Charlie is Thankful to have her Daddy home

We are home in Newport!!!!! Angle Med Flights picked us up from Slidell Memorial Hospital. We left Slidell airport in a Leer jet close to 6pm central time and landed in Newport close to 11pm pacific time. We were met by the respritory therapist who got John all settled at home. Thanks to the efforts of Matti, Becky, Luke, Alese, and Mabel the house was for John. The fight was long but smooth and the crew was fantastic. We are very thankful to be home for the holidays.

John is hooked up to his new ventilator and after a little tweaking, he is doing great. Matti and Becky have been doing some incredible work at the house in Newport, getting things ready for John. They are now talking about transporting  John tomorrow afternoon. They want to get him home early so In Home Health Care can meet with us all before the Thanksgiving holiday. We are very excited. The flight should take about five hours with one fuel stop. We will land at Newport airport.

John is scheduled to transport to Newport Oregon next Wednesday. The in-home ventilator company has fedexed our ventilator to Slidell Memorial Hospital so that John can be hooked up to it here. He will get used to it for a couple of days before traveling, making the transition home easier. In addition to respritory therapist visits, we have connected with Sameritan In Home Health Services for support with all of John’s medical and rehabilitation needs. We are all starting to get excited about being home for Thanksgiving, but have decided that we are going to truly miss some of the wonderful people that we have connected with in Louisiana. Their kindness and friendship has helped us through this very difficult time.

Today Matti and I began a 48 hour period of time where we are supposed to take care of John while the nurses just supervise. We have all been doing just fine, even John. I think that is is very difficult for the nurses to let us do the work, they are very dedicated to caring for their patients. The hospital case worker has spent the last couple of days faxing chart notes and hospital orders to medical supply companies, in home health care agencies, and a prospective doctor. If all goes well and the doctor accepts John as a patient, John will be transported home to Newport next Wednesday, November 26. Matti is flying with Charlie to Newport this weekend to be available for medical supply deliveries. I plan to go with John and the medical transport. Please keep your fingers crossed that the move will proceed without obstacles.

Today was a productive day. John spent part of the afternoon in a wheel chair while he worked with his occupational therapist. They have been working to strengthen his shoulder and high back muscles. Matti and I have learned to empty, catheters & colostomy bags,  administer meds, care for the trec, peg, and delicate skin. We are now working towards bringing John straight home to Newport. We are working to set up in home health care help for some of the nursing and respritory needs.

Sorry that I have not posted for a few days. We simply had no news. We are still working on every possible avenue to get John to Oregon. The difficulties are result of medical liability issues and money issues surrounding medical insurance. We have some new ideas and will let everyone know when we have a firm plan. At Slidell they are switching over any intravenous medicines to ones that can be given to him by peg tube. They are also giving us hands on instruction on all aspects of John’s care so the transition to a non hospital facility can be made.

The request for Johns admission into VIBRA was denied by his health care coverage. They said that the reason for denying the request was that John is an inpatient in a Louisiana facility, so he does not meet the rules for enrollment in an Oregon health care program and he will be disenrolled. We are continuing to work with  insurance providers and medical facilities to try and work out a transfer. We have not given up, but we are getting very tired and frustrated. Medically it was a positive day. John spent a couple hours sitting up in a special chair. This is good for his circulation and made OT more effective.

Today John’s Oregon insurance coverage became active. VIBRA in Oregon faxed a request for authorization to admit John to their rehabilitation program.  We hope to hear back some time soon.  He will continue to have OT, wound care, and respiratory treatments until we transfer west.

Today John had his Foley catheter replaced with a Suprapubic catheter. This new catheter goes directly into the bladder through a small incision below the belly button and causes less tissue break down and less chance of adhesions. Other than the procedure, the day was filled with his regular OT, wound care, and respitory treatments.