Journal entry by Nicole Monnens —
Good Morning to all of you! I wanted to apologize for not updating since last time! Life got busy and time has definitely gotten away from me! The last time I updated, we had Jeff's appointment the next day (04/24) to get his staples out. He had those removed and that process went really well. While we were there, we asked about the medication depakote that he was taking. Jeff and I were under the impression that he was on this because it is an anti-seizure medication. The NP we saw that day said it was for headaches. Jeff told him that he hasn't had headaches since he was in the hospital so the NP said he could wean himself off of it. Overall, the NP seemed to be happy with Jeff's healing.
The next day (04/25) we met with a primary care doctor that Jeff will follow up with every year. While we were there, we asked him about the depakote medication that Jeff is on to see what he had to say about it. He told Jeff to stay on it and don't stop taking it because it is an anti-seizure medication. At this point, we are both confused and wondering why we are being told two things. Jeff listened to what the primary doctor said and continued to take the medication. Jeff is still having double vision and this happens to be one of the side effects of depakote. We were able to get a referral from this doctor so Jeff could start physical therapy since that was something HCMC wanted him to do as outpatient therapy. He was able to get an appointment for physical therapy on 05/14- this was the earliest they could get him in. Since the was the first time Jeff has been to a primary care doctor in a long time, we went over family medical history. We (maybe "I" a little more- 😉 ) made sure his doctor knew about heart problems that run in his family. Jeff was able to get in in a few days later for a heart scan that checks for calcium deposits just to make sure things were good with his heart. This was a quick scan and Jeff had the results right away- everything was good! His doctor said to do this scan every 3-5 years- I'm glad he did it!
Jeff had a couple of appointments that we went to at HCMC on 05/10. He had a CT scan done and the results came back good! We met with a Physical Medicine Doctor and asked him about the depakote and if he could stop taking it. We finally got a little more clarification on this with this doctor. He said the dosage size that Jeff is on would be for headaches (wished we were told this at his 04/24 appt. since we questioned it) and if it was being used for seizures - it would have been a much higher dosage. This finally made sense to both of us and glad we had a better understanding. This doctor also told us that Jeff no longer needed to do physical therapy, but wants him to do speech therapy. We think his speech is completely normal, but the doctor wants him to do this before he goes back to work. So this is holding up that process (and Jeff isn't happy about it!)
Jeff will start speech therapy on 05/15 and we believe this will be short lived (fingers crossed!) Once the Speech Therapist thinks Jeff has "passed" they will send a report over to the Physical Medicine Doctor and he will be the one to give the okay for Jeff to go back to work! Jeff is ready to get back to work and I think he is ready for it! As far as his double vision, we will be meeting with someone in Ophthalmology in the TBI unit at HCMC on 05/22. Until his vision clears up, he will be able to get a pair of glasses that have a prism in them so he doesn't have to use the patch on his eye and could get the okay to drive. The doctors do believe that the double vision will go away, it's just a matter of everything still healing. Jeff is perfectly fine having the glasses so he can get back to somewhat of a "normal" life! I think I have covered everything I needed to for now- I promise to update this week after his speech therapy appointment!
Have a good weekend and Happy Mother's Day to all of you special women out there!!
With Love,
Nicole
The next day (04/25) we met with a primary care doctor that Jeff will follow up with every year. While we were there, we asked him about the depakote medication that Jeff is on to see what he had to say about it. He told Jeff to stay on it and don't stop taking it because it is an anti-seizure medication. At this point, we are both confused and wondering why we are being told two things. Jeff listened to what the primary doctor said and continued to take the medication. Jeff is still having double vision and this happens to be one of the side effects of depakote. We were able to get a referral from this doctor so Jeff could start physical therapy since that was something HCMC wanted him to do as outpatient therapy. He was able to get an appointment for physical therapy on 05/14- this was the earliest they could get him in. Since the was the first time Jeff has been to a primary care doctor in a long time, we went over family medical history. We (maybe "I" a little more- 😉 ) made sure his doctor knew about heart problems that run in his family. Jeff was able to get in in a few days later for a heart scan that checks for calcium deposits just to make sure things were good with his heart. This was a quick scan and Jeff had the results right away- everything was good! His doctor said to do this scan every 3-5 years- I'm glad he did it!
Jeff had a couple of appointments that we went to at HCMC on 05/10. He had a CT scan done and the results came back good! We met with a Physical Medicine Doctor and asked him about the depakote and if he could stop taking it. We finally got a little more clarification on this with this doctor. He said the dosage size that Jeff is on would be for headaches (wished we were told this at his 04/24 appt. since we questioned it) and if it was being used for seizures - it would have been a much higher dosage. This finally made sense to both of us and glad we had a better understanding. This doctor also told us that Jeff no longer needed to do physical therapy, but wants him to do speech therapy. We think his speech is completely normal, but the doctor wants him to do this before he goes back to work. So this is holding up that process (and Jeff isn't happy about it!)
Jeff will start speech therapy on 05/15 and we believe this will be short lived (fingers crossed!) Once the Speech Therapist thinks Jeff has "passed" they will send a report over to the Physical Medicine Doctor and he will be the one to give the okay for Jeff to go back to work! Jeff is ready to get back to work and I think he is ready for it! As far as his double vision, we will be meeting with someone in Ophthalmology in the TBI unit at HCMC on 05/22. Until his vision clears up, he will be able to get a pair of glasses that have a prism in them so he doesn't have to use the patch on his eye and could get the okay to drive. The doctors do believe that the double vision will go away, it's just a matter of everything still healing. Jeff is perfectly fine having the glasses so he can get back to somewhat of a "normal" life! I think I have covered everything I needed to for now- I promise to update this week after his speech therapy appointment!
Have a good weekend and Happy Mother's Day to all of you special women out there!!
With Love,
Nicole
Patients and caregivers love hearing from you; add a comment to show your support.
Help Jeff Stay Connected to Family and Friends
A $25 donation to CaringBridge powers a site like Jeff's for two weeks. Will you make a gift to help ensure that this site stays online for them and for you?