Better News!!!

Marie is home (to Quality Living, Inc.) from the hospital!  She is in much better spirits now that they have given her pain medications.  They let her get lots of rest this morning, but were going to do as much with her as her back would allow this afternoon.  It is still sore, of course.  She is feeling a bit more shaky today since she is on muscle relaxants and hasn’t walked much for a day or so, but she did walk….and she is eating really well.  This is good news, as she has lost so much weight.

AND we have found out that the bad news we had yesterday, may not be as bad as we first thought. What sent us into a “tizzy” was that the psychologist who had tested Marie told us that she was in the one percentile in two out of the three tests she had administered for cognitive skills. And in the same breath, told us she couldn’t go home by herself and both of us interpreted that to mean…forever!!  Well…we just couldn’t believe it!!! While she was in the hospital, the doctor who was assigned to her, was also skeptical, and had an appointment with the Quality Living psychologist. Then the doctor met with some “experts” on the staff of the hospital, and after interviewing Marie they concurred that she indeed has some cognitive impairments,  and needs to work on that part of the brain, but they felt  the tests really weren’t valid, considering Marie was in so pain due to her ruptured discs….who could concentrate when they hurt that bad????

The other thing the psychologist reported to us was that people are almost never the same after a head injury and perhaps they won’t be the least bit interested in what they did before!  She was skeptical that Marie can go back to teaching, as her injury has affected the front lobe and that is the planning ahead, carrying through etc. area. 

Then when she mentioned she won’t be able to live alone…we were a basket case.

WELL…..the doctor at the hospital agrees that cognitive impairment can be a problem.  But the bottom line is IT IS TOO EARLY TO TELL….and I think we have understood that all along. AND we have understood all along that Marie will need assistance when she leaves Quality Living, but the way it was presented to us, we thought Marie would never get to the stage of being self-sufficient.

We have certainly had our ups and downs through all of this;  we think the psychologist meant well and just wanted to be honest with us…but perhaps she “over did” her assessment a bit.  Or maybe we over-reacted…… she gave us a lot of information all at once.

I am so sorry if I distressed you…..but we were upset too.  We are back to our original feeling, that she is progressing just beautifully and we have high hopes that she will have a good recovery….but if we have to make adjustments….we can do that too.  Several of you have shared inspirational stories of people you have known who have almost returned to normal, so, knowing Marie, and her determination, we are hopeful once again.

I’ve mentioned before how much your support and prayers mean to us….
Dick and Jeanne