[Magdalen] Update on Scott the Younger

[Lynn Ronkainen]

just now catching up on weekend mail and so pleased to read how things went 
over the weekend!
peace
Lynn

website: www.ichthysdesigns.com

When I stand before God at the end of my life I would hope that I have not a 
single bit of talent left and could say, "I used everything You gave me." 
attributed to Erma Bombeck

Thomas Merton writes, “People may spend their whole lives climbing the 
ladder of success only to find, once they reach the top, that the ladder is 
leaning against the wrong wall.”

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From: "Scott Knitter" <scottknitter at gmail.com>
Sent: Sunday, September 07, 2014 8:06 AM
To: <Magdalen at herberthouse.org>
Subject: [Magdalen] Update on Scott the Younger

> Rather than update and rewrite the long thing I wrote on Friday that
> bounced back, here's a copy...Scott
>
> I'm giving thanks to God for miracles today. Here's why:
>
> 1. Not only did the booking of the Urgent Evaluation Clinic
> appointment at Rush U Medical Center go smoothly this morning: they
> had a cancellation and booked Scott in for TODAY at 1:30, less than 24
> hours after we even decided to take him to ER at Rush yesterday. "All
> we can do for you" at ER if you're not suicidal or homicidal, is refer
> you to the Urgent Eval Clinic, and this turned out to be a very good
> thing to be referred to. Apparently a normal wait for an Urgent Eval
> can be six months.
>
> 2. I attended his evaluation along with him. It was the thoughtful,
> intelligent, focused fresh look at Scott's situation that I've been
> hoping and praying for. The attending psychiatrist was a delight and
> even honed in on the style with which Scott answered one of her
> questions (he's a "long answer" guy...I loved that she admitted she's
> a "long answer girl"). It was the sort of slightly jump-around
> questioning that disabuses the interviewee of any standard talks they
> may have prepared. And new thinking about Scott's meds started
> happening early on, including the idea that one of his current meds
> was really prescribed to support another med that he isn't taking
> anymore...the idea that this now unpaired drug might actually be
> contributing to his trouble was a new lightbulb turned on. He's got a
> new antidepressant prescription now at "an exquisitely low dosage"
> (another of her phrases I loved), 37.5mg as opposed to a 200mg
> maximum, with any disturbing side effects to be reported via voice
> mail and with full permission to stop the drug at any time if there's
> a bad side effect.
>
> 3. The emergency protocol is the resident's voice mail, which he
> monitors Monday through Friday; there are also backup numbers to reach
> any of the Outpatient Psychiatric doctors; and of course there's ER.
> I'm going to check what all is available for weekend emergencies and
> make sure we know that.
>
> 4. The resident and the attending psychiatrist are both excellent. I
> think he'll be seeing the resident next week for the follow-up. Scott
> is very pleased, as am I, and much more hopeful. He said it's helping
> him already just to know he doesn't have another weeks-long wait
>
> It was all worth the tedious drive through construction backups and
> torrential rain and flooding (we returned the ZipCar half an hour
> late...another blessing is that ZipCar forgave the lateness and didn't
> charge me an extra $50 according to their rules), and it will be worth
> what we're billed.
>
> It's not the end of the road to Wellville, but it certainly feels like
> the right path at long last.
>
> -- 
> Scott R. Knitter
> Edgewater, Chicago, Illinois USA