25 OCT 09 -- The Family Meeting & Interesting Drawings

Note: Throughout this blog entry you'll see pictures Joel drew while in his art class. The one above is a SQUASH and a TOMATO. He was told to draw what was on the table... and he did.

We had Joel's family meeting the other day. Going into it, I assumed it was the confirmation of graduation meeting. Doug was there with Joel, and I phone conferenced in from North Carolina on a break before a very painful PT session. Here's the low-down:

Medical:

-Most important news first: Joel's planned graduation date is: NOV 13! Let's hope that'll occur, because I should be arriving in Cali around Nov 11. Perfect timing, right?

-Joel still has dizziness. There are exercises he can do on his own to make this better. He works with PT on this. Apparently, there is a test that determines how bad it is. He took it in Aug, Sept and the beginning of Oct. The results turned out better every time.

-Apparently, Joel has a blind spot in the upper vision of his right eye. It isn't really blind. His brain just isn't using it. He needs to learn to connect them together. The Doc said, "Your brow is kind of overriding that part of your vision." I thought that was hilarious, because Joel is known for having huge brows! Not just huge, but ridiculous.

-His left shoulder still really bugs him. The Doc says it is a slow healing injury. Joel thinks he probably tried to brace his fall when he flew out of the HMMWV.

-Joel has been complaining about a weird, chemical taste in his mouth. The Neurologist said it is a remnant of his injury and will go away. The taste part of his brain must've been affected.

-Getting on a normal sleep schedule is Joel's biggest issue.

-Joel's driving application was sent to the DMV. He will hear shortly as to whether he is allowed to try to get his Learner's Permit.

Cognitive Psychology:

-If you remember, Joel took a 4-hour long period of tests when he first arrived at PTRP. He will go through another series of tests very soon to document his progression. When talking about how he used to give up when doing math as a kid, because he wasn't successful at it and didn't think it was really important, he said, "Most people use math everyday. The rest are living on the street."

-This Doc feels Joel will have a hard time in school, as his verbal memory is very poor and his processing is generally slow. He can counter this by having a designated note-taker in class and possible applying for a longer time to complete tests in. Joel said, "I just wanna grow a beard and do what normal people do."

Occupational Therapy:

-Since Joel has expressed a desire to go back to school, they've been writing outlines, doing math, listening to speakeres, doing quizzes... his latest assignment was to do a presentation about his trip to San Diego for the Paralympic Military Training Camp.

-He has been doing Driver Therapy, and they are trying to get a Driver Rehab Specialist to help ensure he will be set up for success.

-He has been cleared to use public transportation to California Blvd.

-His latest assignment is to plan a community outing using public transportation and having an alternate plan.

-They said he isn't open to many volunteering options. He is fixated on working with dogs, which would be great! Unfortunately, their leads fell through. He has an assignment to research other options.

Physical Therapy:

-Again, they are working on fixing his dizziness and his balance issues.

-His back pain has ceased, but it is still swollen. He said, "When does it stop being so huge?"

-His shoulder pain is still an issue. They've been working on weight training as his pain allows. He also recently did his first 3-mile run since the accident! I'm so proud!

Recreational Therapy:

-Joel completed his first set of goals (generated by him and the therapist) and is onto his second. He loves to bike and swim now, which is great! He is trying to get cleared to go out biking by himself, but the process has been slow. Fortunately, the RTs try to be around after hours and on the weekends so the patients can be involved in activities then. They are very dedicated, which makes me feel better .

-Joel has an assignment to plan an outing to a Sharks hockey game. This has to be the one assignment he will be most dedicated to!

Overall, they said he's improved a ton since coming over from the hospital. He still needs to work on finding alternate ways to do things he has difficulty with. Also, because he has such an independent personality, it makes it difficult to make him do all of the therapies as they would originally have him do them. I don't know if that makes sense...

Part 2: US Paralympic Military Training Camp

Joel finished his week out at the US Paralympic Military Training Camp and is now back in Palo Alto to finish his last few weeks in PTRP! His last few events were seated volleyball, track/field (running, shot put, and javelin), and visiting the USS Midway. He had a great time, but told me he wasn't great at any of the above (I'm sure he's just being modest). Here are the pics (don't ask me about the captions!):










LOVE KNOWS NO BOUNDS!

GRAPEFRUIT!

PRINCE GARY!

JAVELIN FOR TRUTH & FREEDOM

OLYMPIC HEROES EAT WELL!

MAGICIAN!

USS MIDWAY

GREAT NAVY ADVERTISEMENT!

WELCOME SIGN!

U.S. Paralympic Military Sports Camp

Wow! It's been a while since we last wrote. Part of that is because things are pretty busy, and another part of it is because Joel has been doing so well that he is in a solid, standardized routine... until now. On Tuesday (the 13th), he arrived in San Diego to take part in the USOP Paralympics Military Sports Camp! (Facebook link: http://www.facebook.com/usparalympics#/usparalympics). I couldn't get a clear picture of exactly what he would be doing before he left (he told me he was going to THE Paralympics,) but so far he's been involved in several different activities.

As he's been doing in Palo Alto a lot, Joel started his time in San Diego with a long bike ride. I think this might become a new hobby for him. Even before he deployed, he expressed a desire to begin bike riding. PTRP has all types of bikes: two wheel, seated three-wheel (this is the one he usually uses), tandum (he refuses to use this one!), etc.

Another activity he really enjoyed was swimming! They had him do all of the strokes. He told me that he is a lot better at swimming than he thought he was going to be. To my surprise, he said he would like to do it more in the future. That's perfect, because I also like to swim AND there is a lap pool at our new apartment!

Lastly (thus far), he participated in archery. Turns out he's a stud with a bow and arrow! I guess his expert skills with the rifle and pistol translated to archery (see the pic below).

I mentioned our new apartment. I flew to SoCal over the Columbus Day weekend to look at prospective apartments. I found one close to both of our units with fanTAStic amenities and a reasonable price! It is perfect for active individuals (lap pool, rock wall, spin classes, 4 treadmills, 4 elipticals, a lot of weight machines, within 3 miles of 24 Hour Fitness!) It should be a lot of fun.

I Now Pronounce You.....

Anthony and Krystal are husband and wife, compliments of Joel! The wedding went off without a hitch. The ceremony was 14 minutes long and you would think Joel had performed 100 wedding ceremonies before this. The bride was beautiful and the wedding was too.

The reception was a blast. It included delicious food, good music and Greek dancing! Joel, Jeff and Doug wouldn't have any part of it but Bryan and I gave it a try.
Bryan is the larger person in this pic. Joel's friend Ronnie is to Bryan's right.
I wrote in my last post that this day was a celebration of not only the wedding, but also Joels continued recovery. It had been about weeks since I'd last seen Joel. At that time, he still had pretty serious balance problems and some speech issues. He was still kind of pale and very skinny. In six weeks, he's made drastic progress. Although he says his balance still isn't perfect, he is able to walk and not hold his arms out for balance. His speech has improved so much. His coloring is back and he's put on some weight. He really looks terrific!!

Rehearsal

It's Wedding Eve! Joel and crew headed out to get ready for the wedding rehearsal and dinner. Exciting times for the entire group. Joel is prepared to officiate tomorrow. The wedding is at 5:00 p.m. I'm taking lots of pictures to share. I am so excited about this event.

