Frustration (an Understatement)

To say the very least, the last few days have been extremely draining on Mom, Dad and Kathlin. They have done an amazing job of handling a very difficult and sensitive situation. To make a long and infuriating story much shorter, Santa Clara Valley informed the insurance company that Kevin is "no longer making progress” (even though the therapists asserted he is). The insurance company then decided that Kevin is no longer fit for acute rehab and notified us that Kevin would be sent home next week. Let me reiterate… Kevin is improving, but he still can’t do much by himself. He is not fit to return home. Valley wanted to use the last week of Kevin’s time in the hospital to train Kathlin, Mom and Dad how to be Kevin’s nurses and therapists (occupations that take years of training and cannot be learned in a week). Also, Kevin would still be receiving chemotherapy past the date they wanted to kick him out of the hospital.

The worst thing: when the hospital told the insurance company that Kevin was “not progressing,” the insurance company decided to deny any future acute rehab. As I wrote in the previous post, we strongly believe that Kevin needs acute rehab to continue improving and to keep his fighting spirit going. Acute rehab is still medically necessary for Kevin. Dad managed to successfully explain this to one of the insurance company's doctors. As a result, the insurance company has taken back their decision to deny any further acute rehab. Thanks to Dad’s hard work and the amazing cooperation of the acute rehab unit at Dominican Hospital, Kevin will be transferred to Santa Cruz early next week.

Kevin likes this decision. He commented, “the food’s better at Santa Cruz, anyway.”

In addition to this unpleasant hospital/insurance situation, a few nights ago, there was an accident while an aide helped Kevin transfer from a wheelchair to his bed. The aide didn’t situate their legs in the correct stance, and Kevin’s right leg slipped and was injured. His right leg—his “good” leg—is now sore and swollen. X-rays and ultrasounds have shown that this is most likely a pulled muscle—there are no broken bones, and the blood clot should not be the cause of the pain. However, we’re frustrated beyond belief that on top of everything else going on right now, Kevin has to go through yet another unexpected painful event.

In other news, the editor-in-chief of the Colgate newspaper wrote a column about Kevin’s situation, the editor’s own health problems and the power of friends’ and family’s support in times like these. You can read the article here. Paul Kasabian, the editor, has hit the nail right on the head; all of your love and support has helped us in innumerable ways. Thank you, for the umpteenth time, to each and every one of you who keeps Kevin in your thoughts.