Happy National Talk Like a Pirate Day!

Wow! It has been over a month and a half since I have posted anything. Oh, how time flies when you are busy. I have been working hard at school. As soon as a quarter ends at one school I start another at another school. I will have my Associates in Business in just a couple more quarters. I have also been busy starting to look for a job since the doors are closing at my current job at the end of this month.

With Randy, things are continuing to go incredibly well. Since I am not with him while he works, I don’t know how his work performance is, but since he has gone back to work, I have seen so many improvements in him both physically and mentally. He still has days that his short term memory doesn’t function well, but it is usually on the days that he is more tired. It was funny… a couple of weeks ago, I was working on a slideshow presentation for work and was looking for some music to add to it. Randy handed me a cd of his, telling me he thought it would work well. I ended up leaving the cd sitting next to the chair I was sitting in. The next day, Randy sat in that chair, picked up the cd and commented “Oh, this is a good cd. When did you get this?” I looked at him a moment to see if the memory would come out, but it didn’t, so I responded “Yesterday when you handed it to me”.

Last Saturday we met up with some friends for dinner. They commented to me that it seems like Randy’s sense of humor has not only returned, but actually improved. He does a good job of making light of some of his deficits, especially the memory deficit. The restaurant we were at was one that we had eaten at only a couple of weeks prior. When Randy got up to use the restroom, I asked him “Do you remember where the restroom is?” He said “Nope, not a clue”, and walked off, not even waiting for direction. When he came back he said he figured he would eventually find it ~ why ask for directions if he won’t remember them anyway!

The last little update is on how the trial is going. The judge dismissed the case against the company, stating that the truck being over-weight is arguable. Our attorney conferred with other attorneys and told us that it would probably not be to our benefit to appeal. Besides, the appeal process itself would take anywhere from one to two years and if we lost, that would be a lot more expense to us. We also decided not to go after the man who caused the accident. From our initial look, he didn’t have any assets and our attorney said that he would most likely be advised to file bankruptcy anyway. I think Randy had a bit of a hard time letting it go because he wants this guy to understand the consequences of not following the law by not carrying insurance. So the legal side of things is over and the blog is no longer restricted. However, instead of moving it all back to updatesonrandy.blogspot.com, we are leaving it at http://randysjourney.blogspot.com.

Randy is doing an excellent job with continuing to recover. He continues to amaze me. A couple of weeks ago he started taking an online photography class. He works hard at putting in his efforts at work and at school. I think it would be easy for someone to fall into their disability and use that as a crutch, but Randy pushes himself to do more. He is a pretty amazing guy!

Update!

Wow... it has been awhile since I have put out any update. Randy has come so far in his healing that he doesn't require so much of my time and attention, so I was able to go back to school. Between going to school full time and working full time, I don't have a lot of extra time!

Randy is doing amazing. He is now working a full 8 hour day. I was a little worried that he would tire out too much, but he is handling it very well. In the next few weeks he wants to add a bit more to his plate and take a photography class. Prior to the accident, Randy had developed a love of photography. He had taken quite a few classes at the local community college, mostly focusing on black and white photography. He is now branching out into the world of digital photography. He is beginning to drive Cass and I a bit crazy. With the black and white, film was a little expensive so he had to plan out his pictures and he took very few. With digital, he doesn't have to worry about the cost of film, so he is constantly taking our picture. I think we have over 50 alone of just me driving. But I love to see him getting back to the things that he was so passionate about before.

The last few weeks haven't been all work for us. Since Cass had to spend her birthday last year mostly at the hospital, we decided to take her out to have some fun. We headed to Ocean Shores for a few days and had an amazing time! So much so, in fact, that we ended up staying an extra day. I think it was good for the three of us to get away from everything and play for a few days.

Though Randy has come so far, he still has what we jokingly refer to as "brain injur moments". One such example occurred about a week ago. A couple weeks prior to this occurrence, we had purchased a screen door for our front door. Randy hadn't measured the door or anything. He just grabbed the one he thought would fit. Well, it didn't fit. So he took it back the next day. Then, about a week ago, he sends me the following email

"In case you didn't know, I suffered a brain injury in 2006 and have some severe memory deficits, so bare with me. Did we end up purchasing a storm door, if so, where did we put it?"

