Yesterday was Xray and talk-to-the-Doctor’s-rep-day. I didn’t hear what I wanted to hear, but I also feel much better because I know precisely where I stand, making it possible to work at solutions.
First off, I had already discovered that health insurance covers treatment requiring care by a licensed professional, including Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy. It doesn’t cover things provided by talented aides –all the things that help with the practical aspects of living with this brace, for example.
As for the Xray, things “are looking the way they are supposed to look.”
I also learned that the brace definitely must stay on for a total of three months – two more to go. And it must always be on whenever I am upright. So there’s no license to get up without it in the middle of the night for a pit stop, for example.
Then I was taught how to put it on and remove it myself, with the hope that I can get to the point of doing it quickly when I need to get up. Besides that, it’s clear that I am not the only person experiencing this brace thing and people have learned various ways of living with it. For example, some people choose to sleep in it.
All that information left me feeling good, because problems can be solved when the facts are clear. Since I’m planning to leave rehab on June first, I have this week to practice proficiency in putting it on and off. I’ll have the opportunity to try sleeping in it. And I’ll be able to set up the bed situation to make it all work at home. Plus I’ll call on friends to help me set up my house to deal with these temporary requirements.
As has been the case all along here, I have learned so much more practical understanding of the situation for others, especially for those with long-range problems, so much more serious than mine.
All of which adds to the powerful sense of gratitude I’ve experienced ever since finding myself still alive after the “event” of April 15.
monagustafsonaffinito 
Still alive. That is the main thing! Plus you
Are working from a positive perspective.
God bless you dear, Mona.
Thank you for your encouraging reply. Actually I’m rejoicing this morning because I managed to take the brace off myself at bedtime. Better yet, I put it on myself in the middle of the night to make a pit stop. So freeing!
From my perspective it seems as if you are benefiting from “rehab”. It seems to be giving you the strength and tools you need to move on to the next step in your recovery. Good that you will have the opportunity to test sleeping with the brace as, if successful, that may well relieve several other worries. I trust you will be referred to a home care agency so that options of therapy and care at home can be made available. And yes, not matter the absolute value of the aides providing direct care, Medicare is only interested in the “skilled service” that will support the willingness to cover any care at all. That may be a disappointment to a person in your situation, able to appreciate all the valuable contributions aides make to your care and recovery. It may be more acceptable to the taxpayer in you.
You seem to be doing all the “right things”, advancing in your understanding of options and progressing as expected medically.
Good for you!
Mona, everything i read from you leave me feel uplifted and grateful. There is so much self-love and support in there – I was looking for a word, and GRACE come. You are filled with it.Suffused with it. You are truly blessed, and I am blessed just reading about how you relate to everything. I see how often I have wallowed in being so “unlucky” so often – it was always only my own false perception that hurt, nothing else. You are my rolemodel. Dear Mona, sending tons of love and healing thoughts.
Thank you, dear Leelah. If I were to fully take in all the beautiful things you say, I’d be able to fly once again over the street sign and take down the light pole without needing a car to do it in. You do know, of course that the beauty you see comes from within you.
yes I know:) this receiving thing – I am practicing 🙂
It seems to me you are pretty darn good at shining the light within and sharing it without.
Glad you’ll be home soon. I’m sure everything will go well. Can’t wait to hear what it’s like sleeping with the brace on.
Actually, it’s more comfortable than I imagined it would be. I’ve tried it with just the back piece fully on and the front attached on only one side. It kind of cradles my back in place.