On Vacation

We are on vacation in Idaho. We went to the temple yesterday and it was amazing! I took the kids the day before to Roaring Springs and am a bit sun burnt. Jolene was able to make it to the temple and we had such a good time. We will get together again and spend more time.

We kidnapped Keven and took him to Donn's Hilltop Kodiak Grill. It was all that we expected and more. It was as good as it looked on TV and exceeded it. The owner is sooooo sweet she came to the table 3 times during the dinner. I must admit she has a winner of a place.

Justin and Keven are having a great time. I know that Keven really needs this guy time. Monique had a visit from her sister just before we got here and she seems a bit frazzled. Not sure what happened but all I know is that Keven is really upset about the whole thing too.

We have been worried about our animals as it is very hot back home and we miss them. Smokey is in good hands with Jacqui and the kitties are boarded.

This morning we are headed up in the mountains for the day. This will be lots of fun with the family. Hmmmm.....on the way home we will pass Kodiak Grill. Wonder if we might stop there again. I will post a bigger blog when we are home. Having a blast!

Child Support Hearing

Oh Wow! Today we left on vacation but not until after I had a Child Support Hearing with Orange County. It was so nice to have a no nonsense judge. He just asked the Orange County Child Support Attorney to give the information. He did and stated that Glen has -0- custodial time and the facts. I just basically sat there and answered what I was asked. At first he was ordered to pay over $600 per month. They lowered it a bit in pity as times are hard and OT is hard to comeby. The final amount was $461 per month. He did nothing but whine that he can't pay that much for one kid. I had thought it would be about an hour and it was 15 minutes. He was ordered to pay back from May so he is close to $2000 in arears and they have yet to add 18% interest. He is really going to bug now for the adoption so he does not have to pay. No okay for change of venue, no adoption. Simple.

Then, yesterday we realized that the washing machine had konked out. I called the complex and they installed a new one by noon. We were off on vacation to Idaho by 3PM. We are worried about the kitties and Smokey as the temperature is close to 100 and pretty bad humidity. We hope they are okay.

Finally......

Today, Justin had an appointment with his primary care Dr. It was so nice to go in and be able to say what was wrong and she listened. Justin got allergy medicine as well as eye drops. We found that he has a wart on his left thumb and she gave him the permanent handicap placard.

That has been such a fight just to get it. We left there and went directly to the licensing office and got the permanent placard. We were so relieved and felt like we got a lot done.

Michael is out of school for the year. It is nice to be able to sleep in now. They did some boundry changes and so next year a lot of the kids that caused problems will be at different schools. He is glad this difficult year is over.

Michael is going to physical therapy for his hand that was broken in 2005. He has so much trouble with it. His doctor is trying to see what can be done. She also prescribed some topical antibiotics for his face and his acne is so much better. I know that he is feeling better about it.
One of the girls from the ward I think has a crush on Michael. She has helped him to feel better about himself.

We had rain today but we have been dry for over 30 days. It was nice to have a short shower and it really helped to clear the pollen in the air. It was very welcome. I wish we had more sun on the back side of our home and I would try to grow some tomato's but we do not get much sun back there.

I have been working on family history and am making some headway. That I am happy with. I will hopefully get Michael to start working on his.

Catch up

I have not been keeping up on this blog being updated. I will try to do better. The last month and a half has been a blurr. I am very grateful that school is over after tomorrow. This has really been a hard year for Michael.

This morning we were doing some things to get ready to go take care of some business and I asked Justin about checking on the status of the VA rating claim. He did not think that he would be able to find out anything but nothing ventured nothing gained. He spoke to a very nice gentleman and he stated that the file is past the rating board and is in the hands of the Authorization person for the final stamp of approval. We are guessing that we should know the true big picture sometime within the next two weeks. We sure hope so as this would really make things fall into place and our goals will be accomplished.

If all goes well, we will be going over to Idaho to see Monique and Keven and we will go to receive our endowments in the Holy Temple. Once that is done then we will be going to Los Angeles and San Diego to be Sealed together for time and all eternity. Exact dates are not known yet but as soon as we do know we will keep you informed. Our bags are packed and ready to go.

I am having trouble sleeping much this week and I really need to sleep tonight. It will be nice to be able to see a Doctor and not worry about the bills.

We are looking forward to being able to spend time with Grandpa Raul while we are in Los Angeles. He is such a loving and sweet man. We need to be able to build the relationship that others fought so hard to see that never gelled.

Justin will be able to get more treatment once the medical records are released. This will be a big help.

At the end of July, I have a Child Support Hearing but will be able to do it via phone. I am making sure that Mr. Cross is exposed for false statements to the court. I am hoping that this will put him in his place for good that he needs to do what is right.

Justin is home

On Monday, Justin called me and said that he was done. He had gone to the PA Robert and asked about making arrangements for a wheelchair when we went home. He told Justin that the pain is all in his head. Then said that they wanted him to start taking Naproxyn as well as the Acetaminophen and the ibuprofen that he was taking and the Vicodin. I almost lost it when he told me that. He said to come get him so, I did.

Before he went in to the hospital I had hidden the Vicodin as he was starting to misuse it and Dr. Radant and I felt it was best that I restrict him. Then I find that the hospital is giving it to him double dose and 4-5 times a day. He was so out of it over the weekend and all he could do was sleep that I agreed that he needed to leave.