I just had to laugh! His memory, overall, is getting better. He likes to joke that at least his is better than his father's!

Thankful

Last night, Randy and I watched the Coma documentaries from HBO. In the main documentary, they follow 4 people from just a few weeks after their accidents until 1 or so years after. All 4 have head injuries - two from car accidents, one from a fall from a balcony, and one who was assaulted and thrown from a bridge while in another country.

In the documentary, they talked about the coma stage (which Randy was in for 12 days) and then they talked about the minimally conscious state versus the vegetative state. Randy went from the coma to the minimally conscious state.

The show was heart wrentching. It was hard for me to watch because it reminded me of all we had been through. Also, watching it made us feel so fortunate. At the year mark, everyone was at a different stage.

One person, who was around 19, was taken home by her mom and then brought back 4 months later because she was getting inadequate therapy.

The man who was assaulted was about 19. He was actually at his two year mark during the documentary. They were debating throughout the documentary over whether or not he was in a vegetative statement. At the end of the show, the doctors and therapists were saying he wasn't going to improve. The parents weren't willing to give up yet.

The man who fell off a balcony was finally able to go home after a year

The fourth person had started coming out of his coma, was in a minimally conscious state, seemingly getting better, and then slipped back into the coma and died.

At the time that some of the "better off" people were just starting to walk while in rehab and just starting to make some vast improvements, during that time in Randy's recovery, he was at home walking and doing outpatient therapy. Randy was definitely on the fast track of recovery.

Watching this shore made us both feel so thankful for the miracle of Randy's fast recovery. It also made Randy feel very fortunate for the family and friends that he has. Throughout the show, in seeing what the family went through, Randy was constantly saying "Thank you". He kept saying how thankful he was for all that his family did, all those who visited him, and for all of those that prayed for him.

Catching Up

It's been a bit since I posted last! Life has been a little busy.

Cass is feeling better, which makes me feel better. She felt dizzy for a few days after falling, but that seems to have gone away.

Last weekend we went to Spokane for a family reunion ~ it was Randy's mom's family. They were all very excited to see Randy and many commented on how great he looked. He enjoyed getting to see and visit with everyone, but after awhile, it got to be a bit overwhelming for him so we called it an early night. But by morning, he seemed to be doing better. The family went on a cruise that served brunch. It was so much fun. We all enjoyed being out on the water. Right by the cruise loading area, they had bi-planes that take people for flights. Randy was itching to go and get up in a plane again, but we didn't have time. He and I had to head back over the mountains to get our dogs in time. We left Cass over with Grandma and Grandpa to spend a couple of weeks.

Randy is still really enjoying being back to work. I asked him how he felt he was performing. He said that, when talking to people, he does great, but he is struggling with the follow through. That is a pretty important part of his job! He and I are working together to come up with ways to help him be more successful with following through with things.

Randy saw his Neruo-opthamologist this week. We didn't like the news we got from this visit. He said that a lot of the pain Randy is experiencing in his eye (his left eye hurts pretty much all of the time) and then on the left side of his head is most likely caused by scar tissue. He also did a bunch of tests to test any improvements in Randy's vision. There were slight improvements, but he reallly feels that Randy's healing has stablized and where he is at now is where he will always be. All along, he has been telling us that Randy's type of double vision cannot be fixed by prisms, but that surgery could probably fix it. His opinion changed a bit this time. He said that even with surgery, Randy will still be left with double vision. He said that surgery might be able to fix the double vision when Randy looks straight ahead, but he cannot fix double vision when Randy looks up, down, or side to side. Even with the straight ahead, it is only somewhat of a possibility. Randy said that he isn't going to risk surgery for a "somewhat of a possiblity".

So, at this point, doctors cannot fix Randy's eyes, only God can. So far He hasn't chosen to do so, but that doesn't mean He won't still yet.

More Working!

Randy went into both the Renton and the Everett office today. He came home with a big smile on his face and said "I had such a good day". He is really enjoying back to work. As soon as he got home, he went straight into his office. He is a happy man!

