Home Again!

Well, after almost 5 months, Judi is back at home!!!!

I know that both of us are tired of staring at hospital walls and dealing with the routines inherent to those types of facilities. Although Judi was doing very well in rehab, she had reached the point where it was no longer necessary to be in the hospital environment while receiving therapy.

She will continue to receive therapy in our home until she is strong enough to participate in an outpatient rehab program. We still have a long way to go, but she continues to make steady progress and we want her to keep that momentum. We will continue to focus on the same core areas since they open so many other doors for her. Hopefully I can get her to eat more with some home cooking and finally transition from the feeding tube.

The biggest thing we hope to achieve with bringing her home is to allow her time to heal mentally in a familiar environment. She had a difficult time yesterday as we went around the house. She was constantly rubbing her head and very agitated. I suspect that it was just a huge rush of electrical energy in her brain as everything came rushing in. I did remove all the things that would make her think of motorcycles before she came home. I really want to be able to talk with her and understand how she feels before she gets exposed to those things. We'll continue to take it slow and easy and give her plenty of time to heal. I continue to remind people that Judi's last brain surgery (bone flap ) was just a month ago and she has made huge progress since then. Once she begins to talk, I suspect we can make a lot of additional progress. She has already shown the ability to "learn" things that she is exposed to. I continue to have faith that she will recover fully in this area.

If you would like to come and visit, just let me know before hand. She still tires easily (physically and mentally), but the visits are great for her. I am finally starting to put our house back together after five months of leaving things where they landed. Hopefully Judi won't remember the mess when she comes around or I'll be in deep trouble.

Several people have asked what our plans are now that Judi is at home. I plan to stay at home with her for the next couple of weeks as we get all of the home health and other logistics in place and running. I also want to be with her to ensure that she gets the "TLC" she needs as she deals with being home and the rush of old memories she may have to deal with initially. I have hired an agency (Right at Home) to take care of her during the day when I go back to work. They will provide Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs) who are experienced with people in her condition and have the medical knowledge to monitor for problems and deal with emergencies. It will be the same couple of people so that they can build a relationship with us. I believe this is critical for Judi so that there is a stable environment instead of sea of constantly changing faces. I'll stick with the weekly updates unless something dramatic occurs.

Thanx again for all the prayers and support,
Steve