Haven't added anything for awhile. Things are about the same for us and Sean. He engages in a conversation now, sometimes he even starts the conversation. He doesn't talk very much or very loud still. His long term memory has had some improvements. In March of this year (2015) we did a road trip back to California. We made special trips to the ocean, Disneyland, Wrightwood, Phelan and of course IN and OUT Burger, several times and picked up new t-shirts. For Sean seeing Annie & Jeff Steinmann and their family made his day. He considers them his best friends from high school. He actually remembered a lot. He doesn't remember or doesn't accept that he was tested by the VA and probably will never drive again. His cognitive and coordination are improved but still very challenging. He wants a job and a Hummer so he can date. He looks for a red Hummer everyday. He still has tremors and lacks strength in his hands. Writing is very challenging for him. Most days are great he is very easy to be with but like all of us he has those off days. I always wanted a set of twins and some days I have them. Paulette and her daughter live with us, Delaney is 8. One day Delaney and Sean were exchanging words like children do, I came around the corner and told them to knock it off and asked what was going on. Sean said "she started it" I almost lost it, I had to leave the room to laugh. I still smile when I recall this memory. I am still encouraging him to audit a college class. He will have to pay for the class but I am thinking more socialization. He would have to pay for the class because even though he is eligible for the GI bill when they tested him due to the cognitive issue a degree wouldn't be obtainable. They won't let him use his GI benefit to pay for classes. The biggest things we do are be respectful, loving and caring. I understand his frustrations but some of them I can't change for him. If anyone is in the area give us a call I can't guarantee he will remember you but he just might and would enjoy seeing you. He has a Facebook account if you want to try him there also. Thank you for your support, prayers and caring. God Bless Andrea

#79 January 17th, 2013

It was 4 years ago on Tuesday that this health journey started for Sean. Some days it doesn't seem that is has been that long ago and other days longer. He achieved another milestone on Wednesday when he was training with Chris in the pool. He had a lifeguard bouyant waist band he was pushing down with his shoulders and Chris had him swimming across the therapy pool at the same time. He continued to swim and did about 2 laps when it was all said and done. It was both challenging for his arms and legs but he enjoyed it a lot. His hands still shake when dealing with anything with weight involved. He is working on pouring a glass of milk from a half gallon of milk. His hands and arm shakes but he has much better use and control with them now. Doing all these exercises does help, some days he wouldn't agree however. He has had a miserable cold that has gotten better but left that lingering cough. He rests a lot with this cold and since that is the best thing for him that's what we do, let him rest. He will be 41 on the 1st of February which doesn't seem possible. It is confusing to him about dates and years most of the time. He still looks for a H3 Hummer everyday, he has even looked at the finance sites. I asked him what did he think he would do with one since he couldn't drive it, he said sit in it in the back yard. Why would we tempt him with something that would hurt not only himself but others. Still grateful he is alive.

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.

Update #77 March 30th, 2012

Sean is doing well, he has been having a private trainer in the swimming pool. Not just any pool a therapeutic pool which is 89 degrees so it is like getting into a very nice warm bath. He enjoys Cory and the pool very much. I searched and found Villasport athletic sport and spa for him to join. It is what we needed to help him feel comfortable, the cold sometimes bothers him a lot so the warmer pool is nice.
Sean is on the computer daily it is amazing what he can do and remembers. Mainly he is in search of another red Hummer or a 1970 yellow Corvette for his Dad. Paul had one in college and ever since that commercial came out where the sons found their Dad's old Chevy, he has been on a mission. It is fun to see what he comes up with for sure. He contacted University of Phoenix about classes. We went down to the local office and spoke with an admissions counselor at which time we were told that Sean should probably pursue a managerial computer degree with the classes he already has completed. We decided we needed to talk to the VA since they would be paying for any of his future education on the GI bill. We felt that a managerial degree isn't realistic with his brain injury at least at this time BUT having said that we wanted another opinion to guide us. He has a brain injury team that he works with that are WONDERFUL doctors, specialists and a case worker that is AMAZING. An appointment was made for Sean to be evaluated for attending college classes. From our point of view, we don't want him to feel fustrated, and to have every opportunity he can to better his future. After attending the appointment we were told that for now, his cognative level isn't high enough for anything more than auditing a class,(attending without a grade.) I will be calling the colleges after spring break in the area to see what classes they might have available to audit. It would be good for him socially, he is open to trying this, we want him to feel satisfaction and successful in whatever he tries. He has gone to a day type center with other brain injured patients but didn't like it.
Thank you for continuing to follow his progress and keep him in your prayers as we face new horizons. Mom