My day wasn't quite as good as his. I told Cass to call me as soon as she got up this morning because her back was really hurting her last night from her fall off the trampoline. She woke up feeling dizzy. I left work and took her to the urgent care down the street from our house. The doctor said that, even though Cass didn't really hit her head, it sounded like she had a concussion. He gave me a little print out of what to watch out for. I stayed with her the rest of the day. I think she is feeling better tonight, but I will probably stay home with her tomorrow just to make sure. I don't think we will ever be buying a trampoline!

Happy 4th!

We hope everyone had a safe and happy 4th of July. This year for us was most definitely better than last year!

We started the day off with doing some work around the house. Randy and I had gotten a sleeper sofa for his office/spare bedroom. Unfortunately, we did not measure our house or the sofa to ensure we could get it in the room. We just selected the cheapest one we could find (making sure it was still comfortable for Randy's parents, of course!). When they delivered it, they couldn't get it through the door of the bedroom ~ the angle was just a little too off. So, Randy decided it would be a good time to replace our aluminum single-pane window with the double pane window our neighbor gave us when he remodled his house. With the help of our neighbor and his brother, the sofa fit very nicely through the open hole of the window and then we got the new window put in. Since they were over here helping already, they decided to put the double pane window into Cass's room as well. Randy's office is now done. Thankfully, the couch looks very nice in there, because even if it didn't, it can't come back out!

We then headed over to our neighbors house. They have a bunch of their family over every year. They have a trampoline, which Cass absolutely loves. Someone hooked up a sprinkler to the safety net around the trampline, so the kids could jump while cooling off with water. I thought it was a great idea until Cass got off of it and our neighbor Ron convinced her to come give me a hug!

We ended our evening down at Lake Meridian, which is a short little walk from our house. They put on a great show every year. Our neighbors know some people who live on the lake, so we get to go into one of the private beaches to watch the show.

Randy was very tired by the end of the night. He had to use his cain to walk down to the lake. When he gets tired, he has a much harder time with balance.

Randy's First Day

Randy had a great day Friday. He was so excited to be back at work. He called me while he was going from one building to the next and said "This is where I belong." He enjoyed being around everyone again. He had a hard time stopping after 4 hours.

We spent the weekend finishing what Randy had started a little over a year ago ~ turning our spare bedroom into an office. By tomorrow evening, it should be all done. For his parents, we made sure that we still have availability to easily set up a bed in there because we enjoy when they come visit.

Friday night, Randy was actually worn out enough to fall asleep well, which I really appreciated! I was a little surprised at how easily he was able to fall asleep because we had a house full of girls because Cass had a sleepover birthday party. Randy's mom stayed with us the night before and got the house all set up, which we greatly appreciated! All we had to do was enterainment for a little bit and then set them off to do their own thing (crossing our fingers that we wouldn't wake up to a huge science epxeriment gone wrong again).

Randy is looking forward to going back into work tomorrow. I am just so thankful that he has healed enough that he can get back into doing what he loves. And I am thankful that he works for the company that he does and is surrounded by such supportive people!

Randy's Going Back to Work!

Today, Randy got his release from the Boeing doctors to return to work. He met with the Boeing vocational therapist and his bosses to discuss the details.

He goes back to work this Friday!

He will need to drive up to Everett one day a week (Fridays, I believe), but will be able to tele-commute the other 4 days or go into a closer Boeing office. He will be starting out with 4 hours and day and work up there as he is able to handle more.

This has been a long year, but in consideration of the injuries he had, Randy has come so far so fast. The average time for those with severe head injury to return to work is around 18 months, so Randy is ahead of the game by 6 months.

We are so excited!!!!

1 Year Celebration

The celebration event last Saturday went great. I know Randy and I had a great time. We hope everyone that was able to make it did as well. The weather was great. It rained here Friday and Sunday, but Saturday was beautiful. Randy loved seeing everyone and getting to cook burgers for them. People brought so much food ~ the chocolate/cherry mice were absolutely adorable!

We are so thankful for all those that could make it and sorry that we missed seeing those who couldn't make it. It was a great way for us to celebrate the one year anniversary of this last year! Randy still can't stop talking about what a great time he had!

