Joel and Darcy Peters

8 SEP 10 -- It's been a long time...

2010-09-07T22:24:00.000-07:00

I know it's been a long while since I've written -- just got some free time to write again, but since this keyboard sticks, it might not be a very long blog.

As far as I can tell, Joel is doing well with his therapy. He's been doing the P90x workout program in his Vestibular therapy and he's been boxing at LA Boxing on his own -- that's motivation! He's investigating future career possibilities. I'm interested to find out what he discovers will suit him best. He's discussed photography, radio, or possibly something in the medical profession.

I'm still in southern Afghanistan. It's still hot, yet not too bad. I PT in the dust-filled air almost every day. We are all worried we'll die of some moon dust disease that won't be discovered until years after the war ends. We'll see about that.

I still love my job as the Engineer Operations Officer. It's great being involved with so many important Engineering missions throughout our area of operations. I also love the people I work with on all levels -- all have different personalities, but all are easy to work with as long as you pay attention to how they receive communication the best.

Outside of work I try my best to hang out with friends who are also stationed on my base. I make lunch dates and PT dates... it's nice to talk to people about something other than work, since we are stuck doing work for at least 12 hours a day, 7 days a week. A lot of those friends are at the end of their deployments, though, and are heading home. I have no doubt they will filled with more people I know from the past, though. Afghanistan is one big reunion.

I would send pictures, but I don't have any on this computer.

Some events that've occurred:
-Capt Sanchez's wife sent him a pinata for his b-day. We waited until 4 July to take a crack at it. It was a blast -- we had a lot of laughs, especially when Lt Vaught hit it so hard that he broke the stick. We used money behind our sunglass lenses to create a blindfold. Also on 4 July, we made fireworks by throwing chem lights in the air (the ones you bend to crack the chemicals open to create a glowing stick). I took some pics -- it actually looks like a little fire cracker.

-I went to Marjeh to watch a road mission. We went in the middle of the night and stood on the road for about 3 hours watching the grader and dump trucks do their thing. It was nice to get out and see more of the country. Marjah actually has a lot of trees, which is MUCH different from where I'm based. On the way, we passed by little villages. It's fun seeing little kids running around in their garb. Some little girls have very fancy dresses, which is seemingly out of place in the dirt-filled surroundings, stained bare feet, and wide-eyed looks. They are very cute when they aren't throwing rocks at our vehicles or trying to steal things off of them.

-I also convoyed to another base to visit one of my units, see a couple projects we've completed on the bast, and visit a couple friends. It is interesting seeing how others are living around the area of operations.

-I continue to sing at church -- what a RELEASE! I truly love it. Right now, the drummer, guitarist, and myself (3 of 3) all work in the same office. We practice once or twice a week before the church service. We all agree it is a great way to get our minds off work.

And in other news, one of my bridesmaids, Lindsay, is getting married! I'm thrilled to be a bridesmaid in her wedding, as well! It will be a blast! Congrats to Steve and Lindsay!

Alright, that's it for now! I'll send pics when I can.

From Darcy, With Love

2010-06-16T17:23:00.000-07:00

3 months down! “They” said that this is about the time when people would get annoyed with one another. “They” were right. You hear a little bickering here and there – especially in the living spaces. I’m sure it’ll die down. I’ve discovered that even if it appears as though others are compromising their character, it’s important to focus on maintaining your own character. It gets hard out here when other people have don’t follow by the same internal rules as you are trying to adhere, too, though. We’re all sinners! Alright, that’s boring.

It’s been REALLY hot out here. Not only that, but it’s been very windy – more sandstorms than usual. Good thing Jeff sent me a scuba mask! I’ll take a pic of it in a sandstorm to show you all that it works. I was running today… only about 22 mins in, and the sandstorm started. Unfortunately, I was doing an out-and-back run, so I was 22 mins away from my tent. I ran back like a champ, but it was a bit painful. It’s difficult running with your eyes closed for as long as possible. Good thing I had sunglasses on. Even with those it wasn’t fun! When I got back, my hair was coated in dust – EVERYTHING was coated in dust. Very fun.

I try to run a lot. It helps start my day and keep my energy up. I also do MCMAP (Marine Corps Martial Arts Program) everyday. I came into “Country” with a gray belt (the 2nd in the five-belt program). I now have a green belt. I should test out for brown belt this Saturday, and about 70 hrs of training from then, I will test out on my black belt! This is a great time to get this training in. Soon, it will be mandatory for all Officers to have green belts. I want to get as high as I can before I get back to the states. I’d rather spend the time doing it now, rather than take the time away from my husband/family when I’m at home.

I’m sure you’ve heard of all of the bad “stuff” going on here. I don’t often get to see what you guys are fed via the media. I usually know what happens a very short while after it occurs (i.e. the high-profile Pedro helo incident). It’s definitely difficult to be so close to these horrible situations. You have to learn to not let yourself think too deeply about anything -- and do your best to fulfill your mission.

As for Engineering, I’ve been learning a lot about concrete and vertical construction as of late. I’m doing my day-to-day job, and have a good handle on not only what I need to accomplish every day, but how to talk to my main points of contact (most of all are higher than me in rank). I try to keep things interesting by doing those extra activities (running, MCMAP, and singing with the Worship Team for church).

About singing for the Worship Team, after going to the Sunday night service a couple weeks in a row, I offered my help in regards to singing. The Marines leading worship are talented musicians, primarily, and it was difficult for them to focus on singing. They gladly accepted. I rehearse with them 30 mins, 4 days a week and sing at the Sunday night service. It’s a GREAT way to do one of my favorite hobbies out here while also being able to lead others in worship and praise the Lord, myself. I’m very happy I approached them about it. I wish there was a group at home I could get involved with. I really miss singing.

Alright, I guess that’s it for now – nothing really interesting or important. Oh! I forgot to mention that Toby Keith did a short concert in early May and David Beckham came for a meet-n-greet. I missed the meet-n-greet, but I did get a pic of him walking out of my unit’s compound. Unfortunately, the lady next to him blocked his face. Sad.

Lastly, I want to formally congratulate my wonderful, beautiful friend, Lindsay (one of my bridesmaids) on getting ENGAGED!!! She is a fantastic friend, and I miss her a ton! I can’t wait to celebrate with her and her soon-to-be husband, Steve. Lindsay is a lawyer in Colorado. She sings and is a kick-butt, motivated runner. I’m proud to know her.

Love from Afghanistan!

p.s. This is Ellen....I uploaded this entry for Darcy but can't figure out how to get her pictures here. I'll make a new entry when I figure it out :)

Pictures and a video...

2010-04-29T10:29:00.000-07:00

The title of the blog links you to a video...

It'll be on http://www.marines.mil/ and on AFN in the future. Pretty funny. Reminds me of my old days as a reporter. Maybe they'll come around again someday!

Through my NVGs on the range... my hair was NOT within regs. That's what a day of wearing a helmet, walking around in the sun, and enduring sand flying all over the place will do to you.

I got to actually put an IV in someone. It was pretty cool following in the footsteps of Grandma and cousin Yvette!
A little MCMAP rifle manipulation

I found Devin! Actually, he found me. This is the hallway at my work. Not too shabby. Great to see Devin, my fellow Engineer, of course.

We had a great MCMAP session with the CREATOR of MCMAP, himself -- Col Bristol.

Photos!

2010-04-26T10:42:00.000-07:00

20 APR 10 -- It Could Be Worse!

2010-04-20T10:18:00.000-07:00

The theme of this week is, “It Could Be Worse”.

I always hated that statement, because although it’s true in every situation, it usually doesn’t make you feel any better about what you’re dealing with.

However, I feel very fortunate being where I am right now, because it’s true – it could be a LOT worse!

Case 1: I haven’t seen a bathroom since I got here. Porta-john is the name of the game. Now, although you have to cover the entire perimeter of the seat with toilet paper before you sit down, and although flies encircle your head for the duration of your visit… and although mouth-breathing becomes a habit and necessity, increasing the paranoia that those toxins will crawl into your lungs … and although you have to run out when you hear the potty-sucking truck pull up, it could be a LOT worse!

Alt Case 1: I could be required to use the head (bathroom) pictured below every day of my deployment and not just on certain days. Notice the flattened HESCO (usually filled with compacted dirt for force protection or makeshift walls) rigged as a gate with a bungy cord as the hinge. Also, notice the gap between the felt curtain on top and the make-shift gate. This wouldn’t be a problem if the darn toilet seat wasn’t so high. I practically had to jump up onto the hole cut into plywood with a plastic toilet seat sitting on top, because it was so high – just high enough to compromise your privacy, due to that strategically placed gap. Because trucks drive through the “moon dust” right next to the head, the seat and all around it was covered with dust. I took the liberty to wipe it off with dusty TP before taking this picture. Leaving TP in the head is NOT the way to go, as it will be covered in dust within an hour. Luckily, someone left some sanitizing wipes in a dusty bag next to the hole they call a “toilet”.

Now, this is just for potty type Number 1… not Number 2. The procedure for Number 2 is to catch it all in a bag and then throw it into the burn pit (I missed the pic opportunity for this one). How would you like carrying your waste from the location you dropped it into the bag, through the camp, to a pit full of fire and other Number 2 bags? EVERYONE knows what you just did.

Case 2: The floodlight by my tent was out one night. I was walking back from work as I usually do, but with a little more thought. I cut in between the tent next to mine, walking under the ropes that tie the back of the tent to the ground. I cut the corner around the tent close… too close. I forgot about the side ropes linking the top of the tent to the ground until my boot hit one of the stakes. I didn’t realize I was falling until I was face-down to the ground. I happen to be really good on my feet. I trip a lot, but I RARELY fall. In this case, my lack of depth perception changed my luck. The next day, I went into work and asked the Navy LT if he heard anything last night when he was in his tent. He said, “Do you mean when someone completely busted a$$ outside my tent? Was that you?! You almost fell into my head!”

Alt Case 2: I could’ve been wearing my PT gear instead of cammies that protected my knees! Nothing makes you revert back to childhood more than scraping up your knees.

Case 3: After a morning hike around base with a large group of females, I stripped the cammies I was wearing so that I could transfer all of my pens, ammo, notepads, etc into my new cammies. I took off my insignia and placed it on the bench between my and Margie’s bed. I placed them pins up without froggies (the little caps that hold the insignia to your collar). Instead of finishing that task, I then attempted to sit down on the bench so that I could put my boots on. To brace my seat, I placed all my weight on my hand. All 100lbs of me (haha…) pushed the insignia almost flush onto my thumb. Don’t worry – I have a picture.

Alt Case 3: I could’ve sat on a sword.

The pictures won't load on this slow WiFi, but I'll try to get them up soon!

Pics

2010-04-03T22:24:00.000-07:00

Pics: Joel and I before I left, me walking to the bus, just arrived in Afghanistan (don't let the pretty sky fool you), the Chow Hall, me with Oliver North. I missed Geraldo Rivera's visit... haha.

JOEL'S BDAY! and Afghanistan :(

2010-04-03T21:04:00.000-07:00

Greetings from Afghanistan, everyone...

Let me start with saying HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!! to my wonderful, fantabulous, gorgeous husband. I am so sad I missed it AND the wonderful dinner out that we always have with the fam. Mmmm.... can't wait for that one day... in a year. The pic is of Joel and his bros squished in the back of Ellen's car. :)

I've been here for three weeks, and what a joyous three weeks they have been. I'm lying. It's nowhere close to being joyous. This country is ugly, dusty, and violent. It's ok... I only have to spend a YEAR here! Think of what you were doing last year. Now think of how long ago that seems. A lot of us around here talk about the fact that a year is so long and this place is so boring... and it's only been 3 weeks! I work 7 days a week with an average of 14 hours a day, minus Sunday which is usually 10-12. My work isn't physically gruelling, but mentally taxing. I talk to a lot of people, go to a lot of meetings, write a lot of emails, and constantly try to find more and more ways to get organized.

PICTURE: Seaport Village two days before I left with both families

My job, overall: When an engineering mission comes up in the area, such as a gap in the road that needs a bridge or a hole in the road from an IED blast that impedes movement, I choose one of the units under me to do it. Sounds so simple! I wish it was. It requires a ton of paperwork and a lot of conversations...

Wow.... what a negative blog. I think a lot of the bad attitude currently comes from the fact that I have a miserable sinus/respiratory cold going on. The mix of that and the overbearing amount of dust makes it so I can't go running. I'm thinking this lack of exercise is bringing me down some, too.

One thing I have to look forward to is my 2-weeks leave. Mine should end up over Thanksgiving if I'm lucky. That will make it so I can see both my and Joel's whole families. The bad part about having it over Thanksgiving is that it is a whole 8 months away. That's longer than most deployments out here. But, the good part is that when I get back here, I'll only have about 4 months to go. That'll seem pretty easy after spending 8 months here.

I haven't been able to talk to Joel TOO much. The update I CAN give you is that he recently spent a week in St Louis, Missouri with Wounded Warriors at a career conference for vets. He said he had a great time. There were a lot of former Marines there who served them dinner and talked with them and gave speeches and all that. He also took a personality test. The test is usually $800, so this was a cool thing to do for free. We both agree it was pretty spot on! I'm not sure what the questions asked, but somehow they knew almost exactly who Joel was. The report actually brought up some things that others can do to help that person deal with difficult situations. Very interesting.

I uploaded a bunch of pics, but I'm not sure if they saved... frustrating. I'll try to blog next week. Hopefully I'll be in a better mood!

Joel medical update & Darcy's last few days!

2010-03-11T09:46:00.000-08:00

GOOD NEWS!!! After a LONG process (from Dec - Mar) of completing all of the steps required to get his license, Joel did it! He had numerous tests with Vestibular (I explain Vestibular therapy's function later), Tri-City Medical balance tests and driving test, and the DMV's written and driving test. He was very patient through the process and his patience paid off. We are all so proud of him!

Joel and I met with his doctor at Camp Pendleton for an overall update on his medical progress. I don't feel comfortable leaving the country without an update on how he's doing. I don't want anything to be a surprise while I'm away. Here is the update:

Opthamology (the working of the eye): Joel has great vision, but he still has a blind spot in his right eye. The spot isn't physically blind, but his brain is choosing to not use it (for whatever reason). From what I understand, this can be corrected with therapy. There was not a complete update on this therapy, but hopefully we'll have one soon.

Audiology: Joel has GREAT hearing (much better than mine). In order to determine whether his balance issues came from the inner ear or the brain, they but him quiet, small, dark room strapped in a mechanical chair that spins around and around. He said the speed was so quick that if he was not strapped in, he would "fly out of the chair." He did NOT like this. The claustrophobic feeling it gave him was overwhelming. He said he wanted to stop, but refused to let it defeat him. He slowly became more comfortable with the situation. The results came back, and they think his balance issues are caused by both the brain and the inner ear.

Vestibular (inner workings of the ear - the balance center): Joel has two therapy sessions a week with Vestibular to correct his balance and dizziness. His biggest balance issues come when he is in a hurry or just stands up. His dizziness comes when he leans his head back. Hopefully this intensive therapy will slowly improve these issues.

Speech: When Joel met with the Speech therapist, she didn't see a great need for individual therapy, but suggested group therapy. Joel is not too fond of group therapy, but will try it a few times to see if he can draw any benefits from it.

Concussion Clinic: Joel took the same 4-hr test he took when he arrived to and departed from PTRP. His results were generally the same as they were back in Nov. His main issues are processing speed and receiving verbal instructions. This is so very true. I see it in everyday life! I will talk to this therapist tomorrow about the plan of action to improve not only these things, but also his math ability (which on the test was at about a 5-6 grade level). Also, this therapist will let Joel know when he is ready to tackle a college class or two. He is really looking forward to going to school, but very apprehensive about failing. Luckily, the doc can write a letter allowing Joel more time on tests, additional help, and possibly a person to be his note-taker. I would LOVE to take classes with him and be his note-taker. I wish that could happen.

