The spine surgeon finally called. He had a chance to look at the x-rays I sent him and also my letter, asking when Redjeb could take off the neck brace. We had pretty much given up hearing from him, as he is not in his office very much; does surgery non-stop it seems. We had today finally resigned ourselves to waiting until the scheduled appointment the second week of October. And then the phone call at 5:30 on Friday afternoon: Dr. Morelli gave the OK for the brace to be taken off!! Yes, indeed.
Getting the word to take the brace off was a bit of an ordeal in-and-of itself. I sort of remembered in early July that the surgeon had said the brace would be on for 2 months. That seemed long. But later in the hospital people kept saying 3-4 months. That shocked me, but then I thought maybe I hadn't heard right the first time. In the nursing home the orthopedic doctor said they usually stayed on for 3 months. I asked the nursing home to send their recent xrays to the surgeon Dr. Morelli and wrote him a letter asking when it could come off. Some time went by and then I heard from his secretary that the nursing home had neglected to include the neck xray in the series they sent. So I had to start again.
By this time we were home. I called and requested the home send the correct xrays and also a set to me (as they had before to me). I waited a while, and then called to see if the surgeon had gotten them and when would I hear from him. His secretary was out sick for days. When she got back, she told me he had not received the second set of xrays; she also told me that he would never agree to take the brace off before he said he would. I tried to explain to her that he never really said when it would come off, and we hoped he would consider sooner than the Oct 10 appointment that she had scheduled for us on the assumption it would be 3 months.
So we agreed that I would send her a copy of the neck xray myself, which I did and with another cover letter. There were a few more phone calls between me and the secretary and others, and we also found out that we could not move our appointment earlier as he was all booked up till the 10th. We resigned ourselves to just wait till the 10th. So you can see that we were surprised and delighted when Dr. Morelli called at the end of the day on Friday to say all looked good and Redjeb could remove the brace.
At first when I told Redjeb, he's like, but I don't want to take it off. I think he was beginning to feel secure with it on or something....But off it came, Yeah!!! Another milestone, and this one a big one. We don't have to keep putting bandages under the brace and all that cleaning and stuff, and the nurse won't have to come anymore, etc. etc.
The doctor was surprised when I told him that Redjeb goes out by himself now, close by, to coffee shops or to sit in the sun (with his walker). He only knew Redjeb that night of the accident and the first week in the hospital when R was in really bad shape. Redjeb was pretty much out cold both times. The surgery was done a week after the accident and the brace was on over 2 months. We are still planning to keep the appointment in Hampton Bays with the surgeon in October just so he can see the results of his handiwork and to see how fit Redjeb really is. And so onward we go.
People who visit often express surprise at how good Redjeb looks. In fact even when he was in the hospital he looked quite good. The big difference is that he has lost a lot of weight, so his face is thinner. He is of course wandering around with his walker (rolater). But basically it's Redjeb.
In the last post I mentioned our living in an accessible apartment (includes being in an elevator building). Those of you who have known me for decades remember my 5-floor-walk-up on West 22nd Street. Lived there most of my NYC life. At some point we decided to move, which was partly my concern that we were getting older and may not always be able to make it up the stairs. [Note. 1) I used to work in rehab, and also 2) I observed what happened to some of the other tenants on 22nd St who got older and had problems with the stairs, 3) I also had a patient years ago who told me he volunteered with meals-on-wheels and was taking food up to an old lady who lived in a 5-floor-walk-up and could not get down. I got the message. ] Anyway, sometimes it is good to be Cassandra and think of the possible disasters. So we got out of our five floor walk up years ago and are in our accessible building. But I do miss 22nd Street. I always liked that part of town, and now it is even better down there. Alas, here we are on the UES--Upper East Side.
We have restarted Netflix and have gotten hooked on the French TV serial Spiral. It is an exciting cops and gangsters thriller. Don't watch it if you have a week stomach, however, as there are some grisly scenes. But you can look away till they are over. That is how we are spending the recovery time, that and reading escape books.
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