He is still on the tired side but I am sure that it is due to the build up of medications in his system. He can function during the day which is a major change from this weekend. I will speak with Dr. Radant today and see where we go from here. He wants to try to go back and finish the program but they have to make changes before this can be done.

We are hanging in there. We will keep you posted after we talk to the Dr. today.

Update for week ending 5/3

Justin is doing okay. I am not very pleased because he seems to be just drugged up. He tells me that he is having more flashbacks and that they are lasting like 2 or more hours. He has NEVER been that bad. Maybe 15 - 20 minutes and only if I do not work on bringing him back to the present. He has been bitten by something in the hospital and it is bad. He is on a very heavy antibiotic for it but no one is saying what the results are of the biopsy.

This weekend he has been so sleepy the entire time. All he has done is dose off and right now is sleeping. He said that he has been suffering with major dry mouth and so I was able to get a list of the medications and found the one with that side effect. He hates this. He keeps complaining that he can't function. I went through the list and found that they are giving him an anti-seizure medication but the one thing it does is knock him out. They told me to take the Vicodin away from him and they are giving it to him on a regular basis. I know he is wanting to come home because I think he is over medicated. I am not listened to because I do not have a medical degree on the wall. They also give him all this medication that knocks him out but they wake him up and do not let him go back to sleep. They have gone from 4 medications when he checked in to more than 10.

I am very frustrated at this point. I do not think that this has helped much except to drug him heavily. He has asked numerous times to have me get on the phone when he has a flashback but they never do as he asks. They are not doing much in the way of neurology and seeing what more needs to be done for a diagnosis of the EEG. I have to shut my mouth because they will then start to say that I am part of the problem if I get too involved. In many ways, I am damned if I do and damned if I don't. He does not stand up for himself. Then again he is so drugged who would be able to. He can't remember and I am sure that is because of the drugs.

He is being told that they want to keep him, or have him go into a two month program. I do not think he will do either one. He has said many times this weekend that they are not doing anything to stop the flashbacks but let him have them and keep them going as long as possible. I am not sure what to think at this point. I am hoping that one day late this week that something will be said to me about his time. I know that his "case worker Sam" is rather peeved with me but I do not like being told twice to stay by the phone to be called and then end up wasting the day because he does not do what was said. He met me and I really did not give him much attention as I did not like his attitude.

This program that he is going through is something that all returning guys from combat should go through at the time that they come home not a year and a half later or longer. I guess I am just frustrated. No answers make me uneasy. I guess this week I need to get on the phone with some people and knock some heads together to get answers that are needed. We will see what happens. Sorry if I seem rather down but this is very hard to deal with.

Justin's Hospitalization

Justin was admitted to the hospital last Thursday for an in patient treatment of PTSD. We are very blessed that there is a Fisher House there and we are able to stay there over the weekends so that we have as much time together as possible.

There was not much done on Friday and nothing over the weekend. He was able to leave both on Saturday and Sunday. We were able to attend church in the ward that the hospital is in. That was interesting for me as I felt like I was in the Wilshire/Adams Wards in Los Angeles. There was so much diversity it was nice to see. Those that I know still in those LA wards need to know that you have competition......hehehe. On Sunday, Justin's ankle was really hurting and that concerned me. Once back at the hospital he started using a wheelchair and used it through part of yesterday.

Monday, they did an EEG. The results were abnormal. He has had unexplained Parkinson's like spasms or twitches in his right arm and leg as well as facial twitches. I have said many times since December that sometimes he appeared to have seizures but of course because I do not have a medical degree I am as stupid as a door nail. The results were sent to a Neurologist for more in depth reading and diagnosis. I am hoping that they will be trying to narrow down the type of Dystonia (you can see more about that at http://www.dystonia-foundation.org/). I would think that due to the symptoms that they would try to see if it is the type that responds to Dopamine. But once again because I do not have a medical degree I am treated as if I were an idiot.

They are supposed to be doing sleep apnea testing as they feel that he suffers from that but it is due to the PTSD. I really think that he has some seizures and that is caused by the PTSD which causes the sleep apnea. When they will do that we are not sure.

We have been told that he will be discharged on May 9th. I am starting to doubt that because of what they are doing. If that is the case I know Justin is going to be very unhappy.

He is not very happy as he was told that he had a flashback that lasted 45 minutes. He was not happy to hear that and asked me if they ever lasted that long. We have never had one last that long but I do not think the Dr tried to bring him out of it, I think that she kept it going as long as possible. I am not pleased about that as the Dr. is middle eastern and her attitude is not the best. Yesterday, I was talking with a friend that is a nurse and she was telling me about a report and statement that the Director of Homeland Security recently said that our returning sailors and soldiers are the biggest terrorist risk because of the fact that if in the hands of the wrong Dr they can be tortured and made worse. That really made me edgy and very worried about this Doctor being on Justin's case.

I am going to be keeping this blog updated with the updates. This would be the quickest and easiest way to get this information out to everyone. I hope that everyone understands.

I am spending the weekends with him and so I am not home usually from Thursday or Friday until Sunday evening. Email is probably the best way to get me a message as well as checking here for updates.

I will be updating this every few days. I do have a computer in the room at the Fisher House with internet access which is a huge help.