Well it’s been a while since I wrote anything on my blog. My daugher now has her own AVM site…check it out.
We are now “stuck” in DC at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. We are very upset having been promised equal physical, occupational and speech therapy and not receiving equal therapy as we received at the VA in Salem, Va.
We fight every day to get appointments…it requires some effort. Her medical boards offically began however this could take 6 to 9 months…I do not relish living in DC for that long…my poor house and my lonely son…
Anyway, Seyward is really about the same…the leg is a little stronger and she is able to raise the arm a little higher than before…no fingers or toes wiggling yet. She remains in good spirits and I’m really impressed with her attitude.
I guess I will have to relinquish my co-treasurer and choir director at my church next year since it’s no way I can do that next year with the length of time I’ll spend here. I surely don’t want to seem ungrateful about the living conditions at least we are staying free of charge with the majority of our meals paid for…I’m suppose to be getting a little money (been told $1000.00 a month) being an official NMA (non medical assisstant). I really feel like I’m in the army. There is no room on base so we have to stay at the Hilton in Silver Spring (about 2 miles away). They have a shuttle that runs on the hour from the hotel and on the half hour from the medical center…sometimes we wait an hour to get on depending on when her appointments end. Also there is no place for us to hang out between appointments…if you have a place on base you can just go back to your room…but the Hilton has some advantages…we can walk to restaurants and shopping and movie theaters, etc…
You’d think the Hilton would be great but I tell you I wouldn’t recommend the Hilton for NOTHING. This one has no accomodations for handicapped bathrooms so it is quite the accrobatic event to get her chair in the tub and get her in…(they only have them in rooms with king size beds and then they only qualify it has handicapped because it has a rail). The first room we had was just two beds after complianing we got a room with a living room and a room with two double beds attached. That allows her to go to bed and my husband and I can stay up and not disturb her. One bad thing…this hotel has roaches…that’s been “interesting”, plus at least twice a week they forget to clean the room…so I gotta call. Some of the folks at the medical center are great but there are others that are very rude and unsympathetic…all of these small issues easily build up…plus being away from home don’t help.
I was able to get her into MATC which “supposedly” is a better facility for physical therapy…we start that in November. We are on leave from Oct 21-28, so that’ll help. I’ll have to get her car licensed in VA, catch up on the church records and clean my house…so it’ll be a full day every day, but it sure will be nice to be home.
We’ve been taking in a few sites near DC, so that’s been fun. I pray for you all whenever I can…I know that prayers works and this group is always behind us. Thanks everyone and you all take care of yourselves!!