lakotapixel

Talked to Sierra Robinson today re: Medicaid. Chamberlin Edmonds helped with three applications:
1) Medicaid, which includes Title 16, which is available for those who are low-income and meet other requirements; also Title II, which is having worked enough to receive Title II, whatever that is.

2). Social Security: this can be transferred to local CA.

3). Longterm care: to help pay for his 30 day or more stay in the hospital.

Oupatient care is only approved if SS is approved.

Posted by Sonia at 07:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

My brother is ready to be discharged. And I'm sooo happy. Kendra, the social worker, called to let me know right as I started my 7 hours of work this afternoon. [I'm so glad he's getting better!!!!]

While, my brother can be discharged, his "team" of doctors and nurses told me he would need to be supervised still. I need to talk to them on Wednesday, tomorrow, to see how much supervision he needs. I don't want to bring him into anyone's home without knowing how much supervision he needs. And since we're still waiting for Medicaid to be approved, our options are limited.

His short term memory is still inconsistent. Some days he remembers more. But more likely than not, the later it is in the day, the more likely his conversations make less sense.

Yesterday, Monday, I called Sonia at Chamberlain Edmonds. She said the letter we got from the Social Security Administration was "nothing". The header of the letter was "[my brother] is not eligible for SSI".

Posted by Sonia at 08:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

On Tuesday, Kendra called back, she gave me the number to Learning Services and said I could call for a tour. She doesn't have a discharge date for him.

Wednesday, early, early. a.m, he called Mom, Dad and me at 4:30 a.m. on his cell phone. Not understanding that this really wasn't a good time to call. I have since taken the cell phone away.

My brother's short-term memory and judgement are still his biggest deficits.

Also, his judgement is still skewed. I learned this when he wanted to shave with a new razor. He clearly knows how to shave, but he rushes the razor in short bursts over his face instead of gently working the razor. We walked out of the bathroom with bloody nicks all over his face. He seems to be in a hurry to get back to anything resembling normalcy.

If you've ever seen the movie "Memento", that is the extreme version of what we're working with.

Today, we're supposed to go out and get a haircut. His glasses should also be here any day now.

Posted by Sonia at 08:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

No word back from Kendra, the social worker today.

When I saw Kif today, he seemed more annoyed and short on patience, even though they moved him into a larger room. He was "stressing out" over his phone. Since the battery died, he couldn't call anyone. He keeps going through the contacts and/or calling Mom or Dad every so often. So I had to take his cell phone to recharge it. We walked downstairs to the cafeteria, and he seemed really quiet while we had a snack. I only spent about an hour with him before he hung out with Don, the physical therapist.

Gloria, the nurse's aid, was still there helping him. He seems to get along with her.

When I called him during my break at work this evening he was really frustrated, I could hear it in his voice and he just didn't know what to do. He kept saying he wanted to get out of there and he hated it there. It was heartbreaking. The emotional side of his kind of recovery is something I wasn't prepared for.

Posted by Sonia at 09:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yesterday, Sunday, Kif and I watched the first 30 minutes of Whale Rider. He had just eaten lunch so he fell asleep. When he woke up he was cold, put on his jacket and wanted to go walking.

He was asking staff for a light, like he was going to smoke a cigarette. I've been telling him he doesn't smoke.

Don the therapist mentioned a possible haircut on Tuesday as an outing. I talked to Gloria about Joseph's way of joking around with Kif.

Kendra called this a.m. to just check in. I called her back and asked about why they keep moving him and if Learning Services would be an option.

Posted by Sonia at 09:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I had left Kif's cell phone with him when I left him Friday afternoon. Since it was a familiar object and he could call Dad and Mom long distance.

Saturday a.m. I called to check up on him and he was saying things like "I don't know how these doctors fight." Illogical things. He kept saying he lost his cell phone and he didn't know where to start or stop looking for it. Gloria was the aide who was with him all day.