Pics of Cass

I got some pictures of Cass from the John Robert Powers put up on our picture site. I just put my favorites up there.

Check them out:

http://rarush.spaces.live.com/PersonalSpace.aspx?_c11_PhotoAlbum_spaHandler=TWljcm9zb2Z0LlNwYWNlcy5XZWIuUGFydHMuUGhvdG9BbGJ1bS5GdWxsTW9kZUNvbnRyb2xsZXI%24&_c11_PhotoAlbum_spaFolderID=cns!E1159A4D3D1B7ABE!474&_c=PhotoAlbum

1 Year Today

Today marks the 1 year anniversary of the car accident. I took the day off with Randy and what a beautiful day to celebrate! Our plan was to go to Harborview and have a picnic there, but we never quite made it. We slept in (which I thought was absolutely wonderful!) and then we went to one of Randy's favorite restaurants, a little diner down the street, for a late breakfast.

It has been a long year to say the least. Our whole world was turned upside down.It set us out on an amazing journey. It has strengthened our marriage and our family. Through this journey, we have met so many new friends and deepened our relationship with old ones.

Through his determination, stubborn attitude, and his great fortune for having such a wonderful circle of family and friends, Randy has come a long way during this last year. He has amazed the doctors and the therapists with the improvement he has made. He has amazed me with his "I am not going to give up" attitude, even times have been tough for him.

Thank you to all of you who have shared in the last year with us. We look forward to celebrating with all of those who can make it to our house this Saturday.

Neuropych results

We finally heard from the doctor today on the results from Randy's second neuropsych evaluation. With Randy's memory, there was significant improvement. He scored within the average, though it was in the low range.


With Randy's visual perception and processing speed, he was still showing significant impairment. He has made about 15% improvement in the last 6 months, though. Just not quite enough to bring him into the average category.

The Neuropsychiatrist is agreeing that Randy is probably ready to give working a shot. Randy is beyond excited! He was on the phone this afternoon trying to get things set up.

The Deposition

Well , Mr Bellinger didn't show up today. I can't say we are surprised, but we are a little disappointed. We waited over half an hour before going on record saying he wasn't showing up. We were at the office another half hour talking to the attorney, and still no Mr Bellinger. The attorney said from this point, what we do is try to contact him to find out why he didn't come and then we take it before the judge and ask for a summary judgement against him. We really won't benefit from it unless he has assets out there that we haven't been able to locate yet, but we can take away his license and try to prevent him from doing something to someone else. Not to say that he won't drive without a license since he was willing to drive without insurance, but at least we try.

With the company that owns the truck that hit Randy, that trial to determine whether or not the case to determine their liability has been moved until August 3rd.

Tomorrow, Randy has a whole day of Neuropsych testing. We probably won't find out the results until the end of the week or beginning of next week.

Randy has spent the last couple of days painting Cass's room. It is looking very blue! Cass started out helping, but that resulted in little blue spots all of the house on our nice hardwood floor so she is no longer helping. Randy is doing a pretty good job.

Update on Court Stuff

We just heard from our attorney ~ the court date to see whether or not the case against the company of the boxed truck that hit Randy will be dismissed or not has been set back until August 3rd. We were a little disappointed. We were hoping to have an answer this Friday of whether or not we get to go to trial with this.

On Monday, our attorney will be meeting with the man who started the whole accident for a deposition. Randy has an appointment scheduled for the same time, but we both really want to go and meet this man. I am not sure what we will say to him, if anything.

Randy's sleep habits are currently all messed up. He really just isn't sleeping. It doesn't matter if he exercises a lot or a little or whether he has had any caffine or not. He just isn't sleeping. He stopped taking any sleep medication because when he would take it, I couldn't wake him up for any of his appointments. He didn't sleep at all Sunday night. He slept pretty well Monday night, but then last night he didn't go to bed until almost 4 in the morning and then had to be woken up around 9 for physical therapy. Needless to say, I haven't gotten much sleep either. He does try to be quiet and not wake me up.

