WE SURVIVED THE HOLIDAYS...JOSH TURNS 21 DAY AFTER XMAS...

Natalie made arrangements to have Josh's buddies come over for his birthday.  She is a sweetheart and Josh is a lucky boy. 

The guys and gals hung out and played Xbox, ate pizza and cupcakes -- just like when they were little...  All of his buddies are home from college.  All Josh said most of the day  was "Wow, I'm 21...I can drink alcohol..."  I'm trying to drive home that he can't drink because of his brain injury.  I have everything written down in his memory book.  Josh spends a great deal of the day reading his memory book.  Eventually I think and hope things will "sink in" and he'll understand what happened.  Every once in a while he'll say, "What happened to me?"  This is a good thing because he's at least realizing that something happened...

Xmas Eve with Natalie and Kendall at Gary and Vonnie's house, friends of the family.  Don't worry...Josh isn't drinking.  We were!! 

Xmas Eve we spent at Gary and Vonnie's house.  We had a wonderful time !  Gary and Vonnie are both incredible cooks and entertainers.  Their house was festive and everyone enjoyed themselves. 

Here's Josh with Lizzy and Rogers.  They had a holiday open house on the 23rd.  They are laughing because I told them to get in the picture with their newly adopted son...

Here's beautiful Bella, Gary and Vonnie's doggy.  She is sweet, unlike my wild animals...

So....we survived the holidays.  We actually had a great holiday.  Christmas Day, we had company -- my girlfriends Molly, Mary, Christina and Josh's trainer, Christopher came over.  We ate and drank and carried on.  Then, we went house hopping - first to Carolyn and Buck's house in Whispering Palms, then to Ellen's for a traditional turkey dinner.  It was fun.  

Before the holidays I had Josh professionally assessed by two teachers from Torrey Pines High School.  They did standardized testing on Josh for two hours to see how he is functioning academically.  I will get the results after the first of the year.  I think he did well.  Josh is such a team player and is eager to please.   After  I get the test results, I will have Josh tutored every day for several hours in the afternoon to keep him mentally stimulated and moving forward.  I hired a behavioral consultant to help me out with this. 

Josh is still an outpatient at Sharp Rehab having physical, occupational and speech therapy.  Christopher works with Josh twice a week at the gym.  He also takes him to the club to work on his "short" game.  I hired a new guy caregiver, Don, to hang out with Josh.  They watch football, play Monopoly, Xbox and pool. 

I have decided that I need to be away from Josh more.  In fact, the more, the merrier.  He is driving me crazy with the "Where's Dad?" thing.  I thought I'd be able to get answers from  Dr. Gardner, but no such luck.  This perseveration thing is maddening and weird. 

Josh's short term memory is improving a tiny bit.  He can remember names now and then and will sometimes really surprise you.  I am really looking forward to getting him in a structured program at home with the tutoring.  As far as the executive functioning thing, Josh is getting a little better.  We went to my girlfriend Devora's house yesterday because her Dad passed away suddenly.  Josh was very appropriate and said he was sorry.  That's a good thing.  At least, he didn't laugh in her face.  But, then this morning when I was telling Josh about the Bhutto assassination in Pakistan, he started laughing hysterically....    

So, that's the news in a nutshell!  Hope everyone had a great Christmas and holiday season!  We miss everyone!  Thanks for thinking of us!!!  Happy New Year!  Here's to a great 2008!!   THANK GOD FOR XBOX!!  Mike, Angie and Tyler, thanks for that guitar game, it is a big hit!  All the kids come over and play it.  Josh still loves the John Madden NFL game, but he'll sit and watch all of Natalie's buddies play the guitar.  It's a fun game.  I am still trying to get the hang of it.  I bet Tyler is good!   xoxo 

 

 

JOSH IS TALKING ABOUT HIS 21ST BIRTHDAY AND IS COUNTING THE DAYS...

I was waiting for something wonderfully monumental to happen before updating the blog, but no such luck.... Josh continues to perseverate about his father...it's getting crazy...  it's very similar to Chinese torture...  you wake up in the morning and think you can handle it, then the constant droning really starts to wear on you... "Where's Dad? Where's Dad? What happened?  Where is he?"  Soon I may be in stripes and someone else is going to have to take my place...

Realizing that I desperately need professional guidance to get me through this mess, I made an appointment with one of the best neuro-psychiatrists in the country.  He happens to have an office in Solana Beach which is great.  Dr. Daniel Gardner has a big laundry list after his name, distinguished fellow, diplomate, American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, this and that....  For all of you who have faith, please pray for us.   For some reason I can't seem to pray so others feel free to beg, plead and ask for good things...  every once in a while I do say, "Oh dear God, please help me not kill Josh...." 