Anthony was one of the first of Joel's friends who I called when Joel was first injured. It was an awful phone call to make. My phone book is a rolodex. When Jeff and Joel were little, and began school, I started a card called "Joel's friends" and another called "Jeff's friends". I kept their friends' phone numbers on those rolodex cards. Those cards are still in the rolodex, however most friends have moved away or they aren't so close anymore. When I decided to call Anthony, I went to the trusted rolodex, "Joel's friends" card and there it was.....Anthony's phone number. Joel and Anthony have been friends for close to 20 years. Dare I say, BFFs?

From Joel's initial injury to now, it's been a scary, dreadful, sad, hopeful, thankful, exciting, happy journey. Anthony's wedding makes me feel like we've come full circle. For me, tomorrow will be a celebration of many things.

21 SEP 09 -- What a GEM!

PHOTO 1: Joel's Comb-over

"You are a GEM!" I said that once to Joel as I was leaving him at PTRP for the night. He thought it was funny, so the nickname's stuck ever since.

Joel has been able to go shopping at the grocery store once a week. That's great! Hopefully he'll get used to it and continue the tradition when we're down at Camp Pendleton. Most of you don't know this, but for the year and a half that I was gone and Joel hadn't deployed yet, he might have gone to the grocery store once! Don't ask me how he survived! He did have a roommate, George, who was a great cook. I'm hoping that's what he lived on and NOT just take-out!

Joel had another balance procedure, which meant another 2 days with the neck brace. If the balance starts getting worse, he should do an exercise he calls the "rolling technique". Rolling back and forth allows the crystals in his inner ear to settle. There's a lot of science to it. I dare not try to explain too deeply.

THIS JUST IN!! Joel has cut down on his beloved SODIES! He's also made it a point to keep up exercising on his own. He likes riding bikes the best, be it stationary or not. He should have a bike assigned to him soon so that he can take it out whenever he wants. This week he might even try the "lounging bike" as he calls it -- you know, 3 wheels, you're sitting down... Should be fun. He also refers to it as the "magical hoodis".

He got the script/program for the wedding he is ordaining this weekend. How nerve-racking! I know he'll do a great job. He still has to write some fill-in stuff and definitely some jokes about both Anthony and Krystal, since he's known them for so long. He can definitely tell a lot of stories. They have a lot of memories together. He will fly to SoCal on Wed, do the Rehearsal Dinner on Fri, do the wedding on Sat (I'm so sad I can't be there!), visit his family and friends, and then fly back on Wed the 30th. He should have a great time. It'll be a nice break for him (with a bunch of excitement).

PHOTO 2: Joel with that van he took a picture of for the last blog.

Joel said, "I can't wait for filming to start... or not filming, hockey." Well, he can't wait for hockey season, but he found the next best thing -- Hockey 10 for xBox. It just came out. He ordered it a month ago so that it would arrive just as soon as it came out. He's been playing it a lot. I'm sure it's good therapy in some manner.

In efforts to ensure Joel would be good to fly by himself, they had him take the bus to California St and back. I'm not sure if he had to bring something back to prove he was there, or not. I suppose he could've just ridden the bus around until it returned to the hospital and never got off once. That would be a smart (and lazy) patient!

He's been watching a movie in a group class called, "The Peaceful Warrior". He described it as such, "It's about some gymnast going through some horseshit. I'm sure it's supposed to represent warriors like myself -- bringing us back to being normal human beings, or something like that." Enlightening.

PHOTO 3: Joel wanted to see what he looked like when he just woke up. Instead of getting up and looking in the mirror, he took a picture of himself.

Lastly, Joel and I have both been looking for apartments online. We are looking for an apartment near Oceanside to move into in Nov. I found out the 2 bed/2 bath we want sells for about $200 cheaper if we get it before 25 Sep, but we don't need it until about 11 Nov! What to do?!

I found two quotes I wrote down when I was still in Palo Alto:

-Joel told Doug he wanted to eat at Pho (pronounced: fuh), a Vietnamese place. Doug said, "Fo?" Joel replied, "Fuh, Dad! Have some resiliency when it comes to that." Joel LOVES Vietnamese food.

-When talking on the phone, describing the procedure where they when through his neck to pull out the intravenous filter: "They had to dig in my face and pull the grenade parts out." Not sure where he came up with that. :)

16 SEP 09 -- Joel Writes You a Note

Photo: Joel sent me this photo from a video on "How to Be Successful". Apparently, it meant a lot to him... or he thought it was funny. ;)

Joel recently received unofficial news there is a possibility he will leave PTRP sometime in October! We'll see about that, but he was very excited to hear he's doing well enough that they predict he might be able to leave sooner than expected. This is dependent upon him passing his driving test, all medical issues being resolved, and completing some volunteer hours (among a few other things, I presume.) When he returns to Camp Pendleton, he will go to the Wounded Warrior Battalion. They will most likely give him a job to do while he waits for his Medical Board. The Board will decide if Joel can stay in; and if so, what job/s he has clearance to perform. Joel has a fantastic attitude, and is an outstanding Marine Non-Commissioned Officer. I have no doubt he can and will do a fantastic job of guiding his Marines and completing whatever mission he's assigned. Luckily, he also has goals prepared in the case he is required to get out prior to his end-of-enlistment.


On the 26th of September, Joel will officiate at his first wedding! His good friends, Anthony and Krystal asked him to perform their ceremony. He is very excited to do so, and luckily, was given a week of leave to prepare/rehearse for the ceremony, attend the wedding, beat up his brothers, talk sassy to his friends, and visit his family. I booked his flight, which is a bit nerve-racking, since this will be the first time he will fly alone since his accident.


I asked Joel to write something for the blog talking about how things are going for him. Here you go:


"So, today I woke up at 6:45 to go on a walk with everyone here. Unfortunately, I didn't have to wake up, since I've now graduated to my own PT program. I work-out on my own. I start biking today, so that's good. Anyway, I went right back to bed. But, I didn't fall asleep. I laid there with my eyes open for an hour and a half. I couldn't fall back asleep. It was horsesquash. I then went to the group meeting. It's where all the instructors and doctors get together with the inmates like me and "discuss" upcoming events. We were asked if there was anything we could bring up to make the meetings better. I said, "What should take us 20 minutes to do, in reality, takes us up to an hour." It's not an overload of things worth discussing. It's long pauses between each speaker and the 30 different 'around-the-room' check-ins about life and work and god knows what else. I'm not the only one who feels this way. Some staff members agreed with me. So, we trimmed some things from future meetings to cut down on the time. I liked having a part in making that change. It made me start to think about my future and what I'll do with it. I didn't start thinking about a future career -- it reminded me that I can't wait to get the f out of this place. I'm going to school eventually, but I'm not totally concerned with that right now. I'm concerned with leaving this place. There are Marines and Soldiers and Corpsmen all over the place that got hurt really doing their jobs and here I am taking up time and resources when there are dudes that genuinely need the attention and care. I fully appreciate everything they've done for me here. I see myself getting bomber, and I see the great parts of things around me (which is a monumental event), but I don't feel like I've earned any of it. I got tossed out of a truck and I'm 99% sure my future as a warhero is over. There are a ton more people that should be here. But I'll tell you, the flatscreen TV is coming with me when I leave.

