Update #29 for Alan’s Army
Sorry for no update yesterday - too busy!
Lots of “extras” yesterday. They took pictures of Alan’s retinas, other visual field tests, and took a bunch of X-rays of his shunt. Other than that, a standard day of PT etc.
Alan had a good time visiting with John Shields, a friend from our NYC office, who arrived while we were outside and came upstairs with us while we had dinner with Alan. After dinner BOB arrived and Ginny and I took off and let BOB tuck Alan in for the night.
—– “We interrupt this Alan’s Army Update for a “Groundhog Report” —–
Many thanks to Sue Langhans and Deenu Shaik for bringing by some flowerbed treatment designed to repel deer, rabbits, and groundhogs. Interestingly enough, the number one active ingredient is Oil of Cinnamon so the flowerbed smells kinda like Valentine’s Day cinnamon hots. Hopefully this will prevent more flower damage while I eradicate the little beasts. (Since we have an 1830 something farmhouse with a real rock foundation we have no choice, we need to get rid of them.)
As reported before, Uncle Brian had provided a Have-a-Heart trap. I originally baited it with half a pear and placed it near the groundhog track running between the forsythia bush and the hole in the flower bed leading under the front porch. After several days of no action, (other than Amber seeing a fox sniffing at the trap one morning) I decided to take Linda Rooney’s advice and replaced the pear half with a quartered apple. I also moved the trap around to the back of the forsythias figuring if it was less out in the open the little buggers might be more likely to “trust the fruit.” Well, the next morning the trap was sprung, but no groundhog and the apples were untouched. My theory is that it may have been the huge groundhog (no really, it’s a very big groundhog - looks more like a Corgy than a sod-puppy) and it sprung the trap while it’s butt was still hanging out and it was able to back out of the trap.
So I made sure the apples were situated right against the end wall and reset the trap. I forgot to check it last night but this morning we had a captive! Unfortunately it was a pint-sized young groundhog - probably only about 5 lbs. Well, despite all my thoughts of various ways to dispatch a groundhog once I caught one, I decided that I couldn’t bring myself to kill a little one whose eyes weren’t quite so beady, so I dropped it off at the Sourlands Mountain Preserve. The last I saw it was sitting in the middle of an acre of grass not making any particular move to head for cover in the woods. The trap is re-set with fresh apple quarters - hopefully we can catch a big groundhog soon.
—– End of Groundhog Report —–
So today (6/5) we met with a case worker from the NJ Commission on the Blind and Visually Impaired. She actually had some solid information for us. Alan’s sight with his right eye is rated at 20/400 and his sight with his left eye is rated only “light perceptive.” This makes him legally blind as the NJ minimum benchmarks are 20/70 in the good eye for “Visually Impaired” and 20/200 in the good eye for “Legally Blind.” This designation opens up a host of services for Alan that can be very helpful. They will send a number of folks to the house to help teach him mobility skills as well as living skills (cooking, etc.) Once a doctor clears him to work, and if the eyesight were still an issue, they have intensive work skill courses and services for outfitting a PC with aids etc.
Alan’s quip was “Wow, now that I’m legally blind I can have an affair and become the NY State Governor!”
We will hear more from the Commission next week, hopefully this won’t be a long term thing anyway if his sight improves.
So anyway, Alan may now NOT come home tomorrow. The substitute case worker called me at about 3pm and said she had setup the “Family meeting” (the one promised over a week ago) with the doctor and therapists for 4pm Friday. I told her that we expected to be home by that time and she said her understanding was that the doctor wanted to keep him to next week. I said “Why?” and after a lot of back and forth without any compelling reason to keep him she said she needed to speak to the doctor. She called back and said “because he really needs 24 hour care” and I said “Yes, that’s what we have been training and preparing for” and “all of his therapists are very happy with him and had nothing negative to say about him coming home tomorrow.” and “regardless, he MUST go to Philly on Tuesday.” To which she said “OK, I guess he can go home tomorrow as planned.”
So the latest salvo was a phone call from the doctor at around 7pm who said that the radiologist wants to do a nuclear study before an adjustment to the shunt is done. Oddly enough the ability to do this is for some reason unavailable tomorrow, so Alan will need to stay here until Monday.
Ginny and I can’t help but look at all the empty beds on the BTU and wonder if they really need to keep Alan to help pay the overhead. The doctor said he will speak to Alan’s surgeon tomorrow to see if they think the study should be done or if further imaging and shunt adjustments can wait until he sees them in Philly on Tuesday. He said he will call us in the morning. Any bets on the likely content of that call? If he says Monday for the test, I will ask him what time and that we will happily drive Alan up for the test. We just don’t see a benefit of Alan laying in that bed for two more full days when there is no therapy sessions or anything. We can give him pills, we can feed him, we can escort him to the bathroom.
So, on to happier info - disc golf friends Nick Schneider and Adam Vanderslice came up from Philly to visit Alan this evening. They had a great time talking disc golf and courses they had all played. Alan joked that he and Adam could pass notes to one another in Ancient Greek and Nick wouldn’t know what was going on. (Alan and Adam had Greek class together and were both graders for the greek professor at Liberty University.)
So, please pray that the doctor makes decisions based on what is best for Alan not a P & L statement. Likewise, pray that we don’t assume ulterior motives and accept that which is best for Alan also. If it means he needs to stay - fine, but if he comes home sooner, so much the better. Thanks!
Love,
Big Dog