Moving on up...

The last few days have been positive for Allen's improvement and for my heart. Allen is getting stronger and I can understand his talking so much better. He even talked to the girls on the phone. But... he is still sometimes talking 'nonsense' stuff they call 'confabulation'. I was reading a great book called 'Eureka' about someone's experience as a caretaker/friend after a similar aneurysm. She described confabulation as when he wants to converse but loses direction and just talks and the words don't make sense to us. But Sunday we watched 'Saving Private Ryan', a 3-hr movie and though he can't see the tv well, he was pretty much following along with what he thought was going on by the sound. I was impressed. He was reading the Rook cards, 1-14, cards out of order and no mistakes except where I accidentally flipped the six and he said nine... my fault!

Allen was moved out of ICU on Friday. Hallelujah! The S.Tx Rehab nurse, Lisa, visited Allen three times to assess and approve him and still by today (Monday) no approval to pay for this rehab facility by the insurance company. They still wanted to send him to a skilled nursing facility (Retama Nursing Home) GRRRRRR! We were praying.


But this morning... I called to try to just ask the insurance company to get the paperwork going and all I heard was "HIPAA, HIPAA, HIPPA" (whiny voice) I was nice to the ... person... but even though I've been making 'life or death decisions' for my husband for the last two months, that didn't matter, she would not talk to me about Allen's healthcare. I needed to get him to sign or they'd have to talk to him!!! Come on! He's recovering from a brain aneurysm. Well, I lost it... I yelled at her and hung up..... OOOPS! Yes, she was being jerky because I had previously talked to two different people about his care and they weren't fussing... "HIPAA, HIPAA, HIPAA". But to me it was just a way to not have me pressure them to get the ball rolling for his rehab care. So... I cried a while and asked the Lord to intervene and he did.

When I went to see Allen today and stepped into the caseworker's office she was on the phone with the powers-that-be at the insurance (still no assurance)... then she got the therapist on the line with the insurance I heard him saying such positive things about Allen's recovery and expectations for him in neuro rehab. I was holding my breath for a while as Allen was with the therapists and doing a swallowing study.

I got to go to therapy with him and he was sitting on his own on a raised mat (like a bed) and when they 'pushed' him over to each side he could right himself. Plus he was 'firing' all the muscles to get to standing up, though not at the point of standing. Not there yet, but he's trying hard. The swallowing study was positive, but he's not ready for liquids yet. They will begin working on pureed foods with him as he is trained to swallow properly again.

Well... a little bit after the insurance was to discuss their decision with the doctor, we got a call...
YEA! Approval. God intervened on our behalf! In an hour or so the ambulance transported Allen to Brownsville. Thank you, Lord Jesus!

It was a hard day for Allen... all the therapy, the swallow study, sitting up for hours, an ambulance ride.. then the assessments in Brownsville. He was totally frustrated and exhausted. I know this next few weeks will be hard on him because they will be pushing him and tiring him out. But... in the long run, we hope and pray that will allow him to come home and be functional as he continues to heal. We still ask God for a COMPLETE miracle. Keep praying with us as we KEEP OUR EYES OPEN to see what the Lord will do.