Josh is golfing!!

Why didn't I think of this before???  I enrolled Josh in the "Golf for the Physically Challenged" program at Sharp Rehab with PGA Pro John Klein.  Today was our first day and Josh did great!  We went to an executive course in San Diego called Four Points Sheraton and met several other guys who had brain injuries.  John, the Pro, took Josh under his wing and worked with his balance to get Josh comfortable with swinging the golf club.  First they went to the chipping and putting green and worked on the basics.  

I was extremely happy to learn that Josh does, indeed, have good balance.  Although I was instructed by the Sharp Rehab therapists to bring the gait belt for balance, I soon learned that Josh did not need a belt.  After working with John for a while, Josh was soon chipping and putting on his own.  After practicing for a while, off we went to play our first hole of golf.  Josh did great!!   He got a six on his first hole.  Not bad for a kid who has been in a coma for two months and who hasn't picked up a club in over 8 months.  GO JOSHY!!!!!  We will be coming every Saturday and working with John.  He is  a wonderful guy who is dedicated to helping the "physically challenged" get back in the swing of things.  Thanks, John, you are a class act!!!

It was wonderful to have Josh on the golf course concentrating so hard and listening so intently  to John.  It gave me a break from Josh's constant questioning....  "Mom, where's Dad?"  "Mom, when am I going back to school?"  "Mom, what day is it?"  "Mom, is it still summer?"  This constant questioning is very common with brain injuries.  It is called "perseveration".  After fifteen minutes of the same question, you're ready to reach for the gun.  Josh will be sleeping and will suddenly shout out - "Mom, what day is it????"  It is something else...   the wonderful world of the brain injured.....  

Last weekend we went to the San Diego Brain Injury Foundation meeting at Scripps in Encinitas and Josh won the raffle - a tee shirt with their logo.  After the meeting, Josh said, "I hate these people!"  It cracked me up.  He is so funny.  He truly drives me nuts, but he makes me laugh at the same time.  Whenever a survivor meets Josh and learns that his injury occurred on 3/28/07, they always say, "Wow, he's come a long way.  That is truly incredible!"  This makes me feel so good.  I feel like it has been an eternity!!!  I always let them know about the hyperbaric oxygen therapy and the fact that Josh has had close to 70 treatments!!!!   I know this helped Josh tremendously!   THANKS, MIKE!!

Our biggest challenge is Josh's short term memory.  He will watch an entire Charger game, scream and yell and understand all the plays....then when it's over, it's gone from his mind.  He'll cruise the channels looking for the game when he just watched the entire game from start to finish!!!!  Isn't that amazing???

Josh is on his fifth day of medicine for Alzheimer's.  We are trying it to see if it makes a difference....  Let's hope so.  I understand that Namenda, the drug that Josh is on, has no negative side effects so we are trying it.   I did just learn from a brain injury consultant that there is a natural antioxidant that is supposed to work on short term memory and that is called pycnogenol.  It is a vegetarian sourced antioxidant from the French maritime pine bark.  I will start Josh on this antioxidant on Monday after consulting with Dr. Stenehjem.  I have a brain injury consultant who likes me - Pedro Leon.  He is an extremely knowledgable guy.  He says he'll give me all the free advice I want if I take him to lunch once in a while .... not a bad offer.  I took him to a late Friday afternoon lunch at Los Cabos and we wined and dined and talked for three hours about brain injuries.  He has clients all over the globe....

I have also enrolled Josh in a weight training class on Mondays and Wednesdays at the Sharp Rehab gym.  I hired a guy to work out with Josh - a guy named Christopher who was recommended to me by a girlfriend.  He is pretty cool.  He is a tall guy who used to play pro basketball for some Australian team.  He has dual citizenship and is very interesting and kind. 

I am particularly excited about Josh golfing again!!  We look forward to going next week!  Chris and Bruce are coming for the Thanksgiving holiday.  It will be wonderful to  see them again.  CONGRATULATIONS TO ANGIE for getting her surgery overwith!!!  LOVE TO EVERYONE WHO READS THIS BLOG!    HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
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