When I saw him at 4:30pm he was sitting on the edge of his bed wearing the polartec Mom gave him. He had his shoes on and he broke into a smile when he saw me. We walked to the cafeteria, which was closed when we got there. So we wandered around the hospital complex. At one point we took the stairs--his right side still being weaker. I was scared he was going to lose his balance, but he held onto the railing with his left side. I had to keep reminding him to slow down. As he was walking down the stairs, he mentioned that he felt like he'd been hit with a 2"x4".

The weather was perfect outside, so we sat outside. By that point, the nurse had found his cell phone (which Kif had wrapped up in a sheet and thrown into the hamper). So, Kif was going through all his contacts. Eventually he said, "I don't know most of these numbers in here."

Gloria said he told her that he had hit his head at work, that he'd fallen. I told her about what had happened.

By the time I left, he was tired and had laid down and closed his eyes.

Posted by Sonia at 05:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

They moved Kif into the room next door, closer to the "rehab dining room". I'm not sure why, haven't asked. He seemed to be in good spirits, joking around when Emy, the speech therapist, said they were just talking about me. He seems to laugh real easily lately.

He had just finished therapy with Emy, so we had an hour and a half before his next appointment with Bethany, the Occupational Therapist.

We went outside and sat near the circle. He still wasn't following directions once he got out of the elevator, but seemed to orientate himself better. When we start down, I gave him the Cran-Grape juice Mom wanted me to make sure he had, since he likes it so much. He mentioned his right side feels out of whack, like he got "socked". I told him it was probably nerve damage and he seemed to agree.

We walked around the hospital for a little while, his balance has improved and he's not so wobbly. I asked him a question and he said "Kinda, sorta". Then he realized, "I say that a lot". I assured him, it's a good answer for just about everything.

Once upstairs, I gave him his cell phone and he called Dad and talked with him for awhile. We called Mom too. We did laps around the floor, laid down on his bed for a minute, but then he always says "Let's go..." and if you ask him "Where?", he says "I don't know." So we just walk, and walk, and walk most of the time.

His short term memory's a little better and he remembers going out to Jamba Juice yesterday, but he remembers it as me taking him to Jamba Juice and not the therapists taking him out.

One day at a time.....

Posted by Sonia at 06:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Kif and two other patients had an outing from the hospital yesterday. Bethany, the Occupational Therapist, went with Kif. Still having trouble following directions like "Turn right" or "Turn left". It's like he's so distracted with everything else around him. He must still be having trouble orientating himself.

When we got to Jamba Juice, Bethany showed him the menu, but he wasn't really interested. He randomly picked out a Banana Berry and went inside to order it, after much prodding. Dad called on my cell phone and he talked to Kif for a little while. He was more withdrawn and quiet the rest of the time. He mentioned he wanted to see his kids.

Bethany was asking him about what kind of work he did before he came to the hospital. He told her he did construction and Bethany asked what kind. She rattled off different types of construction, and Kif said "scaffolding".

The most striking thing about the outing was Kif's understanding of what had happened to him. One of the other patients asked me what had happened to him. Kif overheard me saying it was a fight, and said "I lost". We sat there a little stunned and the therapist tried to comfort him saying he was in the hospital and recovering.

I didn't get to stay long, had to go work.

Posted by Sonia at 09:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Went to Kif's room early this afternoon and he wasn't there. The red-headed nurse said he was with Emy the speech therapist. He'll be there until 2pm she says.

Found out Kif had had a shower and had already been downstairs to get a prescription for some glasses with the staff. [We don't know where he was living at, so he doesn't have any glasses right now].

After he returned from speech therapy, we pointed out that Will and Michelle had sent some really beautiful flowers. That was really nice. We explained to Kif that Will was Karl's brother. Not sure if Kif really understood, but he said "Oh" and smiled.