Update #76 February 1, 2012

Today Sean turns 40, he can't quite believe it either. We went looking for birthday cards for Paulette and I kept showing him the "funny" cards for people turning 40, a lot of the time he laughed, other times he just looked at me as if to say "nice Mom".
I took this photo a couple of weeks ago when he had his hair cut. Glad we are able to have this day.
He will be evaluated on Friday the 3rd at the VA in Denver to see if he is ready to take some on line college classes. He wants to try and we just want to know the best direction for him to take to feel successful. VA has many programs for him where they will pay for his schooling we just need to find one that works for him.
Sean saw his doctor yesterday and they are comparing ultrasounds of his leg from 09' and last week to see if the blood clot they found is old or new. His leg still looks awful but it doesn't hurt like it did. It will take awhile for his body to absorb all of the bruising. Thank you for your continued prayers, support and caring for him it makes all the difference.

#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.

#73, June 8, 2011

One disadvantage of Sean's living in the house with us is that we sometimes don't notice that he's making progress until someone else brings it to our attention. Since January Sean has been spending more and more time on the computer. First he was only playing computer games. Then he remembered that he had e-mail accounts and began going on-line. He now is looking for Hummers - specifically red ones, like the H3 he used to have. We have received phone calls from Ohio and Washington state from dealers and sellers in reply to inquiries that Sean has put out. When we explain Sean's situation, almost all of the time people are very understanding. One private seller was not very gracious, but that's life.
He has been to Denver's Veterans' Hospital twice for routine visits, and goes to the local VA center for blood work. Tomorrow we'll talk to a counselor to find out whether he should have a higher disability rating from the military, since the clots happened so soon after he and the Air Force parted ways. Thanks to all of your prayers and good wishes about Sean. We really appreciate them, more than you can imagine.

Update #72, January 15,2011

It has been 2 years today that Sean and our world changed. It has been such a blessing to have a 2 year anniversary on the road to recovery. He still is improving everyday, little steps here and there that continue to amaze us. Thursday he was looking at the mailbox we had given him as a teenager to put his treasure in and lock up. We had to pop out the glass with the mailbox number on it in order to get the extra set of keys for the Hummer when we turned it in to end the lease. He stated matter of fact "Go for broke" (the combo lock is the old fashioned letters) I said what, he repeated go for broke. I said to him where were you 18 months ago when we needed to open it. we both laughed. Sure enough I got it open. :o)

We waited to send out our Christmas letters because Sean was evaluated by the VA Brain Injury Team on the 20Th of December and we wanted to include the results in the Christmas letter. A delay in receiving the report in a timely manner resulted in not being able to pass along the results. They still tell us he can continue to improve, they don't know how much or how long he will improve. He has already surpassed several doctor's expectation, which is encouraging. They see his challenges as: memory, fatigue, occasional irritablity, easily distracted, residuals of cognitive impairment, some depression and occasional falls. We are still doing physical therapy to strengthen his arms and hands. He is unable to write very much and is dominately left handed. The occupational therapist is going to be coming to the house to see Sean in his own environment to help him improve more of his skills. He is ready to socialize with others and attend day group activities with others having brain injures. He currently is not ready for vocational rehabilitation.

It is interesting that he gets on the computer and searches the net. It is time to put his computer up, let him work with it again and see what he is able to do. He has come so far. He is able to walk without assistance, he takes care of himself, showers etc. and is a blessing. As I said before we still see small improvements everyday. The speech pathologist told us that the first thing that goes with a brain injury patient is initiative. Well the other day he surprised us, went out to the garage where we store the beer and sodas and got himself a beer. He is still a miracle and beating the odds.