Mental Health: Joel doesn't have anything haunting him from his past, but he does have the normal stress, pressure to do well, anxiety, etc. For you and me, the effect they have on our cognitive functioning is not noticeable. For Joel, these things GREATLY effect his brain. Because of this, as much as he doesn't like the stigma of going to the Psychologist, he will learn coping procedures. This should have positive long-term effects! I haven't been 30, but I'm assuming it's more stressful than being 25. :)

The Ominous Filter: Remember when Joel's doc at Palo Alto attempted to remove the filter from his intra vena cava? He found that it was slightly tilted, and therefore, fused to the wall of the vein. He was afraid that if he removed it, it would puncture the vein, having fatal results. Well, the staff at Bethesda wants the filter out, so Joel will go down to Balboa for an assessment. The doctors there will decide whether they recommend it be removed, if they want to do the surgery, or if they want to send Joel to Bethesda for the surgery.

Vision Therapy (the workings of the eye - tracking objects, range of movement, etc): I'm very disappointed with this! When Joel left Palo Alto, his vision therapist was adamant that he continue therapy. Camp Pendleton was fully aware of this, but nothing has happened. I brought it up in about Jan, and again, NOTHING happened. Now I brought it up to his doctor who will talk to the same person who has failed to do anything in the past about it. We'll see if anything happens. You can guarantee I'll be following up on that, even when I'm gone.

Weight Gain: Joel has been working out about 4x a week and has been eating generally well, but he's consistently gained weight since he arrived at PTRP. He is exploring reasons at this point. Today he has a blood draw, testing his Thyroid. If that doesn't turn up as the problem, he has the opportunity to go on a diet plan that has proven to restart a metabolism that has been slowed by certain chemical elevations in the body. His buddy went from 230 to 175 on the program. Joel is about 225 and should be around 175, so we're hoping it'll do the same for him. In addition to this, he plans on beginning a 90-day workout program through Wounded Warrior Battalion that should definitely get his muscles back into shape. We'll keep you updated.

BRAIN!!!!: Joel still has and will always have Hydrocephalus. Once the fluid pockets are expanded, they don't go down. However, they want to ensure they don't get bigger, because if they do, it means there might be an obstruction somewhere. So far, there is no change in the size of his fluid pockets (that is NOT the technical term). The left one is still bigger than the right. The left side also has the same size of dead tissue in the frontal lobe area. Another sad thing to see was a bruise on the right side of his brain on the top near the back. This is consistent with previous MRIs. The bad news came when we looked at the lining of his brain. It is the area outside of the brain, but inside of the skull. On the MRI it should look like a black line surrounding the brain. It's normal on the right side, but it's slightly gray on the left side. This is Subdural Accumulation. Because this is a negative change in the state of the brain, Joel will have it monitored at Balboa for months to ensure it doesn't get worse.

Joel was in this meeting with me. As soon as we left, he said, "OK, tell me what we talked about." It's those moments that make me realize how slow his processing speed is and how poor his short-term memory is. Family members have a HUGE part in their loved one's recovery, as they see them in everyday situations when they are not being tested.

As for me, I'll be leaving in a few days. I'll be gone for a year. I'm very sad about leaving Joel, but I'll do good work this year and return safely to him. I'll also maintain as close a grasp on his medical updates as possible, which probably means emailing doctors and therapists every once in a while. :) For my last weekend here, both my family and Joel's family are coming down. We'll probably hang out in San Deezy (aka San Diego).

Lastly, Joel wanted me to ensure you all knew that he recently asked company personnel, "Would I be able to pursue government-funded dance opportunities?" He was told, "Yes," and responded, "Good, because that's my plan: to dance my way to freedom." Seriously. This happened.

I'll write as soon as possible.

HARCH!!! (Joel made me put that.)

VACATION! Feb 2010

2010-02-25T10:53:00.001-08:00

Joel and I just got back from a GREAT vacation. The down-point is that I was on my pre-deployment leave! I'll be leaving for Afghanistan within the next month. Here's the scoop on the vacation:

We flew to Fort Lauderdale, FL and hopped on the Holland America Cruiseline for a 7-day cruise in the Caribbean. We had a blast power snorkling in Turks and Caicos, zip lining through the San Juan rainforest, and speeding around the Dutch/French St Maarten island on two-man motor boats. We also had the chance to walk and drive around each of the islands to get a feel for the life there. The stops were fairly short (5-10 hours), but we definitely made the most of our time. Unfortunately, we weren't able to stop in Half Moon Cay, Bahamas, because the weather made the port dangerous. We were supposed to parasail, horseback ride in the ocean, and snorkle and pet the sting rays there, but ... next time. :)

TURKS AND CAICOS:

PUERTO RICO:
ST MAARTEN:

On the boat, we spent a lot of time relaxing! We read on the deck, had a black and white photoshoot, spent $5 at the Casino, hung out in the Sports Bar, sang-along in the Piano Bar, and of course, ate a LOT of food!

When we arrived back in Fort Lauderdale, we took an immediate flight to New York City. We spent a couple days there in the snow! We walked a lot in our faux snow gear including running shoes, $3 gloves, and sweatshirts. We visited stores including Colony Music, Hershey's and MnMs. We also did some site-seeing at the Empire State Building and Ground Zero.

NEW YORK:

Lastly, we flew to southern Oregon to visit my dad's brother, his wife, son and two daughters. Although it was a short stay, we had a great time walking the dogs, shooting my uncle's guns on his own little range, gathering the eggs from the chicken coop, and playing games.

OREGON:

When we returned to southern California, we visited both of our families. I was able to see my best friend from Kindergarten's second baby! I also went to the baby shower of another on of my great friends, Ashley. I worked out with Kelly, had lunch with Rosanne, and got to see my grandmother. I tried to get eveyone in before I leave for a year!

Joel got to spend time with his dad, but I came home early and stole him away so that I could spend as much time with him as I can before I leave.

Joel is doing better, but still has a lot of memory deficiencies. I'll prompt him to do something (ie respond to mail), but he forgets to follow through on things. One thing he is really good at is putting his appointments in his calendar. He also tries very hard to make me happy, which suits me just fine! He's my dream, for sure, and I'm so very proud to call him my husband! However, I'm VERY nervous to leave him. The DMV is very slow in processing his medical paperwork, which makes us nervous that he won't get the license before I leave. If he doesn't, he will need to get a ride to and from work from his unit. However, he will have to walk to the store or bum a ride off a friend when needed. We are praying he'll get the license within the next few weeks. When I leave, he's planning on starting a 90-day training program through Wounded Warrior Battalion, getting more into cycling through WWB, and starting his Bachelor's Degree with one General Education class. I can't wait to hear about his progress!

I'll do my best to continue the blog at least a little while I'm overseas. I plan on updating you on Joel's progress, as well as my own.

Into the Groove -- NOV to JAN

2010-01-27T18:45:00.000-08:00

I know it's been forever! I wanted to give another update.

Joel left the Palo Alto, CA Veteran's Affairs Hosptial in November. I left Camp Lejeune, NC at the same time. He and I had the wondeful opportunity of spending about 20 days together with nothing special to do. It was wonderful!

We both checked into our units in early December. He went through a long process of checking in and out of his unit and into Camp Pendleton's Wounded Warrior Battalion (WWB). When I checked in to my unit, I found out I'd be deploying within the next few months.

Once Joel was officially picked-up by WWB, he began infrequent hospital appointments. I'm highly disappointed with the lack of therapy appointments he has per week. At the most, he has one a day... and a lot of time they are simply assessments, not actual therapy. I'll do my best before I leave to improve the situation. In order to improve in all aspects (speech, balance, processing speed, etc), he needs to go through as many therapies as possible.

When he's not at appointments, he is working out, reading, or playing on his iPhone. WWB has what sounds like a great athletics program. It seems as though there is a chance for the guys to do whatever they like: swimming, archery, seated volleyball, seated basketball, running, etc. I'm hoping he gets a chance to jump into one or two of those activities soon. He's especially interested in swimming and cycling (right now he rides on a three-wheeled cycle or stationary bike -- still has to graduate to the bicycle). Actually, on our off time, Joel and I like to take cycling classes together. It's fun!

We had a great Christmas break. We were able to spend it with both his and my families. We also took a flight to Colorado to enjoy the snowy roads, fantastic food, authentic breweries, and even an Avalanche hockey game!

January's been crazy with work, but in mid-February, Joel and I will take a 7-day cruise to the Caribbean, followed by 4 days in New York and 2 days in Oregon with my wonderful Uncle Norman, Auntie Carol, and cousins Heather and Holli. My family used to spend a lot of time with them. As we've gotten older, we haven't had the time to make the get-togethers happen as often. It'll be nice to visit.

Joel is still working on jumping through all the hoops he needs to get his driver's license. We're hoping it'll all be figured out within the next month and a half. If it's not, he'll be able to get rides to and from work by friends and/or his unit's logistics element. There's NO WAY he will be moving into the barracks. I refuse to let him lose his independence because he's injured and I'm deployed. I'm working on teaching him easy meals to cook.

Alright, I'll do my best to write another update after our fantastic vacation (doubling as the honeymoon we never had 3.5 years ago). :) Can't wait.

And... he's OUT! WEEHEE!

2009-11-23T19:49:00.000-08:00

I know it's been a long time! I'm sorry about that. In the meantime, I graduated from Engineer school, drove across country, finally met up with Joel in SoCal, moved in to our new apartment, and have been running non-stop every since shopping, unpacking, and running errands.

Joel finished PTRP strong. He showed how much he's grown in strength by running 3 times a week, bicycling, and improving on every cognitive area! He took a similar 4-hour test to the one he took when he arrived at the program. He improved greatly in every subject (math, vocab, reading comprehension, executive skills, processing speed, etc.) He wrote an article for the hospital newsletter, but it didn't get in for three reasons: (1) It mentioned names, and (2) He was, as usual, very sarcastic and goofy.

He graduated on 13 Nov 09 (and shaved for me!). The day before, they had a luncheon in his honor! So sweet. Although he doesn't necessarily miss all of his therapy classes, he does miss the friends he made, including James and Shane. I know James and his AMAZING wife, Cherie, paid special attention to take Joel out to dinner and make dinner for him so that he wasn't stuck at in the PTRP living quarters all of the time. He REALLY appreciated getting out, and I really appreciated them taking care of him for me. Cherie made sure to keep me updated.

His dad drove him from PTRP to home. After a few days of visiting with his friends and family, Doug, Joel and I spent a full day (with the help of two Right Way mover men) loading, unloading, and unpacking boxes from storage and new furniture. We had a scare when the 4-sectional couch didn't look as if it would fit, but we figured a way! Joel and I spent the whole next week unpacking; setting up internet, Directv, door replacement, and door painting appointments. We also made several trips to Best Buy to get those things we forgot about each time before.

Another way we filled our time was by running! I mentioned to Joel that I was planning on signing up for a Turkey Trot race in the Topanga State Park on Thanksgiving. He immediately offered to do it with me. What?! A race?! You want to do a race?! It surprised me, but I immediately signed us up together. I took him to Topanga to ensure he felt comfortable navigating the rocky, sandy terrain. He did a great job. We'll be all ready for the race on Thursday!

He will report to Wounded Warrior Battalion Dec 4. The recommended treatment by his PTRP staff includes Driver Therapy (Yes please! The sooner he gets his license, the better!), Vocational Rehab to get him closer to career or volunteer opportunities, and PT 2-3 times a week (I'll encourage him to ask for more, since he is VERY capable of doing PT 3-5 times a week.) I hope his transition is smooth and he feels comfortable at WWB. If I deploy before he gets his license, that will be a problem, since he'll then have to move into the barracks. What then? We'll have to move all of our nice, new furniture into storage! NO!

I'll let you know how the race goes!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING, EVERYONE!

25 OCT 09 -- The Family Meeting & Interesting Drawings

2009-10-25T08:50:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-18T17:25:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-15T15:10:00.000-07:00

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.....

2009-09-27T08:18:00.001-07:00

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

2009-09-25T16:49:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-09-21T14:53:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-16T16:12:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-09-10T16:11:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-09T15:38:00.000-07:00

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

CAL

2009-09-05T19:49:00.000-07:00

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...

2009-09-03T17:38:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-28T21:14:00.000-07:00

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?

2009-08-25T21:58:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-24T18:23:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-21T19:44:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-18T19:49:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-08-13T13:54:00.000-07:00

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?"

2009-08-12T13:41:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-12T08:22:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-05T12:22:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-04T18:38:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-08-02T18:53:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-01T22:57:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-30T16:59:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-28T13:34:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-26T21:31:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-25T21:06:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-25T09:04:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-07-24T21:00:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-23T20:58:00.000-07:00

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.

21-22 JUL 09 -- The Lil' Fella Convention

2009-07-23T15:00:00.000-07:00

Not only did my sister, Erin, and Joel's bro, Jeff, arrive, but 4 of Joel's friends drove up from La Mirada. Joel was so excited to see everyone. It was a great time. The 7 of them, plus Doug and I went to Henry's Hi-Life in San Jose for some famous BBQ. Bryan saw Henry's Hi-Life on the show Man V. Food on the Food Network. He mentioned it might be a good place to go. It was good, although I'm not sure it was worth the wait! There just happened to be an Earth, Wind, and Fire/Chicago concert, which filled the building to the brim with guests. We made it through, though!

Here are updates on Joel's last few days in therapy as he finished them up here in acute care and will be transferring to the Polytrauma Transitional Rehab Program on 11 Aug:

Physical Therapy: Joel cycled and also had some heat therapy on his neck to loosen it up, which will ultimately encourage a better posture. They also put new tape (or, as Joel says, "ribbons" on his back to remind him to pull his shoulders back.

Occupational Therapy: Joel made his bed effortlessly. He also retook his strength test, which he blew out of the water! He originally had a 60-lb strength in his right hand. He now has an 82-lb strength. In his left it improved from 40-lb to 79-lb! His goal is at least 100-lb strength in each hand. He's doing great. Here he is coloring in his strength chart.

Recreational Therapy: I asked Joel what he did in RT the last few days. He said, "I built a boat with Jeff." I said, "A boat?" He said, "A wagon, taxi, it has drawers -- a desk, it's got the engine parts... not the engine parts... it's got, you drop stuff into it, like a ring. " Erin and I nodded our heads. She said, "It starts with a 'b'." He said, "A box." YEP! He's getting there! What a smart guy. I'm not kidding. He is brilliant! He surprises us every day.

Speech Therapy: Joel worked more on reading and on determining if he wants a PDA provided by Tricare. He really wants an iPhone, so he thinks he might forego the PDA.

Visual Therapy: Joel ran though a number of assessments moving his eyes back-and-forth. She concluded that when Joel looks up without moving his head (just his eyes), his left eye has trouble tracking. This can cause dizziness and lack of balance when he looks up at signs, reaches to get something out of a cabinet, etc. He also did some more work with 3D images. Here's a pic!

Additionally, several of the Marines from Joel's Detachment called him. He says he remembers talking to pretty much the entire Det. Joel says Swanton said that he and his wife sent him alcohol in the mail and then said he was joking. He also said they all told him about the tattoos they got. He also announced that Sorensen promised to get his (Joel's) face tattooed on him. So, there it is. You heard it here first, folks. Sorensen is now committed to it.

Stay tuned for an update on Joel's procedure. I'll try to do it tonight. I also have a lot of pictures to include!

