5 September 2005
I had an appointment with the rehabilitation specialist, John Olver, at the Epworth, in the afternoon. I was meant to see him around end of June but postponed because I didn’t think there was any need for it. He was supposed to arrange for me to have a Botox before he went away to Sao Paolo for a conference. He must have forgotten because I never heard from him about it. I think Gavin is probably right that I don’t need a Botox so there was no need for me to see him back in June. Today, I want to ask him to refer me to see a neuropsychologist and a hand therapist. I spoke to Gavin on Friday about the hand therapist, who is also an OT, that Gary goes to. I asked Gavin about this person and he told me to ask John to talk to him about it because John doesn’t know Gary. I want to have a neuropsychologist test done again before I go back to work. I had one done before I came home from MECRS last September and I think it’s time to do another one just to see if there are any changes.
Tim couldn’t accompany me to see John because he is too busy with work. I went to my appointment on my own but was a bit worried that I didn’t have a backup person for moral support and also help me to digest all the information. I was surprised that my appointment was right on time. Normally I would have to wait for a while but today John came to fetch me from the waiting area right on the dot – 2 p.m. I asked him about his trip to Sao Paolo just to be polite and that kept the conversation going for a bit. He said he felt a bit uncomfortable walking on the streets in Sao Paolo. I told him that I know what he meant because I went to a conference with Tim there when we first got married and I found it a bit scary walking on the streets as well. I think ever since I left chartered accounting firms, I haven’t really tried to start up a conversation with people anymore. I used to have to do that with my clients and tried to keep good relationships with them. After I left chartered accounting, I felt there was no need to ‘suck up’ to anyone anymore. It’s good in a way but on the same token, I probably don’t make as much effort to talk to people like I used to. I think ever since my operation, I haven’t really tried to make an effort to talk to anyone at all. I don’t remember doing that at MECRS and I certainly haven’t at Epworth. It’s amazing the difference it makes. John seemed a lot more friendly to talk to now that we talked about Sao Paolo. His mobile rang during our meeting and to my surprise he actually didn’t answer it and switched it off straight away. He asked me how I was going and what can he do for me today. I told him I had a few questions for him. I told him that my massage therapist noticed that my left side (including the arm, hand, leg and foot) seemed to be colder than the left side and I wondered if that’s often the case with people who had brain injuries and whether it means I have bad blood circulation on the left side. At first, he misunderstood my question and thought I asked about the blood circulation in the brain and starting talking about something I thought sounded a bit strange. After I explained to him that I meant the blood circulation in the limbs, he told me that’s quite often the case with people who have weakness in one side. He said the weak side often doesn’t move as much as the other side so it often gets cold or swollen. He also said that weakness in the calf muscles sometimes makes the ankle swollen and he asked me if my ankle is swollen sometimes. I told him yes. Now I know why my ankle is sometimes swollen. Judy and I often wonder why my ankle is swollen but never really found out the answer.
I also told John that I want to see a neuropsychologist and have an assessment before I return to work. I told him that I had one done last September and it’s probably time to do another one. He said it’s very wise to do that but apparently the private health insurances won’t fund it so I either have to pay for it myself or he can try to arrange for me to go to a public hospital to do it. I asked him about the cost and he told me it’s probably around $400-$500 because the neuropsychologist charges by the hour and I would need a few hours to sit for the test and then the neuropsychologist will need to write up a report and that takes time as well. He asked me who was my neuropsychologist at MECRS. I told him the name and then he asked me who my doctor was there. I told him it’s Fary Khan. He said he knows her pretty well because he employef her at the Caulfield Medical Centre. He said he’ll speak to her to find out if she can arrange for me to see Sheryl at MECRS. He then asked if I got on with the neuropsychologist at MECRS ok. I thought that’s a strange question. I guess he must have heard something from Fary then. I wonder what he has heard about me because whatever it was, it would not have been nice. I’m sure Fary would not have told him about how incompentent the staff were and of course, they will always blame it on Jeff Kennett because he cut the funding etc. I told John that I doubt if MECRS can do anything for me while I come to Epworth for treatment because they would not get funding from the government. I told him that I had to stop everything at MECRS – physio, OT, swimming group etc, when I decided to come to Epworth. He said that’s a bit odd because that’s not how the funding works. He said often they don’t like people seeing different physios or OTs because they need to work in teams. For example, the OT often needs to talk to the physio about certain problem a patient may have.
I then asked him to refer me to see the OT who is also a hand therapist that Gavin mentioned before. I told John that I know my hand has recovered really well but there may be something wrong with it and unless I consult with an expert. I probably wouldn’t know what’s wrong with it. This is exactly what I told Gavin and he agreed. I don’t know why John gave me this strange look and told me that Tim and I expect 100% recovery but there is no guarantee. He said the adult brain is still plastic and can improve but there is no guarantee that I can get 100% recovery. I was very temptewd to tell him that he is right that I should not expect 100% recovery because the way Gavin is pushing me looks like I'm going to get 120% recovery. (TO BE CONTINUED)
NOTE:
There is some very urgent stuff I have to do for Tim. The venture capital people want to do a due diligence on his company so I have to prepare all the info they need. Tim said he only just received the request this morning and they want it by COB tomorrow. This is really stressful for me but I suppose it's just something I have to deal with. The diary/blog will have to wait until I get this done. I apologise for the delay to all my regular readers but I'm sure you'll understand.
