Day 211 - Thursday July 12, 2012

This morning we had an appointment with Dr. Lindsay.  We just really love him as a doctor; I mean he's just great!  He is always so nice to us and he is very positive about Bridgett's progress.  So many of the people we have met with in the past have given us a sad smile and a shake of the head and I feel that they are silently telling us they are sorry for us.  I am looking forward to the future and happy with the progress so far; I chose to remain positive.  When we see Dr. Lindsay he always has a great smile and is genuinely happy to see Bridgett so happy and animated.  He always tells her and us that she is doing great.  He said he expects great things of her and can't wait to see where she ends up.  Today he gave us the great news that although Bridgett was anoxic for at least 20 minutes there is no evidence of this on her MRI!   Yippee!!  He believes that her eyes are healing and that there is a great chance that surgery will be unnecessary; although he did say that he wasn't a neuro ophthalmologist and he defers to the specialists.  We also had a discussion about her rehab sessions here.  I had a bad experience at rehab Wednesday with the speech therapist and I discussed it with him.  He agreed that it would be best to switch to another therapist and endorsed the person I want to see and gave us a new prescription for speech therapy.  I also asked for another prescription for PT.  I really like Kim at PT at the Summit but she isn't really geared for what is needed with Bridgett.  The PTs at outpatient rehab at the hospitals are geared for what they call functional movement, which Bridgett is doing great with.  However, she is still a ways off from being able to return to her normal workouts--which she wants to do.  Brian is a runner and a great therapist and he will be wonderful for her. So, my issue with speech therapy here--I was worried about what Share would say to Bridgett about her evaluation results.  She did not do the best job of talking to us about the results, merely telling Bridgett that her short term memory is not good, nor her immediate memory.  She said (pointing to her head) there's nothing up here so this is your brain now (pointing to her planner).  I thought that someone could say something like this instead--your short term memory is a little weak now but will get better with time--for now we can use tools to help us like this planner.  BTW-Dr. Lindsay did say that Bridgett was in the early stages of a recovery that lasts 18-24 months and the things that take the longest to heal in the brain are executive functions, short term memory issues etc.  He was not worried about that at all.  Bridgett just took it in stride and didn't seem upset by Share's comments.  But then she proceeded to tell us that Bridgett is too attached to us and needs separation.  She said that Bridgett should go to her room for five minutes and a timer should be put on and she has to stay until it rings and then build up time.  I told her that Bridgett already goes to her room to read a couple of times a day for 20-30 minutes by herself.  Oh she said.  Well we think that you should drop Bridgett off here and leave her for three hours and we will be in charge until you return so that you get time alone.  First of all, I don't really know or trust these people yet.  Second, we have been instructed to stay with her and make sure that she doesn't accidentally hit her head for at least a year.  Anyway, she said they don't like it that Bridgett touches me and wants to kiss me.  Brother!  I mean really--if someone wakes up from a coma mad and angry and yells and swears at people--no problem.  But if someone wakes up happy and loving then we had better fix them fast!  Wow--what an attitude.  Anyway, I am not wanting to take Bridgett back there and luckily we have other options which are better options.  BTW Bridgett acts just as loving to her entire family and wants to kiss them and hug them too.  And Bridgett regularly stays with others in the family while I do other things.  I thought it was very unprofessional for her to decide these things when she barely knows Bridgett and to discuss them in the last five minutes of the session in front of Bridgett--she could have talked to me privately about it.  Dr. Lindsay agreed with us about this, shook his head and apologized (not his fault).  Dr. Lindsay also had a comment on another subject--I said that Dr. Meislik said that we should be so thankful that Bridgett's brain is ignoring her vision in the left eye.  I said that at first we were told that only children are able to do this, not adults (ignore the vision in one eye).  Dr. Lindsay said that this is good proof that Bridgett's brain is very plastic and able to heal--great news!