20 JUL 09 -- 3D Horse Stroganoff

2009-07-20T21:15:00.000-07:00

Joel had quite the day of therapy today... it was almost non-stop. He has even more tomorrow. Here was the breakdown:

Physical Therapy: He was massaged some more. They do this to loosen his shoulder muscles up, as this might encourage better posture. He also did an exercise with which he has to roll from one side to the other (10 times on each side). This is supposed to help settle the crystals in his ear canals, which will allow for better balance.

Occupational Therapy: He constructed a ... ROCKING HORSE! He was very proud. I had to hold him back from jumping on it and taking a ride. OK, I'm being completely sarcastic. He did very well, though.

Speech Therapy: He worked on reading. He does a good job reading most words accurately. He just has trouble with retention. They are working on this in several of his therapies, as reading is a huge part of his life.

Neuro-Psychology: They talked... and talked... and talked. She's a very smart lady.

Visual Therapy: She did her assessment to see what he struggled with. One thing is his opscillopsia (opp-sill-opp-see-ah), which causes still objects to appear as if they are bouncing. She explained that because of this, his brain is concentrating more on trying to get through the act of reading than on retaining the material. Hopefully the therapy helps. She will also work with him when he transfers to PTRP next month. The picture is of Joel with his 3D glasses on, which determines if both eyes are working together as a team.

We talked to the doctors, and here's the projected timeline:
23 JUL - the procedure to remove the screen/filter on his heart
24 JUL - we leave for Convalescent leave, which will be quite the experience. Unfortunately, he won't be able to go out like he used to. He definitely won't be able to drink alcohol or consume nicotine. He has to have a family member with him at all times, per doctor's orders, due to the precautions others aren't used to paying attention to. However, I know he'll thoroughly enjoy sleeping in and doing almost whatever he chooses with his time.
10 AUG - we return to Palo Alto
11 AUG - Joel starts PTRP (Polytrauma Transitional Rehabilitation Program). We will have a projected date of graduation from PTRP a few days into the program.

Interview with Joel:
Q: What was one of your favorite memories with Anthony?
A: His magic kiss. And the La Mirada spirit in his veins.

Q: " " Ronnie?
A: La Mirada Baseball Association Indians

Q: " " Chris?
A: Me and him and Jeff made a movie at his house. It was good. He and I made a gay movie in high school.

Q: " " Richie?
A: Nothing hardcore. He hit me in the face a lot.

Q: " " Nate?

A: He hit me in the leg one time in middle school. His mom saw the bruise and asked me what happened. I told her that he hit me and he got in trouble, or something. I am a god.

Q: What are 3 goals you have for the next year?
A: 1) Have a beer. (Unfortunately, he won't be able to do this)
2) Make money with a beard.
3) Get a dog.

A few Joelisms:
--I asked what he wanted from the store. He said, "Lettuce Fettuccine."
--He walked up to the pan I was sauteing broccoli, onion, and mushrooms in and said, "Give me some fruits."
--The nurse came in to give him his pills and quizzed him on what she was giving him, since she gives him his Keppra (anti-seizure medication) every day. He said, "Poison control?" Haha...

Joel wanted everyone to see his lung drain scar... here it is:

19 JUL 09 -- Grand, Jovial & Glorious Watches & Slurpees

2009-07-19T21:39:00.000-07:00

So, after Joel experienced his first outing yesterday, he hungered for another. I came in at about 0730 to bring him a bagel, since I wasn't sure he'd have a chance for breakfast before his first therapy session. Ellen had already carried in his breakfast tray and was sitting in his room talking before she had to leave to pack in preparation for her flight home. Shortly after eating, he headed to his first therapy session: PT. He was assessed climbing 16 flights (4 floors) of stairs. He passed! Later in the day, he went to OT where he did origami. He made me a candy box and a cup which, as with any origami, are pretty unusable, because they're made of PAPER! I'm sure he would've still made them for me if he had the choice! :) Between the two sessions, we went over to the Fisher House to say "goodbye" to our beloved Ellen and Bryan.

After our sappy goodbye, the two therapy sessions, and a short nap, Doug, Joel, and I went to a luncheon provided by the organization (Menlo Park Presbyterian Church) that planted the garden where we often eat our meals. It was great! Not only was it delicious, but it was provided by some really generous, caring people. It definitely put us in the mood for the second outing of the weekend.

Joel said he wanted to get a wrist watch, so that's what we headed out to do. We ended up finding it at Target. Doug was definitely more into finding the perfect watch than Joel was. In true fashion, Joel said, "Where's the cheapest one? I'll just get that." After finding a suitable watch, even though he just had a Mocha Frappuccino, he couldn't leave Target without a Slurpee.

We went to P.F. Chang's for dinner -- one of Joel's favorite places. It was delicious. Afterward, we went back to the Fisher House and watched a movie the Marine Liaison, SSgt Judkins, wanted us all to watch. We soon returned to the room, Joel got ready for bed, and Joel did his Recreational Therapy homework of writing about his outings. He made sure to use subtle words like, "grand," "jovial," and "glorious."

So, that's that! We look forward to having a full house on Tuesday with the arrival of his bro Jeff, my sister Erin, and 4 of Joel's high school buddies: Anthony, Ronnie, Richie & Chris. Phew!

Peel and eat

2009-07-18T20:41:00.000-07:00

I was going to skip a blog entry tonight but then decided against it. If you're still taking the time to check the blog, you deserve an update!

There is no such thing as weekends off here at the hospital. Joel's schedule was certainly not as packed as it is during the week, but it was somewhat busy. For Recreational Therapy, Joel and Bryan walked around the Stanford University Campus with therapist Jocelyn. It was hot but they did find a hamburger stand on campus so Joel could refuel. This picture is of them leaving the hospital.

After he was done with hospital stuff, Joel got a pass for the evening. He chose a movie and dinner. Those of you who know me, know that I'm not much of a movie person. Let me just say, that after seeing Bruno, I'm even less of a movie person than before. What a ridiculous movie. The boys loved it, however. After the movie we went to dinner at the Los Altos Grill. It was really good. Joel desired a peel and eat shrimp appetizer. The shrimp were as big as small kittens. I told him I thought it would be a good idea to tell someone at the hospital it was hard for him to peel the shrimp, that it would be good therapy to practice it some more. They could either bring shrimp back to the hospital, or take a trip to the restaurant. Dinner was prime rib, and no, Joel didn't finish it. His appetite has definitely increased, but not to the point of finishing a huge chunk of red meat. Back to the Fisher House for TV/phone calls/computer time.

Bryan and I head back home in the morning. Once again, sad to leave, but I know there will be so much progress made when we next see Joel.

Kinesio Tape

2009-07-17T19:02:00.000-07:00

TGIF! Actually, since it's summer vacation for me, and Doug is retired, days of the week don't mean a whole lot! NICE!

It was another beautiful day in Palo Alto. It was much cooler today than it has been the past few days. Joel's day started with acupuncture. After that he had Physical Therapy where he got taped with Kinesio Tape. He's just like the Olympic Volley Ball players, except his tape is skin colored. The purpose is to remind him to put his shoulders back. As I read up on Kinesio Tape, there are other purposes as well.

He had the usual busy schedule of various therapies. When he was finished, we hit WalMart which is not an enjoyable experience, no matter what city you're in. We were in and out quickly and enjoyed a coffee drink at Starbucks.

Dinner was provided to patients and families at the hospital and at the Fisher House. The same organization provides dinners on the 3rd Friday of each month. We're back at the Fisher House watching a movie. Doug has a craving for Marie Callendar's pie since we passed one doing errands today.

The plan for tomorrow is a movie and out to dinner. Bryan and I leave on Sunday. While its not as hard to leave this time as it was leaving Bethesda, it's still difficult. It's exciting to be here and see Joel's progress. With hope there will continue to be progress and convalescent leave will happen.

Joel has accumulated many Challenge Coins along his recovery journey. The most impressive is the Presidental Coin, presented to him by President Obama. A Facebook friend asked me to post a pic of the coin, so I'll post it here too.

Dinner Pass!

2009-07-16T22:49:00.000-07:00

Another milestone! Joel was allowed to go off campus for dinner. He requested BBQ so we went to the same place that catered the 4th of July lunch here at the hospital. The concerns were getting in and out of a car, motion sickness in the car, and navigating the parking lot, curbs and the restaurant. Walking around the hospital is safe and secure. There is never anything on the ground to trip over, doors open easily and it's familiar territory. Joel did great. It was nice to be out with him. Afterward we went to the Fisher House to watch a movie and have ice cream. He's got a full day again tomorrow so had to be back to his room and in bed by 10ish.

Today we toured PTRP (Polytrauma Transitional Rehabilitation Program) where the next phase of Joel's rehab. will be. It's in a different building than he's in now and there are different therapists and doctors there. It's a live-in program where residents are encouraged to be more independent than the setting Joel is in now. He'll be responsible for doing his own laundry, changing linens, taking medications at proper times, etc. In the beginning he'll most likely have to share a room, which doesn't thrill him. Right now there are 4 residents there and with Joel, 2 more are expected to begin the program in a couple weeks. Visiting hours are way more strict than they are now in the acute-care wing he's in now. It will be a difficult transition for all, but necessary for continued progress with recovery.

There was discussion about convalescent leave before beginning PTRP. It would be ideal timing if convalescent leave coincided with the return of the MEU. Joel really wants to travel to Southern California to greet them. Being able to travel like this entails training for those of us who will be supervising him. Some of the things they discussed that would be included in training are maneuvering stairs and showering.

I found a medical report that listed Joel's initial diagnosis. I sat with the computer and looked up all the definitions last night. It was fascinating yet very grim. The most interesting part to me was something called GCS. I googled it and found it to mean: Glasgow Coma Scale. Scores in three different areas are given: Eye Response, Verbal Response and Motor Response. Scores range from 5 or 6 being best, to 1 being worst. After each area is scored, the scores are added up and that becomes the GCS. 15 is the highest. A score from 13-15 is a mild coma. 9-12 is moderate. 3-8 is severe. Less than 3 is vegetative state. The paperwork I read said that Joel's initial GCS was 12 but quickly deteriorated to a 6 and then to a 3. He stayed a 3 for quite some time. It's truly amazing to see how he has recovered thus far.

I didn't take any pictures today. Dreadful. I'll make up for it tomorrow.

Mail Call

2009-07-15T20:19:00.000-07:00

Yesterday and today Joel received several cards from complete strangers. The cards are so kind, thoughtful, heartfelt and sincere. Joel appreciates the cards and so do the rest of us. I have a feeling a certain friend by the initials of VW has something to do with this. If any of you mysterious card senders are reading this, can you confirm or deny my guess on who is responsible for this kind gesture?

We are at the Fisher House right now, relaxing after dinner. We made shrimp linguini with a recipe that Jeff made for Bryan and I last week. Darcy made cookies for dessert and there she served ice cream too.

We've got the TV on and are hanging out here rather than in Joel's room. Today there was a Family Meeting to discuss Joel's progress, and his future rehabilitation. Joel's head head Dr. (hahah get it? head head Dr.?), Neuro Psychologist, Social Worker, Marine Corps Liaison, Physical Therapist, Speech Therapist, Occupational Therapist, and Nurse attended. Each gave reports of their assessments thus far and reported on Joel's progress. Their recommendation was that Joel be released from the Unit he's in, and transitioned into the PTRP (Polytrauma Transitional Rehabilitation Program). This is a residential program where all the kinds of therapies Joel is getting will continue, but in a different setting. Patients are encouraged to be more independent while still being supervised. There are medical staff on duty, but it's not a typical hospital setting. After the Family Meeting, Joel was interviewed and assessed by the PTRP staff. We find out tomorrow if he is "accepted". If he isn't accepted, he'll go to a facility that is more appropriate. We, the family, have a meeting tomorrow afternoon with PTRP staff, so we think that will be where Joel ends up.

Going back to a previous post, I learned something about the filter Joel has in him. It is called an IVC (Inferior Vena Cava) filter. The 2 other guys who Joel has been with since Bethesda also had them. One had his removed already, the other still has his. The filters are routinely placed in patients with injuries like these young men.

We have requested a pass for Joel to be able to go out to dinner tomorrow night. We'll find out tomorrow morning if we get the pass. It's a team decision so they'll discuss it in their morning meeting. Joel has one decent outfit from the nice dinner he went to in Bethesda. His 2 tee shirts he wears over and over again might not be appreciated or understood: " Crazy for Swayze" and "Noah's Arcade, Aurora, Illinois".

I just asked Doug if he had any input for tonight's entry....all I got was silence. I read him Paul Burch's comment on the blog from last night hoping that would tug at his heart strings and he said "I'll think about it and get back to you tomorrow". So I'll speak on Doug's behalf to all or RBPD, thank you for your continued support to all of us. Joel just asked why they would talk about him or his blog at the PD. He really has no idea of the impact this has had on all of us; our family, friends, RBPD, LaPluma, CLB13, and all the folks we've met along the way since his accident. THANK YOU AND WE LOVE YOU ALL! (Those are Doug's words.......do you believe me?)

13-14 JUL 09 -- Such a pretty boy...

2009-07-15T09:43:00.000-07:00

I had Joel write in his hoodis, er, journal again. Here's some questions he answered for me:

Q: What was your favorite therapy today?
A: Where I got my neck healed.

Q: Why?
A: It felst so bomb. Bomb as hell.

Q: What did you have for dinner?
A: Burritos and a bunsh of scrimps.

Q: What was the worst part of the day?
A: Waking up here w/ a slight headache. And doing tests w/ shrinks.

Q: What's the hardest thing to remember?
A: I can't remember what I did each day. And this song creeped me out in my choma. But I don't know who or what it is.
___________________________________________________
WORDS SPOKEN BY THE MAN:

-I said, "Your chin has dry skin on it." He said, "It's been a bit called for. It's had names written all over it for the past few days."

Word Burst Game:
-The category was, "Things You See at a Park" I was trying to get him to say monkey bars. I gave him the word, "monkey" and tried to get him to say bar. He said monkey swings, then monkey fountain. I'm wondering what a monkey fountain entails!

-When we got to "Things at a Zoo," I was trying to get him to say, "tiger" and "lion," so I said, "Think of Cats." He said, "They talk." Then, he said, "Elephant. Chimpanzee!" Yikes! I think he might have been messing with me just a little bit.

-And lastly, still on the zoo category, I prompted him with "What's something you'd find in the desert," the first answer he gave was, "Gila Monster." Must be a Peters' family thing.

We have our family meeting today. We will meet with the nurses and therapists to discuss Joel's progress and his next step. We'll share our concerns, as well. Joel also has a meeting today with the leadership at PTRP (the program he might go to after this to continue his therapy as an outpatient.) He can ask questions. In order to go to the program, Joel must accept their program, and they also must accept him into it.

Should be a very informative day.

What's the definition of "hootis"?

2009-07-14T19:35:00.000-07:00

A hootis is the word Joel uses for something he can't think of the name for. He says it about 1500 times per day. In this picture Joel is making Bryan put a hootis on his face.

Joel's schedule is full, most days. Here is today's schedule:

9:00 - 10:00 - Physical Therapy - This consisted of a neck rub and some vision tests.
10:00 - 11:00 - Recreational Therapy - Today he downloaded songs from itunes. Yesterday he wrote fake checks and had to fake mail them. He's not fond of fake stuff.
11:00 - 12:00 - Occupational Therapy- "That sucked! I spent an hour with business cards. There were 110. I had to find them, spell their names and then put them in their boxes. Then I had to put their business cards into a file folder for phone numbers. I wanted to leave the entire time."
12:00 - 1:00 - Lunch - Came to Fisher House to dine with family. Ate a steak sandwich, some macaroni salad and some pizza rolls.
1:00 - 2:00 - Speech Therapy - Played a game similar to Outburst. There are several different kinds of exercises: List all the things you can associated with one idea. (Name things you would find at a park, or list as many musical instruments as you can) Next, naming synonyms for given words. Then, Word Association (Name as many musical instruments as you can. Finally, using visual imagery, name things you would see in a zoo. Then came back to room and threw up lunch.
2:00 - 3:00- Optometry - Took a series of vision tests.
3:00 - 4:00 - Neuro Psych - Practiced strategies to help remember things he has difficulty remembering. Instead of giving up, he has to stick with it, and think of other things associated with what he's trying to remember.

