies. We were roughing it, staying in a tent on the San Juan arm, 2+ hours away from the Bullfrog Marina. We boated in all our supplies, food and gas. John went solo the first two days and our daughter and I joined him later. It was a solid week of camping for John.

Upon my arrival, I soon realized that John had not been able to get a nap because of the extreme heat. His daily naps are critical for him. They help combat the fatigue. The meds he is on were keeping him going and his mood was pretty good but he was tired. When we arrived to camp, the tent was already up but we needed to setup my cot and Eva’s. It was getting late and John insisted on cooking and setting up the cots by himself. When he finally let me help with cooking, he started trying to micromanage. I quickly told him that I had it under control. This reaction is part of his TBI.

When John gets very tired and symptomatic he gets to where he has a hard time asking for help. He gets very determined to do it all on his own. I have to step aside, not say a word, and let him do it or fail. It’s difficult to watch. It’s like watching a car wreck happen and not being able to do anything. While this sounds crazy, it’s what works for us. There are times I have to realize that he needs to do something alone, even though he’s already symptomatic and I know he needs help. It sucks. It’s frustrating.

By the time we were a couple of nights in, he was having a hard time with word recall, his left eye was starting to droop and he was more irritable. We ended up heading back to the marina a day sooner than we’d thought. In his typical way, he tried to push through, which never works. When we got home, it took him a good week of lots of rest and quiet before he was able to function again.

Lessons learned?

• John cannot go tent camping.
• Part of the problem was in the planning. I had let John plan and pack everything and he willingly did this. I should have helped more and done more – made lists and double checked things.
• We realized early on that we were not well prepared for the trip. We’d brought enough food but just barely. We’d brought ice but didn’t realize how quickly we would go through it. We didn’t realize that John wouldn’t be able to get his daily nap. We didn’t account for just how hot it would be.
• We should have gone home sooner than we did.