Randy and I bought our house almost 4 years ago. From the time that we moved in, I have been asking him to pain the walls and he always responded "There is no way". Of course, I wasn't going to do it because I absolutely hate painting! Last Saturday, though, he completely surprised me by calling me while I was at work and telling me that he would paint the house for me. I was so excited until I realized why he had chosen now to be willing to do it ~ we can't afford for him to paint! He promised me that he will paint it as soon as we are able to ~ but just to be safe, I think I need to get it in writing!

We are going to go ahead and paint Cass's room now. She and Randy have been working the last couple of days to get the room cleared out (which is no easy feat with all of her stuff!) and get it ready to paint. Her favorite color is blue and she has been begging for light blue walls for the past couple of years. I have been trying to stay out of their hair and letting them work together on this project, only interceding when I have had enough of their bickering and need to tell them to take a break from talking to each other for a little while (they really are too much alike at times).

More Physical Therapy

Before I get into updates on Randy, I have to tell a funny story ~ more for my parents enoyment than anything else. I was on my way to work today, driving on highway 18 where it is still only a two lane highway. I had my radio on and was singing to whatever song was on. I then noticed a little white spider running along the top of my dashboard. I am sure it was trying to run away from my wonderful off-key singing! I am illogically and comically afraid of spiders. Enough so that in my high school years, in the middle of winter (there was snow on the ground), I ran outside in my barefeet, standing in the carport until one of my parents got home because no matter where I tried to run away from the huge spider in the house, I swear it followed me!

So here I am this morning with this little white spider inside my car. The first thing I do is look for a place to pull over at. Unfortunately, there wasn't enough room on the side of the highway for me to stop my car. I know that I can't let this spider continue running around because I could not take my eyes off of it, and that just isn't safe. So with one hand on the steering wheel, I use my other hand to pull my planner out of my purse and then start trying to hit the spider with the planner. Let me tell you, it was a difficult task trying to drive with one hand, keep my eyes on the road long enough to make sure I was staying between my lines, and reaching up to try to hit this spider with the planner! I missed a couple of times and then finally got him. Right after I got him, I quickly checked my rearview mirror and saw that the truck behind me had decided to give me plenty of space! I am sure I looked like a crazy woman!

Anyway... on to Randy's updates for the Memorial Day weekend. Friday, Randy went in to see his physical therapist to work on getting together a game plan for exercises he should be doing now. She was so amazed at the progress he has made since she saw him last (which I think was at the end of November). Friday, she did an evaluation with him. She found that he has gained considerable strength in his left side. It still not comparable to his right side, but it has come a long way. She started working on putting together some exercises for him to do. She said she thinks he should start doing some of the weightlifting in addition to the pool exercises he has been doing. She set up a few follow-up visits to work out the exercise routine with him. He goes back tomorrow for the first follow up visit.

Today, Randy was suppose to start his volunteer work in the church office (he is going to be doing the power point presentation for Sunday sermons). Unfortunately, he and I both forgot. We had a hard time with thinking it was Monday all day. They said they would set it up for him to do tomorrow.

Randy spent the weekend doing little projects around the house. We got a little reimbursment check from insurance for overpayment on presciptions. Since it wasn't money we had budgetted, we decided to use it on a couple of things we had wanted ~ another bookcase and some cheap curtains for our main window. Randy spent the weekend assembling the bookcase and getting the curtains hung. The curtains were a bigger project than I had imagined. We didn't have curtains there before, so Randy had to hang the bar for them. We have blinds on the window, but the blinds are broken. Then, of course, the bar we got was one of the cheapest ones, but it doesn't quite work with the curtains we got. And the curtains were way too long for the window, but we really liked the price so we got them anyway. So he spent awhile using that fake hemming stuff and and getting the bottoms trimmed up.

I wasn't feeling well most of the weekend so Randy wouldn't let me do anything. By Monday, my back and my right leg felt better than they have in quite a while. Our little Yorkie, Max, got his dew claw caught on something and it ripped it part way off, so he got babied this weekend (like he doesn't already!). Today, Randy took him into the vet to get it pulled off the rest of the way. While he was there, Randy had the brilliant idea of getting some drugs for Max for the barbecue. Max loves people and is a very hyperactive dog. He loves to yip and lick everyone to death. He also can't handle being away from people, so if were to lock him up in a room, he would yip non stop. So we had been trying to figure out what to do with him since we want to create an environment where we can visit with everyone. Randy, in all of his brilliance, decided that our best option is to drug Max and let him sleep for awhile. Randy has always been a great problem solver!