Throwing up continues to be a problem. Joel doesn't throw up every day and it's usually in the morning. He also has continued headaches. These have Doctors concerned and they did another CT scan yesterday to make sure there are no new concerns in his brain. He still has hydrocephaly. This means the ventricles are still enlarged with excess fluid. There is not more fluid than the last CT scan, however it hasn't been absorbed yet either. This is not uncommon with his kind of injury.

Another concern is Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV). This is a condition where the crystals normally found in the inner ear are disturbed due to injury, for instance. Each ear has 3 canals with crystals. Typically one canal is affected by injury. Joel has 4 of the 6 canals affected. Treatment includes normal head and neck movement. This causes the crystals to settle back in their place in the canal. Joels head and neck are very sore which prohibits treatment for BPPV. At this point, the goal of physcial therapy is to loosen up the neck and shoulders so he can receive treatment for BPPV. This condition might account for the vomiting.

Another concern is Oscillopsia. This is a visual disturbance where objects in the field appear to oscillate. It causes balance problems and dizziness. It might also be the cause of the vomiting. Joel still walks "deliberatly", with his legs spread out a little more than normal and using his arms for balance. While he has been cleared to walk around his wing of the hospital unsupervised (Yay!), he still needs supervision to leave the wing.

This picture is from today. This is what we do during the small amount of down-time Joel has that isn't spent eating. Joel usually isn't making that strange face though. I am usually on the computer, and Bryan is usually playing with a glove. Doug is usually watching TV and Darcy is usually on her iphone. She took the pic :)

Yesterday Joel shaved his moustache. He looks more like the Joel we all know and love. He loved his moustache. Today, Sergeant Major Blumenberg, from the Wounded Warrior Regiment, visited. Joel felt it appropriate to lose the facial hair.

Yesterday Joel had acupuncture. When the doctors came into the room I thought they were joking. However, they asked Joel if he was interested, and did it right in his room. He sat for 20 minutes with the needles in back, neck, shoulders and head. He's more brave than I.

Joel is just finishing his "in room" therapy of laying on a rolled up towel that goes down the middle of his back. This is to help with his posture and stretch out the muscles that have become tight from keeping his shoulders, neck and head forward.

So, improvement continues each and ever day. We have fun kidding around with Joel and he takes it like a champ. He also dishes it out like a champ. His head injury did not affect his sarcasm. There's no deficiency in that area!

10-12 JUL 09 -- Solely JOELISMS

2009-07-12T22:02:00.000-07:00

Alright, since Ellen got the business out of the way, I'll share some Joelisms:

-"Bryan, when you went to Kindergarten and your teacher asked you if you were a beautiful boy, did you say, 'Yes. This doesn't just happen. This is the work of God incarnate,"? :)

-When watching something on TV: "Is this legal... er... real?"

-He said, "My socks are pulled all of the way up." I looked down to see his tribute to the '80s, but saw ankle socks. I then noticed that his basketball shorts had turned into marathon runner briefs. Lovely sight.

-Before I left tonight, he talked about how it annoys him that there are a lot of bugs in his room. He corrected himself to say that the bugs were inside of him. When questioned, he said that it's actually a kind of metal that starts with "m". He said it was put in through his chest tube (the tube that used to be in to drain his lung fluid.) He said it freaked him out. Ellen figured out that he was talking about the screen on his heart that they will remove 23 JUL 09. Earlier he said he would've never known it was there if the doctor didn't say so. I guess the thought itself weirds him out. Hm...
________________________________________________

Joel received a journal (very manly looking :)) from the organization, "Reveille", so I decided to put it to use jotting down some interesting things he says and also having him write answers to questions I ask. I tried to have him write something without me prompting him, but that wasn't going to happen-- he made that very clear. Here is the most recent Q & A Session:

Q: Write a letter to Jeff (his bro).
A: You are so gay.
Love,
Joel

Q: What did you eat for lunch?
A: Issues. Issues. Issues. Issues. Issues. Issues. Issues.

Q: No, really... what did you eat for lunch?
A: For lunch I had steak, breakfast rolls, things of such.
Joel
Correct A: He had a hamburger and fries.

Q: Write three sentences about how you feel about Patrick Swayze. (His shirt said, "Crazy for Swayze".)
A: Christ. Christ. Christ.

Q: Come on, Joel... write three sentences! According to your shirt you like him.
A: This is crap. He's nice. Great actor. Lucious dreams.
My comment to you: He gave me four sentences. I win.

Q: What is your best pick-up line?
A: God is nice to us. Let me prove it.

Q: Who is your favorite hockey player? Why?
A: Chris Kunitz. Great scorer. He's a lovely friend as well.
My comment to you: I wonder what Chris has to say about this.

:) More to come... always. Let me just reassure you -- he gets a kick out of these, too!

Gloopy Head

2009-07-12T14:08:00.000-07:00

Sunday afternoon...Joel is in Physical Therapy... er...he just walked in the door. His neck has been sore and causes his head to lean forward and his shoulders to pitch forward. He had a massage and said it felt great. He had Occupational Therapy this morning which entailed walking to the main hospital and back. He brought a CAFFEINE FREE coke with him which didn't go over well with the therapist. She stopped the walk and told him to finish it now, or throw it away.

BBQ country style ribs are on the dinner menu. It will be so nice when Joel can come across the street so I don't have to manage getting food dishes, silverware across the street. Actually, it's not that bad. The Fisher House kitchen has everything we could possibly need.

Bryan, Darcy, Doug and I are sitting in Joel's room with him. I asked him if he wanted to add anything to this blog entry. His comments are: "I'm rockin it old school today." and "My head feels kinda gloopy".

This pic was taken right now, before Joel crawled back in bed. I have no doubt if we all left he'd nod off....but no luck! We're here to stay. If he doesn't nap during the day, he sleeps better at night. So, here we sit, Doug in a wheel chair (ran out of chairs in the room), Bryan listening to ipod, Darcy and I in chairs all watching Anthony Bourdain. They talked about tripe and Joel asked "What is that white skin substance, Dad?" Maybe I'll ditch the BBQ country style ribs for some tripe. Ewwwwwww.

Shake and Bake

2009-07-11T21:36:00.000-07:00

It's Saturday night. Bryan and I flew back up to visit Joel for the week. We flew up here compliments of Hero Miles. If you have miles you would like to donate, go to heromiles.com . It is a legitimate organization that's part of the Fisher House where we are staying.

It's been a week since I last saw Joel. He's made even more progress. He makes better sense when he talks and stumbles on fewer words. His sense of humor is quicker and he is just more "with it". It's great to see. Even though its the weekend, Joel still has physical and occupational therapies. There's no days off here!!!

Darcy got a new iphone and has been playing with it non-stop. This photo was taken with the iphone and edited with some snazzy application. The flowers are from Barry and Terri Floyd. They're beautiful!

Since the Fisher House has a full kitchen, I cooked dinner and brought it across the street. Joel isn't cleared to leave the hospital yet. The BBQ grill is locked up for the weekend (?) so I was restricted to the oven. Those of you who know me, know that I'm not all that familiar with cooking a main dish in an oven. Since Joel is working hard to put some weight back on, I made an old favorite; Shake and Bake Chicken, Blueberry Muffins (actually it was a loaf because I couldn't find a muffin tin) and salad. It worked out fine. I borrowed a cart from the Fisher House and wheeled all the food and utensils across the street into the dining room. Joel seemed to enjoy it...he said he would like anything that didn't come on a tray. I can definitely accommodate that!

Still Screenful

2009-07-10T14:30:00.000-07:00

The de-screening procedure was cancelled. "Scheduling error" was the reason given. New date is July 23. Joel wasn't bummed...he's just glad he finally got to eat something.

More to follow.

Hungry and Thirsty

2009-07-10T08:51:00.001-07:00

Joel's "de-screening" surgery is scheduled for sometime between 11-1 today. He couldn't have any food or liquid after midnight. He is put under general anesthesia for the procedure that should last about 20 minutes.

Last night he requested BBQ ribs and chicken. Doug got take-out from the same place that provided the food for the 4th of July BBQ at the hospital. He said Joel ate more than Doug's seen him eat so far (Not in his whole life....but since the injury).

I have to go now. I have to call the hospital to see if they'll save the little screen they take out for a scrapbook page.

Yes, I'm kidding!

Eye on Caffeine

2009-07-08T20:11:00.000-07:00

I'll add a little bit to Darcy's post below. She mentioned the surgical procedure that's going to happen on Friday. Sounds like a piece of cake; Joel's been through 2 angiograms already, and this sounds like a similar procedure.

In a phone conversation with Doug this evening, we learned that Joel's eyes still aren't moving together and that accounts for some of the balance issues. He's been referred to an eye specialist in the main part of the V.A. Hospital. The wing he's in is the Polytrauma Center and is a separate building from the main hospital. He's scheduled for an assessment tomorrow morning.

Due to sleep issues, caffeine is no longer allowed after 12:00 noon. Hopefully Joel can get on a regular sleep schedule.

For occupational therapy today Joel had to follow a recipe from a cookbook and cook Chicken Primavera. I love it. He's going to come out of there more domestic than when he deployed! I'm going to suggest that they review vacuuming, toilet scrubbing, laundry and sweeping.

The photo is from a couple years ago. I think that fishing is very good therapy; not only for Joel, but for Doug too. I know they look forward to their next fishing trip together. I wonder if the hospital can work in some kind of fishing practice. Isn't baiting a hook a kind of fine motor skill? And casting......hand - eye coordination? I'm a genius !! I just figured out Doug's retirement job. He can be a fishing therapist.

7-8 JUL 09 -- Surprise! I have a screen in my heart!

2009-07-08T10:04:00.000-07:00

Joel has been doing a lot of therapy - physical, occupational, recreational (helping him get back to hobbies, sports, etc. that he used to do), speech, and neuro-psychological. He has a pretty strict, tight schedule that exhausts him. However, he never complains to the therapists or refuses to take part in therapy. He's a strong man and definitely wants to recover quickly.

We were told yesterday that his paperwork states that he has a filter/screen in his heart. The doc said it was put there to prevent clots in his legs from reaching his heart. What a surprise! They looked inside him today to locate the screen and also see if he had any current blood clots via x-ray and ultra sound. They didn't find clots, but did find the screen. They will remove it on Friday. It shouldn't be too invasive, but now that Joel knows what is going on, he's a little apprehensive about it. We'll keep you updated on that.

A few Joelisms:
-When the doc asked why he is in the hospital (to quiz him). He said, "I was in a mine and I was ejected from a Humvee. Then I was hit by water and a bunch of rocks beat me in the head"... or something similar to that. Awesome.

-I covered up the calendar and asked what the date was, as he usually gets it right when looking at the calendar. He said, "The 7th of Nov 2007. No, the 7th of Jan 2007." :) At least he knows where to look to find the date.

-For the life of him, he can't remember my birthday! He remembers the month and year, but the day is quite a problem. He remembers his dad's, Ellen's, Bryan's, and Jeff's, though! I definitely don't mind. It's just funny.

Wes left for Colorado, and it looks like Keane, Joel's buddy from his first deployment in 2005 is coming out at the end of the week. It should be a lot of fun! ((The picture is of Joel and Keane in Iraq, 2005.))

6 JUL 09 -- "He's the coolest, isn't he?"

2009-07-06T22:46:00.000-07:00

Things cooled down as the week began, as most of Joel’s visitors had to return to Southern California. He started his first day of therapy today. Just as if it was his first day of school, Wes and I ensured he had a nutritious breakfast, dressed him in his Sunday’s best, and helped him with calm his calic. OK, “that’s not entirely true,” as Joel would say, but it surely was a big day! He was put through a lot of assessments. He spent about 1.5 hours total with the Physical Therapists who walked him farther than he’s ever previously walked and worked on his balance; spent 1 hr with the Occupational Therapist who works with his ability to do everyday things like showering, grooming, eating, dressing, etc.; spent 1 hr with the Speech Therapist (Joel said he took a test where he was ranked a 3 out of 4… I’ll have to figure what that means later); and talked to several doctors. He had a big appetite today, which was great! He even ate 2 hot dogs, plus other food during lunch. Today really was a great day for progress! He’s “fantastical,” as he would say. Lastly, he did some homework that a therapist gave him to complete. It is a question/answer packet where he reads about Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and answers questions about it… basically so he gets to know more about his injury.

JOELISMS:

-“I’m getting REALLY freaky! Finicky… whatever!”
-He asked me, “Where’s your car?” I said, “In the parking lot.” He said with a smile, “Why don’t you take it and get me some sody pop?”
-I asked him what type of vegetable he had for dinner. He said, “Chicken. Chicken’s a fruit, isn’t it? … Soda. Coke, wasn’t it?” Sounds like some good veggies to me!
-Wes said, “You’ve got to get your snap and pop back, Joel.” Joel said, “Yeah. I’m really under the influence.”
-“Where’s my dad?! He’s the coolest, isn’t he?” He says that at least once every 2 hours his dad isn’t around. J

It’s interesting, because he will remember the corrections we make on some things (what actually happened in his accident,) but cannot remember corrections we made to some things he said 5 mins earlier (almost any date that he hasn’t had memorized for most of his life).

Alright, we’ll talk again later! The schedule for tomorrow is packed even tighter than it was today!

Hate the 5

2009-07-05T20:52:00.000-07:00

Bryan, Jeff, Doug (he's going to drive back tomorrow with his truck), and I drove home today. I forgot how awful the 5 freeway is. I can say with certainty that our next trip up there will be by plane. Joel didn't seem to feel as good today as he did yesterday. He had a headache and felt like he was going to throw up which has been happening a couple times a day. This doesn't seem to interfere with eating however. He doesn't eat huge meals, but enjoys snacks throughout the day. He prefers to lay in his bed but when he sits in a chair, he sits forward and his head usually ends up hanging down or he holds his head in his hands.

He's still pretty unsteady on his feet. He is aware of it which is good. Doug asked him "Do you think you could drive?" Joel's answer was "No way".

Coming up with the right words continues to be difficult. Sometimes you can figure out what he's trying to say and other times he gives up because by the time he tries to explain, he's forgotten what he's trying to explain. He continues to have a great attitude about this.

Joel continues to take Keppra which is an anti-seizure medication. He hasn't had a seizure but seizures are common after a traumatic brain injury. As I was looking up the spelling of Keppra, I came across these side effects: Sleepiness, fatigue, poor coordination, loss of strength and dizziness. Interesting! I'd love to know how much of what's going on with him is due to the injury and how much is due to the medication.

Joel's new address is:

V. A. Hospital
Ward 7-D
Sgt. Joel Peters
3801 Miranda Ave.
Palo Alto, CA 94304

I also posted it on the lower right side of the blog.

I'm off to research airfares :) Not really, but it's on my list of things to do.

How many people can you cram into a small hospital room?

2009-07-04T22:51:00.000-07:00

I forgot to bring the card reader in order to upload photos. This photo is about a year old. Joel had many visitors today. Darcy, Gale (Darcy's mom), Erin (Darcy's sister) Sage (Erin's son), Wes Reed, Jeff, Bryan, Doug and I all spent a lot of time with Joel today. The room is small and we moved chairs in. Joel enjoys telling us stuff he "remembers". A lot of it is far fetched and we can safely say it never happened. He consistently tells time on the clock and knows the date within a day (he cheats and looks at the calendar on the wall).

