Update on Ben

Last Monday was Ben's clinical.  The clinical was actually the best one he has had since being admitted in November 2020.  That was so nice.

Then he and I headed to lunch at a nearby Panda Express. Over the past several months, Ben has been struggling with delusions related to being in danger when he is outside.  He has been working hard with the help of staff and his doctor to get past this delusion because it is a big barrier to living outside of the hospital. Over the weekend before the clinical, he had had a couple of outside visits that went okay which he feels was related to an addition of another medication (which was the point of the medication) so that is good.  

He did much better when we went to Panda Express and was able to eat lunch in the restaurant and managed the walking back and forth much easier than the past several months.

He got this fortune in his "cookie":  You are headed in the right direction."  We decided that was a good one for him.

 

A photo to remind him that he can DO IT!

This has continued throughout the week and he reported that he has gone outside every day into their courtyard or walking around the hospital campus.  This is all good news because months ago, I bought tickets for him and I to attend the Josh Groban concert on this coming Wednesday at the Vivint Center in Salt Lake.  Ben liked Josh Groban when he was younger so I thought this was a good opportunity for us.  He is VERY nervous about many aspects of the concert, but we will just try and see if it works.  I didn't want him to feel like his whole life was dictated by his illness.

That is the good news of things.  We did have some concerning news as well related to Ben's health.  He had a CT scan done last Wednesday because of ongoing digestive problems--probably related to medication he must take--but they were trying to make sure.  It came back abnormal and now he has to have a colonoscopy.  We are hoping to get that scheduled this week.  I guess that could be good news if it leads to successful treatment.  It will be a busy week for him and us.