End of OT

Randy had speech and occupational therapy today. Randy said that Vanessa in speech still commented that she was impressed on how well he is doing with the using of the PDA to keep track of things.

For occupational therapy, Tina re-evaluated Randy on his grip. There were improvements in the left side (about 15 to 20 percent), which of course is a great thing! Tina signed off on his Occupational therapy today. She will now just be administering his driving evaluation when he is ready to do them. He will be working on his reaction times with Vanessa during speech therapy. As the reaction times improve, he will schedule the time to take the driving evalation. By saying "reacion times" though, I am not adequately desribing the area that he needs to work on. When he has to make a decision quickly and respond to something, he is slower than he needs to be for driving. As long as he does not have to process information, he reacts very quickly.

Right now, the plan for speech therapy is to continue through December and then in January go down to once a week. He has been making great improvements.

I went to see a Neurosurgeon today. He recommended surgery. I have made an appointment with the Neurosurgeon that Darcee suggested for a second opinion, but I did feel very comfortable with the doctor I saw today, so I think surgery will be the way that I go. I explained to the Neurosurgeon I saw today why surgery was not a good option for me right now. I told him about Randy's accident (I was reading one of my many books on brain injury so he asked about it), and I explained that I didn't have time to take off because it was all used when Randy was in the hospital. I won't get time back until the first of the year. However, at the first of the year I will no longer have double insurance coverage. Because of the length of time Randy has been on leave, we will need to go on Cobra as of Janurary 1st. Beause of the expense of Cobra, we won't have double coverage for Cass and I anymore. As a last effort, the Neurosurgeon today prescribed me another weeks work of steriods. He didn't seem to believe they will work, though.