Friday Doc Appt

The other day I had scheduled Kevin's follow-up CT scan and appt with Neurosurgeon's office for next week per hosp discharge instructions, but yesterday morning I called them back to ask about the staples in Kevin's head (he has a small gash that was tended to by someone in ER). They decided to have Kevin come in at 1pm. Steve met Kevin and I there, which was good because poor K had finally given in and taken a pain pill (he's trying to lenghten the time in between) and was really naseous cuz he hadn't eaten any food. We had to get a wheelchair and puke bag for him to make the trip to the office. We saw one of Dr. V's physician assts (PA) who removed the staples and talked to K about how he was feeling and what to expect. Talked to him about pros and cons of using narcotics for pain mgmt - they mess with you, from constipation to nausea to being a little off balance. Asked him about his headaches and the intensity of them. Reminded us to keep watching for any sudden changes - come straight to ER for CT scan. Alex, the PA, also told Kevin that some people recover from this type of injury very quickly and others very slowly - each case is variable. He thinks that overall Kevin is doing well and decided to take him off of the seizure medicine. He wants to keep next Fri's appt and have Kevin do the CT scan day before.

Meanwhile, it's been the worst trying to sort out his out-patient rehab. I guess I'm fortunate that I'm not well versed in the post-accient red-tape nightmare, but you can waste days before finding out that you need a prescription from a doctor before they can start K's rehab. The hosp did all these evals, a doc from rehab checked him out and wrote a report the last day - I thought the rehab center would know all about him. And - I have tried to call them for the last 2 days, left messages, etc with no call back. It took Steve driving over there and walking in to find out we need a script from a doc. Now when I call the doc's office Friday afternoon, she doesn't have an opening until June 1. What! I will be working on this Monday as well, I thought he would begin this out-patient therapy a little sooner than middle of June.

The rest of his day was just okay - had a visitor for a while - watched a low-key movie. He's so frustrated because he just can't do much, is still hurting a lot, head hurts most of the time, needs to sleep - can't even sleep on his side, head won't let him, so tired of being on his back. Is bored out of his mind but any stimulation (reading, tv, music, visitors) hurts his head pretty soon. He talks about his job so often - he was really loving it and wants so badly just to get back to it and he's not sure when he'll be able to. He really cares about the restaurant and the owners and feels he's part of their team and is letting them down, wanted to go visit Pi yesterday but then knew he wasn't up to it. It's hard to see your child knocked backwards when his life was moving in such a positive direction, but we'll just do all we can to help him make a full and speedy recovery.