Friday, January 27

Thank you for responding to last week's blog. We are enjoying your wise words and loving support.

We are still in the middle of fighting our HMO. They have officially denied letting Dr. Beamer do the surgery. They have sent us to another neurosurgeon at UCSD who we liked initially, but he hasn't done bone flap replacement surgery much so we are very uneasy. At least that's the conclusion we came to when he wouldn't answer our simple question as to how many times he's done this surgery. Now we're working on an appeal. We've contacted the Department of Managed Health Care and they will try to help us. Every step takes sooo long and time at the point is of the essence.

Ryan is not well. His head hurts constantly, he's nauseated, throws up almost daily, stays in bed and just lays there because even watching TV makes him sick. I honestly can't begin to understand how this is health care!!! Dr. Beamer is trying to help us get it resolved too, but with the weekend upon us, we sit for another 2 days and wait until everyone is back at work on Monday.

I wasn't going to write this blog because we really don't have any great news at this moment, but it's been so long since I last updated you, I thought I'd better let you know what's happening.

Thank you again for your prayers and support. You are all so wonderful.

Debi

Wednesday, January 18

Hi,
We haven’t had much to report this past week. Things are fairly the same as far as Ryan’s progress and the pain management. He is still in a lot of pain and we are trying to control it with medicated patches rather than taking so many pills. He’s still taking his share, but the patches have helped in cutting down on the “pill schedule”. The therapists are please to see his high level of function both physically and neurologically. It’s difficult to know if the little differences in Ryan are from medication or actually caused by the brain trauma. Guess we won’t know that until after the flap goes back in and he’s cut way down on all the medication. Because he is not feeling well much of the time, it has been difficult for him to complete the “homework” he is assigned. We see a huge positive difference in his demeanor when he has visitors or his therapists are here. Please, don’t be afraid to come visit.

We are frustrated and in the middle of working with our insurance to determine where and who will do the bone flap replacement. Originally we were told by our local HMO representative that Dr. Beamer (the Neurosurgeon who did the craniotomy) would be the one to do it. We didn’t do anything about getting a Neurosurgeon down here because of what she told us. NOW – at this late date - we’re told Dr. Beamer can’t do the surgery – it isn’t covered – and we have to have someone here in San Diego do it who is affiliated with our “group”. Eric and I don’t understand any of this but are trying to keep an open mind. I wouldn’t have a plumber come in and start a plumbing job, then have someone else come in and finish it. Yet they want us to do this with our son’s skull/brain? We’ve never experienced a problem with our HMO because we’ve never had anything catastrophic to deal with before. It would make so much more sense if HMOs would drop the “group requirement” when dealing with something catastrophic. Can you tell I’m venting? To make matters worse, the Neurosurgeon we were referred to here isn’t available for a consultation for 3 weeks so they’ve chosen another Neurosurgeon for us to see next week. We’re getting pot luck – whoever’s available first. This really makes us feel comfortable??!! I don’t think they understand – every day they delay, is another day of pain for Ryan. There’s so much more, but I won’t get into all of it!

I’ll try to be better about postings. I know many of you are checking the blog, but not sending messages. If you’re up to it, please pass on your thoughts. They really help keep us going.

Thank you again and again for your prayers and encouraging words. It must be hard being in your shoes because you don’t know what to say. Please don’t worry, we just love hearing from you and Ryan loves seeing you.

Love,
Debi

Monday, January 9

We're back from seeing Dr. Beamer in Orange County. He said Ryan's head looks good, but he wants to wait another couple weeks to allow for even more swelling to go down. He said that it is possible for the brain to swell again as a result of putting the skull back. This could mean a lot more hospital time - even possibly removing the flap again. He likes to see even less swelling before putting the flap back. The good news is that they'll re-attach it with titanium straps so it will be solid right away. Ryan will be in the hospital 2 to 3 days when they do re-attach his skull flap.

Ryan's pain level has been quite high. He had 3 hours of therapy last Friday, lunch at home, then a CT Scan in Rancho Bernardo at 1:30. He had taken some pain medication just before the CT Scan and just after completing the scan was sick to his stomach and lost his lunch and the medication. It was the first time since this all began that he has said his pain level was a 10 - he's always said it was a 7 or 8 before. I've never seen him in so much pain. He couldn't move. I thought about taking him to emergency, but he couldn't get in the car let alone ride. The radiologist put him on a gurney, gave him some pillows and a blanket and let him rest in a dark room. I didn't have more of his pain medication with me so I called some friends who were kind enough to drive his medication to us. He rested over 2 hours and finally was able to be wheeled in a wheelchair out to the car so we could get home.

We have new stronger pain medication now which seems to be working to some extent. Ryan did ok yesterday, but today was difficult with all the travel. The doctors like to start a new medication at a low level and bump it up when it is shown to be insufficient. Hopefully this new level will be the right combination.

He has so enjoyed having visitors. There have been a few occasions where he was not up to it, and we thank you for calling first and for your understanding when he has not been able to visit.

Thank you for your prayers, please keep them coming.
Love,
Eric, Debi, Lauren, Cameron, and Ryan

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Wow a brand new year! As I write this I'm so emotional and so thankful for the many blessings in our lives. Thankful to all of you and for all of you. Thankful we are through the worst of this terrible adventure and thankful we have a bright future ahead.

It is such a miracle to have Ryan with us. But not only is he with us, he is doing so incredibly well. He has been kept very busy with physical therapy, occupational therapy, recreational therapy, and speech therapy. They are all very amazed at how well he is doing considering this is just over a month out from the accident. They say he is very "high level" in his physical and cognative ability. Some have even said he's quite a miracle. He is working on balance and endurance, and higher thinking abilities to ready him for getting back to school.

Ryan's major hurdle each day is dealing with the headache he wakes to in the morning and goes to sleep with at night. We try to control it with medication so it's tolerable, but some days he just doesn't seem to get relief. To make matters worse, the medication causes dizziness at times, which can make therapy difficult. We are working with his doctor (our doctor locally) to try and get this better under control.

As you can imagine, we are anxious to see Dr. Beemer (Neurosurgeon in Orange County). Hopefully when we see him Monday, he will be able to schedule a date to put the bone flap back in.

May God richly bless you this New Year - 2006!

With much love,
The Lindroths