Hooray!"

Photo: Joel wanted me to put up this picture. I'm not exactly sure why. All I know is that he thought it was funny that there was a small, white, odd-looking van in front of PTRP.

Photo: Joel has been talking about getting a dog in the near future. He started looking up German Shephards. I'm not so sure about that, but we'll see!

As for me, I have about a month and a half left of Engineer school before I head to Camp Pendleton to join my unit. Because of Joel's injury, I will miss the big battalion deployment in October. I can't say for sure if I would have been on the deployment, but I guess it was meant to be. I'll be on the deployment I'll be most effective on. Right now we're learning about IEDs and ways to ID them, investigate, and combat them. This is such a prevalent issue right now in Afghanistan, as so much of what we new to be true about IEDs (from our time in Iraq) has changed, as our enemy has changed. We're using the day-to-day information we gain from the Marines/Soldiers/Sailors over there to train the Marines state-side in preparation for deployment. Unfortunately, our enemy is ever-changing and very unpredictable. That means all Marines, from Private to General need to continue to update their knowledge-base. After spending so much time in Bethesda and seeing so many men and women come in with injuries inflicted by IEDs, I know my responsibility to know all I can know about this threat is imparative. On a lighter note, we're having a good time at school. The instructors are great, and they ensure to give us a ton of hands-on experience.

Below is a video of a demo range we did. It was definitely a blast!

10 SEP 09 -- NECK BRACE!

Before I get to that, here is the full story of the day:

Occupational Therapy: Joel went to the grocery store. He bought Caffeine Free Coca-Cola, frozen dinners for the weekend, sushi, skrimps (a.k.a. shrimp), and herrings. Herrings?

Physical Therapy: The mission was to correct his balance.

Joel commented, "My head was spun hither and thither." He laid on the bed at an incline with his head lower than his feet. His head was put in a certain position. He then went through a series of movements. All of this was to settle the crystals in his ear canals that were jumbled during the accident. I'm not sure what else happened during this time. It's difficult to get good detail out of him. It's not because he doesn't want to, it's just that he lacks the ability to communicate fluidly and in detail. After the exercise, he was told that he'd have to wear a neckbrace to keep from looking down and messing up the work they just did to settle the crystals. He thought they were joking. They weren't, as you can see by the picture. When he sent it to me I thought it was a roll of TP around his neck. Now I realize that would make absolutely no sense! He will keep the brace on until sometime on Saturday. Good thing he has Netflix! Photo Note: Haha! Nice closeup!

Funny quotes while on the phone:

Q: What else did you do today?

A: "I bought a Jerry Springer episode..."

A: "I also tried to organize a group of American men." "Really?" "No! That show sucks. I would never, Honey!"

A: "I bought a Black Eyed Peas CD." "You did?" "No."

Q: What else happened during the procedure?

A: "We talked about durations, and things of that such."

Photo Note: This is a snapshot of Math Blasters that he's been playing in Neuro Psych. Looks fun to me! :)

New Post

Look below the "CAL" post and you'll find a new post. :)

CAL

My apologies for no update in quite a while. I have no update to give! Doug and Darcy are both in Palo Alto with Joel now, so hopefully between the 2 of them we can put together some information for the blog.

Tonight is a hospital outing to the Cal Berkeley game. Here is a picture of our patient, his wife and his dad.

Ta ta for now......
Ellen

It's September! Labor Day Visit...

Joel had a standard week this after the Lumbar Puncture. We are still curious as to what will happen next with that situation. Will the CSF (Cerebral Spinal Fluid) build up in his brain ventricles again and make a shunt (and, thus, surgery) necessary? Let's hope not!

Joel ordered a couple new shirts. He certainly doesn't have many, so this will be good to add to his wardrobe. Here are some of them:

A classy fellow, he is!

Doug arrived on the 2nd to see Joel. Joel was so glad to spend time with his dad. When I asked Joel what they were planning on doing on Friday, he said, "we're going to watch a movie and then wrestle." That's the highlight of having his dad or brothers around -- wrestling!

I came out on the 5th. Doug and Joel picked me up from the airport and then we went straight back to PTRP to catch the vans to the Cal Berkeley v. Maryland football game. It was definitley a good time! You can see a pic of us in the last blog entry. Berkley won by a longshot.

We pretty much just relaxed for the next two days, eating out (Fish Market, Szechwan, BBQ...), seeing "Extract" at the movie theatre, watching football on TV, getting his hair cut... barely, and just hanging out. We also went to Barnes & Noble. Joel got the following books: (1) Final Exits - about how different people have died... pretty interesting, (2) Hockey News -Joel begs for a subscription of this, but Doug said he'll bring his issues for Joel AND we'll be moving soon. We'll get it when we get a place. He wanted me to let you all know that I am depriving him of the subscription he SO wants!, and lastly, (3) a book of the front pages of The Onion fictional newspaper. Overall, it was so good to be able to hear Joel's off-the-cuff comments in person. We all know he has the gift of wit!

The issue about the haircut was that Joel did not want to get the same haircut he's had for the last 6 years. He wanted to keep his hair as it was, but I begged him to get it trimmed so the wings he had coming off both sides of his head could be tamed. He got it trimmed. It took about 10 minutes, and honestly, you can't tell much of a difference. :) He's a stud regardless.

Joel and I both got a subscription to Netflix. It's great for him to have them to keep him busy and good for me to have as background noise! Some of the movies he's received are, "Airplane!", "The Warriors", and "This is Spinal Tap".

This just in --------> Joel is obsessed with Aerostars and Previas (vans), but mainly Previas. He said that when the Previa came out he was just amazed at the futuristic look it had. He also thinks it's funny that when I was a kid, the Previa was my favorite vehicle. I even remember asking a friend's mom what "that van" was called.

As for therapy, Joel has continued to work hard. He is lifting weights, even with his tendinitis-y shoulder. He also rides the stationary bike in his free time. He still has issues with his eyes - oscillopsia - if you remember. This causes stationary objects to bounce while Joel is also stationary. Despite the oscillopsia, Joel is able to read better. He is finally able to enjoy it again. We can only see his comfort increasing from this stage.

After hours every day of the week, PTRP has optional Rec Therapy. Each day is a different activity: Bingo, Aquatics, Adaptive Cycling (they have several different bikes for different handicaps - Joel will be most comfortable on a sit-down bike until his eyes become stable again), Leather work, Game Night, and Poker Night.

30cc's and 20/20

Joel endured another lumbar puncture yesterday. The previous one was in late June and was horrible. It was beyond painful and caused swelling in the lower back. The first L.P. was needed because Joel was having headaches. A CT scan at the time showed excess cerebral spinal fluid so 20cc's were drained off at that time. Flash forward to last week; Joel had another CT scan and even though he wasn't suffering headaches, the CT scan showed enlarged vessels in the brain. The swelling wasn't worse than before, but it wasn't better. Doctors explained that either Joel naturally has enlarged vessels in the brain, or there was still excess fluid. The only way to tell was to perform another L.P. One of the things they do during the L.P. is to measure the pressure of cerebral spinal fluid. If the pressure is too high, they drain some. Joel's pressure was too high, so 30cc's were drained. Joel said that this L.P. was no problem, it was mildly painful, but nothing like the first one. He had explained to the Dr. about the incredible pain during the first L.P. in June and this Dr. assured him that he would do everything he could to ensure there was no pain. The Palo Alto Dr. wins, hands down! I'm sorry I don't have any pictures of the fluid that was drained. That would have been awesome though!

