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It is not uncommon for Radiation Damaged Hearts to take longer to recover than patients who have not suffered radiation damage to their hearts and chest. Recovery never goes as rapidly as we would wish, even for non-radiation damaged patients. There are good days and not-so-good days. As long as she is showing progress on a Weekly Basis, she is headed in the right direction.

The fact that she is progressing is VERY GOOD NEWS.

I'm glad that she decided to get her heart fixed. I know she struggled with that decision for some time.

Best wishes to your mom.

'AL C'
 
Thank you. Mom is definitely making progress weekly, if not daily! She's a very strong woman who has a definite will to live and we're thankful! She's not out of ICU yet but the drs and nurses are considering moving her to stepdown sometime this week.

She more than likely will need rehab once she's released from Cleveland Clinic. Does anyone know the procedures for getting a patient transported back to their hometown without it costing a fortune?
 
I'm assuming you mean an more of an inpatient rehab vs. the standard cardiac rehab.

I had surgery away from home in SFO instead of Seattle. After my 5 week stay in the ICU I found I was unable to walk or get out of bed. Once I moved to the step down unit for 10 days, physical therapy folks worked with me and got me to the point where I could walk down the hall for a short distance without sitting for a rest. It wasn't far. My wife inquired about a medical transport to fly me back for inpatient rehab in Seattle but it wasn't covered by insurance. Stanford doesn't have an inpatient rehab program so their patients that require rehab are transferred to a different hospital. I spent the next 3 weeks in rehab in part because I was on ordered bed rest for a week with a clot in my leg. We ended up staying in SFO for almost 3 months instead of the 1 month we expected.

I hope your mom is able to get back home for her rehab or at least she doesn't spend alot of time in rehab. I would work with the patient coordinator at CC who should contact your insurance company to find out about the medical transport.
 
Weekly progress is good. Thanks for letting us know what is going on.
Chris gave good advice. I'm thinking you are asking getting to an inpatient rehab facility, so if you are talking about Mom going home and then doing out patient rehab, you can ignore this.
Do you have a Rehab center in your home town, or are there a couple kind of close to home you have to decide which one would be best? Beside asking CCF for help in working this out, I would ask the Rehab centers if they have any transport services they use or any suggestions. My Mom was inpatient rehab a couple months after her heart surgery, but it was close to the hospital (about an hour from my parents home, but they liked that center more than a closer one) so was just a short drive (I think she went by ambulance, but its been a while)
Depending what kind of shape your Mom is in, mainly what equipment she needs,(just Oxygen wouldn't be a problem I don't know about other equipment) and her doctors say it is ok for her to ride in a non pressurized plane, she MIGHT be able to get a flight from one of the "Angel flight" organizations. There are quite a few oragnizations, the "umbrella" program that most work with/ under is http://www.aircareall.org/ which has a BIG (may take a while) list of all the organizations, broken down by region ect. http://www.aircareall.org/listings.htm
I forgot to say you should call her insurance company and see if they cover airflights ect, and if so which ones, also check to see what rehab centers are coverred.
You are all in my prayers.
 
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bbbdirector said:
...She more than likely will need rehab once she's released from Cleveland Clinic. Does anyone know the procedures for getting a patient transported back to their hometown without it costing a fortune?
Click to expand...
So glad things are improving for you mother :)

You asked about transporting a patient. Years ago, while vacationing in another state, our young son was hospitalized with serious injuries. We wanted to get him home as soon as was safely possible and there was someone at the hospital whose job it was to help people like us to get the patient home, though I don't recall her job title now. She even helped communicate with the insurance company.

There likely is someone at Cleveland who can fill you in on the information you need, whose very job it is to help with these types of patient issues.

One further thought I had though was that once we got our son home, his followup care didn't meet with our hopeful expectations -- and I think this was at least in part because our home doctors really didn't or couldn't comprehend the enormity and diffuseness of his injuries. And although he needed to continue the therapy that had been prescribed for him, our insurance required local doctors to re-examine him to get the therapy approved. It became tedious red tape for us after we'd returned home. Just something to consider, though you already may have. You want to be sure that wherever she is going is fully prepared to provide the care for her that she needs and you will probably need copies of her records and of any prescriptions for therapy and other followup care.

Continued best wishes to you and to your mother :)
 
Two Hospital services come to mind.

Most Hospitals have someone known as a Patient Advocate to advocate on the patient's behalf.

Most Hospitals also have (medical) Social Workers who can often arrange for needed follow-up services and/or 'persuade' insurance companies to cover a needed service.

'AL Capshaw'
 
Keeping your mom in my prayers. You have been provided excellent advice from the fine folks here.

I hope your mom continues to improve and that you are able to find her a suitable facility to recuperate when she is home.

Best wishes to you and keep us posted!
 
Wow, you guys really gave me excellent information, thank you so much!

I want to let you all know that after 22 days, MY MOM HAS BEEN MOVED OUT OF ICU to STEPDOWN! :) She sounds stronger and said my name for the first time in 22 days!
 
bbbdirector said:
Wow, you guys really gave me excellent information, thank you so much!

I want to let you all know that after 22 days, MY MOM HAS BEEN MOVED OUT OF ICU to STEPDOWN! :) She sounds stronger and said my name for the first time in 22 days!
Click to expand...

Careful once she starts she may never stop talking .....THAT IS GREAT NEWS AND I AM SURE A THRILL FOR YOU ....time does heal all wounds

God Bless and keep us posted
 
After 22 days in ICU I'm thinking she will need some sort of Rehabilitation and/or Physical Therapy due to muscle deconditioning from not moving around much. Are the Doctors thinking of doing some of that in-hospital? Or, is there a rehab hospital near CC that she could be released to for a couple of weeks or so until she has regained some degree of mobility?

Is she wanting to go back to Mississippi?
If so, is there someone there who can assist her for a week or two?
Is there a Cardiac Rehab Service in her home town?

Just thinking and wondering 'out loud'...

'AL'
 
Thank you everyone, yesterday was a major milestone for my mom!

Al,

After a week or two in Stepdown, she will need additional rehabilitation, that is the reason I asked earlier about transportation to a rehab facility near home (which is now Washington, DC). Our entire family is in the DC area, so we're researching facilities there. If we cannot get her home for rehab then my aunt or a few of the family members will continue to be in Cleveland with her.
 
Surely someone at CC will outline what she will need in terms of rehab after release from the hospital.
I'm thinking that her Surgeon would outline after-care in her discharge papers. Ask if there is someone on staff who can assist with guidance for her transportation and aftercare. Isn't this the kind of thing that Hospital Social Workers do?

On another note, I'd be very interested in knowing why your mom needed to stay in the ICU for 22 days.

I'm guessing that complications from her radiation damage may have been a factor and would be very interested in knowing more about that if you / she are willing to share (either in the forum or privately).

'AL'
 
bbbdirector said:
Thank you everyone, yesterday was a major milestone for my mom!

Al,

After a week or two in Stepdown, she will need additional rehabilitation, that is the reason I asked earlier about transportation to a rehab facility near home (which is now Washington, DC). Our entire family is in the DC area, so we're researching facilities there. If we cannot get her home for rehab then my aunt or a few of the family members will continue to be in Cleveland with her.
Click to expand...

I don't know if this helps, but us news ranks 20 rehabs http://health.usnews.com/best-hospitals/rankings/rehabilitation and National ranked in the top 20 http://www.nrhrehab.org/Patient+Care/Inpatient/Cardiac+Rehab/default.aspx
 
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