Joel's room is sandwiched in between Alex Minsky's room and Shane Scherer's room. Both of these boys came to Bethesda shortly after Joel arrived. I went into Shane's room and chatted with him for a while this evening. Alex goes on wheelchair walks around the facility. His mom is staying at the same place we are. It's so nice to see these folks again. It's even better to see these boys awake, moving around and talking. 5 weeks ago they were all in the ICU in Bethesda, in critical condition.

We dined at Olive Garden tonight (thanks, Amy!). We need to get creative and plan some meals here. There is a full kitchen available for families to use. We are staying at the Fisherhouse across the street from the hospital. www.fisherhousepa.com . Eventually, Joel will be able to come over here and eat with us. The hospital food is good according to Joel, but nothing like a grilled steak. Joel's appetite seems to be returning. This is a good thing because he's lost a lot of weight (30 lbs?) since the accident.

Darcy's family left today and Jeff, Bryan and I are leaving tomorrow. It'll be a little quieter here but that's okay because the week will be filled with assessments and appointments. Joel seems to enjoy company, but has no qualms about laying down and saying when he's ready for a nap.

This morning I read all your comments to Joel. I cried as I read them. He probably wondered what was wrong with me! I don't think he realizes the severity of his injury. I also read him some emails some of you have sent to me (Cochranes, Mike Roberts, Rob Baker). He is very touched by the outpouring of support. I still need to find the mailing address for him. I'm hoping that he continues to get cards and letters. Now that he's more aware, he can truly appreciate receiving mail. As you walk by rooms of other patients, things are hung up on the walls and doors. There are no food restrictions now, so if you were inclined to send Joel a care package, you could do that now.

Oh, and the answer to the title question is: 10.

2 JUL 09 -- A New Home & I'm a Traitor

2009-07-02T23:32:00.000-07:00

Joel arrived at the Palo Alto VA Hospital at about 1100 this morning. Early on, he was bombarded by nurses asking him the standard history questions (who was President during the time of the Tet Offensive, etc... just kidding) and visitors coming by while his mom and I sat in the room. He was in a great mood. I spent hours talking and laying with him. Of course, the whole time he was begging for more and more soda. I bought him a big soda from Togo's and convinced him to drink water and eat most of his dinner before having anymore. At one point, he asked, "Where's your car?" I said it was in the parking lot and asked, "Why?" He said, "Why don't you take it to get me some more sody pop?" I just laughed, but took it as an opportunity to get out into town and do my laundry. I bought him a 12-pack and returned later to say goodnight.

I didn't write many down today, but here are your daily dose of JOELISMSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS:
-Joel said, "I got locked into a GD table." I gave him an odd look. He said, "God only knows what I meant by that!"
-Joel started mentioning that he had several of what seemed like complete reality, but might have been dreams (I think he's right about the second part). He talked about two separate ones:
1) He went to a hospital in Yorba Linda, CA shortly after the accident. He said it was run by a Russian communist and that the staff treated him horribly! He said he and the other patients dreaded when the nurses and doctors came by. He said it was like torture. The "dream" lasted over a couple days. He and I thought this might have either been dreams he had as a result of being taken out of sedation for short periods of time, or for the first few days after he was taken out of sedation for the final time.
2) He said, "Remember when you worked with the pirates ... and, then you worked at the hospital in Africa?" I told him I didn't remember, but that it sounded exciting (and like I was a traitor! Lord help me if I was part of that piracy scheme his guys were doing counter-ops against!)

So, that's that! My mom, sister and nephew came out tonight. Ellen, Doug, Jeff, Bryan, and Joel's friend, Wes (Wes taught Joel everything he knows about being an MP, so Joel says) are coming out tomorrow. So, it'll surely be a full house! :)

Aloha

2009-07-01T22:06:00.000-07:00

This photo will make sense after reading the entire post. It wouldn't upload anyplace else but here!

California needs a catchy "welcome" phrase. Anyway, Joel made it to Travis Air Force Base. Darcy drove there from Palo Alto and they called here to chat. Joel sounded good. He said the flight was terrible and that there were lots of random people on the flight who he didn't know that well. Sounds like most flights I've been on! He made it though, and is in a hospital room for the night. He'll be transferred to the V.A. Hospital in Palo Alto in the morning.

Joel has told both Darcy and I about some "dreams" he's had but he's not sure if they're dreams or if they really happened. It will be interesting as time goes on to see if the "dreams" become more clear and really happened or if they are really crazy, drug induced visions he had while still sedated or coming out of sedation.

Doug's last day of work was today. (Flash back to above photo.) There was a BBQ in the back lot of the station in his honor. Once again, RBPD completely outdid themselves. The gathering was perfect in every way. Doug even said a few words at the microphone which doesn't happen very often. He was eloquent, well spoken and didn't sweat. Doug described his last day to Joel on the phone and Joel was sorry to have missed it. He said he remembers everyone there and wishes he could have been a part of the celebration. Sounds like there might need to be a Part 2 to the DAP1128 celebration when Joel is ready. Keenan, start a new sign up sheet.

Thank you to everyone who helped make this day special for Doug. You are all like family to Doug, Joel, Jeff, Bryan and I.

Bye Bye Bethesda

2009-07-01T09:26:00.001-07:00

This is what happens when you leave your camera out for others to play with. This was one of 3,000 pictures they took of themselves that afternoon.

It's official, Joel is no longer in Bethesda. This morning he left there headed for Palo Alto. It's a long, grueling flight with other passengers being dropped off and picked along the way. The plan is to arrive at Travis AFB where he'll probably spend the night and then will be transferred to Palo Alto tomorrow.

We'll let you know more as we know more.

Here we go again....to Palo Alto!

2009-06-29T13:56:00.001-07:00

This photo is from a fishing trip a couple years ago. I can see Joel and Doug enjoying some more trips like this as Doug enjoys retirement and as Joel enjoys recuperation!

Doug just called with the exciting news that Joel has been cleared to fly out of Andrews AFB on Wed to Travis AFB!!!! This will put him in Palo Alto which is what we've been waiting for.

I'll post more as I find out details :)

8 Messages

2009-06-28T20:11:00.001-07:00

This picture is from 2005. We went to Camp Pendleton to say goodbye when Joel deployed for the first time. Carl is on the left, then Joel, then Wesley and Jasper.

Thank you to the 8 people who left messages for Joel. It means a lot to him and it means a lot to me as well. I know so many people are thinking of Joel, praying for him and wishing him the best. For him to hear it, read it and know it can only help his recovery.

I don't have a big update, but Doug did tell me something interesting today. As Joel was getting out of the shower, he noticed the big bruise on his back (it's gigantic and covers most of the lower back on the left side and wraps around his hip area). He also noticed a healing incision on his abdomen. He asked Doug what the incision was. Doug explained that a chest tube was there, draining fluid from his lungs. Doug said there are also some areas on Joel's head that have marks, or scars......not sure if they're from the injury or from instruments they had in his head. He had a couple different drains and a couple different instruments poking thru his skull into the brain. This was how they measured the intracranial pressure. One of the nurses referred to Joel as a unicorn early on. It wasn't funny!

Thanks again to those of you who left messages.

Full Circle

2009-06-27T15:04:00.001-07:00

Happy Saturday! This picture is from a couple of years ago I think. Bryan is practicing wrestling moves on Joel. Joel seems to be enjoying it more than Bryan!

I went on AOL earlier today and caught Doug online. He and Joel were on a hospital lounge computer. Doug was showing Joel this Blog! How cool is that? A month ago as we were excited by fluttering of his eyelids, I never would have imagined that Joel would be reading this.

Doug explained that Joel enjoyed looking at the pictures mostly. I asked if Joel had any suggestions for the music playlist as I'm getting very tired of the song that first plays when I log on. No luck, folks...Joel is happy with the music selection.

So here's my thought for the day. Since Joel can now read this blog, I'm hoping that at some point he'll have input for it. Until that time however, please leave comments for him. I look at the counter all the time and see that so many people view this blog. If you click on the counter, and then "by location" on the left, you can see where all the hits come from. It's pretty cool. I think it would be pretty cool if everyone who read this left a comment. If you are unable to leave a comment, you can email your comment to me and I'll post it for you. (hockeyaddc@aol.com)

Oh, Doug also showed Joel the write-up on the Pacific Crest website. He was so appreciative, David!

Thanks in advance for your comments!

Peters, party of 2, I mean 4

2009-06-26T18:33:00.000-07:00

Joel went on a field trip! The hospital group had another outing tonight. This time to the Capitol Hill Club. It's where the Republican Senators go to hang out. Doug, Joel, Joel's nurse and his physical therapist (and a bunch of other families and patients) enjoyed a tasty dinner of steak, garlic mashed potatoes, asparagus and a carrot. That's gotta beat hospital food, right? Joel enjoyed appetizers and ate most of his dinner. Unlimited cokes and a dessert bar completed the dinner.

Notice the goatee beard. Doug showcased his barber skills on Joel's beard today. Joel's response: "I look like a bad ass!". Doug says he resembles Ed Norton in American History X. Well, maybe not exactly......

25 JUN 09 -- Today Is A Day That Will Go Down in Infamy

2009-06-25T18:25:00.000-07:00

You think the title is a little overdramatic? HECK NO! Have you ever found that if you decide that it's a bad day, you can make anything that happens that day twist into something negative so that your day seems even worse?! If it's gonna be bad, you best make it seem as horrible as you can, right? Don't worry, I won't get into the details of the day.

In reference to Ellen's quote "two steps forward, one step back," I'd venture to say it seems like at least 20 steps back to me! OK, I'm lying. She was pretty accurate. As I mentioned earlier, I flew out to Palo Alto today in anticipation of Joel's arrival on Sunday. I received the news of his procedure during my layover in the greasy LV (aka Lost Wages, aka Las Vegas). How disappointing -- not that they discovered the causes of his pain at Bethesda, but that they didn't do the test one day sooner! I know it's no one's fault -- just unfortunate circumstances. Everything takes time. It's just frustrating not being able to be with him. I'm thinking of taking a flight out there next week, but we'll see what options I have. I have a place and a car out here I am responsible for. What to do in the meantime? I've thought of some options: 1) I can write letters to all residents of Palo Alto announcing my arrival, 2) workout... a lot, 3) make a map overlay of the entire Veterans' Hospital, 4) research the history of Palo Alto and the surrounding areas, 5) go door-to-door in the neighborhood asking if anyone is hiring a photographer or seranader, or 6) dress up as a clown and attempt to do magic tricks for every patient in the hospital. The options are endless. I'll let you know what I come up with!

Joel was as cheery and as polite as ever on the phone. Such a sweetheart (at least for the 7 minutes I talked to him). :)

Steps. All kinds of steps.

2009-06-25T16:07:00.000-07:00

Baby steps! Positive steps! And then there are the other kind of steps. Throughout this ordeal, doctors and hospital staff have told us "2 steps forward, one step back". Today was a step back.

For the past 4 or so days Joel has complained of headaches. This morning doctors did a CT scan to determine the source of the headaches. Doctors determined that the ventricles in his brain were enlarged. This was indication that there was fluid in the brain, not being absorbed by the body. There are 2 ways to treat this condition. The first way is a lumbar puncture. Spinal fluid is drained off to relieve pressure. This procedure was done this morning. The bummer is that Joel is now required to stay at Bethesda for 1-2 more weeks. He will most likely have 2-3 more lumbar punctures during this time. If these procedures don't stop the excess fluid, doctors surgically implant a shunt into the ventricle that drains into the stomach.

Joel's back is pretty sore from the procedure today. They are keeping him awake for most of the day so that he sleeps at night.

We're all disappointed that he won't be moved to Palo Alto on Saturday, but relieved that this was discovered while still in Bethesda.

The above photo was taken at Camp Pendleton during Jeff's Infantry Training. They are demonstrating the Ever-popular "Eye Gouge".

24 JUN 09 -- Put Dry Lettuce On My Feet!

2009-06-24T20:49:00.000-07:00

Let's see... what happened today?

-Speech/Occupational Therapy: They took Joel out of the room to work on walking while talking. They had him stop at the American Red Cross cart with DVDs, books, and food on it. Here, he stood while they worked on naming colors, reading titles, and talking about plots. He did fairly well, but after about 7 minutes, said his head hurt too much to continue. They helped him back to his room and continued to work with him there. Apparently, he was feeling better, because when they asked him "What do you do with a pen?" He said, "You write down all this weird shit that you come across." They also commented on the fact that whenever he is asked who his dad is, he says, "He's my dad. He's the coolest." That's the truth!

-The Psychologist: She came by to do the standardized testing as she does every day. He said most of the same answers as yesterday (April for the month, repeating sentences fine, 2009 for the year, pencil for pen, pen for clock, etc.) However, he was able to do a little subtraction (100-7 = 93, 93-7= 87 (close), 87-7=80, then he added 7 to 87 and then subtracted again to 80.) :) That was a huge improvement! For his written sentence, he wrote, "I can't wait until lockha starts again." When asked what he can't wait to start, he said, "hockey season." Close! :) It boggles my mind how everything can be spelled perfectly, but that one word can be so messed up... hm. Oh, and when he was asked what three words she said earlier in the test (apple, penny, table) he said, "Bethesda, plastic, oh, I'm an idiot." That shows he knows he is saying the wrong thing! Although, we ALL know he isn't an idiot! She also asked what he studied during his time in college. He said, "Birth, or something like that." :) Lastly, she said, "How would you describe your mood today?" He said, "I wanna get the hell out of here, to be honest with you." Soon. Soon!

-He was cleared to go outside!!! Or, so we thought! After we took him out in a wheelchair, we found out that although the 5th floor docs cleared him, the Neuro-docs hadn't. We took him around the block, downstairs, and to the PX. He seemed to enjoy the outdoors, and especially the Dot's ice cream he got, but soon his back hurt and he wanted to lay down.

-Because of his frequent neck/head/back pain, we talked to the Doc about possible additional meds. We'll see how that goes. We just want him to be able to focus on rehab, not on pain.

Other things he said today:
-When talking about how President Obama visited him in the ICU, he said, "I held the guy at the Anti-Virus hearings for Coke."

-He emphatically said, "Put lettuce on my feet! Put dry lettuce on my feet!" I tried to talk him through it and figure out what he wanted on his feet, and he kept saying that! :) After about two times, he knew "lettuce" was the wrong word, but didn't care to figure out the correct one. He thought I should know what he wanted on his feet. I put a blanket on them, and that quieted him down, so I figure that's what he was looking for!

I'm going to Palo Alto early, so I won't have a ton to say until he arrives. I'll update what I know! We are just so happy he is doing so well, has a good attitude, is polite and kind to most everyone he comes across, and will be going with a lot of the guys he was in the ICU with. It's great to see everyone getting better, no matter how slow it is!

Phone Conversations

2009-06-24T19:32:00.000-07:00

Jeff, Bryan and I each had extended phone conversations with Joel today. When he talked to each Bryan and Jeff, he went on and on about how he wanted to go into business with them. Bryan suggested they open a Football/Harrier (jet) business and Joel agreed that would be a good idea. Bryan asked Joel what his job would be and he didn't think that was important. I asked Jeff and Bryan for more tidbits from their conversations but they each assured me that their conversations with Joel were inappropriate for this blog. Great. How am I supposed to write a good entry?

As I talked to Joel, he told me that he went to the PX with Doug and Darcy today. What Doug didn't know was that Joel wasn't cleared to leave the hospital building. The PX is a short walk away. Good thing Joel returned to the hospital room unscathed. Doug and Darcy better be careful. They're gonna get 86ed from the premises! First cokes and food before Joel is cleared and now encouraging him to "escape" the hospital. When Joel wakes up with an ankle bracelet on, they'll know why.