Funny Story

I had to share a funny story. At church, Randy doesn't like to sing so he usually sits and looks up things in his Bible. Today, he came across a verse he wanted to show me. He tapped me on the arm and lifted the Bible up to me. As I was reading it, he whispers to me "This verse really correlates with the one that I am learning". To help with Randy's memory problems, the whole family has committed to work on memorizing scripture verses. This week, we all had different ones we wanted to memorize. Randy has been working on his so hard that he often talks about it in his sleep. When he showed me the verse and told me how much it correlated to his verse, I just started laughing. See, the verse he showed me was Proverbs 3:6. The verses that Randy had been learning all week were Proverbs 3:5&6. So, it was the second half of his set of verses.

Also at church today, our pastor used a prop, which he often does. His prop today was this thing that went on his head. It was a band that had spring things coming out of the front of it. The springs came down, ending just about eye level. During the first part of the message, he began putting sticky notes on the ends of the springs so the notes were right before his eyes. Cass and I decided that Randy needed one of these contraptions!

Exhausting Week

This week has been a very tiring week this week. Randy has seemed to move from grinding his teeth to talking in his sleep. Both Randy and Cass talk in their sleep, but with Randy, it is usually only once in awhile. This week, though, it has been every night starting with the Friday before Mother's Day. Even on days that he had gone to Bally's and had exercised ~ he still woke me up throughout the night. One night, he woke me up several times to tell me how much he loved me and appreciated me. Of course, he was asleep through it all. The next day, I told him I would like to be loved and appreciated a little less. I was so exhausted the next day that I had to take a nap during my lunch break.

Today, the three of us had volunteered to do some service work with our church for a place that provides housing for single mothers who need a little extra help. I woke up with a horrible headache. I think it was from a mixture of lack of sleep and allergies. Cass and I stayed home (she is still having some issues with her allergies) and Randy went to help out. So I got to catch up on a little bit of sleep!

Randy had a great time helping out. He worked alongside the pastor, who is familiar with some of the deficits that Randy has with his left side.

Tonight, the three of us played Clue. Randy had a little bit of a hard time with it. He won the first game, but only because Cass and I reminded him of things he had already discovered. Cass has never played Clue before. She is a little too talkative of a kid. She kept giving clues away. But then Randy would forget the clues she had given away. Thankfully, he finds his lack of memory as humorous as we do, so we all had a great time tonight.

Catching Up

It has been a few days since I have updated... and they have been busy days!

Randy went to his Primary Care Physician on Thursday. He and I keep her in business! He talked to her about what the Neurologists at Harborview said about upping his Gabapentin (the medication he takes for his nerve damage). She upped his dosage from 900 to 1200. I guess 1200 is still a low dose comparetively with that medication. We are hoping this increase will help his sleeping habits and his tremors. So far they haven't done much for the sleeping habits! He has gotten very little sleep since starting them, which unfortunately means I have gotten very little sleep.

While he was at the doctor, I got a call from Cass's school. She has been having issues with rashes from allergies. Thursday, she had been in the nurse's office a couple of times so they tried to reach Randy to bring benadryl, but they couldn't track Randy down. When they finally got a hold of me, though, Cass said it was starting to hurt her. So I left work and took her to the doctor. Apparently, something in her system didn't react well with the sun. She hasn't taken any new medication or anything, so we aren't sure what the cause was. Everywhere the sun touched her other than her face, was covered with a rash. It wasn't just a minor little rash. It looked awful. The doctor gave us some medication that wouldn't make her tired like Benadryl does and said to give her oatmeal baths. We took her home, gave her the medicine and the oatmeal baths. Then, as the sun was starting to go away, we let her go outside and play with friends. A couple of hours later, she was miserable. The next day, her leg was all purple. We kept her home and inside the next day and that evening, we headed to Yakima for Mother's Day weekend. By Saturday, the rash was starting to look a bit better. There were some festivities going on in Zillah (a little outside of Yakima), so we covered her with sunscreen and clothes and let her go. The sun still got to her. Today (Monday) we kept her home from school again and kept her inside. It is looking so much better, but I fear that tomorrow will bring the rash back out when she goes outside. I really hope whatever is causing this will get out of her system!

