Yo yo
Hi Friends,
Well, a day full of the unexpected, and reinforced by great friends who are always there for me, thank goodness. Suzi picked me up today, and Monica arrived to come along as well, and we headed to our 3 appointments to check out some skilled nursing facilities. Let's say that after seeing these facilities today, the first one I looked at last week pales in comparison. It wasn't a horrible place, but I can picture mom at these others a lot better. There was one standout which seemed to be the most ideal in terms of a closer location and a nice, clean, bustling environment which would hopefully help keep mom more busy. There was another that was the same except the location is much farther away and would be more difficult for me to get to. The third was good, but the patient population was mostly more elderly people as opposed to some younger people at the other ones, and there wasn't as much activity and hustle-bustle as the others, which I think is important to keep mom more occupied and less stagnant. There was something which stood out a little bit which I'll share...those of you who know me know that I'm not a super religious person, but if I were someone who believed in signs, I'd be convinced that one particular place had been "chosen" for mom. At my first choice of facility, the following "signs" presented themselves: the picture above on the blog of the water lilies was on a sign in the waiting room; there was a signed headshot of Kevin Spacey, the actor, which mom is very enamored with, in the elevator thanking the facility for helping his friend; one of the rooms we saw as an example had a resident in it who was very into horse racing (several members of our family are very into that, and in fact my aunt and uncle own harness racehorses); we ran into the physiatrist who was the one who evaluated mom at Illinois Masonic and who was instrumental in getting her into RIC. He endorsed the facility, and does work out of there on a regular basis. Very weird, and is probably all coincidental, but one can't help but notice these things.
While we were out visiting places, I got a phone call from mom's neurosurgeon's office letting me know they wanted to reschedule mom's surgery for Dec. 7 instead of Dec. 10 because the surgeon has another case scheduled for that day at the same hospital. For once, I didn't freak out about it...I figure that it's only 3 days before the original date, which is really nothing, and one less weekend for mom to be at the skilled nursing facility (SNF) with the helmet and increased fall risk.
When Monica and I got to RIC, I sought out Dinh, the care manager, to notify him of my visits and impressions, and the new date of surgery. He had assumed I knew already, but I didn't...apparently, mom's care team had met and discussed an extension of mom's stay at RIC until her date of surgery (originally Dec. 10 as mentioned above as far as they knew) and decided it was a good idea if possible with her insurance so as not to have her go to a SNF and then have to leave for the surgery and go back to settle in all over again...that was news to me! Needless to say, I was quite irritated at not having been notified or consulted...of course it is okay with me, and probably best as long as her insurance company approves this (that way her intensive therapy will be extended a week, and I know she'll be safe), but I would have liked to have been kept in the loop about this decision! Dinh was off for a long weekend over Thanksgiving, so I don't know if notifying me just slipped through the cracks because of that, or what. I feel like we are on a yo-yo...things keep changing, and I am trying to go with the flow, but it's so hard to plan ahead when dates keep being pushed back (especially without me knowing) and all. I keep gearing up for stuff, "girding up my loins" as mom would say, and then it gets changed and my anxiety is extended. Ugh.
Mom did much better at dinner tonight, and didn't seem to be feeling bad...just a little more tired the last few days than she has been...perhaps her body is trying to fight off a cold or something, and she is requiring more rest. We'll keep an eye on it. We sat at the same table as one of the other patients and her mom...she is 18 years old, and was in a car accident 2 years ago...she just got to RIC about a week ago, and does not speak or walk. Her mom and I were talking a lot over dinner, and I am amazed at her faith and hope...2 years is usually way past the time when most experts say there will be recovery progress made following a traumatic brain injury, and yet she is doing more and more all the time, enough for RIC to accept her into the brain injury program...according to her mom, she was in a coma for several months without being responsive at all, and now she can swallow food, open her eyes and look around, occasionally smile, and sit up in her wheelchair. She believes with her whole heart that her daughter will continue to make progress and get better, and why shouldn't she? She has come so far, and continues to do more...it was nice to talk to her, and she gave me more strength to keep the faith on my own end.
Okay, really must get to bed now. Please, keep the love and support coming...in this period of ambiguity and everything being up in the air, I need it to keep me sane. Thanks so much to everyone. Peace.