I was thinking about clothes for Joel once he's in Palo Alto. His truck is here with us, and the back seat is filled with stuff. I'm sure there are clothes stuffed in there someplace. I asked him if he wanted me to go thru it and he said that I better have Jeff or Bryan do it. That suits me fine because as we were talking, I remembered the half eaten, frosted cake, that was in the front seat of his truck for about a week before we found it. If the owner of the cake pan is reading this, the pan has been washed and is ready to be returned to you. I can only imagine what "treasures" are in the back seat. That might make a very interesting blog entry. I'll be sure to have the camera nearby incase anything interesting surfaces.

23 JUN 09 -- Stay Motivated & He Ratted Me Out!

2009-06-23T20:13:00.000-07:00

Joel had his SECOND visit from Commandant General Conway and Mrs. Conway today. It was great! Those two are the funniest, classiest couple I've ever met! We will post pictures from the visit soon. Oh, and don't think Joel let the visit end without saying something to make everyone laugh. When talking about him going to see the MEU arrive back in port, he said, "I just hope I get hammered." Mrs. Conway looked at me and said, "I bet you'll want to be there with him, as this has been quite a stressful time!" :)

A less exciting visit he had today was from his Occupational Therapist. She discovered that his left eye is not completely tracking. It doesn't move smoothly back-and-forth, which causes the dizziness and lack of balance he is experiencing. This can be resolved with therapy.

Looks like Joel will be flying to Palo Alto (Camel Spider, as he called it today) on Saturday. The Wednesday flight is full. He is not booked for Sat, but that is what they are expecting.

Here are some other interesting Joelisms from today:

-He started saying "soda" for everything... "My soda hurts," "Get that soda off me," etc.

-We went over what I do for a job. He said, "You're some kind of doctor, dentist..." I told him I was a Marine. He said, "You're shitting me!"

-The Occupational Therapist wanted him to tell her what her title was. He said, "Yokles? Yokles. What the fuck does that mean?"

-She asked what the date was. He said, "the 40th," and then quickly changed his mind. For year, he said, "Is it 19? 2084. 2080." She said, "I hope not!"

-When she had him follow the pen with her eyes, he said, "It's hard to do, cause my eyes suck. They don't go as far as they used to." :(

-When asked by the Psychologist what city he was in, he said, "Camp something to do with the trumpet." She calmly said, "Actually, it's Bethesda." :)

-She asked what kind of building he was in. He said, "Loophole" instead of hospital.

-He DID spell "world" forward AND backward! It was great to hear!

-When she asked him if he remembered the three words she had him repeat earlier, he said, "No." She asked him to try. He said, "Details of a forward movement." The answer was, "Apple, Penny, Table."

-When asked to write a sentence, he wrote: "Stay motivated or they will distroy you." Pretty good! I'm not sure what he was thinking when he wrote that, because it doesn't sound like him, but that's great. Only one misspelling, and it all made sense!

-When on the phone with Bryan, he started flailing his legs and arms and said, "The soda is strangling my soul!" Doug took off his socks and asked if that was better. He said, "Yes." Gosh! Don't restrict a man's feet... that's what I learned from that odd experience.

-Joel had been begging us for soda all day (as he does everyday). We made a deal that he would drink 2 glasses of water for every soda. When Doug left the room to fill up Joel's water pitcher, Joel was having trouble swallowing his chicken... I think it was stuck in his throat. I gave him the rest of his soda and said, "Don't tell Dad, but I'm gonna give you this soda." He was thankful, and enjoyed his delectable treat. As SOON as Doug walked in, Joel said, "Dad, you know what Darcy did? She gave me soda even though you wanted me to drink water first." I was ASTOUNDED! Since when does anyone rat out someone for helping them out?! I told him that was the last time I'd do that for him and reminded him of it later when he was begging me for soda again."

That's that. As far as I know, nothing crazy is going on tomorrow. We'll see, though. If there's something I've learned from being at the National Naval Medical Center, it's that our days are not too predictable!

Hair Cut and Shave

2009-06-22T21:32:00.000-07:00

This picture is from 1993 I think. When I first scanned it for facebook a couple months ago, I tried and tried to get Jeff to put on the orange vest again. He wouldn't have anything to do with it. But what if I told him it would help Joel's recovery to see a current picture of Jeff wearing the vest? I'm willing to forego the matching orange shoe laces.

I talked to Doug a couple times today. Joel got a hair cut, or a head shave, rather, by one of the Marines from the Liaison office. Joel wanted it all shaved off, so off it came. Doug cleaned up Joel's beard.

Nausea was a problem today. Joel wasn't given anything for the nausea because anti-nausea medication causes sleep and for some reason that's not ideal at this time. The nausea could be from sudden changes in food, like numerous ginger ales and cokes, or a side effect of the head injury. Time will tell. Hopefully it will pass.

There was mention of Joel being transferred to Palo Alto on Wednesday, but now it looks like it might be Saturday instead.

Newly permited driver Bryan drove me around for about an hour tonight. He did really well! I apppreciate offers from Sean "no accidents no tickets" Cronin, Terri "I've taught 4 boys how to drive" Helms, Erin "I'll drive with Bry" Hickey and John "Whatever you need" Skipper to drive with Bryan. Between Jeff and me, I think Bryan will get plenty of practice. Wouldn't it be funny if Bryan picked Doug up from the airport when he came home? Poor Doug.....I'll ease him in gently.

Thank you to everyone who continues to send love, prayers and support. Joel's recovery thus far is indeed miraculous. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

21-22 JUN 09 -- Writing & Living More Comfortably

2009-06-22T16:14:00.000-07:00

Although Joel has been drinking soda and water since Friday and also had 2 sandwiches (sent to the hospital from Ellen to celebrate Doug on Father's Day) over the weekend, the Dietitian and Doctor needed to see for sure that he was not letting any liquid go down his airway. They sent him to Swallow Test #2 today, which he ACED! That means he can eat whatever we get him. Doug asked what he wanted, and he said, "Really? You can do that now?!" He was pretty excited. We've heard that once they get in real food and flush out some of that nastiness in their stomach, they rehab much more quickly. :)

Just for curiosities sake, I asked Joel to write a few sentences. Most of them are inappropriate, but here are some and their translations. He actually did really well!

-"Fallogs." I asked him to write something, and that's what he wrote... some might know what this means.
-"I love uy wife on something." I love my wife, or something.
-"I'm not a faboud." (If you know Joel well, you'll know what the last word is supposed to say.)
-"Jeff is the best kisser I know."
-"My Gad is the best kisser." Gad = Dad
-"Bryan's hugs lefavt you wantini more balls." lefavt = leave, wantini = wanting
-"Ellen is nice."

Now, on to some fun things he said:
-"You know what sucks? All these folks with dietic balls. You know what I'm talking about, Sideburns?"
-"My Dad's the coolest."
-I said, "Let's go for a walk." He said, "I'm not hungry," while curling up to the side of his bed.
-After trying to convince the nurse to get him a soda (this was before the swallow test), she said, "Take that medicine while I go get you a soda. He said, "Absolutely, it'll be gone. I'll have invented a new one."
-"All I want is a new basket. I don't know what that means. Point is... How's Redondo doing, Dad?"

More updates to come!

19-20 JUN 09 -- Jabbering, Strolling, & Scribbling

2009-06-20T19:05:00.000-07:00

A lot of progress has been made in the past few days, but between visiting with Joel, sleeping, eating, going to a Nationals game, and running a race, I haven't had much time to write! :) Here's the lowdown:

-Joel's speech has become a LOT clearer! He's had some great phone conversations. If you've had one with him, feel free to post a comment about what you noticed. You can definitely see his humor come back day-by-day. He seems to find words easier and even sometimes knows when he uses the wrong word. Some instances he's used the wrong word:

~"Why am I so ecstasy?" He knew "ecstasy" was the wrong word, so he began describing what he meant. I figured out it was "cold". He said most Marines go through their whole career never putting a blouse on and now he's wrapped up in two blankets and a sweatshirt!

~I asked him how his day was. He said, "It was good until they made me put on my sunglasses." I said, "Oh... where are your sunglasses now?" He pointed to his shorts. I said, "Oh, they made you put on your shorts?" He looked at me like I was crazy and said, "Yeah, what did you THINK I was talking about?" I said, "You think I'm crazy, don't you?" He said, "Yeah. Sometimes." :) Haha.

-He seems to consistently get the year right, but has difficulty with the day, month, and date. He also has difficulty with where he is (city, state, and the fact that it's a hospital). The Psychologist said, "Did you realize you were in a hospital?" He said, "I do now."

-He also has trouble recognizing objects and knowing the names for them. The Psychologist asks him what a pen and clock are everyday. One day he got the pen right, the next day he said, "a magnet and a pearl," and the third day he said, "I don't know." He never recognizes the clock, although when we are talking about time, we point to it and try to have him figure out what time it is. Today he said it was after 9pm when it was 8:40. Good job!

-He's improved on spelling, although he doesn't really get the concept of spelling backwards yet. So far, he spells the word forwards regardless of how you tell him to spell it.

-He's doing GREAT physically! He was able to catch and throw a handball we threw back-and-forth even when I made it more challenging (which is just about all of the time, since I'm not a great thrower!) He also walked a lot these past few days. Today he walked a few steps to me, hugged me, and then put his arm around me and said, "I'm gonna walk with the lady." Wow! That was a sweet surprise!

-He walked into the new realm of drinking actual liquids today. He has only been allowed gelatin-thickened liquids (which really defeated the purpose) until today. He was able to chug down a few sodas and waters, although after the Corpsman said he was on his 4th, Joel said, "I've only had 2." Not 10 minutes later, he told me he hadn't had any today. I teased him about being a big fat liar! It was good to see him enjoying what he can.

-If you know Joel, you know he's a talented writer! As for writing, he doesn't seem to realize when he isn't writing things correctly, which I'm sure will come. The psychologist asked him to write any sentence. He wrote, "I wasnt torn bredom date." She asked what it said. He said, "I was born pretty late." I'm wondering if that was actually the sentence he set out to write. Today I asked him to write something for me. It was pretty unclear. I can make out some words: "my, and love any and I'll, made you happy." I put commas where words I couldn't make out were. Very interesting.

-We had movie night with him tonight. He asked me to lay next to him in bed, so I did. It's hard to be normal in a hospital, but Joel's surely doing what he can. He's truly a fighter, and even now is looking toward the future. We're trying to help him focus on today and the positivity in it. It's impossible to relay the love and admiration so many people have for him, but we do our best everyday. Thank you for the letters!

Until later...

Take me out to the ballgame....

2009-06-19T16:33:00.000-07:00

Greetings, friends and family,
I'm posting this update so you don't wonder why there's no update. I really don't have anything to report about Joel. Doug had fairly uneventful visits with Joel today. He said Joel is sleeping a lot as physical therapy is pretty demanding. Psychologists come in every day and ask a battery of questions of Joel as well.

Doug, Darcy and Gale, Darcy's mom, are at a National's Game. The National's are playing Toronto. They are enjoying the game from a skybox with food from the President's Club. I'm not sure which president that refers to, (president of the ball club, or President of the United States) but since we know Barack personally, I'm willing to bet he gave up his seats for Doug and gang.

For those of you who know Bryan, he got his driver's permit today! Things are looking up in the Peters household. After his 2 hour Behind the Wheel lesson tomorrow, it is suggested that he complete 10-15 hours of driving before his next lesson which will be on the freeway. Any RBPD personnel who enjoy driving with 16 year olds are invited to step up and assist with this. I'll even provide the car. I'll even drive Bryan to you. I'll even buy you lunch. Call the houe to set up your time slot.

Until next time,
Ellen

A Mini Lesson in USMC History

2009-06-19T08:48:00.001-07:00

I mentioned in a previous post that Joel said Heidi's name was "Devil Dogs. Just one." I realized after having a discussion with my sister, Erin, about the fact that she knew that Devil Dogs are a "cake treat made back east," that some non-Marines might not know what the term Devil Dog means to a Marine.

After fighting the Marines at Belleau Wood on 6 June 1918 in WWI, the Germans said that the Marines fought like "Teufel Hunden," or "hounds from hell." That day was arguably one of the bloodiest days in Marine Corps history. After the fight, the Marines adopted the nickname "Devil Dogs" to commemorate the battle which eventually led to US success on 26 Jun 1918. Following which, Major Maurice Shearer sent the signal, "Woods now entirely -US Marine Corps."

I'm almost positive Joel knows nothing about the "cake treat," Erin, but while I'm over here I'll have to scrounge some up for him to enjoy.

18 JUN 09 -- Convo with Jeff, Pics & Lots of Letters

2009-06-19T04:59:00.000-07:00

Alright, let's go with the events of the day. Doug and Ellen mentioned some of them, so I'll refrain from discussing those:

-The Physical Therapists took him down to walk with assist! Later, I was walking upstairs for my evening visit with him. When I walked around the corner I saw him standing there with his Corpsman! I was shocked. He went for a walk around the facility. He did a great job. We'll see where he goes tomorrow.

-He had a long talk with Jeff on the phone last night. Jeff said 92% of it made sense. One sentence I caught of Joel's was a question: "What about Bryan? Is he getting out? [of the Marine Corps]" As many of you know, Bryan is 16 and is not in the USMC, nor does he plan to ever be. Jeff responded to his question, and then Joel said, "Yeah, I know, but when he does. One day you wake up and you're in." I have to agree with that statement! During the conversation, he said, "How long would it take them to drive me to Jeff?" I said, well, it's a 5-hour plane ride, but you can't leave the hospital right now. He relayed the info to Jeff and then asked me, "Why can't I leave?" I said, "Because you have some bacteria still from Djibouti." He said to Jeff, "AppARently, I have some bacteria from Djibouti." Also, at one point he dropped the phone -- it slipped out of his ear. When he got it back up to his ear, he said, "Way to go, Jeff." Haha. Lastly, I heard him say, "No one's paying attention. I could go out tonight and get some BA lettuce." :)

-Joel received several letters today from: Erin, the Helms Family, Mary Ann, Peggy, the Family Readiness Office from his unit, and the Manrique Family. I asked him who all of them were. He knew Erin, the FRO, and Peggy and was close on the others. He said Terry Helms was his old teacher (she is the school Secretary) and said the Manrique Family own a gas station. If I'm correct, they stem from the Ingram family.

-He also received an email from Cpl Miramontes with a lot of photos from the ship (when Joel was with them). We went through them and I asked about each one. He swore that some of them were in Yuma. I said, "I don't think you stopped by there on the ship." He swore they were from there. Hm... He had trouble deciding where each one was taken, but could sometimes tell me about them.

-He seems to feel one way at one point and not the next. For example, he loved the thickened water the first time he had it. When we made him a big glass of it, he took two bites and said it was disgusting. Also, he told me his head hurt. When his dad asked 30 seconds later, he said it didn't.

Alright, we'll see what goes on today!

Hat Trick

2009-06-18T14:45:00.000-07:00

Do you notice how I'm trying to have catchy titles, like Darcy?

Here is an update from Doug's email to me this afternoon.

Joel had both physical and speech therapy today. Did awesome on the physical part and struggled a bit on the speech part. He has still got a good attitude and his responses are ultra-polite to everyone. The staff is falling in love with him.

Had a University of New Hampshire professor visit today with a U.S. Senator from New Hampshire. The professor's son was a Navy Seal killed in Afghanistan last year. The professor created a charitable organization called "Operation Hat Trick" for wounded warriors. (The professor's son was a hockey player for the University of New Hampshire). Gave both Joel and I a hat from the organization. As usual, Joel was very proper and polite during their visit, and even adjusted the hat to his size and put it on his head as they were visiting.

