Kris update

Dear friends and loved ones,

It’s Sunday, April 3rd, and I wanted to get an update out before April 1st.  My, how the days fly by!  But that’s okay because we pull out of the RV park here in Sebring and head back to Texas today! Hooray!

It has been another emotional roller coaster ride lately, however.  A fast trip to Pennsylvania to drive George’s sister home, a chance to visit all our children (everybody’s on the run and busy!), the better part of a day spent with daughter Stephanie and our newest granddaughter, then a real bumpy flight back to Florida last Monday (in the midst of one of those awful storms!).  That was followed by a very busy week getting our home closed up, vehicles serviced, and the RV ready to go.  I must confess, when it came to attaching a photo snapped during the visit up north, the one that really caught my eye was our oldest grandson, Aren (quite the eligible bachelor at 26), holding our youngest granddaughter, Little Ainsley Kristine (who, at 12 weeks old, gave him her biggest and best heartwarming smile!).

Now, the day for which we have been anxiously preparing : our return to Texas and to Kris.  Admittedly, since my last visit with Kris early in March, I’m afraid she has had more ups and downs over these past weeks.  While there has been some progress, evidently it isn’t quite enough for the Air Force to continue covering her stay at Health South RIOSA in San Antonio.  Criteria for her care there must be met, they say, and, if not, she would be discharged to another approved rehab center,  or to a nursing facility, or to her own home.  Since Kris is, unfortunately, not near ready to go home yet, and a nursing care facility would simply be a home away from home with no rehab (which is just unacceptable!), they are looking at another rehabilitation hospital north of San Antonio.  The place comes highly recommended, as did RIOSA, and we’ve checked it out online.  In addition, I’ve talked with the case managers from both RIOSA and the Air Force, and I’ve had a lengthy conversation with the person in charge of admissions at this new facility.  She was very nice and took time to answer all my questions and concerns quite capably.  We have an appointment to go up and visit this new facility just a few days after we arrive back in Texas.  Russell, Kris’s husband, isn’t able to take off work that day, but (as he has so often said) he very willingly accepts our judgment on such decisions.  One of our concerns is that this represents another change for Kris, which will be unsettling again.  Also, it’s west of Austin, which means she will not be close to home again: close to family and friends.  The facility is called CORE Rehabilitation Center, and it is located in Dripping Springs, Texas (about 18 miles west of Austin).  After checking the website thoroughly, I have no idea what the acronym CORE represents, and that will be one of my first questions!

The other attached photo (taken when I was with Kris in March) was in the huge walking machine.  As I may mentioned in our last update, Kris had a few physical setbacks and I was thankful when they put her back in some additional physical therapy sessions.  Her right hand continues to draw tighter and in towards her body, however, and her right foot has been turning in for some time now.  She can stand on it and walk (with assistance, of course), but that foot continues to turn in more and more when she’s sitting in her wheelchair or when she is in bed.  The RIOSA therapy folks have decided to put her leg and foot in a special brace, and they will do the same for her right arm and hand.  She would wear them only when she is in bed.  Her muscle tone is worse, which tells me she had not been receiving as much physical therapy as we believe she should have.  In the new level of care she was put into back in February, her therapies changed to include some group therapy sessions.  I believe this level is wonderful for patients who can talk and take part, but I feel certain Kris would have progressed more with the physical work she had been receiving.  It was, however, an endeavor to show the powers that be with the Air Force that she had continued to improve, thus keeping her at RIOSA a while longer.  Unfortunately, we could not be there as we had been every day to encourage her and work with her.  I had hoped we would have some time to help her show more improvement when we return, and we are still hopeful that might be the case.  Moving her now will only upset her again but, of course, it isn’t totally our decision and the military will make the final call.  We have been so thrilled with the staff and therapists at RIOSA, and it is hard to think of her going away from there for many, many reasons. 

So, again we have mixed emotions and some trepidation as to Kris’s future.  CORE is, in itself, a long term care community, which means the patient can stay there for some time.  On one hand, continuity is what a traumatic brain injury (TBI) patient needs but, on the other hand, it’s farther away from home, family and friends.  Our hope is completely in God’s hands and, as always, we’ll wait on Him to help us make the right decisions.  Her care is of the utmost importance to us, and any decision must take her care (long and short term) into full consideration.

We continue to covet your prayers.  Please pray for our safe travels, lower gas prices (yea, really!), and for emotional as well as physical wellness so that we can do and be all that Kris needs in the coming months.  Except for a brief trip to Tennessee at the end of May, our plan is to be in Texas until the end of October or early November.  By that time, well... all of it is totally in God’s hands!

Our blessings and love,

Carol and George