Joel called this evening and had dilated eyes from an eye exam. He has 20/20 vision. Yay for 20/20! This is his first weekend without family. Since he's been at PTRP, he's had weekend passes each weekend. Since he doesn't have one this weekend, he learned that there are optional recreational therapies to participate in. They were bowling and leather working. I'll leave it up to you to figure out if he signed up to participate in these or if he gracefully passed.

A highlight of the week was getting a new military ID card. Joel was driven to the Coast Guard Station in Alameda. He needed a new card due to the fact that he had been promoted while deployed . I included a promotion photo in a blog entry back in the early days when we didn't have any current photos of Joel, but I'll repost it since I referred to it :) The promotion took place Near Guam.


















Another highlight of the week was going into a driving simulator. Joel's drivers license was medically suspended so a goal while he's in PTRP is to get re-licensed. The simulator was the first step toward this goal. Joel says "I crashed. I boned a dude turning onto my street but I start real driving with the instructor next week." If you're anyplace near the V.A. Hospital in Palo Alto next week let me know and I'll find out what day / time Joel is practicing. Between Joel in Northern CA and Bryan practicing driving in So. Cal, the Peters boys should have us all scared.

Hello? Is Anyone There?

Greetings! So it's the end of August, and for the first time, each of us is back where we started from, except for Joel who remains in Palo Alto. Jeff, Bryan and I have been home for quite some time. We've each made a couple trips to P.A. this summer. Doug came home about a week ago. Darcy left yesterday. So, all systems point to.....things are good!

I cannot give you any information on Joel and what he's been up to in the last day or so. He has called home and had to be reprimanded by his younger brother for trying to have a conversation while on Joel's phone speaker. Bryan refused to talk and wasn't convinced when Joel tried to tell him that he was having difficulty holding the phone. Bryan: "Are you kidding me? You can't hold a phone?"

I can tell you, Joel's belongings from the ship were dropped off at our house on Saturday. There were 4 boxes and a C-bag. We were warned that his bloody pants and helmet were in one of the boxes. Can you believe these were sent back? Either the Marine Corps or Djibouti hospitals have loose requirements when it comes to biohazards! Anyway, you might think it's kind of morbid, but it was fascinating to unpack this stuff. The helmet came out first. It is in remarkably good shape considering the hit it took. I think that light colored mark in the middle of the pic is the mark left from the accident. The inside of the helmet had some blood.
















Joel's camouflage blouse and pants were of utmost importance to him. He's had them since his first deployment and were his favorites. He was wearing them at the time of the accident. I think he had been wearing them since they left Pendleton in January. The pants were cut off of him and the blouse....well......it didn't make it. The only blood on the pants was on the back right side pocket. Joel didn't have a bleeding injury in this area so I'm not sure where the blood came from. Maybe the bloody helmet was set on the pants once they pants were cut off? Who knows....but like the blouse, I think these pants are officailly done with their service. They are an awesome momento for sure. The guys who brought Joel's belongings to us, Mike Roberts and Cole Sorenson were with Joel as he left to go help Tim Waldron, the other injured Marine. It was interesting to hear their account of the events leading up to the accident. We still haven't read any kind of accident report, so the two of them shared what they had heard about how the accident happened.

Doug will eventually drive back up to Palo Alto to bring Joel some of his possessions from the deployment. Joel is mostly looking forward to getting his wallet (no, there's no money in it but there is some sand), his ipod, laptop and camera. Oh, there are some civilian clothes too; how could he have gone this long without his Keith Sweat shirt, or his Girl Scout Round-up shirt?

22-24 AUG 09 -- Montery, Shopping, Fly like a bird... fah, fah away

Joel and I spent Saturday in Monterey Bay. Our first stop was the Monterey Bay Aquarium. What beautiful sea creatures they have there! I would love to say Joel was REALLY into it and was fighting through the crowds to see the "Secret Lives of Seahorses" exhibit... but, I can't! He enjoyed the sites from a distance, patiently awaiting a hole in the crowd to view the slimy swimmers of all kinds.

After the Aquarium, we took a little walk down Cannery Row to Ghirardelli's for sundaes. I was disappointed it was so packed in San Fran, so it was nice to see it completely empty on this overcast day in Monterey. We sat in Ghirardelli's talking for a while and decided to catch a movie (what better than to catch a movie when in a beautiful city like Monterey, right?) We decided on "Inglorious Basterds". It was really good. A little too gorey for me at points, but definitely a good movie. Joel loved it.

After the movie we went to a couple different restaurants before deciding on Del Fino (?) in Fisherman's Grotto. It was fantastic. Joel enjoyed his Oysters in a Half Shell and Calamari Steak, while I had a Spinach Ricotta Ravioli. Nummy!

Sunday was the day for running errands and ensuring Joel had everything he needed. I was scheduled to fly out at 9:25 the next morning, not returning for 2 months! Therefore, I won't be able to go out and get him whatever he wants whenever he wants it. :( We went to Walmart, Best Buy, the bank, and Barnes & Noble. We dropped his 3 boxes of Ginger Ale, towel, camera charger, snacks, etc at PTRP before we went on with our night. We had a grand dinner at Jing Jing Szechwan Hunan and went back to the Fisher House to enjoy our last few hours together. We ordered Netflix for the both of us at our two separate addresses and just talked. It was nice just being able to enjoy his company all weekend, and sad to know I would have to leave him for the first time in 3 months. We have been on separate coasts for the past 2 years, and these 3 months were the most we've spent together since Aug of 2007. It was great to reconnect on such a deep level after such a traumatic event.

After saying "goodbye," I went out with the two most fabulous girls in all of Palo Alto: Cherie and Jacqueline (the wife and fiance of the two guys who came to PTRP with Joel). We spent about 3 hours at a late night coffee/donut shop together. It was great. The three of us have something so special in common: we've had to deal with nearly losing the men we chose to spend our lives with and we've all seen miracles happen, as none of these guys were projected to survive their separate accidents.

I flew out this morning (Monday the 24) and I'm now on the east coast. It's not a good feeling being away from Joel. It's a very uneasy feeling at the moment, but I know it will get better. I have my eye on the prize over here, and that is graduating Combat Engineer School!

Joelism:

-"I love this stuff with the hoodis elbows in it." -- I think he was eating ice cream with gummy bears in it at the time. :) He's silly.

19-21 AUG 09 -- Family Meeting & Lumbar Puncture

The day we've been waiting for finally came: Family Meeting Day at PTRP. Here is what Joel looked headed to the big meeting. If you can't see what his shirt says, it says "Kiss me I'm sh&t faced!" As you can see, he dressed up for the occasion. Not only that, but he kept his cotton ball taped to his arm from blood taken hours earlier. He wanted to wait until he took a shower to slowly peel it off. :)

Here are the highlights from the meeting:

-Projected time in PTRP: 3 months, finished sometime in November, hopefully.

Medical:

-Joel is in stable medical condition. His skull fracture and 5 lumbar fractures are all healing just fine.

-He has to work on his sleep schedule, which will take regulating caffeine, not taking naps, and starting a routine.

