Chapter 4: San Antonio

Another long overdue update, and some great news to report!  The important news first:  Chris is back in an inpatient rehabilitation hospital setting, at HealthSouth RIOSA in San Antonio!  The departure from Gracy Woods Nursing Center here in Austin was a bit out of the blue last Monday, and I’ll certainly miss having him so close to my apartment, but it’s great that he’s now receiving PT/OT/speech inpatient therapy five – six days a week.

San Antonio brings back some really difficult memories and tears for us all.  It’s hard to drive down Babcock Road again, and realize you’re not headed to Chris’s old apartment.  Or driving past that Jim’s restaurant on Loop 410 at McCullough.  Flying Saucer on Huebner.  University Hospital and Billing Concepts always looming in the distance.  Why did this happen?  CHRIS!!!

My folks are staying at an apartment complex near RIOSA.  My apartment in Austin – our base of operations from the end of November until now – feels lonely without my folks and the dogs staying here.  It also feels strange that I can’t just walk over to the nursing home and see Chris.

We were able to do some neat things with Chris here in Austin since I last posted an update:  a visit to Taco Deli, our favorite weekend taco place.  A MetroAccess trip to Flying Saucer, our favorite pub.  Our first visit with a neurologist since we were booted out of the last rehab hospital…  this trip to the doctor was to relieve some of Chris’s muscle tone with Botox, and to have another EEG performed (the EEG results were better than those from September – the dominant frequency of one half of Chris’s brain is closer to normal).

Back to San Antonio:  My folks seem very pleased with RIOSA so far, and it’s good to be in the hospital setting again with a neurologist on staff to keep a closer eye on the brain injury.  Chris had a CT scan just this morning, for example!

Hmmm…  I suppose as we start the next chapter, I’d like to say thanks to the many dedicated people – nurses, aides and admin folks alike – at Gracy Woods II Nursing Center here in Austin that helped us take care of Chris.  I’d like to thank the therapists at HealthSouth in Austin, for trying new things with Chris (e-stim everywhere!).  And another thank you to the MetroAccess drivers, for that tremendous sense of freedom you gave me (“I can take my brother somewhere beyond walking distance from the home?  Sweet!!!”).

Thank you.

This time one year ago, during SXSW, Chris and I were enjoying a few beers and the great weather at Gingerman.  A band named “Jupiter One” was playing.  One of their tunes, “Countdown”, starts off:

“And so it begins…”