Day 111 - Tuesday April 3, 2012

Today we headed to Salt Lake, first to see Dr. Speed, the rehab doctor, and then to see Kasey at the low vision clinic.  Our appointment with Dr. Speed went well and the problem that Bridgett has been having with urinary frequency was very apparent.  She went to the bathroom as soon as we got there to the hospital.  Then we went again five or so minutes later when we got to his office.  We visited for a bit and then she had to go again.  Then  about 15 minutes later she asked to go again.  He distracted Bridgett by having her do some things he was going to have her do anyway, regarding balance, eyes etc.  The urinary frequency was the first question on my list of questions, so he could see the problem in action!  He ordered a urine test and we discussed some other things besides infection as being the problem.  I wondered if having a catheter for weeks has caused a problem..an irritation maybe.  He said possibly and in that case a medication taken for a few days would help.  Otherwise the frequency problem could be addressed with another med.  Or if there is an infection, they will take care of that.  She has no other symptoms of an infection and the frequency happens sometimes and not other times.  We will see what they find out.  We also discussed these problems.

• Fatigue.  He said this is a common problem with TBI and should get better.  He agreed with Shane that she can take up to four naps a day, each lasting for about 30 minutes.  Then after 30 minutes we should wake her.  He also advised us to start up the Ritalin every day in order to help her "wake up" for activities.
• Possible secondary concussion when she fell:  He said she very well did get a secondary concussion, however, he said it doesn't really matter.  She already had such an insult to the brain, the concussion is "small potatoes".  He said it's like you already have this big mountain of dirt.  What does it really matter if you throw a shovel full more on it.
• Getting her root canals done.  I was wondering if this will cause any set backs, now that she is finally back on track.  He said, no, go for it.  So, we will get the teeth done next Tuesday. 
• Endocrinologist:  I said they haven't contacted us yet, but it doesn't seem the passing out was because of this problem.  I explained that the neurosurgeon's office had said they think that things will get better on their own and said not to worry about it right now.  He agreed that it didn't really matter at this point.
• Thirst and hunger:  I said both are improving, but she still probably doesn't drink enough.  Apparently this is common with TBI patients.
• Aches and pains--hypersensitivity.  She still is pretty hypersensitive to touch, pain, heat/cold, etc.  He suggested Lyrica to help.  I will investigate some natural products first and then use the Lyrica samples to see how they work if nothing else helps.
• Acupressure: He suggested that this may help her.  Great!

All in all it was a very good appointment.  We got written proof that he recommended therapy closer to home (Provo) because of the problems she had in late February.  He said he was impressed with how she was doing.  We will see him again in 30 days.  Next we had the opportunity to meet up with Bishop Taylor, our bishop from back home.  He was in town visiting and met us up at the University of Utah hospital for a short visit.  He said he was impressed with how good Bridgett was looking and how healthy she seemed.  Those kinds of comments always are so good to hear!  Then we rushed off to our appointment with Kasey and although we were late, he had no other client afterwards, so gave Bridgett her entire therapy session.  First we looked at some stuff I brought with us:  the low vision cards I ordered, the therapy cards I got for speech/cognition (we went through a pack of them with him and Bridgett did great) and then the letter that Bridgett's cousin Tosha typed to Bridgett, using large font so that she could read it.  Bridgett didn't remember who it was from even, so of course didn't remember reading it (which she has done several times).  She read it for Kasey and I only had to point at about three words that she skipped or substituted for another word.  She did  great!  He was impressed at how much better she is reading.  Afterwards she did the Dynavision.  She did great the first time and worse the second time, so we moved to something else.  (she was very tired after the travel etc.)  Next he had her work on his computer with a large screen.  They surfed for free games, chose a couple to play and played them.  She did very good and he was impressed with her attention span.  Then he got out his ipad and they did games on this.  She again did well and I got the name of several games he recommends.  All in all a great day. Then we had to book it back to Provo in a GREAT hurry in order to get back for Arrianne's recital which started at 6:30.  Traffic was not horrible and we made it and dropped Bridgett off to Tyler and Stephany while we went to the recital.  Arri did amazing (of course!).  We got home and things were fine there.  It's like when you leave a baby at home--worrying about things!  Deb was there visiting and stayed for a bit and visited with us while Bridgett napped.  It was her first nap of the day.  Then she stayed up until about 10:30 and finished up the evening visitng and laughing with everyone while we were in bed.  The girls asked her about texting abbreviations:  idk, lol, etc. and she remembered all of them that they could think of!  Of course, she did text a lot so I guess those memories are really etched in the brain!  All in all a great day!