Truly, the halls of Kindred were alive today with the sound of music. Our dear friends Colleen and William from Buena Vista had arranged for a friend of their's Camilla who is a professional cellist to come in and do a personal concert for Seth. The music was breathtaking. Seth was sitting on the side of his bed and we just held each other taking in each note like an eddy in a continuous rapid, like rainbows on a stormy sky, like being in a log cabin with a ferocious storm outside. It was like an escape from this place to absolute beauty. I can't thank you enough Colleen and William for setting this up and to Camilla for playing for us. It was an experience we will forever cherish in our hearts.
Back in reality, the news is not good. Our social worker came in to tell us that Dr. Cilo talked to the insurance company and they agreed that Seth should wait until he is weight bearing for acute rehab. We have a meeting with Dr. Cilo tomorrow to get the exact details so I will reserve judgement on if I think he is advocating for us or not until I meet with him personally to hear what he has to say. That being said, Seth and I prepared a list of talking points as to why we think he should be transferred to Craig and I will be sharing that with Dr. Cilo tomorrow in the hopes that I can convince him to advocate on our behalf and not let the insurance company determine Seth's fate.
Seth continues to get better. I am now constantly going over details on decisions I'm making back on the home front and making sure he agrees with what I'm doing. He comes up with such thoughtful suggestions just like he always has. Plus he says he really likes the mental engagement. He told me he feels like he is "drifting" where we are now and wants to do more things both physically and mentally. He wrote his first email today. It took him some time because that left hand isn't cooperating but he got it out! He definitely needs some work to get back to how he used to type! Seth is reading constantly as well as doing excercises with his hands and legs as his therapists have shown him. In fact, he is sleeping with his excercise bar tonight so that when Dr. Cilo walks in tomorrow, he'll quickly sit up (if he's not already up) and start doing chest ups with the bar!
I know you will all be interested in the outcome of this meeting. I do hope it goes in our favor and that Dr. Cilo will call back the insurance company to say that Seth should indeed move. If not, I will follow through with my appeal plan as per my previous post and let you know who you can write or email in order to help appeal on Seth's behalf.
Right now, I have to take this hour by hour. And one day at a time. If I think about going home (which is like the top of Everest (29,000 feet) and we're only at 5,000 feet), I can barely breathe. So I don't let my mind go there too much. When I start thinking of home, I'll instead think of where the music took me today or where the wildflowers bloom like this picture of us in Alaska Basin last year.