Update # 78, November 12, 2012

Happy Veterans Day! Thank you for your service Veterans. Sean comes from a long line my Grandfather Albert Raihl, my Dad Harry Raihl, Sean's Dad Paul Knott and himself all served our country and we have a great deal of pride in this legacy. Sean has been making some nice progress. He still is going to the gym and training one day a week in the pool with a personal trainer. He now trains with Chris because Cory moved back east. Chris pushes him differently which has helped with increasing the strength in his hands. He still trembles some but he at least attempts to carry items now and tries to pour liquids from a quart size container which is encouraging. We finally figured out how to get past the password section on his XBox. He has been enjoying playing some of the extensive games he had purchased before this all began. He really enjoys Halo, I am amazed how well he can munipulate the controller. The VA Brain injury team encouraged us to reapply for Sean's disability rating. He now is considered 100% disabled because they misdiagnosed him with varicose veins instead of deep vein thrombosis. He still has 3 blood clots in his left leg and has the bad valve in the right but the filter they put in the day of his surgery should prevent them from moving up into his heart. If the disablility benefits remain about the same in the future as they are now, he will have help and be able to live in a VA facility when Paul and I have passed on. This gives us comfort that Paulette won't have so much to worry about with his care in the future. Sean should be auditing a class in the spring semester. Since he is auditing the class he is not eligible for using his GI bill and must pay for the classes himself. Most of the time he remains easy to please. He loves having his own space in the basement where he can shut the door and not have extra noise.