Taking Kif outside hasn't been easy. He gets distracted and sometimes agitated by all the outside sights, sounds and people. When he's overwhelmed he tends to wander off without direction. But today he generally went with us with little direction. We still had to hold his hand. Sitting in the small optical services room was difficult though. Kif got tired and he started to fall asleep; that was better than him get agitated and wanting to leave. We had to wait at least half and hour and the many small children made it difficult to be patient.

Eventually we picked out a pair with Kif and I had to get going to work. When I called Kif this evening, he was chilling, listening to the Sacred Spirit CD his Dad gave him. Mom mentioned that in the evening he starts hoarding his clothes, putting multiple shirts on. Let's hope this is a phase.

Posted by Sonia at 09:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Kif has some peculiar habits right now. He lays down for a couple minutes, gets up, puts on his shoes, wants to go somewhere, but then gets tired and wants to go back to bed.

Mom says he also likes to hide his shoes, and pillow underneath his blanket. As though he's protecting them.

He also says things that we know aren't true. For example, when I called him from work, he said Mom got really mad and left because Kif was being messy. When I called back, my mom laughed about it and said she was taking a break. But as far as I read, you're not supposed to act surprised or contradict/argue with a head-injured person.

Posted by Sonia at 09:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Am working at a nonprofit and cleaning up a serious database merge they've done. It's lovely work, and very relaxing for me, compared to my family's current situation.

May need to stay here for the next four months. Mixed feelings about that.

Posted by Sonia at 10:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Asked to speak to Dr. Blei, he's the attending physician.

He and I went out and had a nice discussion about brain injury recovery. It must have been at least a 30 minute discussion. Here are my notes:

Four month benchmark will be a greater measure as to what Kif will need. He advised against making any big decisions during the four month period. "Take one day at a time".

Schedules are very important for him right now.

Because it's a front lobal injury, we look for amplification of basal personality, how he sets priorities. The front lobal area, is the "executive" area of the brain.

Outpatient therapy would be approx. two to three times a week. [Can only happen once Medicaid goes through].

Family involvement important now. Familiar environment is important.

Even though my brother has a history of depression, the neurochemicals in his brain are different right now. And since SSRIs affect the brain's chemistry, not a good idea to further affect that. Dr. Blei said he looks for the patient rehashing the same issues over and over again or become withdrawn/vegetative to determine mental health.

Can't do "rehab to rehab", regardless of Medicaid.

GCS=15 right now
Rancho Scale=5.6 right now. Level 7 would be ability to understand more.

Remember: Recovery slows down.

"Neuroplasticity phase": taking on daily responsibilties, support team starts stressing/exercising his deficits/weaknesses. Currently, his deficiets are judgement calls, attention span.

Need to ask about Medicaid rules at Learning Services.

Family interaction not as important as moving towards independence.

After our discussion, I asked Nurse Tracy what medicines he was receiving, and she told me Trazadone for sleeping, and Colace for balance. Both, twice a day.

LM with Sonia, Chamberlin Edmonds, re: how would we find out when Medicaid was approved.

Posted by Sonia at 10:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Kendra called back while we were on our way to the hospital. She's the Social Worker. Despite what Dr. Blei said, Kif can stay there until medicaid is approved. Because he needs 24/7 care. Need to talk to Dr. Blei when I get to the hospital. All she wanted to do was placate me and be condescending.

What are our options once Medicaid is approved?
What does he need after rehab is over?

The staff here don't seem to understand that when a family experiences an incident like this that minutes feel like hours and hours seem like days.

Posted by Sonia at 01:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I created a weblog to update the progress on my brother, Kiffer, who hit his head in a fight and has suffered moderate to severe head injuries. He's currently in rehab, awaiting medicaid approval. He's up and talking, though is often confused and disoriented: he knows something's not right, and he doesn't always remember why he's in the hospital. When he talks, he tends to repeat himself.