Josh is now counting the days until he is 21.  Today he'll wake up and with garbled speech he'll say, "Only 17 days until I turn 21..."  I was looking over his shoulder when he was on the computer the other day and he was instant messaging someone and said, "I'll soon be able to drink alcohol in public..."  I tell Josh he can't drink any alcohol with a brain injury.  He, of course, replies, "What brain injury?"   I show him my rendition of that fateful day of March 28, 2007...  "You were partying your ass off at U of A, Josh, drinking tons of beer and doing all kinds of drugs, like crappy bootleg xanax that you bought in Mexico and cheap cocaine, when you passed out, asparated... you were rushed to the hospital where you spent 30 days in ICU fighting for your life on all kinds of life support....  You almost died, Josh! .... "  Josh will say, "Oh, wow.."  Josh understands everything he reads and will ask all kinds of questions.  It's just that nothing seems to "stick".   Hopefully, with time, it will.

Let's see...do I have any good news?  Josh's short term memory has probably improved by a few minutes.  We are still going to out-patient therapies at Sharp Rehab and last week Josh remembered the entire car ride (about 20 minutes) that we were going to Sharp Rehab!  That's a start.  If you ask him what he does at Sharp, he'll tell you he has physical, occupational and speech therapies.  He'll occasionally remember the names of his therapists.  Josh knows that it is December.  He is still obsessed with time and dates... not uncommon for a brain injury. 

Josh continues to go to weight training at the Sharp Rehab gym with Christopher, on Mondays and Thursdays.  Christopher is a guy I hired to work out with Josh.  He's a cool guy, lived in the Land Down Under for a while and has dual citizenship.  He's was a pro-basketball player in Australia and has written a book called "Swimming to Angola...and other tips for surviving the Third World".  He's traveled all over the world and is a fun, adventurous nomad of a guy!   

I have an appointment with a behavioral consultant who works with autistic children.  Hopefully this guy can hook Josh up with various tutors to keep him mentally stimulated.  Josh's behavior is actually not that bad, although at times he'll act inappropriate and start laughing his ass off in public over something that is not funny at all, like an old lady falling or a car crash...   it's that executive function thing ...

Last night Josh's caregiver did not show up, so my girlfriend, Ellen and I took Josh to Scalini's.  We had a great time.  We sat at the piano bar for about an hour after dinner and sang.  Josh even danced...  I have come to the conclusion that Josh does great with lots of people around.   Josh met one of the waiter's daughters and asked her five times in the course of ten minutes what her name was...  He's like Tom in "Fifty First Dates"...

On a good note, Josh can beat the Xbox 360 John Madden 2008 football game which is no easy task.  He'll carefully line up the positioning for the field goal kicker and can kick a field goal right down the middle... he's good.  He'll be downstairs playing Xbox and I'll hear him scream out, "Mom, where's Dad?"  He's good at multi-tasking....  

 We're going to miss NYC and Chicago this year.  Happy birthday to NAHA!  I can't remember how old NAHA is, is it 7 already?  Happy holidays to everyone!  We're trying to get in the spirit.  It's been a tough year for our families between Josh's brain injury and Angie's surgery...  2008 will be better for all of us!  Love to everyone!  Thanks for reading Josh's blog!

Oh yeah, my sweet Natalie is doing great.  She's busy applying to colleges, being class president and running around like crazy... She even has a JOB!!  She's a hostess at the Paradise Grille in Del Mar.  Josh says she's "the hostess with the mostess.." 

 

Chris and Bruce visit from Chicago. Josh's college buddies visit during Thanksgiving Break.

Nat, Josh,  and Chicago cousins, Chrissy and Bruce 

We all enjoyed having Chrissy and Bruce stay with us for the Thanksgiving holiday.   Chris and Bruce went to Sharp Rehab with Josh and observed his occupational, physical and speech therapies.  Bruce quizzed Josh on world landmarks like the Blarney Castle in Southern Ireland and the Sydney Opera House in Australia.  I have all kinds of flashcards and games to stimulate the brain.  Chris and Bruce are pretty good at world landmarks since they have travelled so much.  I was impressed! 

Bruce fixed up Josh's truck which was very nice of him!  He got the back driver's side window replaced from a mobile glass company that came to our house.  That was great.  He also painstakingly washed Josh's truck which was filthy dirty.  Thanks, Bruce!  You're a peach! 

