Neil's Pumpkin

Neil's idea, Mom's execution.  He wanted it to have a craniectomy.  

I think a hungry squirrel got to his eyebrow.  Either that, or it's a scar from his auto accident!

Through a Glass, Darkly

Neil's Summer Beard

Since March of 2009 (two months after the accident) Neil has been wearing some kind of prism lens attached to his glasses.  Because his vision was changing relatively rapidly, the lenses were made of stick-on vinyl with fresnel prism lines running through them.  The eye doctor could easily change them out for a new prescription when needed.  We knew his glasses were an old correction as he had been wearing contacts most recently, but that was the least of our worries.  Correcting the damage to optic nerves and muscles was the more pressing issue.  You can enlarge the picture above by clicking on it and see the prisms.

For the last several months his vision hasn't changed.  As you can imagine, little sticky vinyl pieces can become worn and scratched in a short period of time.  Combine that with the tiny prism lines across his field of vision and you can understand how hard it might be to see much of anything.

A Visit to Dr. Vicci

A couple of weeks ago, at our trip to the eye doctor, the decision was made to get Neil some glasses with the prism ground into the lenses and a correct prescription.  Great news for Neil's current visual problems, but it does mean we accept that his progress has come to a bit of a stand-still.  He'll continue with his exercises, and some time down the road he may have some surgery.  I'm still hoping for improvement without the surgery.  In the mean time...

...he looks good and he can finally see!  It's like a whole new world for him.

When Does He Sleep?

Here's what Eric has been doing almost every day since August 30: 

Summer Band Camp - Photo by Dave Moore
Eric is in the red t-shirt and hat just left of the middle

Band camp lasted for ten hours each day for a week.  After school started they cut back to three hours a day.  

Leaving for a performance - photo by Mom

John Basilone Parade - Photo by Dave Moore

Football Game - Photo by Dave Moore
Eric is playing the baritone to the right of the color guard

BRHS Marching Band - Photo by Dave Moore
Eric is top right, just below the Sousaphone 

Among their many competitions this year, the band will be capping their season with a national championship contest in Indianapolis in November!   Eric loves the band experience, but with Seminary at 6:00 every morning, school by 7:00, practices, football games, competitions, trombone lessons, Scouts, and lots of homework, we don't see him very much.  I'm so proud of him, but I can't wait until November 15th when it's all over...unless the football team makes the play-offs.  Oh boy!

CIT*

*Constraint-Induced Therapy

Neil signed a contract.  For five hours a day, five days a week, for ten weeks, he has agreed to cripple himself.  In the end, we've been promised a nice pay-off:  improved use of his left hand.

From the beginning Neil has had multiple issues that make his life difficult.  We've tried to address them all with a "little bit of everything" approach--Physical therapy for walking, balance, and strength;  Occupational therapy for his hand and arm, vision, and cognition;  Speech therapy for speech, social skills, memory, and more cognition; School for academics; volunteering opportunities and social groups for well-roundedness; and of course, church, prayer, and scripture study for spiritual growth and comfort.  As physical therapy was no longer needed, we added more cognitive therapy.  Although improvement and progress has been phenomenal since the accident, Neil has plateaued in many areas.

We're not ready for that yet.  We won't accept that this is all we're getting.  So now we're going for some more direct, intense therapy in just one or two areas at a time.  Although we're still including some of most of the aforementioned therapies and helps, we are going to focus right now on getting his left hand back.

His new constraint therapy requires a lot of time and commitment, and it's exhausting.  For those five hours each day, his right hand becomes immobile so that he has to rely on his left only.  Along with that, he has specific exercises that he has to complete--100 thumb stretches, 100 arm raises, 100 finger touches (X5--thumb to each finger), to name a few.  They may sound easy, but watch him touch each finger with his thumb, and you'll be tired yourself.  He must open each doorknob left-handed, eat with a fork (nearly impossible!), brush his teeth, and take off his t-shirt.  Wow!  Neil is my hero once again as I watch his determination and stamina.

Here's a link to a video of Neil's first day of therapy.  We're looking forward to some contrasting video at the end of the ten weeks to see how much he's improved.

Coming soon, we will be making decisions about his vision, and then trying some neurofeedback and psychotherapy.  So much to do, so much to do!

When Food Talks

You Scream, I Scream, We All Scream For Ice Cream!

Community Garden

Open Door Policy:  If the door isn't open, just make a new door.

Who needs the actual carrots when the greens are so tasty?

Yes, we have picked many for our own consumption, but in case you've forgotten, this is what the carrot greens used to look like:

You don't even need to wait until the tomatoes are ripe to eat them!

And if you enjoy it here that much, just move right in.  There's a lovely burrow under the zucchini hill.

Where Have the Stones Been?

Here are some picture clues.  You might think a Terracotta Warrior would mean we were in China...but, no.

Well, here's my dad in the library.  And all dressed up, too.  I guess that's not much of a clue.

Here's me and my two moms.  Aren't I lucky?  But again, not much of a clue--we could be anywhere.

You may not know where we are, but I'll tell you what we're doing:  this is a game of Team Trivia.  You'd think, since our team was captained by the three-time Jeopardy! champion herself that we'd kick...well, you know what.  But we didn't... except one time.

Okay, this ought to make it easy for those who've been here before.  The monkey in the middle (as opposed to the two on the outsides) is made of towels.

Shuffleboard, anyone?  Hey, what's that you see in the background?

Here's a biggie:  The big white patch in the back is a glacier.

You've surely got it by now, but I'm not quite through showing off my pictures, so here's just a few more.

Sunset in the Last Frontier.

Approaching Juneau.

Exploring the ship.

Schmoozing with the cruise director.

Dancing with my honey.

Enjoying my family!

And if you're not tired of seeing my family enjoy a vacation of a lifetime, stroll on over to Alison's blog to see some more pictures :-) (Plus, see a really cool video of a glacier calving and hear me cry out excitedly to Eric!)