-He still has hydrocephalis, which is an over abundance of CSF (cerebral spinal fluid) in the brain. Because of this, his brain is constricted -- there is a higher pressure in his head (remember all the talk of ICP - Intracranial Pressure - that we were so concerned about when he was in the coma?) They don't know why he still has so much fluid up in there. THEREFORE... he has to get another lumbar puncture. The first one he had (the procedure that kept him in Bethesda for longer than planned) was very painful for him. After expressing this to his Doc, he was assured they would up the pain medication for him. They will put a large needle into his spinal cord to detect the pressure of the CSF. If too high, they will drain it right there on the spot. The release of pressure will hopefully encourage a quicker improvement in therapy. It'll help him grasp things better and hopefully remember things better! If you are wondering what happened to the shunt situation, as of now it is not necessary. The docs will do some more tests on him to determine if he has any symptoms of needing the surgery (nausea, loss of balance, lethargy, headaches, etc.) before they jump into it.

Physical Therapy:

-They are working on flexibility and posture. Also, because of his left shoulder pain, they are working on range of motion in that shoulder.

-The PT started a beginning workout regimine for Joel, which is really exciting! He lifted weights for the first time and has even been running up and down the halls. :) Love it.

Speech:

-She said his cognitive verbal memory has improved. While he's in PTRP he will work on his attention span, organization, spelling, math, catching details when reading, using the calendar function on his phone, and his verbal memory.

Neurological Psychology:

-Joel was given a print-out of the scores that resulted from 6 hours of testing. Here's what came of them:

~Joel is not distractable

~His processing speed is slow (which should be somewhat improved by a decrease in cranial pressure)

~His vocabulary and common sense are really good. Because his common sense is good, he is fine to make medical decisions for himself.

~If a task is unfamiliar, he tends to forget what he's doing whiles he's doing it.

~His visual, as well as his reading memory are good, but his verbal memory is lacking, which might hurt him in a college-level class at this point. They will work on improving this and all deficiencies.

~They will continue to work on math in his therapy.

~AND... the highlight of this brief was that Joel is very aware of all of his deficiencies, which helps tremendously in the effectiveness of his therapy.

Occupational Therapy:

-They will begin driving simulation soon, which will slowly progress into driving short distances and then longer. Eventually, he will retake his driving test.

-His hand strength is really low (10th percentile), which means working with the hand puddy we were given on 7D (the acute care at Palo Alto) is imparitive to use.

-His dexterity is really low, which should also improve after the lumbar puncture and with additional practice.

-He will work on finding the most proficient way to accomplish tasks.

So, that was that! Joel is a stud. He is so tolerant (of the nurses and therapists). He is a little angelboy who participates as he should. He makes it easy for them to do their job, because his main goal is to get better and to get out of here. We're very proud of him.

Oh, the other day I went bike riding in San Francisco with the two wives whose husbands started PTRP on the same day Joel did.

15-18 JUL 09 -- San Fran, no Harbaugh & New Therapies

As I said before, Joel was given a pass for the weekend. He, Doug, and I spent Saturday in San Francisco. We walked a lot! It was extremely crowded. We grabbed Boudin's famous Clam Chowder in a bread bowl for lunch and then jumped on a 90-min tour on the Red & White Fleet. It was a ship tour of the bay, including: Alcatraz, numerous bridges, wildlife, the Coast Guard station, and numerous ports.

We spent Sunday relaxing. We saw "The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard" in theater. It was very funny! Definitely a "goods" movie... ha...ha........ha. We went out to Pizz'a Chicago for dinner. It was fantastic!

Unbeknownst to us, while we were walking, floating, and eating, the neuro doc was trying to get Joel in for a CT scan all weekend. It finally happened on Monday at 8pm! We will hopefully find out the results tomorrow. It will help determine whether or not he will have to have a shunt emplaced.

The football coach from Stanford, Jim Harbaugh, was expected to show up at lunch time today. Joel approached the meeting area with his iPhone (camera) in his pocket and a folded, used piece of paper in hand ready for an autograph for his football-playing bro, Bryan. Unfortunately, Mr. Harbaugh was unable to make it (for reasons unknown.) Ah well, the moment was exciting, anyway.

Here is what Joel's been up to:

Physical Therapy: He's been laying on ice to help the swelling in his back go down. He's also been working on flexibility in his left shoulder. His PT has been having him do planks (on his elbows and toes) to increase his core strength. This will help his posture and back.

Recreational Therapy: Joel always talks about how much he loves hockey and how he eventually would love to work for a team. It just so happens to be that Joel's RT knows someone who works for the Sharks! She said she'd try to get him into a volunteer position. That would be so great! He'd love it.

Occupational Therapy: Joel's pass level was increased from red to orange! That means he can now walk around the VA campus freely. The next goal is to be on yellow pass. That means he will be allowed to go to specific off campus places/areas.

Speech Therapy: Joel had to name goals. He said he wants to 1) get a job, 2) be able to speak candidly in uncomfortable situations, and 3) work on getting some new naked Gary Sheffield pictures (if you remember, this is the same guy Joel said he saw on the ceiling when he was in the ICU with symptoms of hallucination.)

Neuropsychological Therapy: He's taken hours and hours of tests since he's been here. I will find out tomorrow how he is doing.

I'm sorry there haven't been many Joelisms as of late. He is just so proficient in speech now! That's a great thing! One thing he did say when talking about returning to PTRP after a night away was, "Then I had to go back to my friggin' trailer." Not sure when PTRP was put in a trailer!

We have the family meeting tomorrow with all of the therapists. Here we will find out what each therapist's assessment of how well he is doing and what the plan is for the rest of his stay. We might also get a good idea of how long he will be at PTRP. I'll keep you updated.

¡OLÈ! <--- That's from Joel!

13 AUG 09 -- Um, dude, you're in the wrong room... TWICE!

Here are the events of today:

-Joel found out at breakfast that he wandered into the room of another patient in the middle of the night. I guess he walked in and the guy said, "You're in the wrong room." Joel was polite, responded and left. Hm... He is definitely known to get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom or get water. I'm just glad he didn't think that patient's room was the restroom!

-Joel had a Group Cognitive Training meeting. He went to the room number on his schedule and sat there for 30 mins before leaving. He found out later that it was in the room next door to the room he was in! It wasn't his fault. It was an error on the schedule. He just sat there by himself while the meeting went on in the other room. It made me laugh, although it's sad!

-Joel took another hand strength test. Did I tell you that yesterday when he took it the therapist said, "weak... weak"? Joel thought it was amusing, because usually they note in their heads that Joel has to work on his hand strength, but this guy just full on told Joel that he was weak! Well, he took a second one today. If you remember, a man in his 20s should have at least a 100 in both hands. Three weeks ago, Joel had 60 in his right and 40 in his left. Today he scored 100 in his right and 80 in his left! He was told that this machine might be calibrated differently from the last, but it's definitely nice to see an improvement!

Joel picked a book from the Fisher House to read. He actually picked this book out of a basket, thus ridding a sweet little child of having a joyful reading experience. It's called The Wiggles. Here are two of his favorite pictures:

About 3 weeks ago I typed some notes from Joel's vision therapy in my phone. I don't think I ever wrote about them:

-He had to follow a popsicle stick with only his eyes. The therapist mentioned that his up gaze was unstable -- he tends to lose the stick. Joel said, "My eyebrows got in the way." Haha... if you have seen his eyebrows, you know this is definitely a possibility!

