Seth-n-Jode's Adventures

I've come to realize that things are not always as they seem.  There are mirrors and reflections, perspective and attitudes that sway in the winds of time, changing, forever changing. One second my husband was as large as life.  The next second, I thought he was dead.  The next second, they told me he might not recover from his head injury.  The next second, he is talking normally.  Today, he soothed my worries and told me that I needed to let us ride this river, paddling where we could but knowing that we can't always affect the way in which we reach the ultimate outcome of his full recovery.  And in the end, its going to be ok. And to be at peace with that.

We had a very good meeting with Dr. Cilo (who has been a neurologist and rehab doctor for 30 years).  He sat down with us for nearly an hour.  He presented his side of what had happened.  That he had made the referral for Seth to go to Craig but that it was dependent on his weight bearing status.  And that ultimately, and unfortunately, very late in the game, the medical director for Blue Cross (our insurance) had gotten this for approval and because Seth is not yet weight bearing had denied the transfer.  He apologized for having a part in this confusion.  We presented a list of talking points of why we felt Seth should be transferred to Craig. However he remained steadfast in his opinion that Seth would not totally benefit from acute rehab at this point until he is weight bearing.  He also said that his decision in no way would medically hurt Seth's recovery.  He really seemed sincere.  He also said that the medical director for Blue Cross had told him she was going to approve Seth for Craig Rehab once he does become weight bearing (about 3 or so weeks for his right leg).  And Craig has said they will accept him.  So this is all good news just with a different timing than we were hoping.

The worry now is that Blue Cross may try to transfer Seth to a skilled nursing facility (essentially a nursing home but what they refer to as subacute rehab) rather than keeping him at Kindred while his bones knit to become weight bearing since Seth is no longer considered an acute care case.  This would, in my opinion, be primarily an economic decision from the insurance company's perspective since these facilities are cheaper than Kindred.  My understanding is that these facilities don't do as much rehab as Kindred offers which would be very troubling since Seth and I both want him to continue his therapies to move forward in his healing until they let him into Craig. If that were to come to pass, we'd tour any facility to make sure it is adequate and provided adequate rehab programs before I would let Seth be transferred there.  But Dr. Cilo did say he had put in a call to this medical director at Blue Cross to advocate that he stay at Kindred until he is transferred to Craig.  He said he would let us know as soon as she calls back. He said she is a rehab doctor herself and he said she also seemed very sincere in wanting what was best for Seth from a total rehab perspective.  I don't know.  I'll again reserve judgement on this until I personally talk to her if I have to advocate to keep him at Kindred or maybe even try to move up the transfer date a little to Craig.

In any event, Seth wants me to take a deep breath and meet each day one at a time.  To advocate where we think it will make a difference and to not kill myself with worry for certain things that I do not control.  The great thing is that each day I go to the hospital and we just talk and talk and talk about all that is coming up in each of our lives at this point.  I could talk to him forever.  Since I didn't sleep too well last night, I crawled into his hospital bed and spooned him while we took a little nap.  It felt good to just lay next to him and hear his heart beating slowly and surely like it always does.

Today's picture is Seth jumping into a reflecting pool somewhere in the Grand Canyon.  And that he will plunge into the water, the ripples will mar the reflection for a period of time and that the reflecting pool with once again reflect its surroundings as it has done for hundreds of thousands of years.