A Note from Dr. Marc

Dear Friends,

I am home!!! Lindsay told me that she already told you all that but being able to say it is so therapeutic. I can’t even begin to tell you how wonderful it has been to sleep in my own bed after two weeks of sleeping on a “slab” at the hospital. As you can imagine, I’ve been sleeping a lot but I am feeling stronger every day. My family has been able to be with me most of the time. What a gift!
I can’t thank you enough for all of your heartfelt notes, cards, flowers, comments, thoughts and prayers. They really brightened this experience and uplifted me. I could feel all of your love and sincerity and it made a huge difference.

I have been talking with Jeanne about how to get back in the game and she is making sure that I don’t over-tax myself. You are all very important to me. I am eager to see you and catch up. Please stay in touch.

Warm Regards,
Dr. Marc

Recovery Day 14–HOMECOMING!!!

Well, it took 36 hours of prodding but we finally got him home. It was like being stranded at the airport–endless hours staring at the clock, knowing that we were going to leave eventually but discouraged by continued delays. Even the cleaning staff was ready for him to leave, when he returned from physical therapy, his bed was stripped and waiting for the next patient. Despite the cleaning staff’s eagerness, we waited an additional four hours before all of the paper work was completed.
Finally, at 4 pm, we were cleared for takeoff and Dr. Marc left the hospital and headed home. He walked in the house and sat in his usual spot in the living room and ate grilled chicken in front of the tv. Then, he took a hot epsom salt bath and promptly fell asleep in his own bed for the first time in two weeks. We are taking bets as to how long we will be able keep him out of the office. He is eager to get this behind him and get back to work.
We are so happy to have him here and we can’t thank you all enough for your continued support and encouragement throughout this ordeal. We are truly fortunate to have such wonderful people in our lives!

Recovery Day 13

We got to the hospital at 8 am to begin the push for Dr. Marc’s release. Once we said those six little words, “We want to take him home,” it was like an army of medical ants springing into furious action. They must have administered every known medical test from cat-scans, to sonograms of his heart, to doplar of his legs, to blood work. They wanted to make sure that every base was covered before he was released. In between this flurry of tests, Dr. Marc still had to engage in 6 therapy sessions. All of his therapists were pleased with his progress and thought he was ready to go home. Needless to say, after all of this activity, he was pretty exhausted by the afternoon.
At around 4:30, we began to realize that there was no way he was going to be released today because all of those tests still needed to be analyzed. Around 6 pm, they said that all of the neuro doctors needed to examine all of the tests before Dr. Marc could be cleared for release. It looks like tomorrow is the big day, unless they can come up with some other part of Dr. Marc’s anatomy that was not thoroughly tested today. If he is not released tomorrow, we are employing all of you to march on the hospital carrying signs, “Free Dr. Marc.” I don’t think any of us can take another day of sitting and waiting.

Recovery Day 12

Today was pretty uneventful. The hospital has a skeleton crew on Sundays so there wasn’t too much going on. We are working on getting him out tomorrow. For fear of sounding like a broken record, he can’t stand it anymore. He is bored, sleep-deprived and ready to sleep in his own bed.
He completed the occupational therapy exit evaluation this afternoon. This required him to prove that he could do normal household activities on his own, like walking by himself, getting to the bathroom and loading a dishwasher. We told him that loading the dishwasher would be a continual part of his at-home therapy. The occupational therapist was more than satisfied at his ability to be independent and released him from her charge.
We are going to speak with the head rehab doctor tomorrow morning and hopefully, persuade him that it would be in Dr. Marc’s best interest to continue his healing at home. We are convinced more than ever that hospitals are great for sick care, but not conducive to “health” care. We are confident that the head doctor will not be able to resist our persuasive charm. Wish us luck!