Update #71 October 10th, 2010

Sean saw the VA neurology rehabilitation doctors today to evaluate his progress and to decide on the next direction to pursue. I was scared and anxious. To us he is still progressing slow but sure, but it was now time to see what the experts thought. They doubled one of his medications to stimulate the brain more for a couple of weeks. They want to see if we will see even more improvement in his cognitive levels. He had started the medication last December and it seemed to have helped, so we are hopeful. Sean will start speech therapy and physical therapy again. He still needs to strengthen his arms, hands, balance and projection of his voice. Sean is focused on getting another Hummer -- no surprise there. He has really progressed on the computer so much so that he is able to look up various sites for Hummers. The doctor told him he isn't ready yet but that if he continues to progress and gets stronger there is a driving center that the VA system has that would be available for him to use when he is ready. I have to be honest; I wasn't sure he would ever be able to drive again but didn't want to discourage him. He is a miracle, still making slow but sure progress. It will be 2 years in January; we are thrilled with his progress and hopeful for his future. I asked if they would be doing another MRI and was told no, they wouldn't do one unless he stopped progressing or regressed.

Update #70, August 12th, 2010

Sean is still progressing with some really new things of late. He has been taken off several medications and is responding more and more. He is expressing himself more which is refreshing. The other night CSI Miami started, even though it is a rerun Sean enjoys it, Paulette changed the channel. Sean got up said "well I might as well go to bed". Needless to say I set up the TV so he could watch CSI in his bedroom. We went looking at cars and he really enjoyed that on Tuesday. Again fitting into a car that fits 7' and a 42" inseam is fun on the passenger side. He wants to look at a Hummer so that will be another day. He has several appointments set up with the VA doctors and we look forward to making more progress. Until next time God Bless and thank you for continuing to pray and thinking of him.

Update #69 July 6, 2010

We had a quiet 4th of July, Paulette was working and I mentioned to Sean we should tape the beautiful fireworks we were watching on television with the Boston Pops so she could see it later. He replied "Paulette can walk outside and see it for herself right now." I almost fell off the couch. He is talking much clearer and I ask him questions that require an answer other than just "yes or no". He is using his hands more and is not quite as frustrated. We went up to Denver and took Editable Bouquets of fruit as thank you gifts to various people and units at one of the 3 hospitals. Sean didn't remember the people but they remembered him. I wanted him to give them the thank yous so they could see him and how much he had progressed in the last 18 months. They were impressed as almost all of them had only seen him prone and pretty out of it.
We will deliver more next week when some vacations are done. Still hanging in there and glad for each and every day. Thank you for your continued thoughts and prayers.

Update #68, Memorial Day 2010

Today is a wonderful day to remember that Sean served in the Air Force for 10 years with a great amount of pride. He would still be serving as he loved being a legacy. Today he is quiet as his allergies are really bothering him. His appointment at the Veterans clinic had mixed answers and I had mixed emotions regarding those answers. The doctor felt that Sean is unemployable, I would agree for today but not necessarily for the future. He requested some additional paperwork for him. He also wants Sean's disability reevaluated to see if the injured valve in his leg; which he had while in the Air Force, could have been a contributor to his throwing blood clots and the ultimate heart surgery. He still is progressing slow but steady and continues to surprise us with his memory and what he is able to do on a daily basis. Don't count him out he is our miracle still in progress. Thank you again for your thoughts, prayers and warmth, you are a blessing to his recovery.

