Home sweet home

We are home. It seemed like ages of the gradual weaning from the tubes in the hospital last week but now we are down to just the PEG tube feedings and wound care, liquid pain and anticoagulants for medicines. Despite the great nursing care and careful attentions of physicians, I think we are glad to be back in our own rather calm house. Supplies seem to fit in an empty dresser and under the bed so I feel "resettled." Paul Sack helped us get the office room set up for home health care and a visiting nurse came by this Saturday afternoon before David settled in to watch basketball - the Maryland defeat by Duke. David, in his usual scientific rigor, devised a daily medications schedule so we can keep accurate track of when and what to give.

Today another flurry of cards arrived in the mail as well as those copies of insurance billings for lab work and initial hospital days. We have no idea yet how much the intricate surgery, anesthesia, and hospital ICU cost. We are thankful for Hopkins Blue Cross and Blue Shield insurance which will cover 100% of the home health care, (I’m unpaid) supplies, and a visiting nurse to draw bloods several times a week. We pay a small deductible on all prescriptions. Unlike many Americans, we will not need to declare bankruptcy from this medical calamity because David’s employer (with matching deductions from his paycheck) has a paid-for plan. We are hopeful that President Obama’s team can work with politicians to restructure health care in America. Big insurance companies like Blue Cross negotiate costs with hospitals for their clients but uninsured people (like our daughter Rebecca’s family) pay the highest possible prices for care and medicines. Good health is costly but of high value for individuals needing help.

Ironically, David has been listening to Barack Obama’s “Dreams of My Father” on audio CDs, narrated by our current President. This man grew up, like most of you readers, with tremendous changes and many moves around the world. He knows that making transitions calls for careful planning, whether it is coordinating a move from a hospital to a home or a for country used to neglecting it’s poor to a nation which cares about equal access to educational opportunities, jobs and health! Many of President Obama’s closest relatives have had calamities in health care. I’ve been writing to our elected congressmen at federal and state levels about many of those issues these past days of Dave’s recovery. We definitely need to give voice to our hopes for improvement as well as work in every way to help our struggling neighbors and overseas friends!

I may make one more posting next week and then close this blog. We are assuming that Easter will mark his next transition back to work. Thank you for your caring for David during this month of miracles!