Recovery Day 11

Today was a very busy day for Dr. Marc. He had three different therapy sessions that wore him out. However, he did fabulously and made real strides. He walked almost completely unassisted down the hall and was able to increase his pace markedly from yesterday. To test his coordination, he engaged in a rousing game of bean bag basketball. After several failed shots, he insisted that Sarah stand behind the basket with a makeshift backboard. He then went ten for ten which resulted in a little bit of bragging to his therapist.
Funny enough even a traumatic illness doesn’t really give you a break from work. Whenever therapists find out Dr. Marc’s occupation, they begin inquiring about their own and their families’ ailments. Dr. Marc examined one therapist’s faulty knees, offered advice to another therapist about her adolescent daughter’s attention problems and gave another tips to improving her husband’s rugby-related neck injuries. Apparently, they aren’t satisfied with healthcare that they have access to in the hospital.
After therapy, we spent the afternoon sitting in the courtyard eating lunch and enjoying the sunshine. We have decided that it is time for him to come home and tomorrow, we will begin the not so subtle campaign for his release.

Recovery Day 10

And rehab begins…

Dr. Marc’s day started at 7:00 a.m. with occupational therapy. This is just to make sure he can dress himself, brush his teeth, tie his shoes and be independant. He passed with flying colors. Next came physical therapy and a trip to the gym. He started out walking with a walker progressed to holding on to someone’s arm and walked half the length of the gym. He was supposed to have a second physical therapy session but was too fatigued to comply. Fatigue is still a problem. It doesn’t take much to wear him out. However, the physical therapist felt that he was progressing so well that she would be able to release him within a week. Next came cognitive therapy, where they evaluated his cognitive strengths through memory and sequencing games and annoying long division math problems.

One strange thing that has occurred since his surgery is that  his vision and wit have heightened. He is seeing better and is funnier than ever. He can read the tiniest print and is making the most incisive observations about his surroundings. Each day he is becoming increasingly intolerant of his “confinement,” as he calls it and has asked Lindsay to draw up a writ of habeas corpus (a legal action, through which a prisoner can be released from unlawful detention). We tell him that if he ever decides to retire from practicing, he should go into stand up comedy.

The weekend therapy is a little more laid back which may be good to gradually ease him into more intense activity on Monday. We are confident that getting up and moving around in therapy will help diminish his fatigue and make him feel stronger. We can see the light at the end of the tunnel and we are anxiously hoping that the “next leap will be the leap home.”

Recovery Day 9

REHAB DAY ARRIVES!!! Today, we arrived at the hospital at 8:30. Dr. Marc was awake and obviously bored and sick of laying in bed. Seeing that he was getting stir crazy, we decided it was time for him to go to rehab and asked what it would take to get him in there today. They said that physical therapy was coming to check him out, as well as the neuro nurse to determine if he was ready. We told him that now is the time to dazzle them if he wanted to get to the next level and he did just that. The physical therapist came and he got up and walked him down the hall and even did a little spin with the walker to impress her. Then when the neuro nurse saw him she said he is doing really well and that she was going to start the paper work to move him. He was all settled into his new room in rehab at about 3:00 p.m.

When he arrived, it was quite a shock because his room in cardiology was like a penthouse compared to his rehab room which looked a lot like a college dorm room minus the kegs and parties. If nothing else, it is one more motivator to get him home. As he does most nights, he asked to come home with us. We told him that he couldn’t come because he had therapy in the morning and he replied, “If I stay here, I am going to need therapy!” I think we’ll all need a little therapy if he stays there much longer.

The head of rehab came in to evaluate him and said he was as strong as an ox and seemed quite surprised to see how well he was doing considering the nature of his medical file. He said he was going to write up his rehab plan. We checked the schedule and tomorrow he has a full day…5 different therapy sessions. At this rate, we are hoping to have him home within a week.

He is very eager to get back to work. He keeps asking for all your files and wants to be updated on his patients. We are having a hard time making him rest.  Don’t be surprised if you start getting e-mails from him very soon.

Recovery Day 8

Yesterday, Dr. Marc slept a lot, but all of that sleep must have rejuvenated him because he was on fire today. He was eager and active with the physical therapists asking to do more and really pushing himself. They had to urge him to slow down. He was asking for specific goals and a path to achieving those goals, urging them to articulate exactly what they wanted from him to prove his physical health. The therapists were very encouraged and hope to move him into rehab tomorrow or Friday.

The head rehab nurse came to speak with him and she was very pleased to hear that he is so goal oriented. She believes that he has the right attitude to succeed in rehab. He’s beginning to understand that good performance with the physical therapists is his ticket home.