-Joel then had to move his head back-and-forth while keeping his eyes straight ahead. He commented on how the object he was focusing on appeared, "It starts to get all crazy-like." Always the professional!

-When asked if he knew what ambient light was, he said, "Ambient, where is it system is off."

-She asked him what the paragraph he just read was about (it was about Absolute Zero). He said, "I don't know. Something about lights. Something about the sun? Something about getting old?"

12 AUG 09 -- Day 2: "What the hell do I have to do to get out of here?"

Instead of going on the usual mandatory group walk this morning (these are on Mon and Wed), Joel and the two other new guys had blood and urine tests. Let's talk about those 2 guys:

We met Shane's family in Bethesda (the bros, if we've mentioned them before.) They frequented the Nationals games and complimentary dinners we often went to, thanks to Chief O'Keefe and Lt Hazlett. Shane arrived at Palo Alto a few days before Joel did. They were neighbors on 7D (the neuro area). Shane is now Joel's roommate. They are the only two at PTRP who have roommates, but as soon as another guy leaves, they will have their own rooms. Shane's fiancee is also at the Fisher House.

We met James on 7D. His wife is in the Fisher House. We try to hang out every once in a while. She also goes to 24 Hour Fitness, which is awesome! James is such a quiet, very nice guy. He was lucky enough to get his own room at PTRP. He was stationed in Guam before he got here. They are still determining whether they will go back there or stay in the states.

Joel proudly text messaged me the results of a vocabulary test he took today. The first time he took it (before his Convolescent Leave) he scored 32 of 60. This time he got 52 of 60! He said that score = "normal person"!

He had a "community meeting" today where he met with the other guys in the program, as well as the therapists. From what Joel and Shane said, they monopolized the conversation. Their main question was, "What do I have to do to get the hell out of here?" Well, that's how Joel says it to us... to them he probably said, "What qualifications do I have to meet to graduate from the program?" No one could really answer him, although the Rec Therapist did give him a sheet of paper with goals for each phase (see the next paragraph for explanation on phases). We're hoping that after the first two weeks, they will be able to pinpoint specific deficiencies he must improve upon to be successfully reintegrated as an independent person into society.

There are three phases at PTRP. (PHASE 1): Oriention and Evaluation. (PHASE 2): Intensive therapy focused on the individual's key issues. (PHASE 3): Integration as an individual in the community. During this phase, Joel has fewer therapy sessions and has the option of either volunteering or taking a few college courses. He wants to take courses in hopes of getting his degree in the near future.

In Neuropsych, Joel had to look at different pictures and tell the therapist what was wrong with the situation depicted. He wanted to share the following pictures with you:

During lunch, the nurse approached me. My body became tense, ready for a reprimand. ;) He had good news! Joel was approved to leave for the weekend (not sure if this is for one or two days). This rarely, if ever, happens during the first week. However, they know I will be leaving for 2 months in 2 weeks (finishing Engineering school), so they had compassion for us! Joel put in his "pass request" right away. The three of us plan on going up to Fisherman's Wharf so that Joel can enjoy some great seafood (I'll abstain!) Oh, on a side note, in order to avoid being accused of unfair treatment, they also gave James and Shane passes!

I thought I'd take some pictures of Joel's room. He decided to do the same pose in every picture for comedic effect:

I asked Joel to write something to the readers of the blog. He said, "I am the greatest dude in the world. Meet me when I come home and we'll go get some beef together." Doug questioned, "Some beef?" Joel said, "...like BBQ..." In efforts to make it seem like he wasn't being sarcastic. Yikes.

11 AUG 09 -- A Darcy, Scolded; SURGERY?!; & Broccoli Flakes

Get the "A Child, Scorned" reference? -- "A Darcy, Scolded" Ha...ha..................ha.

So, Convolescent leave is over, and we're back in Palo Alto. The Polytraumatic Transitional Rehab Program (PTRP) that Joel now belongs to is quite the change from having free reign to swim, nap, go to the movies, snack, fight with his bros and hang with his friends whenever he wants to.

He arrived at 8am to the program and unpacked his belongings. We had a tour of the place and he quickly got to work with Physical Therapy, followed by an assessment by the Doc, followed by a meeting with the nurse (talking about the rules and regulations of the place and consequences for not following them), and Speech.

Let me take a little break from his schedule to discuss the rules and regulations:

-Take part in all groups (he'll do this just fine... he won't like it, though!)

-Visiting hours are from 12-1 and from when he gets out of his last therapy until 10pm

-Follow your "pass" level. Based upon their assessment of your capabilities, they give you a pass level. "Red" means you cannot leave the building. "Orange" means you can move about the VA Campus alone. "Yellow" means you can go to approved places off campus alone (via bus, taxi, car if you can drive, etc), and "Green" means you are approved to go anywhere by yourself.

-You must fill out paperwork to be granted a weekend pass (to stay away for the weekend)

-and some others...

...and consequences:

-you'll be given a stricter pass level

-your command will be notified

-you will be expelled from the program

OK, on with the day...

Doug and I joined Joel for lunch. I brought him a spicy hotdog, a hamburger, and coleslaw. I couldn't stand to see him eat the hospital food after having such great food for the past 2 weeks (and he wouldn't stand to eat it!). At 1pm, he had another Physical Therapy appointment that was cancelled. Because it was cancelled, Doug and I decided to hang out longer, thinking it was OK since he had nothing to do. Otherwise, he'd be staring at the wall, watching TV, or doing something else alone (since everyone else was in therapy). The next thing I know, the nurse is outside the door with a disappointed look, motioning with his finger for me to go out there. I did, and was greeted with "It's only the first day and I already have to talk to you about visiting hours again." I felt like a scolded child! I mean, no kidding I don't understand them! It IS only the first day. Maybe the thing I didn't understand was logic of them. So, we followed orders and left Joel alone in his room with no one around, kicking and wailing. It was sad.

At 2:30pm he had a Neurological appointment in the main hospital with an actual Neuro-Surgeon (we haven't seen one of these since Bethesda!) Joel said he waited there for 3 hours and finally was seen by the Doc who had no idea why Joel was there. He looked through his file, and came to the conclusion that he might need a shunt to be put in the ventricles in his brain that are too wide! This requires surgery on his brain. WHAT?! Just when you think you are out of the woods... Well, like I said, the Doc wasn't even expecting Joel today, so I doubt he examined all of his CAT scans. Yikes. We'll keep you updated on that.

We finally got Joel out of there, and I made dinner at the Fisher House. It was pretty good. I'm not a well-versed cook by any means. I always feel bad cooking for Doug who is used to Ellen's great cooking (or his own.) The herb/garlic chicken was cooked just right (Doug said!), the rice and sausage was good (except Joel didn't like it), the large broccoli florets turned into broccoli flakes, and the cupcakes turned into craters. However, it was all eaten up! Who cares about presentation anyway, right?

Hopefully it'll only get better from here (both Joel's time at PTRP AND my cooking)!

