Day 72 - Friday February 24, 2012 and into Saturday

One of the longest days ever!  First we got up and went up to Salt Lake for therapy appointments.  I gave Bridgett Tylenol and put on her neck brace.  By the time we got there she was feeling sick and her head and neck hurt even though we had taken precautions.  She sat in speech therapy, putting her head down on the table.  She said I don't feel good but I can do this.  She actually did really well (which makes you wonder how much better she'd do if she didn't feel sick).  After speech therapy she had physical therapy.  The extern decided it was nice enough to walk outside, so we spent the whole time outside.  It was sunny, but if she wore her sunglasses she couldn't wear the eyeglasses and therefore would have problems seeing to walk outside--so no sunglasses.  I'm sure this contributed to her headache on the way home. We walked across the street in Sugarhouse, past Bed, Bath and Beyond and Petco.  He had Bridgett read the large signs above the door and told her to remember which stores to pass to get back.  Then we walked on a little path down a nature area with a stream.  They path was somewhat muddy, and covered with sticks.  There were branches to miss (she couldn't see them, so I moved them as he wasn't doing that).  There was a little bridge.  There was also construction next to a fence and the path narrowed. She had to grab on the chain link fence to keep her balance.  There was some kind of a building with stone steps.  He had her walk up one flight and count the stairs (16).  He kept quizzing her on the names of the stores, but her short term memory is not good at this point, so she could not remember.  We got back to find two people on ladders outside the therapy place, and they had light mesh stuff blocking the path.  I walked on that side of Bridgett, as I do not believe that she could see it.  She missed the ladders and we made it back inside.  Sometimes its frustrating to me dealing with the student therapists, as I don't think they always know enough about brain injuries to make appropriate choices during therapy.  Anyway, we left there and headed home.  On the way back, while on the freeway just past the point of the mountain, Bridgett suddenly started throwing up.  It's kind of like when a child just starts throwing up with no warning.  I was in the carpool lane and pulled over (luckily there was a shoulder at this point).  I grabbed a sack (with our lunch in it) and she threw up in that, although she already had thrown up on herself.  I found a few napkins for her to wipe her mouth.  We sat for a bit and got calm while cars whizzed past.  Finally I got back on the freeway.  I put my coat on her lap to cover up the vomit, but she was hot and moved it.  We got off on University Parkway and I was thinking we can't do this again.  But, it gets worse.  At the intersection of University Parkway and 800 East she threw up again.  I grabbed my coat and she threw up in that.  Then she threw up again by the Olive Garden.  I called Tyler and Stephany to meet us in the parking garage with a bowl (just in case) and garbage bags for the coat etc., paper towels and sanitizer.  I took a picture of her in the car, with my coat on her lap, covered in vomit to show the insurance people.  This is why we need rehab in Provo!  It's dark in the parking garage, so it's not a great picture, but whatever.  We took Bridgett upstairs and got her showered and put her on the couch to rest.  She slept for about an hour.  When she woke up she needed to go to the bathroom.  I helped her to sitting, then we slowly got up and walked towards the bathroom.  She had gone about 12 feet when she suddenly collapsed.  I was luckily holding onto her and I yelled for Tyler and tried to let her down slowly.  She went straight back and although I broke her fall, her head hit the floor in slow motion and kind of soft. But it is a tile floor so anyway impact would not be too soft.  I thought she was going to have a seizure so told him to call 911.  However, she lay there for about 30 seconds with her mouth open then started talking to us.  We never did call 911.  We sat her up and got her steady.  We decided that she was dehydrated and perhaps her blood pressure low.  We gave her a drink while sitting.  She takes very slow sips, so it was a slow process.  Then we slowly got her up to the bathroom and then back to the couch.  We decided that we would have two people walking with her for the time being.  I begin to call everyone to find out whether or not to take her to the emergency room.  I called to the rehab at the U of U.  They said the doctors were gone for the day and anyway would not be able to advise me on the phone.  The gal said many times people get this way after a brain injury from too much excitement or commotion.  I called her primary care physician. They had me leave a message explanation and said someone would call me back.  I called the trauma unit in Provo and asked for one of the trauma team.  The nurse at the neuro shock rehab would not let me talk to them and said it was against policy for anyone to give me any advice.  Can't you just tell me what to look for?  No she said.  Finally the primary care physician's office called back with a message saying that if she was still dizzy or unsteady to take her to the emergency room.  Otherwise, if she was fairly stable it was OK.  Well, she was talking normally, drinking, asking for food because she was hungry.  She had four glasses of fluid. Initially she said her head hurt, but she also said everything hurt (as she had said earlier in the day before she vomited).  By evening she said her head felt a little better.  We kept her awake for three hours and then I "slept" by her and checked on her all night. I did not give her the sleep med as I did not feel it was safe.   I checked on her multiple times, but woke her up every hour and asked her who she was, who I was, and how did she feel.  We made it through the night.  I hate this whole insurance thing.  This hospital is not in network, although we live only four blocks from it.  If I took her in they would probably deny the charges.  Obviously she can't ride up to Salt Lake to the emergency room.  I looked at the in network providers and there are several urgent cares listed.  I will call one of them this morning.   However, she seems stable and the only thing I can figure they might want to do is a CT scan and none of these places in network here can do that.  I looked for an in network place for a CT and there are none within 25 miles.  It's so frustrating!  We'll see what today brings.  All in all a very long and scary day!