Josh continues to drive me crazy with the "Where's Dad?" thing...  he just won't accept the fact that he's gone...  I think Josh has read the obituary a hundred times over and he still asks, "Where's Dad, Mom?"  I was reading in one of my brain books that sometimes when there is a traumatic event and then a subsequent brain injury that the traumatic event will be erased from the memory for a while until the brain heals itself.  For example, if a child was molested, then grows up and has a brain injury, the molestation is erased from the mind until the brain heals.  Who knows what's up with Josh?  Last night when Josh was asking about his father, I decided to show him a bunch of pictures of Jerry when he was little.  Josh was checking out the pictures and then said, "Mom, I miss Dad and really want to be with him."  Isn't that just pitifully sad???  I tried to lighten up the conversation and said, "Well, Josh, don't kill yourself!"  Josh then proceeds to laugh his ass off for two minutes straight.  He always seems to find humor in things.  It gets a bit embarrassing if we are out somewhere and Josh starts with that crazy laughing....   Yesterday all his buddies came over and they started looking at crazy clips from You Tube and Facebook .  Josh was laughing so hard tears were running down his eyes.  He was hysterical...  His buddies like to rile him up andget him to start with that crazy laughing....  One of Josh's buddies, Shane, says to me, "Paula, can we take Josh out?"  They don't understand that Josh is not the same Josh.  They keep saying, "He looks great!"  It's true....Josh does look great, but he still has a long way to go mentally....  For example, it would be nice if he knew  what he did ten minutes ago...  that's a start....   He continuously asks me, "Mom, when am I going back to college?"  I say, "Josh, do you think you're ready for college?"  He says, "Yeah!"  I say, "Okay, then, tell me what you did this morning..."  He says, "I don't know."  Then, he cracks up laughing for five minutes.  Real college material...  

Chrissy and I were trying to get Josh to figure out what his Facebook email address was and his password.  Josh did manage to remember his AOL email and password but we couldn't get into Facebook.  It's funny how Josh says he doesn't know this or that, but when you prompt him, he'll figure it out.  For example, with his AOL email, we typed in one of his screen names and although he said, he didn't remember his password, he typed it in spontaneously.  It was cool.  I will not tell you what his password is since it is rather graphic....  typical Josh...

Last night Josh was on the computer and sent an IM to one of his girlfriends asking her to have lunch with him.  He told her to call his cell phone.  I get a call this afternoon from Dana saying, "Oh hi Mrs. Mendell...Josh asked me to lunch and told me to call his cell phone...but it's no longer in service..."  Of course, Josh has no recollection of having sent an IM to Dana...  it's all so crazy! 

Today we golfed again at that small par three.  John, the pro, was telling Josh which club to use and Josh, of course, wanted to use the wedge since it was only a 90 yard hole...  Josh thinks he can do what he did before, but he obviously can't...  After arguing for a few minutes, John finally said, "Okay, Josh, use whatever club you want..."  Josh then proceeds to hit the ball 30 yards and cracks up laughing really loudly for a full two minutes...  I'm wondering when the laughter is going to change to frustration...  That's what all the experts are telling me.  I can't wait!

Thanksgiving dinner was yummy.   I cooked an organic turkey !  Josh was amazed that it was Thanksgiving.  He keeps asking if it is summer...  his sense of time is all messed up...  Hopefully soon, he'll stop asking what day it is and what month it is....

 

Josh's buddies visit during Thanksgiving break - Jason, Weston, Mikey, Shane and Dave.  Josh enjoyed seeing all his brothers!

Tonight I let Josh go to Pick Up Stix with his buddies.  They really wanted to take him, so I let them...  I was actually glad to see Josh go off with his buddies, but I warned them not to get any crazy ideas...  They were cool and Josh returned home unscathed....  he had fun.  That was sweet of his buddies to take him, don't you think?

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.  We missed you, Mike, Angie and Tyler!  Hopefully we'll see you soon!! 

 

 

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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Josh is extremely happy these days!

Josh is always laughing.  He is so happy these days.  He wakes up happy.  He's happy all day long -- he goes along with whatever I say.  I say, "Josh, go brush your teeth."  He says, "Okay, Mom."   I say, "Josh, go get dressed and get ready for therapy."  He says, "Okay, Mom,"  I say, "Josh, drink this glass of water to flush out your system."  He says, "Okay, Mom."   He is just the most pleasant kid you can imagine.  He's such a team player.   He participates willingly in all of his therapies.  It's interesting...  Pedro Leon, the physical therapist consultant that I am thinking of hiring, says, "Just wait...this will change..."

