#75 Update January 23rd, 2012

Spent 6 1/2 hours in the ER today. Sean was complaining that his upper left leg was hurting when he stood up or sat down and going up and down stairs. He had some bruising on the inside of his leg and behind his left knee yesterday. Bruising is easier to come by when you are injured and take warfarin(coumadin-blood thinner)which he has to prevent more blood clots. Today the purple bruising was covering the entire inside of his leg and behind his knee. I called to get an appointment with his regular doctor and they told me to take him to the ER. After all is said and done the doctor thinks he tore a muscle that is bleeding out. They noted a blood clot which could be new or an older one behind his knee going up his upper leg. Since the original ultrasound verifying blood clots still remained in the left leg was done in the doctor's office they couldn't compare that to today's ultrasound so they don't know if he has a new blood clot or not. Probably the biggest thing was the confirmation in writing that he has DVT (deep vein thrombosis)in that leg NOT varicose veins like he was told before he got out of the Air Force. His breathing is more shallow than they like so we need to watch his leg and make sure he does his oxygen at night. Scary but productive and we are home.

Update #74 January 7th, 2012

The photograph on the top was taken for our Christmas letter. The one on the bottom was taken this summer at a graduation party. He is still our gentle giant. He still has that deep burly voice but he speaks slowly and softly. He doesn't realize how softly he is talking until you tell him to speak up.

It has been almost 3 years since this journey began. Probably the hardest part has been accepting the fact that this is a marathon not a sprint. When they told us they didn't know how much of our original Sean we would get back but that he would be different. He continues to develop almost daily. Sean and I joined Villa Sport Center today to get him swimming and actively exercising again. He has come such a long way. He tested for driving through the VA driver training center. He needs more strength in his hands and feet. He is able to feed himself but not able to write or draw very much. I am looking forward to his being able to write his name and draw again. The cognitive ability to drive is not ready either, time will tell if that will develop more in order for his dream of driving a Hummer again. At this point he looks everyday on line for Red Hummers. It is amazing what he can do on the computer and what he remembers. He enjoys talking to old friends and misses socialization.