He's doing speech therapy, occupational therapy, and physical therapy in the mornings. Dr. Blei wants to see him out of acute rehab in a couple of weeks. But we're still waiting for Medicaid to be approved. So I'm not sure what we're going to do in between the time they want to discharge him and when Medicaid is approved.

I heard that once Medicaid is approved, it makes it easier to get approved for Medicaid in other states. Need to check with someone about that.

Posted by Sonia at 09:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I talked to Sonia from Chamberlain Edmonds this a.m. She said Social Security called requesting more information. It seems they thought the N. Carolina address my mom listed, was his, not hers. She said they would list the hospital as Kif's address. Sonia said they had requested a "PD Decision" because of Kif's disability. A "PD Decision" is usually a quicker way to get approved. She also asked for a copy of the police report, so I referred her to Detective Bedard and gave her the case number.

Posted by Sonia at 09:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

What is the difference between ABI and TBI?
How is his mental impairment measured?
How do we know rehab has done all it can do?
What about outpatient therapy--can Kif get that @ DGH? What about at Craig?
Does DGH offer some kind of community re-entry?
What is Kif's rating on the Glasgow Outcome Scale?
Is guardianship appropriate?
What would a long road trip be like with him?

Posted by Sonia at 08:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I had deleted the wrong database and ended up deleting my weblog. So, I upgraded to MT 3.2 while I was at it. I really like the improvements they made.

So, I was inspired and stayed up late to at least get it functioning. Most of my problems stemmed from a lack of RTFM. I've learned my lesson and vow NOT to plunge ahead thinking I know what I'm doing.

Wheew, so now I'm excited about having a public place to post my brother's recovery. He called this a.m. and afterwards, I was able to post some older entries about the last month.

Posted by Sonia at 07:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I told him I loved him.

Posted by Sonia at 06:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'm so tired. Getting emotionally tired and I feel like I’m a wreck.
It's hard for me to keep track of what’s going on.

Kif had three therapists stop by yesterday, Monday. 1. Speech therapist, 2. Rehab doctor. Doctor Kappas. 3. Occupational therapist.

Acute therapy for at least two weeks. We’re waiting for Medicaid to be approved before he can be moved to another rehab center. He probably wont be moved to the rehab center at DHMC until the end of this week.

Posted by Sonia at 06:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We took Mom to Watercourse, after Karl and I spent Friday night with Kif; went to Panera (where I did some research on brain injuries), People’s Fair, Denver Public Library.

Mom, Karl and I went out for pizza, and then Target shopping. Karl and I bought Kif this pocket Simon game and a Doddle board to play with.

In the evening, they moved Kif from room 365 to 341.

Posted by Sonia at 06:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Dad spent the night with Kif in the hospital. Karl and I dropped Mom off so we could help Lucille buy a computer. We picked up Mom and went to a late lunch with Kif resting after his wheelchair ride.

Kif walked a little, went for a wheelchair ride, sat on the edge of his bed smiling and swinging his legs. He went for a little walk later in the afternoon, played with the buckle on the belt we used for walking with him, he went to the bathroom. Took short naps, talked to me on the phone when I was away, talked to his dad on the phone.

Karl and I left around 7:30pm. We came home and had chili, chatted with Lucille.

I set up Lucille’s computer and then went to bed. It was really nice because Lucille turned on the AC and we slept really well.

Posted by Sonia at 06:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hung out with Kif while he was in room 365. Sandra was his sitter. Found out Kif could speak Spanish. Dad didn’t want to go to dinner with us. I lost my cell phone; Karl and I went to The Market for lunch, super hot during the day time. No surgery planned for Kif because the lumbar drain came out during the night. Dad blamed the nurse for falling asleep, but no one knows what really happened.

I left a message with Maryam. The Human Rights Awards were that evening, thought about the GX staff and their evening. Wish I could have been there.

We came back to Lucille’s, had buffalo chili and went to spend the night with Kif. He had Marek as his nurse for the evening.

Posted by Sonia at 06:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)