Seth-n-Jode's Adventures

We had a really nice weekend.  I suppose my favorite part was visiting the Botanical Gardens.    I've now decided that we have to redo all of our landscaping to have reflecting pools and lillies, japanese gardens, and streams.  We'll have to build this big bubbly greenhouse too where I can grow tropical plants and veggies all year round.  Seth doesn't know this yet.  Shhhh... Don't tell him!

Seriously though.  It was so peaceful there.  It rained all day on Saturday and we visited the gardens on Sunday with my high school friend, Ingrid.  The landscape was freshly washed and all the plants were singing.  It was music to my ears.

Much different from our experience on Saturday at the Denver Science and Natural History museum.  It rained all day.  We went there about 1:30 and it was a complete zoo.  Not a parking spot to be had within miles, kids running around, people everywhere.  I guess we should have known better.  Although we did watch the Earnest Shackleton movie on the IMAX theater there and it was just as impressive in film as in his book.  Shackleton tried to make the first crossing of the Antartic by dogsleg back in the early 1900's.  Unfortunately his ship was caught in the pack ice and was eventually crushed.  His sole goal became to get all of his men back alive.  They endured incredible cold, malnutrition, and suffering.  But ultimately, Shackleton was able to rescue every single one of his men after nearly two years from when the journey started out.  This story gave me shivers as I was watching it because it was one of the stories I've thought about often during this past couple of months.  In my opinion, Shackleton and Doug Mawson are two of the most courageous explorers that ever lived.  I thought often on these men and how they took each step hour by hour and day by day to get through their respective ordeals.  Their courage gave me courage to take each minute and hour and day as it came.  Although I'm not half as brave as they were, they provided a guiding light for me to follow.

Well you won't believe this (or you probably will I suppose!) but we are fighting to stay in the hospital now.  Our insurance wouldn't let us into acute rehab until Aug 4th and then decided they should kick us out a week later. Of course, Craig is doing all the appeals and all that.  I don't want to go on a soapbox here so you can skip this part if you want.  But here's the deal in my humble opinion based on real life experience.  Having insurance doesn't mean that you get the care you need or even the care that your doctor thinks you need.  Its as simple as that.  I would characterize insurance as simply friction within our system, a non value added step that is incredibly wasteful.  Obviously, there needs to be a way that doctors and hospitals get paid for their work but this system, as it stands now, is broken.  I've seen it first hand.  It doesn't work.  Maybe I'll get motivated to start advocating for a better system in some manner but right now I'm just too tired.  I guess I'm still looking for that eddy in which to rest!

We had Seth's Care Conference today.  Basically Dr. Ripley says Seth is a miracle considering the injuries he sustained and how well he is recovering.  He wants us to consider doing outpatient rehab at Craig if they can't get the insurance thing worked out.  But I don't think we are inclined to go that route.  We figure home is the best remedy even if it comes sooner than the end of this month.  Seth did move over to the East Wing of Craig Hospital so he is now in room 221.

At the end of the day, all of this uncertainty takes a huge toll on my psyche.  But Seth and I have a saying that we keep saying, a mantra.  I keep saying it over and over and over....."We'll be OK as long as we have each other and snacks......and a kitty cat!"  And you know what, its absolutely true.  So no matter what happens, we are going to be OK.  And thats the deal.