Day 122 - Saturday April 14, 2012

Today we had an appointment for Bridgett to have a massage.  Massages have been recommended to us by several people including Dr. Speed, the neuro rehab doctor.  He specifically mentioned acupressure.  Jenn found the name of a guy that specifically works with clients who have disabilities of some kind. In fact, this therapist had a TBI himself about 14 years ago.  His name is Josh and he of course has some first hand experience and insight so that was good.  He specifically did some craniosacral therapy.  Towards the end he did some acupressure as well.  He said that he recommends that she take colostrum to help repair the brain.  Also, he recommends that we take her to see things that are stimulating for the brain--museums, parks, etc.  He said to listen to lots of music. Josh also said that everything that she does with her hands will help her brain to heal. When doing the massage he was trying to work on her brain but also to address the urinary tract issue.  She did really well at her appointment.  She made it about 50 minutes before she had to take a bathroom break.  Most of the time that Bridgett is awake she is going to the bathroom like every 10 minutes.  Of course since I go with her every time we are doing lots of walking back and forth and standing up and down. It is hard to get other things accomplished.  When she is at therapy etc. the frequency slows down somewhat, but she is still going every 25 minutes approximately.  This has been going on for quite some time now.  To recap--the doctors did a urine culture and there's no infection.  We did five days of Phenazopyridine and that slowed things down a bit while she was on it but now we are back to going lots.  They were going to do another culture, but the dentist put her on antibiotics and they said that the antibiotic is at the same dosage that they would use for a UTI.  So, she is on that until next Saturday and we are waiting to see if things get better.  So far there is no change.  We are not sure but the doctors think that something is up with the brain signal for urination and as the brain heals that things will get better.  I would have to look back in my notes, but this has been going on for a long time.  I'm sure it's frustrating for her although she doesn't remember how long its been since she last went.  She just says that her feet or her legs are getting tired--from lots of walking and getting up and down I guess!  We scheduled to see Josh again next Saturday.  I'm glad that he works on Saturdays for a few appointments since we are usually busy during the week with therapy appointments and doctor appointments.