JOSH RETURNS TO WEST CITY CAMPUS ABI PROGRAM

Josh and his teacher, Julie

who is a speech pathologist at the ABI Program

(Acquired Brain Injury) at West City Campus

Julie tells Josh that his goal is to be understood by others. They do various speech exercises in class to accomplish this goal. Josh has dysarthria which is the inability to articulate words distinctly due to his brain injury. Hopefully with time Josh's speech will improve. It is interesting that when Josh first came out of the coma, his speech seemed clearer than it is now. Then as more time passed and his brain continued to heal, his speech became more slurred. This is because his brain is thinking faster now and Josh is speaking faster. He does not leave spaces in between his words.

Josh and his teacher, Zack

Zack drives Josh to all his therapies, works out with Josh daily and is a great buddy!







Due to massive budget cuts by the state of California, the ABI (Acquired Brain Injury) program was furloughed for nearly two months. The good news is that the program is starting up again on Tuesday and Josh will start attending once again. The State of California is in a major fiscal crisis. They have cut programs left and right, have closed post offices and DMVs (Department of Motor Vehicles) and have laid off thousands of state workers. State funded programs for the disabled have been hit extremely hard. Luckily, the ABI was not totally cut from the budget, but was furloughed for nearly two months. I did manage to keep in touch with Josh's teachers, Joanne and Julie, during the summer and am happy and thankful that they will be returning come Tuesday, September 8. I need to take a picture of Josh with Joanne, his other ABI teacher and post it on the blog. Joanne has a background in psychology. She is animated, dedicated to her students and fun.

Josh will be attending three days a week or more. The good thing about the ABI program is its flexibility. You can attend as little or as much as you want. It is there for you every single day.

I have been letting Josh sleep late every morning. I tell myself that I must honor the healing power of sleep, believe in the plasticity of the brain and its ability to recover. Come Tuesday, I will have to wake Josh up early and get him to the ABI program on time. The good news is Josh wakes up happy with a big smile on his face. He is a team player and is totally sweet.

Josh still takes swimming lessons with Tim every Tuesday and is making progress. Tim is wonderful and kind -- a very patient man with a big heart. Next time I observe Josh's swim lesson, I want to see him do the butterfly stroke across the pool. That would be nice. Sometimes when I observe Josh in the pool, he just looks all around and does not focus on what Tim is saying. He wants to greet everyone he sees. He waves to everyone and knows all of the staff at Noonan Family Swim by name. It's cute, but maddening. I say, "Josh, focus on what Tim is saying..." I get frustrated. I want results. I want Josh to be BETTER.

I have been experimenting with Josh's meds. He now takes 10 mg. of Lexapro every other day. It seems to be working for him from a cognitive standpoint. He was taking Cymbalta and Lexapro, but was too spacey and lethargic. Mike Jones, his tutor, commented on how slow and lethargic Josh was in the afternoons. He was just spacing out and moving extremely slowly. It would take him forever to get dressed. I couldn't deal with it so I started to experiment with his dosages. Everything seems to be a crap shoot with brain injuries. You have to be your own advocate and take things in your own hands. You try this and you try that.

I am trying to limit Josh's XBOX playing since he will literally melt into the couch and play for hours. He loves the new 2010 John Madden game. They have female commentators and new graphics. I must admit, we take the PSP (Play Station Portable) to dinner and when I take Josh to Reliable. It keeps him occupied and he absolutely loves it.

Some people with brain injuries can't do anything. They have no interests or are totally incapable. I think of this young football player, Scott, who is in a wheelchair, can't walk, can't talk, but understands what you tell him. He got totally nailed on the football field, had some kind of bleed, then went back in the game and got slammed. It is sooooo sad. We met him at HBOT. He has had hundreds of treatments, but is not making the progress Josh made. His poor mother is so worn out. When I think of Scott, I am so thankful.

I am thinking of starting up again with the hyperbaric oxygen treatments. The treatments really help with mobility, circulation and inflammation. The drawback for Josh is the over stimulation. I could use a treatment myself and it would be fun to see Bob Sands and his staff. Bob is the most optimistic guy in the world. He's fun, definitely a breath of fresh air.

Josh still asks the infamous question, "When am I going back to college?" The other day, Mike Jones asked Josh to use the word "confident" in a sentence and Josh said, "I am confident that I will return to college." A year ago if Mike asked Josh the same question, Josh would say something like, "The word confident is in the dictionary."

I decided to update this blog today after seeing the movie, "Julie and Julia". Amy Adams who played Julie in the movie kept a blog about her cooking adventures. She gave herself one year to cook over 400 recipes of Julia Childs. It was very entertaining and Meryl Streep did a phenomenal job of being Julia. The movie also made me want to start cooking, so perhaps tomorrow I will start...

Love to everyone ! Natalie and I are looking forward to seeing everyone in Chicago for Auntie Helen and Uncle Mark's 60th anniversary!

Oh yeah, Natalie is back in Boulder and loving it. She has a brand new apartment (literally just built). We had fun furnishing it! She can walk to campus.