The California Girl and the Spit-Bull

O.K., first off, there are two attending rehabilitation physicians at the Children's Seashore House. One male, one female, both Korean and both named Dr. Kim. No relation. Talk about confusing.

Anyways, the Mr. Dr. Kim calls Lauren his "California Girl". I think it is because she is long and willowy, laid back, and generally easy to get along with. However, Jessica once referred to Lauren as a spit-bull. She accidentally combined spitfire (the british fighter aircraft from WWII) and pit bull. It was during a basketball game, and someone angered Lauren and she got this determined look on her face like someone was going to pay! Lauren used to get that look when swimming the backstroke, if you got her into her competitive mode, there was no beating her. That is the contradiction that is Lauren, she looks laid back but will really fight when challenged. A lot of people at Children's Seashore House have noticed those qualities in Lauren and love her for it.

Tonight I saw her walk without the cane.

It wasn't long. It wasn't fast. But it happened. Sandra says they are still a little concerned about the "tone" (muscle stiffness) in her left leg. They may inject her calf with Botox after all. The Drs. Kim need to consult to determine if that is the way they want to go. That can happen when she is in the Day Hospital, after she is discharged on the 13th (still tentative).

Sandra, Jessica and I had a consult with the Psychology Intern this evening. Basically it was a case management meeting. Call it an exit interview. She said Lauren is strong, resilient and in good spirits. She is forward looking and positive. She gets cranky and frustrated, but is getting along nicely. We didn't talk about seizures, other than to note that Lauren does not seem concerned about them. We all agreed that priority one is to get Lauren rehabilitated, then start looking into the effects the surgery has had on her seizures. We also agreed that if Lauren were to have seizures, we may need to re-enlist psychology.

We also saw the neurosurgery fellow, Dr. Mike in the cafeteria (Lauren, Jess, Sandra and I had a nice family dinner there). He asked some hard questions. Like have you had any funny feelings. Lauren said sometimes, but they were not seizure like. Probably more nerve related than seizure related. Then he got Lauren to confess that getting her hair combed out was more painful than the brain surgery.