4-5 AUG 09 -- Reverend Joel Peters, Tam's, & Car Washing

Joel has had quite the eventful past two days. He met with Anthony and Krystal to talk about what they want for their wedding ceremony. As you might remember, Anthony and Krystal asked Joel to perform their wedding ceremony before he left on his deployment. Joel became ordained through the Universal Church while on ship. He met with the two last night to talk specifically about what they wanted him to say during the ceremony. He was left with creative control, which I know he'll do well with (God, let's hope so!).

He woke up this morning hoping to spend time with his two brothers. The three of them set off to one of Joel's favorite breakfast burrito/burger joints: Tam's. They spent the morning washing Jeff's car, compliments of the wunderbar Larry Saunders.

Anthony came over for an afternoon of swimming. I got some good pics:

After swimming, Jeff went on to wax his car. By this time, Joel was wasted from the day (no alcohol involved.) He's currently taking a nap. Looks like his buddy, Mike, will be bringing up his belongings from the ship tomorrow morning. Joel's looking forward to checking out what pictures he took last on his camera. He's still trying to piece together the timeline from before the accident.

About yesterday's formation: It was great for Joel to see the Marines from his battalion, especially the leadership and his fellow Military Policemen. Everyone commented on the fact that the blog was very helpful in giving them up-to-date information. We are glad it was able to answer questions for them. Sgt Maj Baker said that whereas the ship's leadership was our source of information at the beginning, we as a family became the source of information for them once Joel was in the states. Again, we're really glad it helped ease a little of the stress they had related to Joel's status. What great, professional, compassionate leadership Joel had on the ship: Col Coffman, Lt Col Reventlow, Maj Chunn, Capt Pesta, Sgt Maj Baker, Sgt Roberts... the list goes on and on.

Love Friends and Love Burgers

Today was the big day; Joel went to Pendleton to greet his MP Detachment. They got back from the deployment on Friday and had a Battalion formation today. As usual, Camp Pendleton was beautiful. It truly is an amazing place. Every time I go I'm amazed at all the open, undeveloped land in Southern California.

Joel was greeted by many. Lt. Col. Reventlow scoped us out and talked for a long time. He shared with Doug and I that he was at the hospital with Joel in Djibouti. He said that a French Foreign Legion Captain witnessed the accident and was able to immediately call for a helicopter. He conveyed that even at that point, doctors knew how serious Joel's injury was and couldn't give any difinitive information about chances for survival. He was as amazed as the rest of us at Joel's recovery.

Next, Sgt. Major Rob Baker greeted Joel. His hearty hug was awesome to watch. Baker talked to Joel and to the rest of us as well. He also shared that the initial information they got when Joel was first injured wasn't promising. Doug, Darcy and I received many emails and a couple phone calls from Baker. It was nice to finally put a face with the voice.
Joel was also greeted by several guys from his MP Detachment. His buddy Mike Roberts sent us a nice email right after Joel got hurt. We'd met Mike before, when he came up to Ducks games with Joel. It was great to see he and Joel reunite. LCpl Miramontes is another one Joel looked forward to seeing. Miramontes was promoted during the deployment, and he credits the Recommendation for Meritorious Promotion that Joel wrote, for his promotion. Miramontes made several phone calls to Bethesda and Palo Alto looking for updates on Joel's condition and to talk to Joel once he was able to talk. I like this guy's initiative! He's obviously a very perceptive person as well; he mentioned Joel's sarcasm! But I guess it doesn't take a detective to detect Joel's sarcasm. Joel spoke about Miramontes a lot once he came out of the coma. Don't get the wrong idea here.....I think there is a mutual admiration for the So Cal Bros. Sorensen is another who Joel was happy to see. They both swear that Sorensen is going to get a tattoo of Joel on his calf, a living memory of Joel. Joel has to pay for the tattoo though. Somehow, Joel talked Sorensen into doing his laundry on the deployment. Chances are he's going to figure out a way to get his laundry from Palo Alto to wherever Sorensen is! Salcedo, Smith, Svenson and Kuhn, are some others from the Detachment that Joel spent a lot of time talking to. We were greeted by and met many other folks from the Battalion.

After leaving Pendleton we stopped at Doug's old favorite, Love Burger. What more could you ask for?

Joel was published!

Below is the article Joel wrote for the ship's newsletter. It was published in June when he was still in a coma. When he woke up, he was so excited to hear he hit literary fame! It is about his closest co-worker on the ship. It has a lot of sarcasm, which showcases his graceful B.S.ing skills. Check it out! (You have to click on this thumbnail and then once again when it blows up. This will make it clear to read.)

Joel Wanted to Post Pics

Joel wanted to post a few pictures from what (according to the date, minus the incorrect year) is the day before the accident. He does not remember taking these pictures. He noted that he is really dirty in them. He's not sure what kind of training they took part in, but says this first one has the whole detachment of MPs in it. The second has Svenson and Miramontes.

I asked Joel what he wanted to tell everyone, and he offered the following:

"Good Evening. I like to dance with people whose company I enjoy. And, to have a goal worth grabbing is merely priceless in the long run. In the short run, you'll find some challenge, but the overall, ah, the overall aspect of your pursuit of that goal is to one day hoist the world above your beating chest... nude, without clothes, and full of victory. To you, my friend."

...always the serious one, he is.

29-30 JUL 09 -- Stitches and the Outfit Supreme

FIRST: Make sure to answer the poll question to the right of this blog entry...

Quick run-through of the past few days:

We played Trivial Pursuit on Tuesday night. Joel got a few answers correct (more than I did), but there were definitely questions he felt he knew the answer to, but just couldn't grasp the words. It was frustrating, but as a family, we know how much he's improved so far, and we can't wait to see his progress in the upcoming months.

Joel's friends, Anthony and Ronnie brought Joel what he's been craving for weeks: 2 Double-Doubles, fries, and a Coke from In 'n' Out. What better to do than go swimming after a nice hardy meal? They swam for hours. Later that night we went to dinner with Anthony, Krystal, Ronnie and Chelsea.

Today, Joel played dress up in Jeff's closet and found the outfit supreme (as you can see)! He decided to show off the outfit to the neighborhood by going on a walk around the block a couple of times with Doug. It was good for Joel to get out in the sun and exercise. We should really make it a daily occurrence.

After, we realized it was exactly 7 days since his procedure, and it was time for his stitches to be removed. Doug and Jeff got out all of the necessary tools: 2 pairs of tweezers, 1 pair of cuticle scissors, and 1 magnifying glass. Both Doug and Jeff took their turn. Thirty minutes and three locations later, both stitches were removed.

We'll play some other word game tonight for more practice. I'll let you know how that goes in the next blog.

27-28 JUL 09 -- iPhones, Angels, and Mongolian BBQ

The whole household (besides Jeffrey) is now equipped with iPhones. It's funny to see how attached everyone is to theirs. Joel has been downloading and listening to music non-stop. Music has always been a huge part of his life (as you can see from this picture of Joel in Iraq in 2005).

Let me tell you, the iPhone is surely an amazing invention. It consolidates a bunch of different electronics (iPod, GPS, email, Internet, gaming systems, PDA, cell phone, calculator, voice recorder, compass, etc). Love it! Anyway, enough of the advertisement portion of the blog.

Doug and Joel went to an Angels game last night. He had a blast. He's been asking his dad if he could go for weeks now. I'm glad he was able to get out. He loves live sports games. He definitely can't wait until hockey season starts. We all can't! Since he'll be in San Jose, he's hoping he gets a chance to see a Sharks game. Nothing compares to a Ducks game, though!

