God Makes a Way

The wedding weekend and family time was wonderful, but I will post a separate blog about that along with photos. First an update on Mike and his situation.

On Tuesday, as Caleb and I were driving, I received a call from Tom, the case manager at Tucker. He had found a place called Breezy Hill in the Harrisonburg, VA area and wanted to let me know someone would be calling me.  Doug called within minutes and after he received more information, he said their Blacksburg, VA facility sounded more appropriate for Mike at this time and he would have them contact me.  Wednesday morning I spoke with Sarah and we set up a time for her to come and see Mike on Friday at 10am. Neuro Restorative has been in business for 33 years and has residential homes in several states across America. The Blacksburg, VA location has 2 homes that can house 24 individuals with brain injury. Unlike the Va. Beach facility, they DO have a neuro-psychiatrist as part of their team and so are able to continue to work with Mike’s medication adjustments; otherwise, it is much the same. 24 hour supervision, very structured day, individualized therapy plan, private room and bathroom, OT, ST, PT & RT, as well as, cognitive therapy. After we met, Sarah, said nothing she had seen or heard or read about Mike scared them. They have worked with all of this before.  We are in a rush to get Mike placed, because insurance stopped paying for Mike last Friday. Neuro-Restorative (NR) is going to work on a plan of treatment and the financial part this weekend and hopefully we’ll be able to get Mike transferred to Blacksburg by Tuesday of this coming week.  I will transport him and will be looking for one or two people to ride with me. Will be a long day, have to go to Richmond, then Blacksburg, then home. Local folks, any volunteers?  J

According to the staff at Tucker, Mike has been lucid from about 8am – 12pm every day for about 8 or 9 days, and then begins to transition into the repeating and non-coherent phase. Unfortunately, he is on quite a bit of medication. The doctor tried adjusting one of the meds on Thursday, and instead of increasing the lucid periods, it decreased them. I had a wonderful visit with Mike on the Wednesday before the wedding.  He was calm and going through the phone book looking for landscaping jobs. His supper came while I was there and he ate slowly. I noticed he was losing weight so asked if they could give him more to eat or supplement his diet with Ensure and yogurt (his favorite).  Some days when I call, he won’t even come to the phone and yesterday when I was there, he was in the repeating phase and the nurse couldn’t even get him to come out to the visiting area. So it is still very up and down.

I really thank the Lord for the opportunity to get Mike into a brain injury facility where the staff is trained specifically to work with brain injury survivors, like Mike and will try to help him reach his highest potential. I believe this will give Mike the best possible chance at recovery and me a much needed respite where I am not constantly on the phone, internet, filling out forms, or worrying about how to take care of Mike. It is not a long-term solution due to the cost, but at least this will let us know if further recovery is possible. NR will also help with the transition back home, training me, looking for day programs, and other necessities when the time comes. I really need to learn how to handle the new normal. There is a class, Brain Injury Specialist, that I can take online through the Brain Injury Association of America that I would like to do also, so that I can understand all of this better and how to cope.  I am going to look into that after I have a real respite.

The drive to Blacksburg is about 3 hours from the farm. The good thing is that it is closer to Mike’s family than Virginia Beach would have been and visits are encouraged. Please pray for Mike’s transition to yet another new place and that we will see a marked improvement. I also hope that his medications can be reduced once he is receiving more therapy and instruction on how to handle his new brain and all the emotions and frustrations that come with it.

Thank you so much for your continued prayers, calls, notes and support. The Lord is answering in His time and His way.