Update 67, May 9th, 2010

Mother's Day, it's been a year that Sean has been home. He has come such a long way and is still in the process. It doesn't seem possible that it has been a year since he left the hospitals. He can still surprise me; last week he came down stairs and told Paulette "Your daughter Delaney is outside". Paulette asked him if Papa was with her and he replied "No". You can see and hear him processing more and more. What a blessing and challenge this year has been. He relates to Delaney very well and interacts with her more and more. He has fallen a couple of times in the last couple of days. Delaney is right there asking "Are you alright?" Taking care to pat him and tries to help him up. The path is still unclear for his future capabilities and having his own life again. I needed to get some items out of the barn where he has storage and it hit me hard again. He is in God's hands and prayers are the answer. We will continue to put in the work we need to do to continue forward. Thank you for your support and prayers it helps a lot.

#66 Update, April 9th, 2010

Sean is still progressing slowing but in the right direction. YEAH! He will be going to the VA doctor next week which is exciting as his COBRA insurance runs out the end of May so we have been looking into additional medical insurance for him. This is especially important for the long term future. He is more aware everyday of what is going on around him and what he is doing and needs to do. He has become quite good at finding the objects in the various games normally there are anywhere from 75 to 80 items in the pictures and he needs to find 10 at a time. He can put together puzzles now without much effort, find the words puzzles and mixed objects(like the game Concentration) both by association(key & lock), color, exact matches or associated matches(2 kinds of fans). The strength in his hands is still progressing which is very encouraging. He enjoyed watching Delaney and the dyeing of Easter eggs etc. She can say his name very clear now, will ask him questions, take his hand and walk him outside. :o) He always has been good with her. Thanks for your continued support and prayers it makes all the difference. God Bless you and yours always.

#65, March 19, 2010

Sean's progress has slowed, but he still keeps moving forward. Paulette found a game for him that involves finding hidden pictures and solving puzzles, which he really enjoys. As spring arrives, we hope that we can get him outside and walking more. St. Patrick's Day was the first time in a while that the weather was warm enough to get out and around the block.
The rest of us have finally (we hope!) shaken off the colds that we'd been passing around. Hope that you all are doing well, and thanks for giving us the push to include whatever news we have.
Paul, Andrea, Sean, Paulette & Delaney

#64 Update, February 13, 2010

Sean gave us the GREATEST Valentine's present last night. When we sit down to dinner we hold hands, say grace and then everybody has the opportunity to say thank you for something. Sometimes it's a haircut or feeling better whatever, we go from the youngest to the oldest around the table. A lot of times Sean passes on saying anything and that's fine, but tonight he said " Thank you for Paulette, for Mommy and for Daddy for being here for me." It took my breathe away and I cried. Life is good and we are still making progress. Thank you for continuing to pray for us, it makes all the difference. Happy Valentine's Day everyone we love you.

#63 Update February 10th, 2010

Sean has had a great break through. He has been on the computer playing a memory game called Amazing Adventure. Paulette found it for us, it requires you to find various objects in a picture that are listed at the bottom of the page. He is becoming quite good at it. He also remembers if he has seen a television program we had taped for him. Before he could watch it over and over, now after he has seen it he remembers and then decides if he wants to watch it again. Here's hoping everyone has a wonderful Valentine's Day. Thanks for your continued support and prayers they are still working. All our warmth and prayers.

#62 Update February 2, 2010

Sean's birthday was quiet as he was running a fever due to his cold. Paulette ordered him a cheesecake from one of the local Delis which he loved. It was almost 3 inches thick, he had 2 pieces before dinner. We didn't go out since he was running a fever. We will go out for steak (which is what he wanted) sometime this week when he is not running a fever. We are looking into various gym type facilities to continue his strength training. He likes working out, short distance walking for now maybe he can run again someday, we'll think positive. Yeah, he is 38. Thanks for your birthday wishes as well as your prayers.

#61 Update January 25th 2010

Sean is able to shower & wash his hair by himself now. Steady progress and improvement. He dresses himself , needs some help tying his shoes and can feed himself a lot better than before. He hasn't been himself this last week, he is more tired than usual and has been a little dizzy. No fever or cold just not himself, no complaints just wants to sleep, so we let him sleep and are keeping a close eye on him. The hematologist got his tests back and they were all normal, so we still have no idea what caused the blood to thicken and clot like it did.
Thanks for keeping him in your thoughts and prayers he still needs them.