Mother's Day weekend was very nice. Randy's parents got tickets to a play at Zillah high school ~ they put on Beauty and the Beast, and they did an excellent job! We also got to see Randy's Aunt and Uncle and their son. They haven't gotten to see Randy since he was in the hospital. They were amazed at the recovery he has made since then!

Sunday, we all went out for a very nice breakfast and then headed to church. After church, I took a nap so I would have enough energy to drive home. As I said earlier in the post, Randy did nto sleep well at all. When he did finally sleep, he tossed and turned and did a whole lot of talking in his sleep. Nights like that, I hate the fact that I am now such a light sleeper.

Tonight, we took Cass up to Seattle to have her picture taken. They had someone there that did her hair and makeup. We brought a suitcase full of clothes and the photographer picked out the outfits. The guy that did the hair and make up did an excellent job. He made Cass look like a little girl, which is not something I get to see often. Cass loves baggy clothes and doesn't care for the color pink. Even when her hair was long, she wouldn't wear it up. It always had to be down and pushed back behind her ears. The guy tonight used a curling iron, put a little makeup on her, and had her wearing a pink ribbon. She looked adorable. She hated it! I will have to post some of the pictures when they come back in a week or so.

Last little thing I wanted to post ~ Randy's 1 year anniversary is coming up next month. We would really like to celebrate it because we feel like we have so much to celebrate. We of course want to celebrate the fact that Randy is alive, but we also want to celebrate in the fact that we have been put on a path of an amazing journey, though it isn't the path we would have chosen ourselves!

Randy wants to have a Barbeque potluck at our house. We will supply burgers, hotdogs and some pops. We want to invite people to come and bring whatever dish they would like to make and any additional drinks they would like (no alcohol please). Kids are welcome! We would like to have this on Saturday, June 23rd. Randy would love to see everyone, so please pass this invitation around!!

Last Few Days

The last few days have been good. Randy hasn't been grinding has teeth at night, or maybe I am just sleeping through it, either way, I love it!

Wednseday, he did some volunteer work at Green River Community College. They were having health days and he worked in one of the booths. I think he enjoyed being out and getting to meet some new people.

Friday, he went to go to Bally's, but when he got there, he realized that he had forgotten his swimming clothes. So he and Cass went Saturday and had a great time. Randy did some laps using a floaty device. He was really working his arms. It really wore him out and he is a little sore today from it. He wants to get into the habit of going swimming at least 3 times a week. He usually feels really good after going, though it does really wear him out.

NeuroPsych Visit

Today, Randy had an appointment to talk to the Neuropsychologist. Someone had sent him a job description of what they are anticipating what Randy would do upon his return and the Neuropsych was a little worried about it and wanted Randy and I to come in and discuss it with him. Upon reading the job requirements, it does sound like a lot. However, Randy read it and said "Oh yeah, that all looks like easy stuff. Only a portion of what I use to do." The doctor was feeling very uneasy about it, though. We all came to the agreement that Randy will undergo another Neuropsych evaluation towards the beginning of June so that we can get a good measure of how much he has healed and what his capabilities are at that point.

Randy and I also had a session with the counselor today ~ the one that has a lot of experience dealing with TBI survivors and their families. Twenty minutes into the session, she told Randy that she sees a big change in him from last week. She said that he is so much more focused this week. I hadn't noticed it until she said something, but then I did realize that he was staying on topic very well and wasn't going off on long-winded tangents. He really was staying more focused in his thought processes and his conversation. Over the last week, he has been doing a lot more reading and has been able to retain things for a longer period of time. He is actually able to read a book and is able to follow along with the plot. So a lot of change has been happening, a lot of healing going on. I don't always see it because I am with him every day. I love it when people who haven't seen him in awhile point things out.