Thursday, May 28, 2009

Addendum: Because You Asked

The visit with Dr. Thoughtful was almost entirely good news with some uncertainty mixed in. His office had a power failure the last time we were there, so the orders for more tests didn’t get logged in before we left, nor did we get it on a calendar, so he didn’t have all the results he would have liked before the visit. I’ll get the lab work done tomorrow. He agrees that the improvements observed since we started the prednisone seem to be positive and the uncertainty comes because we don’t have the test results, so making a plan for what comes next is premature.

One thing he said is requiring us to reset our expectations in a way that’s taking longer than seems predictable: we’d been working towards an acceptance of the residual right-side weaknesses I have, on the theory that this is about as good as it’s going to get. (And thankful for the improvement we are, too.) His reaction was surprising and positive: he sees no reason to accept where things stand as the ultimate achievement and is prescribing more physical therapy for the shoulder/neck. Of course, this means going back and wrangling with the insurance company some more, which believes I’ve had enough PT and certainly have enough functionality to call it quits. We’re game for this, and so is his office, so that effort is underway.

We won’t know a lot more until after the test results and another consultation with him. In particular, we won’t know if things are restarting on their own or if we’ll need a hiatus (along with the possible return of the swimming through mud cognitive functioning). That prospect is a little unsettling. On the other hand, the upside is large enough that we’re reassessing and working on acclimating to the idea. That’s the report.

1 comment:

  1. I like Dr. Thoughtful! He sounds like the great doctors Atul Gawande talks about in "Better."

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