The doctors report

I know you all have been waiting patiently to hear about our meeting with dad's medical care team today. It was quite extensive and involved 8 different people working with dad from speech to occupational to physical therapy and also his nurses and doctor. It was an information-packed meeting. First and foremost before we share any of the feedback - let's give glory to God for allowing dad to survive this terrible illness. We are blessed to have this precious man still in our lives - according to his doctor with all dad's been thru - it is just amazing that he's here with us today (stroke, pulmonary embolism, gall bladder - now this weeks issues!) Dr. Parker said to us - this man has survived a major intracranial bleed - it has done a lot of damage to his brain - so don't expect us to get him back to the way he was. . . . hmmmm - he doesn't know our God does he????

As you have been reading the past few days on the blog, dad's had a difficult week. His care team reported seeing this in each of their areas as well. They all were concerned about the sudden cognitive decline they've been witnessing. This decline has really become a roadblock to his overall therapy - since he's experiencing confusion and the inability to keep focussed on specific instructions from his therapists, it has resulted in a definite decline of his progress. However, they did acknowledge his continued strength increasing on the left side, but without the cognitive ability to use it, they can not help him progress. As a precaution, the doctor ordered some tests, including a ct scan of his brain at the hospital, urinalysis and thyroid level check. The ct scan done at the hospital was clear, at first they thought they might have seen a little fluid, but it was nothing of any concern and they would re-scan him before discharge to be sure. The doctor really believes his thyroid condition has been overlooked and his medications were not strong enough - so they've increased them already. It may take a week or so for the impact of this med change, but dr. parker is leaning toward this for why he may be experiencing this decline.

Where do we go from here? Well, the case worker explained that with dad's insurance plan, he only has 2 more weeks left in acute rehab there. So unless they find some medical reason that would hospitalize him, he very well could be discharged by Christmas. Where will he go? That we can not answer today. We want more than anything in the world for him to come home - but in order to do that right now, it will require 2 adults to assist him in and out of his chair to bed (with mom's recent shoulder surgery she is not strong enough to be one of those adults). Prior to this decline cognitively, he was only requiring the assist of 1 adult. He is still not strong enough in his "trunk" to even sit up without assistance on both sides. (If this med change helps, it's possible to see the return to his previous level of assist - that would help.)

If he would get to come home, we would be able to have 3 days of in-home therapy and weekly nurse visits, and they would get us all the medical equipment for the home. The other alternative at discharge is a skilled nursing/rehab facility like the one in Martinsburg. However, it is very expensive and insurance only covers a few days there and afterward they want a pretty hefty co-pay. So what are we going to do? The first thing we did was gather around dad at the lunch table today and asked God to help him get better - to heal him. Next, we are going to watch him this week and see how things go and then meet on the weekend to determine the best, safest, most productive place for dad to go at discharge.

There's also the issue with the gall bladder that needs removed and although the doctor has his nausea under control right now, he is considering that surgery for dad shortly after or before his discharge. Dr. Parker asked dad tonight if he would like to go home for a few days at Christmas before his surgery and he said, "I want to go home forever."

I appeal to you all - near and far - we need your faith, we need your prayers and we need you to believe together with us that dad's miracle is not yet complete - that God not only saved his life, but he is preparing to give dad the healing he needs to beat this horrible illness. Together, we believe that we can help make dad's desire to "go home forever" come true.