Like a Rolling Stone

Opps, it’s already August and I haven’t posted anything since June on THE BLOG. I know you have been frustrated that I am not posting regularly but it is more a function of being busy and Kathy’s progress being steady.

Steady for Kathy is still exciting stuff for most of us. Let’s kind go from her head to her toes on her recovery status. First her shunt seems to be operating within design specification. What is specification? Heck, I don’t know but it seems to be doing what it is supposed too. She still has the side effects of the shunt; headaches and ear problems associated with the pressure but overall is slowly improving.

Dr. Kureshi installed an anti-siphon device during her last shunt revision which is designed to help her from over-draining. The problem is the anti-siphon device, since installed, has led to Kathy blacking out on occasion. You can imagine the havoc this creates-severe falls, bruised body parts, aches and pains and the worst, more set-backs. We have tried to limit Kathy’s activities to decrease her chances of blacking out and have had some success. (Including making her wear a softball helmet for ultimate protection when attempting certain movements) The major frustration is, she somehow always finds a way to fall and hurt herself when you are not at home or not hovering over her every second. We are keeping a focus on this because of the danger of her falling and hitting her head hard.

Kathy speech is still an issue due to her confidence and stress levels when talking to people outside of her immediate core. Countless times Kathy and I have conversed as if nothing had ever happened. Her recall of vocabulary and the speed of sentence delivery is quite amazing. It’s when she’s outside of her comfort zone that she gets super self-conscious about herself and starts having difficulty in finding words or speaking smoothly. I feel this is just going to take time with a speech therapist’s assistance.

Overall Kathy’s mental and emotional functions are “right on” except her ability to remember short term events. It’s just something the doctors say happens with this kind of injury. Her emotional maturity and understanding of external events are as good as before her injury. It just seems her brain is having difficulty deciding when and how it’s going to sequence events during the day. She can at times remember everything going on that day, no matter how complex and then at the next moment, forget what happened seconds ago.

I have been told it takes years for your brain to put away long term memory but to organize and efficiently store short-term memory for storage later is a mighty complex process. We are now currently looking into Kathy attending a junior college program that works with Traumatic Brain Injury students to improve areas such as short term memory recollection and many other helpful subjects. Schooling and time are hopefully the solution.

Just what you don’t need is a sudden and painful side ache issue popping up. Kathy has had side pain for 6 weeks now and we have gone to her doctor numerous times, taken various forms of imaging to find out why side hurts so much. Of course our early and easy prognosis was Gallbladder stones. Well, after numerous CT scans, sonograms and lastly a nuclear dye scan, it is definitely not Gallbladder stones! Next week, Dr. Coen is moving to her Kidneys to look there for the source of the hidden pain. I will keep you posted.

Finally, the Achilles tendon surgery has a mixed progression. Her left food is totally healed and she feels good on that foot. The right continues to be painful and unwilling to follow commands. She needs continued physical therapy to bring her naughty right foot around. Her natural balance is affected by her brain’s inability to handle sudden movement or change of direction. Combine that with her problem right foot and she is struggling to walk without assistance. Not time to chuck the walker yet.

She is currently working twice a week with her Sharp Hospital physical therapist Rose, who is probably the finest example of an “exemplary” person you can meet in the PT field. She has gone countless times over the top trying to help Kathy in every possible way. She is on a mission to track down every specialist, past doctors and associates, looking for any help in Kathy’s recovery. I just hope we can keep her until Kathy gets better.

Finally, how is Kathy holding up psychology? Well she is extremely frustrated that she is at this stage in her life and at times whishes she could have gone when called. But at other times, we travel places together, go to Lake Havasu, attend graduations and other events, and enjoy our friends and family. She’s definitely glad to be around for these moments. I just hope she continues to improve. On Wednesday of this week it was one year anniversary of the tragic day. I hope a year from now we can rejoice about her full recovery! Again, thanks for your thoughts and prayers!