#25- MEDICAL UPDATE FROM JUNE 20, 2017:

Today I went back to Moffitt for a post-op visit with my surgeon.  He was happy with the way things are continuing to heal.   They have used the same incision for all the surgeries, so there is concern that it might not heal well. however, so far everyone is impressed with the way it’s healing.  I was glad to have this visit today because for the last couple of days things have not been very good.  It started out with some pressure in my head and quickly grew to a headache than just was not controlled by the pain medication I was given at the hospital.   I called the doctor’s office, told them what was going on, they gave me a few things to try.  However, things just continued to get worse throughout the weekend.  I called the doctor’s office back again on Monday and told them what was happening.  They suggested a couple of other things to try. Another problem was that I could not keep the medication down.  That’s probably a couple of the most physically miserable days I’ve ever experienced.  It even hurt to rest my head on the pillow.  Now I’m done complaining.  Because after talking with the surgeon today he came to the conclusion that there’s some swelling due to the surgery on my brain and while that doesn’t sound good in most circumstances, in my circumstance that’s not so bad because this is to be expected and doesn’t indicate that there’s anything more serious going on in there.  It just needs time and a medication adjustment.

So, at this point we’re just waiting on approval from the insurance company for the new medication. They have already denied once. However, the doctor expects that they will come thru as Moffitt continues working through the appeal process.

My next appointment is July 6.  I will have another MRI and we are hoping to have the new medication approved so that I can get started with it at that time.

Over the weekend while I was having these issues one of the people I spoke to on the phone even went to the trouble of the tracking down one of the nurses with whom I needed to speak.  When we got to Moffitt yesterday she was the same person who checked me in for my appointment.  I remembered her because of her name.  Her name is “Imani”. That stuck out to me particularly because that is a Swahili word for faith.  I mentioned to her that she was the one who had talked to me on the phone and had gone to the trouble of tracking down the nurse, an extra effort to help me out in a time of need.  She asked me if I remembered her because of the sound of her voice.  I said no it was your name that caught my attention and I explained to her how that I had lived in Kenya and knew that name being Swahili. Interestingly enough, however, she was not born in Kenya but had been born in Ethiopia and had told her mom who had given her that name that it confused people because the name came from Kenya and yet she was born in Ethiopia. But her mom had liked the name anyway. So, we had an interesting conversation with her as my parents had been missionaries in Ethiopia for several years before later going to Kenya as missionaries, where I was raised.  So, they talked over some interesting facts about Ethiopia, places they had been. When she was done checking me in and came around to put on my normal hospital bracelet and my gold bracelet like always.  Imani hugged my parents and said it was like talking with her family. She seemed to be very appreciative of the conversation.  Imani, you may have appreciated the conversation however, I appreciate your sweet spirit and your willingness to go beyond your normal job description and help a patient in her time of need. In today’s society, we don’t find a lot of people willing to go above and beyond what they are expected to do.  But it’s nice to find those few gems here and there. 

Addendum: The insurance company has not only denied the original request for the medication. They have also now denied the appeals. I received a phone call today from Moffitt and was told the next step is to appeal to the pharmaceutical company to see if they can help me to get the medicine.  So, I’m putting this out there. I know God is able to do it any way He wants to.  Would you pray with me that someone would put this through so that we can move forward in the next step of my treatment?

My view coming home from Moffitt last Monday.