We continue to write in Josh's memory book every day telling him what day it is and what his schedule is for the day.  Josh still continuously throughout the day asks about Jerry.  "Where's Dad, Mom?"  "Did he really die?"  "Why?"   I even drove Josh to the cemetery, dragged Josh up the steep hill where Jerry's gravesite is  and showed it to Josh.  Josh looks at it and says, "Oh, wow!"  Josh remembered having gone to the cemetery and seeing the gravesite for about half an hour!!  This was a big deal for Josh since his short term memory is normally less than a minute.  Later on that afternoon Josh had no recollection of going to the cemetery.  He would read what I wrote in his memory book and say, "We didn't go to the cemetery today."  It's crazy... 

Josh's new thing is reading his high school yearbook.  He now asks me, "Why aren't I going to college?  When am I going back?"  This is a good thing, isn't it?   It is so strange....sometimes Josh thinks he's still a senior at Torrey Pines and Natalie is 13...  Other times he is "with it".  He knows he is 20 and knows Natalie is 17.  But when Natalie takes off and gets in the car to drive, Josh can't believe she has her license.  "Mom, Natalie is driving and she doesn't have her license!".....   I think with time things will fall into place.

Josh is on no meds at all.  Contrary to what the doctors say about brain injuries, Josh never sleeps in the day.  He never takes naps and will stay up all night if you lethim.  Josh is constantly asking about time.  He'll be sitting on the john and he'll scream out, "Mom, what day is it?  What month is it?  Am I going to school today?"   It's wild.

Josh's speech is still slurred.  He runs all the words together.  Next week we are having more speech therapies than physical and occupational therapies combined.  I told the scheduler at Sharp that Josh needs speech therapy more than anything else.  It is frustrating when he talks and no one can understand him.  He continues to laugh his butt off.   When I tell him, "Josh, I can't understand a word you're saying!"  He just laughs...  I tell him to speak slowly....one word at a time...  

I enrolled Josh in this program called Cognition Ignition which is a cognitive remediation program successfully used in 70 countries as a tool for the enhancement of learning potential.  This guy, David Witkowski, swears he can get Josh's short term memory back.  Josh had one session and I really liked the guy.  He is animated and uses all kinds of different techniques.  The first thing he did was give Josh a series of pictures with dots all over the pages and asked Josh to find squares and triangles.  He said, "Josh, first connect the dots and make a square, then connect the dots and make a triangle."  The dots were not numbered.  Josh breezed through the exercises.  I guess the idea is to remember what to do first.  The exercises get progressively harder...  Then he would give Josh all these cards with pictures on them and ask him to make pairings, such as a knife and a loaf of bread, a saw and a piece of wood.  Josh breezed through this exercise as well.  As the hour came to a close, Josh was getting fatiqued and was messing up....   The method used is called Feuerstein Instrumental Enrichment.  Everything is comprised of paper and pencil tasks aimed at specific cognitive goals.   I figure this method has to have some validity since it has been translated into 29 languages.  Who knows?  The guy had a big ad in the San Diego Brain Injury Foundation newsletter.  I'll try it.  Josh doesn't seem to mind.  The guy asked him if he had a good time after the session and Josh said, "Yeah, I did."....   

We're continuing with hyperbaric oxygen therapy.  We have two sessions next week.  We're trying everything! 

Hopefully next time you see Josh you'll be amazed as his improvement! 

Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you guys about the wildfires!  How horrible was that???  We survived the fires unscathed, but we did have to evacuate.  I knew we were in big trouble Monday morning when smoke and soot were coming our way.  There was lots of soot which came into the house through the door and window cracks.  The air quality sucked.  We immediately got our stuff together and checked into the Beach Terrace Inn in Carlsbad on the water where the sky was blue and the air was clear.  I grabbed my wedding album, my mom's wedding album, some pictures of the kids and family, my insurance policy and estate file, a suitcase full of piano music and off we went.  Josh did amazingly well.  We stayed in the hotel three nights.  I was thinking, "Gosh, on top of all the crap we're going through with Josh, our house might burn down....I guess that's par for the course...."   We were lucky! 

 

   

Josh survived his four day stay at the Howard House

Memory impaired Josh can still play video games.  Can you see what it says in the lower left hand corner of the video screen?  1st!  Not bad, Josh...  Josh will play video games for a few hours at a time.  His fine motor skills are pretty good and video games work on your eye-hand coordination.  The other day Josh was sitting on the edge of the chair playing a video game when he crashed to the floor.  Of course, Josh was laughing his butt off.  He thinks everything is funny these days...  I wish his gross motor skills would improve faster.  It is very difficult to get Josh off the floor.  His body just doesn't know what to do... 

