11-25-03
Dear Family and Friends,
This week, a meeting was held that included all of Tim’s therapists, his acute neural rehab doctor, the case manager, charge nurse, and my folks and I. We were updated on their perceptions of Tim’s progress. Dr. Kwasnica explained that she was giving Tim three different drugs (Provigil, Amantadine, and Straltera) that would hopefully help to increase Tim’s level of consciousness. She said that she was going to increase the amount of Straltera that Tim was receiving this week, and explained that he may be drowsy for a few days while his body adjusted. She described Tim as being “minimally conscious”. After the other therapists shared their perceptions, we talked about Tim’s immediate future plans.
I was told that I basically had two choices to consider. Select Specialty Hospital is a hospital, and Tim can’t stay there much longer because he isn’t “sick”. I could choose to have Tim taken down to Barrow’s Neurological Institute for acute rehab now and after he finished there, we could bring him home. The other choice was to place Tim in a skilled nursing facility to give him more time to progress, if possible, and then at a later date, take him to Barrow’s and then home. The gist of their questions boiled down to: “If Tim’s condition didn’t change from what he was today, what did I plan to do?” A couple of key things helped me in the decision that I eventually made. Dr. K explained that if I chose to have Tim at Barrow’s right now, the therapy would be more for me than it would be for Tim. They would be basically preparing me for taking care of him when he came home. Tim has not progressed enough to participate in his therapy – the therapists basically do therapy TO Tim. If we give Tim more time to heal up and hopefully make progress, he can return to Barrow’s later on when the therapy would benefit him more. Insurance companies only give you so many days for certain types of therapy and I don’t want Tim’s days used up if they aren’t really benefiting him. Also, in order to bring Tim home, I would need to make some changes to our house – I explained that I am leasing a home. It doesn’t belong to me so I cannot make changes. Plus, there isn’t room in the house we have for all of the equipment that would be necessary for Tim’s care. So, I need time to get a place and Tim needs more time to get better.
I am really thankful to God. He is so faithful. Again, when the time came to make a big decision, the wisdom that I needed was provided. This was a day that I had been dreading and dreading. As soon as they started talking about placing Tim in a SNF, I could feel the tears stinging my eyes. But, this move is temporary, not necessarily permanent. I thought that if Tim left the hospital he would lose out on his chance to go to Barrow’s, but that is not true. Also, the next day, Dad and Becky and I dropped into a place (Palm Valley Rehabilitation and Care) that is 5 minutes from where the kids and I live, and it was very, very nice. I had prayed and prayed all that night and morning that this place would be nice, available, and not smell. (I had visited a place before and it just stunk.) So, right now, we are checking with our insurance company to see if Tim can be moved to this facility. Tim’s attending physician has written the order for Tim’s discharge, so I anticipate a move as soon as it can be arranged.
The kids and I are excited to have Tim closer to home. Tim has been doing well. We have all noticed that he seems to be focusing his eyes on us again. We had asked at the meeting about bringing in some of his favorite foods (not to feed to him), but to let him smell. Dr. K said that it was pretty much a universal fact that the sense of smell was affected in people with brain injuries, but she suggested using flavored swabs to stimulate him. So, the next day, Maureen, the speech therapist came in and brought some ice cold lemon flavored swabs. She rubbed one on Tim’s lips. He kind of puckered. Eventually, she got one in his mouth and rubbed the inside of his cheeks and his tongue. She then asked him to open his mouth and he did. Twice! I have never seen him open his mouth on command so quickly or consistently. Kay, Tim’s mom, was here visiting this week with Tim’s grandma, Marie. They said that the speech therapist came in while they were there and tried another lemon swab and Tim actually sucked on it like it was a sucker. ( I have been telling them that food is the way to go with this guy!! )
This week is going to be a busy one for me – and I am sure for all of you, too. Unless something major happens, I probably won’t post another update until late next week. I would like to ask you to pray that Tim would be able to be placed at Palm Valley Rehabilitation and Care, though.
Happy Thanksgiving.
Love,
Carole and Kids