Second year Day 280 - Thursday September 19, 2013

This morning we had an appointment with Dr. Bret Lindsay, the neurologist.  We just really like this doctor!  He is great!  He has a great attitude, is easy to talk to, etc.  Anyway, today Mark was not able to go with us, so it was just Bridgett and I. Usually when we see him, Bridgett sits for only a couple of minutes, and then gets up to walk around because of the pain and paces through the rest of the appointment.  Today, she was able to remain seated for most of the appointment, just getting up towards the end.  She was very engaged, and talked directly to him throughout the appointment.  It is great to see progress in communication!  Before, she would answer questions and do some commenting and some interjecting, but mostly Mark and I had the discussion with Dr. Lindsay.  So, today was fun.  We talked about short term memory issues.  I mentioned that Bridgett puts things down and then even a couple of minutes later forgets where they are.  In fact, today before the appointment, I went to try to find her nice jeans for her to wear, and they too have disappeared.  Bridgett has no idea where she put them.  He talked to us today about putting her on Aricept, which she was on initially after leaving the outpatient rehab.  Before, they gave it to her for memory and without it, she basically couldn't even remember who she was.  It took us a while until she was remembering herself and us good enough to take her off the aricept--that was sometime after we returned to Montana last year in May.  Anyway, he said to start her on a low dose for a month and then double the dose the second month.  I have put a call into her brain guys in Utah for an opinion as well as Faith, just to make sure that we are all in agreement on this issue.  I actually feel pretty good about it though, although it makes you wonder if she will have to stay on this medication for a long time or what.  I guess I still have a few more questions:)