Tim couldn’t accompany me to see John because he is too busy with work. I went to my appointment on my own but was a bit worried that I didn’t have a backup person for moral support and also help me to digest all the information. I was surprised that my appointment was right on time. Normally I would have to wait for a while but today John came to fetch me from the waiting area right on the dot – 2 p.m. I asked him about his trip to Sao Paolo just to be polite and that kept the conversation going for a bit. He said he felt a bit uncomfortable walking on the streets in Sao Paolo. I told him that I know what he meant because I went to a conference with Tim there when we first got married and I found it a bit scary walking on the streets as well. I think ever since I left chartered accounting firms, I haven’t really tried to start up a conversation with people anymore. I used to have to do that with my clients and tried to keep good relationships with them. After I left chartered accounting, I felt there was no need to ‘suck up’ to anyone anymore. It’s good in a way but on the same token, I probably don’t make as much effort to talk to people like I used to. I think ever since my operation, I haven’t really tried to make an effort to talk to anyone at all. I don’t remember doing that at MECRS and I certainly haven’t at Epworth. It’s amazing the difference it makes. John seemed a lot more friendly to talk to now that we talked about Sao Paolo. His mobile rang during our meeting and to my surprise he actually didn’t answer it and switched it off straight away. He asked me how I was going and what can he do for me today. I told him I had a few questions for him. I told him that my massage therapist noticed that my left side (including the arm, hand, leg and foot) seemed to be colder than the left side and I wondered if that’s often the case with people who had brain injuries and whether it means I have bad blood circulation on the left side. At first, he misunderstood my question and thought I asked about the blood circulation in the brain and starting talking about something I thought sounded a bit strange. After I explained to him that I meant the blood circulation in the limbs, he told me that’s quite often the case with people who have weakness in one side. He said the weak side often doesn’t move as much as the other side so it often gets cold or swollen. He also said that weakness in the calf muscles sometimes makes the ankle swollen and he asked me if my ankle is swollen sometimes. I told him yes. Now I know why my ankle is sometimes swollen. Judy and I often wonder why my ankle is swollen but never really found out the answer.
I also told John that I want to see a neuropsychologist and have an assessment before I return to work. I told him that I had one done last September and it’s probably time to do another one. He said it’s very wise to do that but apparently the private health insurances won’t fund it so I either have to pay for it myself or he can try to arrange for me to go to a public hospital to do it. I asked him about the cost and he told me it’s probably around $400-$500 because the neuropsychologist charges by the hour and I would need a few hours to sit for the test and then the neuropsychologist will need to write up a report and that takes time as well. He asked me who was my neuropsychologist at MECRS. I told him the name and then he asked me who my doctor was there. I told him it’s Fary Khan. He said he knows her pretty well because he employef her at the Caulfield Medical Centre. He said he’ll speak to her to find out if she can arrange for me to see Sheryl at MECRS. He then asked if I got on with the neuropsychologist at MECRS ok. I thought that’s a strange question. I guess he must have heard something from Fary then. I wonder what he has heard about me because whatever it was, it would not have been nice. I’m sure Fary would not have told him about how incompentent the staff were and of course, they will always blame it on Jeff Kennett because he cut the funding etc. I told John that I doubt if MECRS can do anything for me while I come to Epworth for treatment because they would not get funding from the government. I told him that I had to stop everything at MECRS – physio, OT, swimming group etc, when I decided to come to Epworth. He said that’s a bit odd because that’s not how the funding works. He said often they don’t like people seeing different physios or OTs because they need to work in teams. For example, the OT often needs to talk to the physio about certain problem a patient may have.
I then asked him to refer me to see the OT who is also a hand therapist that Gavin mentioned before. I told John that I know my hand has recovered really well but there may be something wrong with it and unless I consult with an expert. I probably wouldn’t know what’s wrong with it. This is exactly what I told Gavin and he agreed. I don’t know why John gave me this strange look and told me that Tim and I expect 100% recovery but there is no guarantee. He said the adult brain is still plastic and can improve but there is no guarantee that I can get 100% recovery. I was very temptewd to tell him that he is right that I should not expect 100% recovery because the way Gavin is pushing me looks like I'm going to get 120% recovery. (TO BE CONTINUED)
NOTE:
There is some very urgent stuff I have to do for Tim. The venture capital people want to do a due diligence on his company so I have to prepare all the info they need. Tim said he only just received the request this morning and they want it by COB tomorrow. This is really stressful for me but I suppose it's just something I have to deal with. The diary/blog will have to wait until I get this done. I apologise for the delay to all my regular readers but I'm sure you'll understand.
posted by Teresa Liu at 3:34 AM
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