Joel continues to eat like a horse and his nurse has found a way to actually thicken a glass of water so that he can have a drink of water now. Joel says that it tastes "Outstanding". Other than that, Yoplait yogurt is his other favorite thing to eat so far.

Rub-A-Dub-Dub

2009-06-18T11:29:00.000-07:00

Two guys in a shower? Well, maybe not exactly, but Joel did get a shower this morning. It's been close to a month so I can only imagine how wonderful it was. It was a sit-down shower with Doug's help. As Doug was washing Joel, he asked Joel if he likes gladiator movies (a standing Peters family joke from the movie Airplane). Joel "got" the joke and said "yes". Doug bought some sweats for Joel to wear, but in typical Doug Peters fashion, they had to be washed first; sterilized in the hottest water, with lots of soap, on the longest cycle. Sorry Doug....had to poke a little fun at you. Joel's taken his fair share of fun-poking on this blog. This was the highlight of my morning update call from Doug.

Hello?

2009-06-17T19:40:00.000-07:00

Bryan, Jeff and I got to talk to Joel on the phone today. We each talked at a different time of the day and each had similar conversations. Joel sounds good considering what he's been through. He kind of rambled and said some stuff that didn't make sense, but it was good to hear his voice. I know he talked to some of his LM friends too, as well as receiving a couple calls from the USS Comstock. He might wish he was back in ICU so he can get some rest! He passed the swallow test and unlike digestive diet restrictions, he's being started on thick "liquids" like pudding and applesauce. He eventually graduates to clear liquids, like water. Apparently thicker stuff is easier to swallow. I'm just glad he can eat something. He was given some more cognitive tests; he answered some questions easily, and others not so easily. Tomorrow they plan on getting Joel out of bed and into a chair for an extended period of time. After that will be a walk down the hall.

Bryan and I are done with school! Yahoo!!!!! Jeff completed day 3 of school and is amazed at the easy math they're doing. He said it was 3rd grade math, but when I asked him to describe the math he used the word "binary". I think it's probably a little more advanced than 3rd grade, but the fact that he thinks its easy is terrific.

10-4, Over and Out
EP

17 JUN 09 -- Take a Seat & Continue the Conversation

2009-06-17T19:14:00.000-07:00

Joel made two giant steps today: 1) sitting for hours in a chair (sitting at ALL in a chair), and 2) passing his swallow test!!! All morning, he begged for water. Every couple of sentences he would do his best to convince someone to give him water. When the psychologist came in to give him his routine set of questions, she left him with a question: "Is there anything else I can do for you?" She didn't know what she was getting in to. He said, "Well, I'd be better if I could drink some alcohol... or water." Haha... She was unable to fulfill this request.

Other events that happened today were:

1) He stood with an assist from Physical Therapy. Tomorrow, they plan on helping him walk a bit!

2) He talked to several people on the phone: Sgt Roberts, Cpl Miramontes, Ronnie, Anthony, Bryan, and Ellen. I'm not sure if he made it to anyone else. I think he entertained every single one of them. I'll tell you specifics later. Another Cpl who used to be an MP, Joel says, called also. He was unable to talk to her at the time, but I know he appreciates the call. We do, too.

3) He stated he thought going on a crab boat would be fun. Doug and I questioned him, but he swore to it.

Here are some interesting things Joel said today:

-The Psychologist said, "You'll have the swallow test at 1330." He asked, "What kind of stuff do I need to know for that?" We told him he just needed to show them he could swallow. He said, "OK, good."

-When asked what "this" (a pen) is, he responded, "A magnet and a pearl."

-When asked what 87-7 is, he said, "77". When he got a feel from us that that was wrong, he said, "It's an easy question, but I don't know."

-When asked what state he is in, he said, "Florida."

-When asked what "this" (a clock) is, he said, "It's a thing that tells you when you're done."

-We had the TV on mute for his meeting with the Psychologist. He randomly said, "You know what I don't understand? Why the TV is on." I said, "You mean with no volume?" He said, "Yeah. With no volume." Always the sarcastic one!

-When he was talking to Bryan and how he would like to see him at some point, he said, "As soon as my wife and my husband [his dad] leave me alone for weeks at a time, we can get together."

-After the swallow test, Joel was starving. He was given two cups of applesauce and two cups of pudding. When he finished, he said to the Corpsman, "So, that's it?" :) We explained to him that dinner was in 1.5 hrs.

-When trying to give Anthony his phone number, he kept giving his old cell number. Even when Doug pointed to the correct one on the wall and said, "Give him this one," he followed Doug's hand with his eyes, but said "562..." I'll say it yet again: Strange how the brain works!

-He said, "I've already eaten my Honda." And then asked, "Has he already eaten it?" Not sure how to take all of that. All I can say is that he had just woken up.

-Whilst (I learned that word from Supernanny) talking about being able to take a shower in the actual shower we explained to him that once he can stand for longer periods of time he'll be able to. Doug added a little hope. "Soon they might let you go on the pot." Joel said, "What the hell does that have to do with anything?" We've noticed he has trouble connecting conversations.

-When talking to Anthony, he said, "I've been watching TV on the Internet all day." After his comment about laptops being on the wall yesterday, I realized his flat screen TV does kind of look like a laptop. :)

That's all for now, folks. Tune in again next time! (Both my mom and Larry, Heidi's boyfriend are coming out tomorrow. We'll see what dynamics they bring!)

16 JUN 09 -- He's a Funny Guy, He is

2009-06-16T18:18:00.000-07:00

Well, Ellen beat me to part of my update. It's amazing seeing Joel come through this cloud of amnesia he has. One example was him calling Bryan "Brain box". Some other Joelisms he said today are: calling me "Doris", responding "hell yes!", greeting people with "What-a-do?", responding "I don't see why not," saying "Absolutely," saying "I'm my own person", and saying "She knows I'll knock her out," referring to me. :) <--- all in fun, of course. Some other things that happened today: -The Physical Therapists had him sitting for a while. They had him tap his toes and raise his knees up. The grand finale was his assisted stand! It was great. He needs to learn to stand on his own so that he can take a shower, which he was trying to convince us to let him do today: "I'll just do it real quick," "Why the hell not?!" The next best thing was for him to get a sponge bath. He appreciated it. He even got his hair washed with a shampoo-filled shower cap. -The Marine Liaison's Office brought Joel a flat screen TV. It's awesome, and it definitely keeps him entertained. -The Psychologist came by to see what questions he could answer. He was able to tell her the year and could repeat words and sentences, but had trouble with a lot of answers: What is today's date? "August" & What is 100-5? "5" Here are other interesting things Joel said today:

-I asked, "Do you remember what kind of accident you were in?" He said, "It was well pushed down from Hurston." I asked, "Do you remember why you are here?" He said, "Because, the newspaper couldn't push our guys their news."

-I asked Joel if he wanted to send a message to his La Mirada guys (Ronnie, Anthony, Chris, Kevin, etc.) He said to tell them, "I couldn't write anything." Can't decipher that one.

-When the nurse came in, Joel said, "What's for dinner?" He said, "Protein shake... but it's vanilla flavor!" Joel said "Oh, well, in THAT case..." while gloriously pumping his fist. :) Sarcasm at its best!

-When asked if he just did the fist pump, he said, "Yeah. It's motivating shit for my dad." ?!

-After Joel called Bryan "Brain Box," he said, "I love him. I love all of my brothers."

-When asked what Heidi's name was, he said, "Devildogs. Just one." Huh?? :)

-Joel seems to forget that he's in a hospital and lying in a bed because he is physically unable to get out. In addition to trying to get up to take a shower and get something to eat, when Doug said he was going to the PX to get a cable for the TV, Joel said, "Do you need me to go with you?"

-One time, he randomly said, "I didn't know what time we we're checking our voicemail."

So, it's good that he can actually complete a sentence at times, even if it doesn't always make sense. He's doing a really good job, and is surely progressing. We are all really proud of him and his attitude. However, we don't want him to move to the rehab unit in Palo Alto until he is really ready. We'll work with the doctors on the timing.

Brain Box

2009-06-16T18:04:00.001-07:00

Doug called home with the nightly update. Joel is on the 5th floor and was antsy to get out of bed. He's finally settled down but has someone in the room with him at all times to make sure he stays put. The swallow test is supposed to be tomorrow. The sooner, the better! Yesterday when Doug showed Joel Bryan's football picture and asked Joel who it was, Joel knew it was Bryan, but followed with "He's my uncle". Doug corrected him saying...Bryan is your brother....and Joel seemed surprised and said "really?" Today, Doug showed Joel the same picture. This time the response was "The one and only" with a great big smile, and then "Brain Box"!!!! This is one of the many names Joel and Jeff affectionately call Bryan. Another big day for Joel. At this point, I assume he'll be visited by speech therapists and a cadre of psychologists who will begin cognitive tests. Once patients are cleared to get out of bed, they are encouraged to wander around the 5th floor. There are lots of computers, Rock Band, Guitar Hero, TV's, and big meeting rooms that often have food brought in from local restaurants, etc. Congratulations, Joel! You're moving up......literally!

16 JUN 09 -- GRADUATION & a quick update

2009-06-16T07:35:00.000-07:00

When I went to see Joel at 0830 this morning, I walked in on a 45-min Dopler study about to start. Boo! The Dopler study is the one that is like an ultrasound for the brain. It is boring, and he can't talk or move. I said, "Joel, I'm going to leave while you're doing this, but I'll be back afterward." He said, "Well, it's up to you. What do you want to do?" I said, "Um... I'll leave for a run now and come back when you're finished." He said, "Are you sure that's OK?" I'm wondering: if I said, "No," would he have knocked out Mr. Dopler and spent alone time with me? I quickly made my decision to spare Mr. Dopler's life and responded, "Yes. That's great. I'll see you in a bit."

While I was gone, Doug texted me that Joel was being moved up to the 5th floor (the Recovery Unit, and his last stop here in Bethesda)! This was just after my run, so I quickly took a shower. Now I'm waiting in one of their state-of-the-art waiting rooms on the 5th floor with poofy, leather recliners that have the ability to lay flat, a flat screen TV as wide as I am tall, several 19" flat screen computers with printers, and get this: ROCKBAND! :) You know what I'll be doing for the next couple of hours! They also have a conference room where companies sometimes provide dinner for the families. The overall atmosphere is just a lot more happy. We're hoping this encourages Joel and allows him to maintain a positive attitude. So far, so good.

I look forward to updating you with our conversations to come today.

Got Food?

2009-06-15T18:18:00.000-07:00

Are you with me? Is it as apparent to you as it is to me that Joel is officially on the road to recovery? He wants food! While I've been excited of the progress thus far, knowing that he's craving food and asking everybody to bring him food makes me know the old Joel is slowly surfacing. What a great feeling. I don't envy Darcy and Doug having to put off his requests for food until he's cleared to eat. Good luck, guys!

15 JUN 09: You Never Know What You're Gonna Get

2009-06-15T11:45:00.000-07:00

First of all, thank you for your letters and comments. I'm starting to print things out, since Joel can now read them for himself. It'll give him a small glimpse of how much he is cared for. It's hard to accurately describe it to him.

Getting better, he is! That man is tough-- that's for sure. Although his body has become a lot weaker, his will is still strong. He moves a lot: moving his right leg off and off the bed (he likes to hang it off), bringing his right arm up and over his head, bending his knees up and down... all things he did on a regular basis before. It's good to see his little habits again. The physical therapists sat him up at the end of the bed to test his trunk control. He did OK for a few seconds. When the nurse assisted him in sitting up later in the day, he kind of slumped down. That's alright.

The doctors took out his catheter and his brain drain today. That means the 5th floor (the Recovery Unit) is just a few hours away!

Here are more events of the past few days:

-I told Joel he had a big bruise in the front right of his brain. He said, "How do you know that?" I told him that the doctors told me. I asked if he knew how he got it, and he asked me to tell him how. I went through the accident again, and he sarcastically said, "Oh, great!" He said something about how he guessed he wasn't even good enough to stay on the MEU. I explained to him that what he did was very noble, and that a lot of people (including LCpl Waldron and his family) really appreciate his initiative and selflessness. I went on to talk to him about how much his guys miss his leadership and his humor. This was definitely a heartfelt moment. He said he wished he was still with his guys.

-I showed Joel a pic of him and his brothers outside his house and asked him to name them all. He got the names of his brothers right. I then pointed to him and asked him who that person was. He said, "Is that some sort of joke?" I laughed. His dad said, "Joel, we're not trying to make fun of you. It's just important that we know you know who these people are." He understood. :) Joel then said, "I just want to see my brothers." I know Jeff and Bryan feel the same way. We told him Jeff and Bryan want to be with him, but had school. We reassured him he'd see everyone very soon.

-Joel seems to be getting back to his old speech patterns. He now consistently ends sentences to me with "..., my sweet," as he always used to: "I'd like that, my sweet." It's great to see him getting back to the old guy. He also responds to compliments with, "You are." That's also a Joelism!

-When I came in this morning I brought an external iPod speaker. Before I walked into the room, I asked Joel if he wanted me to bring in music. He said, "I WANT you to bring in FOOD!" He's been asking for food from everyone! Poor guy has lived so long without his 1lb. prime rib, chicken fried steak, and full rack of ribs.

-Joel said, "I just have to pass that test!" I asked what test. Doug said they were talking about a swallowing test Joel has to do before he can eat food on his own. That means they will take that annoying tube out of his nose. It seems to make his nose itch a lot.

-I brought a print out of a letter from Cpl Miramontes to Joel today. He wanted to read it himself, so that's what happened. I'll bring more this afternoon. He said he wanted me to.

-My roommate, Beth, came up from Camp Lejeune to visit with Joel and the family. I was glad to show her around. She will now be able to understand my descriptions a bit better. She was able to talk to Joel. She gave him encouraging words, ensuring him that he is loved and on the minds and in the prayers of many! While she was there, Joel said, "I need to find a new job." As Beth listened to him, she figured out Joel is very antsy to get on with life and doesn't find a purpose in where he is right now. She told him he has a wonderful purpose right now, and that is to stay strong (as he has) though his tough recovery, because he is such an inspiration to so many. She gave me a shell necklace with a painting of two palm trees. Each has 3 mustard seeds in the center of them. The shell represents the Bible verse Matthew 17:20: "He told them, 'Because of your lack of faith. I tell you with certainty, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.'" The necklace was made by Jill at Beth's church. Very thoughtful, and a good reminder. Beth also gave me cards from people on base. One was from my classmates at Combat Engineer School (I had to leave their class mid-way to come up here). Thank you guys for that letter and for the gift. I miss you VERY much and think of you all of the time. Keep rockin'.

Alright, I'll write more later. Phew... recovery. It's awesome.

Sunday night, no cute title

2009-06-14T20:18:00.000-07:00

Doug called home with his last update of the day. Darcy has not posted so I'll post what information I have. Joel is speaking more clearly but is still having the memory problems Darcy talked about. Doug showed Bryan's football picture to Joel and asked Joel if he knew who it was. He answered "Bryan", like why would you ask me that. Hopefully he'll be able to answer the same tomorrow, because answers to questions like that have not been consistent. Joel has yet to eat food. He's still being fed by a feeding tube in his nose. A gastric feeding tube will be added to Joel's list of accoutrements tomorrow. They still don't know if he is able to swallow. He asked for something to drink today, but was shut down. The drain in his brain has been clamped shut. It is still in his head incase the pressure rises. If his ICP's stay low for a set amount of time while the drain is clamped shut, the drain can come out. Joel doesn't have any more I.V.'s so his list of tubes and gadgets is getting smaller.