Joel, Jeff and Bryan went to one of Joel's favorite places to eat today: Mongolian BBQ. He was so excited to be there, especially with two of his favorite people. I'm hoping he's up for playing Trivial Pursuit later. He used to be the trivia master (even when he was a kid). It'll be interesting to see if he can channel that knowledge again. I hope it comes back quickly for his sake.

That's the update for now.

Boba, Visitors, Burgers, Boba

Today was the 2nd day of Joel's convalescent leave. The day began with Boba. For those of you who don't know what Boba is, I can't really tell you except it's a yucky drink with large tapioca balls the size of rabbit turds. The straw is the size of a garden hose so the balls can be enjoyed with the drink. But Joel likes it so Joel gets it. This afternoon, Joel's Uncle Bill came to see him. Photos and phone calls just don't do the trick. Ya gotta see him and touch him. Joel showed Bill some of his scars on his back. He explained to Bill that he's got "5 broken muscles", but then corrected it to "broken vertebrae".

This afternoon, Anthony and Richie came by for a swim. Joel didn't go under water because he still has 2 enormous stitches from his non-filter removal surgery on Thursday. Actually, the stitches are normal size, but they are really irritating to Joel and of all the injuries and procedures he's had so far, this is by far the most bothersome!

For dinner Doug BBQed burgers and after dinner Joel desired another Boba. More rabbit turds.

One of the mandatory things Joel must do while on convalescent leave is see a Dr. The V. A. Hospital in Palo Alto set up an appointment with a local doctor. That appointment is tomorrow. Although it's only been 4 days, Joel is hoping those awful stitches can be removed.

25 JUN 09 -- First Day of Convo Leave

Joel and I went to Anthony and Krystal's Bridal Shower today. It was interesting to see how he did in a more "normal" environment. Being there affirmed the Doc's orders that he needs to be with a family member at all times. He has a hard time balancing, especially in tighter/more crowded areas.

Most of his friends were drinking, which definitely made him feel out of the loop. He played a drinking game with them, but Anthony drank when Joel messed up. Interestingly enough, part of the game required rhyming. Another part required asking any random question. Rhyming was great practice for him, and I hope to play some rhyming games with him in the future (but, I can't tell him that now, because he'll get too excited.) The question game was really tough, because it was so open ended, "Ask ANY question." When given enough time, he did come up with a question. This is another great speech therapy game we can play in the future!

We returned to the Peters' and had a great dinner BBQed and cooked by Doug and Ellen, respectively. Joel, being the witty man he is, kept us entertained. He also brought up his idea to write a book partially based off of his experience in a coma (his "weird-ass dreams", as he says) and partially fictional. Joel is a fantasmic (Joel's word) writer, so I'm sure whenever he does it, it'll turn out entertaining!

PICTURES:

1) No, he wasn't drunk... So when has water been so funny? I can't answer that.

2) Joel had to make up a new rule to the game. He decided that "Every time it's Chris' turn, he has to kiss me on the cheek." Just another way he's ensuring all of his friend's that his personality is exactly the same as it was before the accident.

Finally Home

Joel and Doug arrived last night at about 7:45. Joel got out of the truck wearing some Navy shorts with a Marine Corps sticker over the Navy emblem, a green shirt with photos of 3 LM friends, slippers, and a LMHS Football hat. He was holding a half full hospital urinal. I wish I had my camera.

Joel found some regular shoes and was whisked away by Jeff for dinner; Pho noodles. They were met by several LM friends. After dinner, Joel came home and hung out, talked about his accident and his long term plans. He stayed in Bryan's room until sometime after I went to sleep. Bryan played video games while Joel watched and asked Bryan why he's so big.

Darcy is on her way to LM from Simi. She and Joel are going to bridal shower today. We'll have to make sure the urinal and slippers stay here.

Plans for the week include an Angels game, visiting, relaxing, swimming, relaxing, eating, drinking sodys, and more visiting. We'll keep you updated!

24 JUL 09 -- Movin' on OUT!

Today was moving OUT day -- for two weeks, at least! Joel was asked to do some Physical Therapy, but he opted out. He still doesn't feel too agile after his completely unnecessary surgery yesterday. Instead, we packed the rest of his stuff up, packed up our rooms at the hotel and the Fisher House (complimentary housing provided for the families,) and finished a few admin issues.

PARTING WORDS FROM THE DOCs:

1) Joel learned that his surgery won't prevent him from swimming. YAY! He LOVES to swim.

2) Wherever he goes at home he must always take a family member with him, since we have been with him for much of his rehab and know his abilities.

3) The Doc said that there is evidence that people with Traumatic Brain Injuries continue to progress after even 2 years. Because of this, Joel was heavily cautioned about alcohol and nicotine. He should not have a drop of alcohol for at least a year. After that and for the rest of his life, he should have at the most the occasional glass of champagne at a wedding or an occasional beer with his friends. Alcohol can obviously kill more brain cells, which can be hugely detrimental to his ability to fully recover.

4) Joel should continue therapy at home: reading, walking, stretching, being massaged (poor boy!), writing, and talking.

5) As with his whole life, no contact sports or wrestling for fear of the filter rupturing the vein or for fear of the filter separating from the vein and traveling up to the heart.

6) Work while he's gone and come back in 2 weeks ready to rehab, rehab, rehab!

PICTURES:

1) Joel's Great Escape Outfit

2) Joel in his man dress

3) I was playing horseshoes with Joel's head (it's actually his beloved neck pillow)

4) Joel POSING like he's driving... :)

23 JUL 09 -- A Life Changing Filter

Joel went in to have his IVC (Inferior Vena Cava) Filter removal today. The Inferior Vena Cava is the largest vein in the body. It drains blood from the lower body into the heart. The filter was emplaced a few days after the accident (in Germany), because the doctors knew he would be bed bound for several weeks. The filter prevents blood clots from his legs from successfully reaching his heart.

Unfortunately, the 45 min procedure took over 2 hours and concluded with some disappointing news. Because the filter was emplaced on a tilt and the vein had adhered to the filter, it was impossible for the Doctor to remove the filter without fear of rupturing the vein and causing even more damage. Therefore, the filter remains in Joel's body.

These removable filters are only 5 years old, and doctors have no knowledge as to what the long term effects of keeping it in are. They do, however, know that most people with the permanent filters in them live long, healthy lives.

What are the risks of keeping it in? Because the spider-like filter is not protected by his rib cage (it is below the rib cage, behind muscle, and in front of his spine), there is a risk of any blunt force to his stomach/chest causing the filter to rupture the vein. Additionally, a blow to his body could potentially dislodge the filter and allow it to reach his heart. Both of these instances could be devastating.

How will Joel's life be altered? Joel was advised to not play any contact sports. If you know Joel, you know he loves to wrestle! He wrestles with his Dad, brothers, friends, and even me! It is a huge part of his life. He has also always wanted to play in an adult hockey league. Because he cannot have any risk of being hit hard in the stomach or chest, neither of these activities will be possible.

What YOU need to know... It is imperative his friends and family are aware of his condition so that they don't unknowingly endanger his life. Also, if Joel is in an car accident or has another blow to him, doctors must know immediately that he has the filter in place.

Phew... what a day.