Later, Dr. Marc had a visit from his neurosurgeon and was asking him about the surgery. He finally had free rein to ask all the questions he had been wondering about. The doctor was very patient and explained in detail about the surgery and his malformation.

After this morning of activities, he took a nice long nap and woke up asking for his girls. When they arrived, we all had a great dinner provided by the Lee and Montes families. Thank you so much for the delicious soup and homemade cards.

He has also developed a strong intolerance for the hospital’s toiletries.  He was adamant that we bring him dental floss and his natural toothpaste and deodorant. After a shower and good teeth cleaning, this upbeat day was complete.

Recovery Day 7

Today has been full of trials and tribulations.  In the morning, we were very optimistic.  We were awoken by a phone call from Dr. Marc asking when we were going to get to the hospital because he was bored and wanted his computer.  However, when we arrived at the hospital he was in a lot of pain. Last week, he was taken off a drug that is designed to diminish spasms in the blood vessels of the brain.

Apparently, as his brain reroutes, the blood vessels will spasm, which is very painful.  His neuro nurse, who we love and have much confidence in, was concerned about his intense spasms today and re-prescribed the anti-spasm drug and ordered another cat scan. However, Dr, Marc refused to take the anti-spasm drug until the cat scan results came in. We, on the other hand, were encouraging him to take it because we thought it would give him some pain relief. Even amidst the pain, he said that he did not have enough information on why they were ordering this drug and wanted the results of the cat scan before he took any medication. For 2 hours, he cringed in pain, with each spasm, as we waited for the results. Even now, we need to remember that he is still the doctor and knows better than us what is the best course of treatment. It was only after he received sufficient information that he took the drug and felt some relief. Being on this medication has allowed him to go without painkillers all day…a personal best! On top of all that, he was able to walk to the bathroom and back with only Jeanne to lean on and sat up in bed watching the Braves game. He appeared to be comfortable and in relatively little pain.

Tonight’s progress has left us so encouraged. The next hurdle is to keep the pain low so he is able to work with the physical therapists. He needs to be able to do 3 hours of rehab per day before he can come home. Hopefully tomorrow he will be feeling up to working with them and be on track to come home soon. Thanks for the continued support. No one ever wants to see their loved one in this much pain and we are trying to will him better in the same way he does for all of us.

Recovery Day 6

MILESTONE! Dr. Marc is out of ICU! Today’s lesson was about side effects. Since last Friday, Dr. Marc has been having non-stop headaches. He realized that the headaches were correlated with the administering of a blood thinner, given because they were afraid of blood clots in his legs. There were no signs of blood clots. We consistently expressed our concern, which was met with disregard and at times hostility. Their solution was to give him more painkillers to mask, what we knew was, the side effects of the drug. It was a very unproductive and painful cycle.

When we got there at 8:30 this morning, he was sitting up in a chair and talking to the physical therapists. While he was alert, as per usual this time of day, he was expereincing the familiar drug induced headache. Dr. Marc and Jeanne finally got the neuro nurse to listen and she agreed not to administer any more for the day. As a result, his headache diminished and he was able to go through therapy sessions successfully. They asked him to write his name, his children’s names and his birthday, which was not a problem. We had to inform the therapist that his handwriting was, in fact, always that illegible. Then she asked him to write a complete sentence and he wrote, “The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain.” The 25 year-old therapist was apparently unfamiliar with My Fair Lady.

It was all going well, until they stood him up to walk. His heart rate spiked and began to fluctuate wildly for the next hour. They put him back in bed while we waited for the cardiologist. We were worried that he wouldn’t get out of ICU after this episode because the nursing staff was in such a panic. However, the cardiologist assured us that the nursing staff was overreacting and that the nerve from his heart to his brain was just angry and his body needed to normalize; he didn’t even put him on any additional medication. When told about the blood thinner, he couldn’t believe that Dr. Marc had been on it and immediately ordered it’s suspension. Shortly after the cardiologist left, they moved him out of ICU.

He slept comfortably most of the day and with the cessation of the blood thinner, was in substantially less pain. He is still not quite up for visitors, but hopefully will be soon.