Thank you seems far too simple a statement to properly express my gratitude at everyone's generosity! It has been overwhelming and helps relieve such a burden from my mind! My family and I appreciate this more than you will ever know!
My time in the hospital is still a bit of a blur for me. When I was in, at one point I started to get worse. I would also apparently stare at the wall blankly when asked questions. They did another MRI and found a haemorrhage in the brain that hadn't been there before. That's when they put me on anti-seizure meds as they were worried I would start with those. They did some monitoring and I never had one while I was in there. The good news is I haven't had one since either.
Before I left the hospital, I had seen a physical therapist, speech therapist and occupational therapist several times. When I left the hospital, I still had to do 21 days of intravenous anti-viral medication. They put a picc line in. That meant my poor brother about every 4-5 hours had to flush my picc line, and put me on a new iv. Sibling love!! They moved me onto oral anti-seizure meds.I also had a nurse who would come in occasionally and change the dressing on the picc line and also to make sure everything was okay. I had a speech therapist come in and work with me once a week as well - mainly around critical problem solving skills, doing exercises to get your brain to respond faster, etc. This eventually switched to out-patient therapy. An old family friend picked me up most mornings and we went to local parks to go for walks and try and build up my strength. It's amazing how tiring healing the brain is! For some time, I felt like I had reverted to an infant - all I did was eat, sleep and poop. The only difference is I wasn't wearing nappies and didn't have anyone to wipe my bottom. Unfortunately, I started having every side effect listed for the anti-seizure meds except two. It was less than pleasant! For example, the label said "May cause drowsiness." In the spirit of truth in advertising, this should be rewritten to "Curl up and hibernate for the next 4 hours because nothing else in your life is going to happen." I am now very sensitive to light and to loud noise. Both can bring on a headache that just feels like fire. That's not very good when staying in a house with 4 nieces and nephews, ages 5, 7, 8 & 10. The headaches started increasing in intensity last week and I went in and saw the neurologist. Luckily, she is taking me off the anti-seizure meds that were causing me so many problems and putting me on something new. That helps me feel more human on a daily basis. Overall she was pleased with my progress considering it has only been a month. She wants to see me back in mid-March, make sure I am up to speed on the new drug, and then thinks I should be okay to fly. Fingers crossed! I am still going to outpatient speech therapy. They have been very good sessions, but certainly take it out of me! I generally come home after each one and sleep for at least an hour. I am also doing lots of things like word searches / apps that stimulate the brain to try and challenge it daily. It's good, but definitely tiring.
The bills have started arriving. The bill for my first night in hospital arrived. Keep in mind, this wasn't even a full night. My brother took me in early evening. They then later transferred me to another hospital. Granted, they did do an MRI. They also tried to do a spinal tap. Unfortunately, the test didn't work which meant I had to have it done again when I got to the next hospital. Less than pleasant! They still charged me for it though. So one partial night in the hospital, was US $7,182.23.
We are still waiting to receiving the hospital bill for my stay of a couple of weeks, as well as the home health bill for the nurse, therapist, etc.
Hugs,
A