Well, a day full of the unexpected, and reinforced by great friends who are always there for me, thank goodness. Suzi picked me up today, and Monica arrived to come along as well, and we headed to our 3 appointments to check out some skilled nursing facilities. Let's say that after seeing these facilities today, the first one I looked at last week pales in comparison. It wasn't a horrible place, but I can picture mom at these others a lot better. There was one standout which seemed to be the most ideal in terms of a closer location and a nice, clean, bustling environment which would hopefully help keep mom more busy. There was another that was the same except the location is much farther away and would be more difficult for me to get to. The third was good, but the patient population was mostly more elderly people as opposed to some younger people at the other ones, and there wasn't as much activity and hustle-bustle as the others, which I think is important to keep mom more occupied and less stagnant. There was something which stood out a little bit which I'll share...those of you who know me know that I'm not a super religious person, but if I were someone who believed in signs, I'd be convinced that one particular place had been "chosen" for mom. At my first choice of facility, the following "signs" presented themselves: the picture above on the blog of the water lilies was on a sign in the waiting room; there was a signed headshot of Kevin Spacey, the actor, which mom is very enamored with, in the elevator thanking the facility for helping his friend; one of the rooms we saw as an example had a resident in it who was very into horse racing (several members of our family are very into that, and in fact my aunt and uncle own harness racehorses); we ran into the physiatrist who was the one who evaluated mom at Illinois Masonic and who was instrumental in getting her into RIC. He endorsed the facility, and does work out of there on a regular basis. Very weird, and is probably all coincidental, but one can't help but notice these things.
While we were out visiting places, I got a phone call from mom's neurosurgeon's office letting me know they wanted to reschedule mom's surgery for Dec. 7 instead of Dec. 10 because the surgeon has another case scheduled for that day at the same hospital. For once, I didn't freak out about it...I figure that it's only 3 days before the original date, which is really nothing, and one less weekend for mom to be at the skilled nursing facility (SNF) with the helmet and increased fall risk.
When Monica and I got to RIC, I sought out Dinh, the care manager, to notify him of my visits and impressions, and the new date of surgery. He had assumed I knew already, but I didn't...apparently, mom's care team had met and discussed an extension of mom's stay at RIC until her date of surgery (originally Dec. 10 as mentioned above as far as they knew) and decided it was a good idea if possible with her insurance so as not to have her go to a SNF and then have to leave for the surgery and go back to settle in all over again...that was news to me! Needless to say, I was quite irritated at not having been notified or consulted...of course it is okay with me, and probably best as long as her insurance company approves this (that way her intensive therapy will be extended a week, and I know she'll be safe), but I would have liked to have been kept in the loop about this decision! Dinh was off for a long weekend over Thanksgiving, so I don't know if notifying me just slipped through the cracks because of that, or what. I feel like we are on a yo-yo...things keep changing, and I am trying to go with the flow, but it's so hard to plan ahead when dates keep being pushed back (especially without me knowing) and all. I keep gearing up for stuff, "girding up my loins" as mom would say, and then it gets changed and my anxiety is extended. Ugh.
Mom did much better at dinner tonight, and didn't seem to be feeling bad...just a little more tired the last few days than she has been...perhaps her body is trying to fight off a cold or something, and she is requiring more rest. We'll keep an eye on it. We sat at the same table as one of the other patients and her mom...she is 18 years old, and was in a car accident 2 years ago...she just got to RIC about a week ago, and does not speak or walk. Her mom and I were talking a lot over dinner, and I am amazed at her faith and hope...2 years is usually way past the time when most experts say there will be recovery progress made following a traumatic brain injury, and yet she is doing more and more all the time, enough for RIC to accept her into the brain injury program...according to her mom, she was in a coma for several months without being responsive at all, and now she can swallow food, open her eyes and look around, occasionally smile, and sit up in her wheelchair. She believes with her whole heart that her daughter will continue to make progress and get better, and why shouldn't she? She has come so far, and continues to do more...it was nice to talk to her, and she gave me more strength to keep the faith on my own end.
Okay, really must get to bed now. Please, keep the love and support coming...in this period of ambiguity and everything being up in the air, I need it to keep me sane. Thanks so much to everyone. Peace.
Comments
see you on the 5th....Namaste......
XOXOXO