Over and out,
Ellen

14 JUN 09 -- Ltr from the Commandant, the Penguins, & "He's a Cop"

2009-06-13T20:17:00.000-07:00

The Commandant of the Marine Corps, General James Conway wrote Doug a letter! How exciting is that?! Definitely frameable (which I'm sure the humble General Conway and his wife, Annette, would laugh about). It's very nice he took the time to write this. The letter says:

"Mr. Peters,

Have read with great joy the progress that Joel has made over the past couple of days! Couldn't be happier for you and the entire family. Will continue to pray for a full recovery, because I want the Sergeant to get his butt back to work!

Semper Fidelis,

Gen. Jim Conway"

So, I after meeting with Joel the past two days, it is quite apparent that brain injuries are quite complex and unpredictable! Joel has a great attitude so far. He's really patient and tolerant. He remembers some things at one point and forgets them a few hours later (my name being one of them). Here are some things we discussed today:

-He doesn't remember being on a ship at all. When I told him he was on one for the past 5 months, he asked "Why?"

-I went through the circumstances of the accident with him today. He understood it all and said, "I wish... I wish... you know what I'm saying?" His mom interjected, "...you wish it didn't happen?" He said, "Yeah." We then talked about his great recovery so far. We'll see if he remembers any of that tomorrow.

-At one point he remembered that the Penguins won the Stanley Cup, and a few hours later he couldn't tell us anything about it.

-He hasn't been able to tell us the month, day, or time yet. We orient him as often as possible.

-The TV was on, so he began interjecting words from the program into his sentences. He randomly said, "pursuit" in the middle of a sentence when he was watching Cops. When he was doing his staring (possible hallucination) thing, I asked him, "What do you see on the ceiling? He said, "Sheffield". I then heard the announcer for the Mets v. Yankees game say something about the player, Sheffield, from the Mets. We turned off the TV (he was watching Cops) after he said, "If I say that, maybe the cops will leave me alone."

-He couldn't tell us ages, and rarely could say a name. Apparently, he said my name to the nurse when asked who is wife was this morning, but couldn't say it for me.

-His dad and I sat at either side of him. I said, "Joel, where is your dad?" He said, "I don't know where he is." Doug then said, "Joel. I'm right here. I'm your dad." Joel said something with a tone that made it sound like he was saying, 'yeah, no kidding.'

-I asked what his dad did for a job, and he said, "He's a cop". DING-DING-DING!

-I asked him if he knew a Mike Roberts (his good friend, a Sgt who was on deployment with him). After thinking for a while, he said, "yeah!" I asked, "What does he do for a job?" He said, "He's a cop." I asked, who does he work for? He said, "uh... the local, you know what I mean?" I said, "Is he a military police?" He said, "No. I don't think so." I said, "Actually, he is, just like you are. He's an MP. It's interesting, because he seems to remember names from the guys on ship, but doesn't remember anything about them or the fact that they worked together.

-He's losing a lot of strength, but the physical therapists are working with him on it. He's getting better. He can lift his hand up and over his head and also works on his gentle movement of putting my hair behind my ears, holding a pen, and holding a magazine. We tried to throw the bear he received from the Comm Div of the USS Boxer (THANK YOU for that and the flowers, BTW). He became frustrated and said, "I'm sorry" when he was unable to throw it all the way to me. We'll work more on that later.

-Doug talked to Joel about the positive progress he's already made with such a great attitude. He also mentioned that there is a long road ahead, and that Joel will have to work really hard to get to 100% again. Joel said, "I always do." He also said that he wants to get to 100%.

More to come tomorrow!

I'm not there

2009-06-13T13:20:00.000-07:00

Greetings from gloomy Southern California!

I'm at home, waiting for updates, like you are. Being home is more difficult than I thought, but Jeff and Bryan need to be here, so I'm here with them. I get calls from Doug several times a day and calls from Darcy too. They both report that Joel is doing better each day. A t.v. was brought into Joel's room so Doug was able to watch the first 2 periods of game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals last night in the room with Joel. Joel indicated that he wanted Pittsburgh to win, and guess what? They did it! I'm not sure how much of the game Joel took in, however, Doug loved watching it with Joel. Physical therapists had Joel sitting on the bed, with his feet off the bed. Definite progress! Doug said that this morning Joel was a little more alert than yesterday and the nurse indicated that they're lowering the doses of Fentanyl each day. Doug tried to have Joel write but it's a little early for that. I haven't heard from Doug after his afternoon visit with Joel. I find myself getting discouraged with things, but then remind myself that a week ago Joel was still heavily sedated with no communication. As long as each day shows progress, we're moving in the right direction.

Bryan is getting caught up with homework and Jeff is bugging Bryan to let him cut Bryan's hair. They are going to an Angel's game tonight.

I went to my classroom today after being gone for 3 weeks. I'm thankful for my sub, Stu Patterson, who took care of business while I was gone. Amber Bard who works in my classroom was so helpful too...she stayed in touch with important things and handled what she could. Because of the 2 of them, returning to work on Monday will be manageable.

Some of you have said you can't post comments to the blog. If this is the case, you can email them to me and I'll post them for you: hockeyaddc@aol.com

Thank you again to everyone who checks this blog, calls us, sends cards, emails, text messages and keeps us in your prayers. You keep us going.

Love, Ellen

11 JUN 09 -- Hallucinations, Withdrawls, Seizures, or Thoughts?

2009-06-11T15:56:00.000-07:00

No steps back today! Joel is going in and out of clarity and blank stares. At times, he stares at the ceiling wide-eyed with his mouth open. He looks in awe. They think this could be because of one of four things: 1) he is hallucinating, 2) he is seizing, 3) he is deep in thought, or 4) he is having trouble overcoming the withdrawls from his meds. The only meds he's on right now are Fentanyl (a small dosage) and an anti-seizure medication. He still has a drain in his head, a feeding tube through his nose, and IVs in his wrists. That's a definite improvement from before!

I mentioned Ronnie Gamboa's name today. Joel said, "Ronnie." The nurse asked him to lift his leg, and he said, "I don't want to." Joel also said, "I love you" to me with the nurse in the room (proof!) He was also able to lift his arm up and around my body to hold me around the waist all by himself! I was wondering what he was doing. Very sweet. Doctor Hochheimer told him to give a thumbs up and then to put up a peace sign. He did both, but about 20 secs after he was told to. They said that was normal for brain injuries -- his process of hearing, processing, planning, and executing will become faster and faster. Also, when told to move his toes, he moves the whole foot. He's definitely tracking what we're saying. :)

We let him sleep a lot today, and I told the nursing staff I don't want any visitors for him between 11pm and 8am so that he can try to get on a normal sleeping schedule.

Other notable things that happened today: He was visited by the Marine who escorted him from Djibouti to here, Cpl Beliveau; physical therapists worked with him; a speech therapist worked with him; and the Air Force Surgeon General visited him and gave him his coin (shaped like a dog tag).

10 JUN 09 -- HE IS RISEN! The Evening.

2009-06-10T20:19:00.000-07:00

Just a quick update:

All remained the same with his condition tonight. When I asked what their plan for the next few days is, they said they want to ensure Joel is able to swallow, because if he can't, it shows a defect in his brain. They also want to make sure his fever is maintained, because the tube that was in his throat could've caused pockets of pneumonia in his lungs. They will heal if he maintains good quality breaths. We try to remind him to take big breaths often. Doug is especially good at that.

Joel smiled/laughed! Doug made a joke about Joel's new mustache (Tom Selleck quality) and also told him he was going to tweeze his eyebrows with the tweezers Jeff left behind. Of course, Doug had his own humorous way of phrasing it -- one Joel absolutely understood.

At one point, Joel raised his hand and motioned toward his face. I put my face next to his and he kissed my cheek. So sweet. He soon drifted off and we left so he could get a good night's sleep.

:)

10 JUN 09 -- HE IS RISEN!

2009-06-10T16:15:00.000-07:00

You won't beLIEVE what happened! Joel went in for an EEG (to test how seizure-prone he is). When the Doc came to get us after the procedure, he told us Joel was talking, because they took the respirator out. Apparently, the nurse (one we've never had before) did her assessment of Joel in the morning and determined that his primary agitation was the ventilator stuck down his throat. They took it out and he breathed fine on his own. He began talking. He isn't as clear as you or me, but he made it very apparent that he knew exactly what was going on! He's mad and definitely is showing his physical strength to us. We had 3 people holding him down at one point, just so he didn't pull out his tubes.

What a blessing! You can see his personality in there. When you call his name, he says, "huh?" and turns to look at you. He said his name when asked and Carl's name after I mentioned that Carl said, "Hey, Little Buddy!" He even kissed my hand several times and motioned me to come closer so he could kiss my cheek. He took a deep breath every time his dad asked him to. What a great day. We'll go back tonight to be with him more. We left him snoring on the pillow after a good dose of meds.

Amazing.

9 JUN 09 -- Answers, Questions, The CMC! & the Nationals lost to the Reds

2009-06-09T23:54:00.000-07:00

We had a LONG day with a lot of activity today. I'll try to relay it in bullet points so it is not as confusing:

1) We met with Dr. Hochheimer to (1) get a better feel for Joel's progress thus far and (2) hear the projected plan for at least the next couple of days. He showed us Joel's CT scans from the first to the most recent. The trend was not too positive. The accident bruised his frontal lobe pretty severely. The frontal lobe controls your personality and your emotion: motor function, problem solving, spontaneity, memory, language, initiation, judgement, impulse control, and social behavior. This bruise started in the left front and has since grown toward the center of his brain. I was asked if Joel had any other head injuries within the past year, since he is not following normal recovery patterns. I said, "not that I know of," but I'll ask the Marines who were with him, since I know he's been doing a lot more martial arts as of late. Ugh.

2) While I was in with Joel in the afternoon, I looked across the way and saw a tall Marine in cammies suiting up to see Alex, another Marine in the ICU. I couldn't see his face and didn't think too much about it. The next thing I know, someone peeked their head into Joel's room to tell me the Commandant General Conway was on deck and wanted to speak with us! How did I NOT know he was coming? Although shocked, I was very excited to get the opportunity to speak not only with him, but with Sgt Maj Kent (Sgt Maj of the Marine Corps) and with General Conway's wife, Annette. Mrs. Conway was so extremely comforting and compassionate -- a beautiful woman. I expressed to General Conway how much I appreciated his speech to us at TBS. He was very personable and very funny. Doug and Sgt Maj Kent discovered they attended boot camp around the same time and knew several of the same people. Before they left, Mrs. Conway gave me a yellow ribbon pin in a fancy red box, both General Conway and Sgt Maj Kent gave us their coins for Joel, and General Conway called me "L-T". What a fulfilling visit. The only thing that would've been better is if Joel could've been awake to join in!

3) We left the ICU and headed to the Nationals (baseball) game with a few other people from the hospital (Chief O'Keefe chaperoned us). We were privileged enough to eat a delicious dinner at the President's Club and also to sit only 5 rows from home plate. Both the seats and the food were amazing! The travel, the delayed game due to the rain, and the dinner all took about 8 hrs total! It was a good time. Don't think I didn't call the hospital to check on Joel midway. I did, of course.

4) We visited Joel for one last time at 0130-0230. He was much less swollen (noticed mostly because we could finally see his bony knee caps), seemed a bit more awake, and was still able to keep his ICPs down! They were even lower than we usually see them. The only confusing thing was that Joel continuously jerked his legs. It was almost as if he was having that falling dream over and over. I know that wasn't it -- there's something else going on. His eyelids were twitching and his body was lightly shaking all over at times. This could be because he is more aware of the cold from the Arctic Sun. I told the nurse, and he said he would relay it to the Doc when he comes in. He didn't seem too concerned about it.

So, that was our big day! Thank you for your thoughts and prayers. Please continue them, as the doctors are kind of at a loss as to why Joel isn't following normal healing patterns.

8 JUN 09 -- Fantasmic BBQ, Evening CT Scan & the Arctic Sun

2009-06-08T21:07:00.000-07:00

Joel went in for his 2nd Angiogram today. It went well. They (1) found that the vessels they opened on Friday are still open and (2) opened the vessels in the back of the brain. Joel still has severe bruising on his frontal lobe, which affects his blood flow. However, the newly opened vessels have really improved this!

We were able to get off base for dinner at a BBQ joint recommended by a SSgt Doug talked to. It was great. It reminded me a lot of Joel's favorite BBQ place in El Toro, CA: Texas Pit BBQ. It was fantastic (or "fantasmic", as Joel would say).

When returning to Joel's room at 9pm, we were told he was being taken down for a CT scan, because his ICPs had been consistently in the 30s for a while (over double what they should be). This scared us, because it just shows how unpredictable head injuries are and how little progress we seem to be making. From what they could see, Joel's brain is actually more on center and there is no fresh bleeding. His ICPs were at a normal level, and we were told that at the CT scan he could give thumbs up and other movements on command. YAY!

We consistently hear about how strong Joel is from all of the nurses. He IS strong. It's nice to see that he still has that strength. One of the ways he shows it (unfortunately) is how easily he breaks through the drugs given to him. He is at unbelievably high doses of all sorts of strong medication. I was told by the nurses that they are at least horse strength, and there really isn't anything else they can give him, because he's gone through the whole gamut.

One of the hardest things for us is seeing Joel in agony. The "Arctic Sun" machine used to keep his temp down (so his organs slow). It consists of a vest and thigh wraps. It basically puts him in a hypothermic state. Now that he's on a lower sedation, he feels more, both physically and emotionally. He's definitely pulled at his vest. The Doc said a former patient of his was not sedated, but was on the Arctic Sun. He begged and begged the Doc to take it off of him, because it was so painful. The most they can do to is put a blanket on him and let him grasp hand warmers. Of course, the ventilator down his throat and all of the tubes sticking into him can't be comfortable, either.

That's all from the Joel-front for today...

Home but Sad

2009-06-08T00:17:00.000-07:00

Bryan, Jeff and I are on our way home. I can’t believe a week has passed. It was difficult saying good-bye to Darcy and Doug, and even more difficult saying good-bye to Joel. We stopped by the hospital one last time. Joel was less agitated that he was when Doug and I had visited earlier. His body temperature is almost back to normal. The nurse said that the neurologist had been in and was pleased with the drainage and pressure of the brain. They are going to perform another angiogram in the morning. Although Joel was heavily sedated while we were there, the nurse said that earlier, Joel had been nodding his yead to questions. The nurse asked him if he was uncomfortable, and he replied “yes”. He looks uncomfortable.

The other families we met at the hospital are incredible. The Franks’, Waldron’s, Scherers and Minskys all have sons with varying degrees of injuries. Tim Waldron is going to be going home soon. We wish Rick, Vicki, and Tim all the best. Thank you for your love and support during the past week. Jason Franks is in the “room” next to Joel. Lora and John always welcome us into their room, as we don’t have to wear masks, gowns and gloves in Jason’s room like we do in Joel’s room. Jason is making good progress and it’s encouraging to see him responding to commands. We wish all the best to the Franks with Jason’s recovery. We anticipate meeting up again in Palo Alto, CA, at the VA Hospital where they specialize in traumatic brain injuries. Paul and Mark Scherer copped their fair share of hugs and provided the entertainment for most of the hospital. Paul’s son, Shane, is making good progress as well. Alex Minsky is one of the newer arrivals since we got to Bethesda. His mom, dad and brother are at the hospital a lot. I’ve spoken to his mom, Jackie and wish her the best. Alex remains in ICU. Our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family as his recovery process begins. It’s possible we’ll see Alex at Palo Alto as well.

Please continue your thoughts and prayers for Joel. The emails, text messages, phone calls, blog comments, and cards are much appreciated. Knowing that the love and support of family and friends is there keeps us going.