We're getting close to being able to come home and everyone keeps asking Fred the seemingly rhetorical question, "Are you getting excited to go home?" Pretty soon he might start responding to that one with a lot of BS until you realize he is just making a joke. We're getting ready to head back home in a few days, but we'll be back up here in three weeks for another check up and hopefully get Fred cleared to drive.
We took Kalyn to a friend of a friends that is a nanny today, and she was very happy to get to play with other kids for the day. I was happy for the time by myself to focus on work, meeting with Fred's therapists and getting dinner figured out.
The meeting with the occupational therapist and social worker went really well today. There will be another meeting tomorrow with the doctor and a family meeting on Friday morning, but we started to go over the plan for going home and having a non-structured life, as they put it. Fred and I are both itching to get back to whatever a non-structured life means. I know there will be failures, frustrations and road-blocks, but we will be home and will work through them. Things like cooking in your own kitchen, working while Kalyn is in daycare and sleeping in your own bed go a long way towards making things easier in day to day life.
They told me a scary statistic today. 87% of patients with a Glasgow Coma Score (GCS) of 8 or lower take two years to get back to work. Fred was rated at a 7 after the accident happened. Everyone here is in awe of how quickly and how well he is recovering. They are attributing it to his positive attitude, good genes and good family support. Ok, maybe they didn't say family support, but he has told me how much getting himself better so he can come home to Kalyn and me has been a motivation. To show you how well Fred is doing, we're looking at him being able to come back to work in August. Less than four months is a lot better than two years! It's amazing how people can get frustrated with work, but at the same time, when it is taken away, you realize how much it defines you. Fred really wants to get home and get back to work, but we're going to take the doctors and therapists recommendations and have a slow integration back into life in Durango. It's hard to argue with someone who is sitting across the table from you with 25 years of experience with brain injuries.
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Family support is sooooo important! I would have written it in there as well. You are blessed, my friend. You and Kalyn both. I love how she explained that her dad had a bunch of owies (from your earlier post). I'm so proud of how far all of you have come. And I'm so happy that you have been supported by your loved ones there, in Denver and all over. I put your name and Fred's name into the fire the first night, asking for everyone to do the good SBMS work to send energy for Fred's recovery.
ReplyDeleteI love you and wish I lived closer. Laura
Have a great rest of the week and a good trip home. Glad you are not going to do it all at once.
ReplyDeleteYou have been amazing through all of this, and everyone realizes it.
Love to you all,
Christl and Val