Josh survived his four days at the Howard House, but came home with a terrible cold.  I know he was stressing in there because he called me several times a day saying, "Mom, pick me up now..."  I told Josh to read the letter Natalie wrote to him in his memory book which said where he was staying and where I was going.  The staff at the Howard House is very kind.  Currently there are four guys living there.  When I went to pick Josh up one of the guys says to me, "Hey, what's your husband's name?"  I said, "My husband's name was Jerry."  The guy says, "Oh, did he pass on?"  I said, "Yeah, he did."  The guy says, "You know,  I only know three women named Jerry.  Nice to meet you, Jerry."    I said to him, "No, my name is Paula.  My husband's name was Jerry..."      He says, "Nice to meet you, Jerry.  Hope to see you soon."    Oh boy.....  

Another guy reminded me of Pee Wee Herman.  He was adorable, but had the mentality of a four year old.  He was so happy and animated.  He comes running up to me and starts hugging me and stroking my arms....  I didn't want to be rude, but he startled me.  I learned his name was John and that he now had an infatuation with birds!   He used to be a mechanical contractor with Solar Turbines and was in a violent car crash.  He and his wife were drunk.  She died on impact.  How sad is that!     I must say I never thought I would be a part of the brain-injury world. 

Josh was very happy to be leaving the Howard House.  He told me in the car on the way home, "Mom, thanks for coming to get me."   The next day, Josh says, "Mom, where did I sleep last night?"  I told him he slept in his own bed at home.  The memory thing continues to haunt me.  I think Josh knew he was some place different for a few days... 

We had an appointment with Dr. Stenehjem just before the Catalina trip and he thinks Josh is making slow, steady progress.  Dr. S said I could stop all medications for Josh, but not to do so until after the trip.   I asked Dr. S about a consultant that I was thinking of hiring to help get structure in Josh's life.  This guy, Pedro Leon, is a physical therapist that started a consulting business for families dealing with brain injuries.  He came to the house and did a formal assessment of Josh.  It took him three hours.  I need to read his report and all the paperwork which he sent me.  Dr. S said Pedro was excellent and would get structure in Josh's life.   He'd screen and train all the people I need.  I want to hire a guy to take Josh to the gym a few times a week and take him to the recreational therapy programs that Sharp has, like golf for the physically challenged...

I had Josh's hearing tested by Dr. Jackson, an ENT man.  Josh has  moderate hearing loss in both ears.  The right ear is worse.  He cannot hear some higher pitches.  I was wondering why he was constantly saying, "What?" in a very high tone.  The plan is to wait 6 weeks, have his hearing re-tested and then get hearing aids.  Last night when Natalie was talking to Josh and he continuously said, "What?" in that crazy high pitched voice, Natalie says, "Mom, I can't wait until Josh gets those hearing aids..."  It does drive you crazy.  I just hope Josh's hearing is not a degenerative thing.  I wouldn't think it would be... 

Today we have three outpatient therapies at Sharp.  This morning I am having a reflexologist caregiver come over to work on Josh.   Hopefully today Josh will make a monumental breakthrough!  That would be wonderful.

   

 

I AM LEAVING FOR CATALINA ISLAND THIS MORNING! NO JOSH FOR FOUR DAYS!

After more than six months of caring for Josh every single day, I am taking off for Catalina Island this morning to celebrate a girlfriend's 60th birthday!  We're going to the jazz festival.  I can't wait!!!  I need a break so desperately.

Last night Natalie and I took Josh to the Howard House in Escondido, a private home run by the San Diego Brain Injury Foundation.  There are only four patients there and it seems like a loving, caring place.  The director, Beth, is young and beautiful, kind and compassionate...  So, how bad can this experience be for Josh?  Beth is willing to take Josh to his three therapies at Sharp on Friday and Monday.  I think it's a good thing.  It's better than leaving Josh at home with caregivers who will let him eat all day.  At the Howard House, Josh will have structure which he needs.

We have a memory book for Josh which we write in every day which states what we're doing for the day.  I make Josh bring this with him when we get in the car so he can refer to it when he asks me 100 times where we're going.  Natalie said to me yesterday that Josh has a "17 second memory".  She says, "I timed it, Mom, and Josh can remember things for 17 seconds." 

I'll update the blog when I get home and tell you all the latest on Josh's most recent appointments with Dr. Stenehjem and his ear, nose and throat man, Dr. Jackson...

Josh looks great and is pretty good with his fine motor skills.  He can still play video games.  I'll put photos on the blog next time. 

See ya and thanks for reading the blog!