Dan's Thoughts

Trish #37 - July 23, 2004

We had a wonderful day today. Early this morning, Dr. Pamela Klonoff, clinical director of the Center for Transitional NeuroRehabilitation, came by to see Trish. Both the center and Dr. Klonoff are very highly regarded in the world of neuro-rehab; I was anxious that Trish have the opportunity to work with them. The center does not work with everyone. Their programs require a patient to have the cognitive wherewithal to pay attention and to retain information. Sadly, many brain injury victims lose these abilities. However, Dr. Klonoff determined that based on the information she has, Trish does indeed qualify.

As a matter of fact, as I listened to Trish go through a number of exercises that determines her ability to process abstract thought, I was delighted to see that she didn't miss a single question. This is a far cry from what she was able to do just a couple of weeks ago.

Some of you have asked about Trish's ability to swallow. That has been fine now for a couple of weeks. She is at the "apple pie level!" Tomorrow, I am planning to take her for lunch to the Fish Market, a seafood restaurant here in Phoenix.

The plan is for her to be released from the hospital next Friday. She will do out-patient therapy for a couple or three weeks, focusing on balance, walking, sitting and so forth. She is still "wobbly" so it is not safe for her to walk without some assistance. Every day she does better however, and thinks she is further along than she actually is.

One big thing for us is that Wynonna Judd was kind enough to order Trish a very nice wig, designed from pictures of her and from samples of her own hair. So Trish will have the option of "punk" or the "middle-class-nice-white-lady look. I might be able to tell how the day will go for us depending on which hair she chooses in the morning!

Thank you all for praying with me that Trish would be accepted into this program. Now help us pray that United Health Care will agree that it is needed. (Or that I will pick up the winning ticket of some big lottery off the street on the very day that it wins the jackpot and that all my Evangelical friends will believe me when I insist that I didn't actually buy it.)

Dan