And--- We're Off!

Yesterday, the hospital was served with a "90 Day Notice of Intent to Sue". This legal document is about 65 pages long and outlines our case against the hospital, describes the events of that fateful night and includes affidavits of two expert witnesses, one of which is an ICU nurse who testifies to the negligence of the ICU nurses; the other is a vascular surgeon who testifies that if the nurse had notified a doctor at the onset of Bob's stroke symptoms (instead of 11 hours later) and if Bob had been taken back to surgery within 1-2 hours (instead of 12-13 hours later) that Bob would not have suffered any "long-term neurological deficits".

At this time, the hospital has 90 days to respond, at which point they can agree to proceed to a settlement, or they can deny any wrongdoing and the lawsuit will be formally filed and we will proceed to a jury trial.

All I can say is, phew! It's taken a long time, not to mention more than a few frazzled nerves on my part, to get this far and I am glad the gate is finally open, the ball is finally rolling.

Bob with Zenith riding on his shoulder

But I must say I have been a basket of mixed emotions. Relief, for one, that this attorney is on top of things.
Proud, of myself, for not giving up when prospects looked grim. Excited at the prospect of a settlement and having some light at the end of this dark tunnel and the possibility of being able to get Bob the help/therapy that he needs... But more than a little angry that this ever had to happen, when it could have so easily been averted. And, alas, very saddened by the whole thing.  What I wouldn't give to just hit the "undo" button.

I was asked by the attorney's office to gather together some photographs of Bob, both pre-stroke and post-stroke, and that has been a gut-wrenching task, to say the least. Some of the pre-stroke photos are just so hard for me to look at without bursting into tears. Like the one above...