Sunday, September 29, 2013

Speech Update

Just recently, I started speech therapy for the fall semester at Baylor. As long as I'm making progress, I'm permitted to attend the program, please pray I continue to successfully navigate said peaks and nail biting terraces. Only with God is any of this even conceivable. Baylor is helping me talk once more, while my speech therapists over at Hillcrest are working diligently with the woman who invented DPNS (deep pharyngeal neurological stimulus or something like that) on my swallowing whole foods capability, fairly productively I'd wager. Along with the arduous task my throat needs, they are torturing me with some facial nerve device for my drooling.  Just kidding, although it does have a biting characteristic.  Pretty recently, I had yet ANOTHER swallow test. It seems that therapy has no end, in this my darkest hour. Yet, I continuously press on, as I don't really have an option, to achieve my very distant goal of being fully recovered and living in LA. Tis surely improbable, but definitely not impossible. From the swallow study, the Hillcrest therapists realized I needed to go to an ENT doctor (ear, nose, and throat). I saw Dr. Holland and he will do a procedure to dilate my esophagus and put Botox on a muscle that is not opening like it should on Thursday, October 10th. 
PLEASE pray all goes well.


New therapist at Baylor.  She's great.  
With La Tante at Baylor.

 At Dr. Holland's -

 
Thank you for the prayers.  

 

 



Sent from my iPhone

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Things Could Always Be ...

I have ventured on a myriad of treks and journeys through Texas, but in my
"stays" in around about five brain injury clinics I was faced with some brutally
lethargic cases. People that were so victimized by said injuries, pity never
even asked to come out and play. Nay, 'twas forced out of me, like vomit. It was
all of us young, athletic, and charming men. Two of which were undoubtedly
college football players, pretty good from what I hear. It wasn't an injury from
football that did them in, surprisingly. Alcohol was the leading cause in their
injuries as well, funny how that works.

One was boisterously drunk, running around, making a complete fool of himself, I
reckon. He stupidly decided the best course of action, would be to latch on to a
moving vehicle while riding on a skateboard. Must I go into detail about what
happened next? Today, he is nothing more than a five year old. Good decision,
wouldn't you say? I don't think so.

Yet another of my companions, was floating down the Comal River, inevitably drinking.
Something which all of us has done, at one time or another.
But he ran into a couple, where the guy was being excessively
abusive to his girlfriend.  My compadre, a stand up kinda guy, I guess, told the
jerk to give it a rest.  BAD idea. The guy beat the heck out of my friend,
I mean really bad. ALMOST to the brink
of death, but he made it out the other end of the long, dark, and decrepit
tunnel. Mentally intact, but FAR from physically okay. Yes, mentally fine, but
paralyzed from the neck down. Really now?
How evil can you be?  To do that to someone?
Bludgeon them mercilessly, until they are cringing under
your steadily rising furious blows. Probably bleeding LONG before you've
finished. I believe that an act such as this is so heinous, so the death penalty
should, at least be considered. I mean why not? Their subliminal actions weren't
murder, but they might as well have been. My buddy, can NEVER walk again, really NEVER
in fact do anything. Also extremely doubtful he'll ever talk again.  

Things could ALWAYS be worse.
MUCH worse.