Lots of Activity

Greg's recovery is coming along quite nicely. Though he only had two days of outpatient therapy this past week (he's supposed to have three - see previous post about billing and insurance snafu), we did get some good news. He was scheduled to have three hours of rehab each day, split up between physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy. However, after meeting with the doctors, it was decided that Greg will not benefit from physical therapy because he has already regained functional movement and control of the functions affected by the brain injury.
This is great news, but really only means that Greg's gross motor function is pretty good. Think of the difference between simply being able to move your arm on command (physical therapy) and being able to manipulate a doorknob (occupational therapy). For more info on the differences between physical therapy and occupational therapy, see these links: physical therapy overview, occupational therapy overview.
Regardless, while Greg still has a way to go with his recovery, it's great to know that he's progressing nicely. He'll continue OT and speech for the foreseeable future. He's also having a CAT scan this upcoming Thursday with a follow up meeting with the neurosurgeon, which should give us more information on how his brain is recovering.
Greg's speech has continued to improve and he's been traveling out of the house for lunch and such. It's somewhat surreal to think that only three and a half weeks ago we were simply hoping he'd make it through the surgery, and now he's home and amazing everyone with his recovery.
As we all know, Jessie is due in three days (never a dull moment with the Rippers). She is super-pregnant and rather eager to be done lugging around her child (at least internally). We'll certainly update the blog when she goes into labor and provide all the pertinent details as they come.
Jess and Greg are honored and humbled by all the support people have been giving them, so thank you all!

Holding Pattern

In the complicated world of of medical financing, snafus seem to be the norm as opposed to the exception. I don't know anyone who hasn't spent time on the phone with an insurance company after receiving a bill that they thought was supposed to be covered. Most of the time, the insurance company agrees to pay because the service was incorrectly reported by the hospital or some other minor mistake.
Which is essentially where we are right now. Some sort of reporting problem between insurance/worker's compensation and UPMC has delayed the start of Greg's continued outpatient rehabilitation until sometime this week, most likely Tuesday. So, real information has been short lately.
We have been encouraged by Greg's return home. He is getting around the house pretty well, and he's been talking to visitors and on the phone. His right hand is clearly the furthest from pre-accident normalcy, but it is still considerably better than it was right after the surgery.
Not being back in rehab is getting rather frustrating. In addition to not knowing where Greg is in the recovery process, there's not any specified home rehab that has been given (since he was in inpatient rehabilitation the last time he was in therapy, with the expectation that he'd be back in rehab sooner than this week). With so many unknowns about the window of opportunity for Greg's brain to relearn or rewire some of the functionality he's having trouble with, this lapse in therapy is putting everyone a bit on edge. He has been working on some of the things he was shown during his inpatient stint, so this past week or so hasn't been a total writeoff.
However, we're sure that once Greg gets back into rehab the doctors will show him both how to get results at home, as well as setting some of Greg's near-term recovery goals. While it has been frustrating to be without rehabilitation, the simple fact that it's been less than three weeks since Greg's shocking accident and he's already home is keeping everyone optimistic.
Thanks for your continued support. Greg is getting your messages, so continue leaving comments!

Greg @ Home

Just a quick update to let everyone know that Greg has been discharged and is now resting at home. He's still going to be in therapy three days a week, but he's medically sound. One great thing about being at home in terms of his recovery is that he'll be rehabbing constantly just by doing things we all do every day. He's also still on a significant amount of medication. Greg is on 8 (by Jessie's count) medications relating to things ranging from pain management to anti-seizure.
Medications are a good example of the new challenges being home brings. When Greg was at UPMC Southside, trained professionals were around to make sure he received meds on a specific timetable. Now that he's home, the burden is on Greg and Jess to make sure he's taking everything and isn't accidentally skipping doses or taking too much medication.
Of course, the flip side of being home is that, at UPMC Southside, Greg's main function of the day was rehab, with a lot of downtime. At home, he's constantly learning and testing his limits in conversation, walking stairs, using his right hand doing the things he has to do every day, etc.
Greg will be continuing formal rehabilitation three days a week. We're not quite sure of the schedule yet, but we're confident that he'll continue to improve with outpatient rehab and everything he's doing on a daily basis at home.
Sorry for the brevity. Bigger update when the Rippers have had a chance to acclimate. (not quite as brief now)