Hope it's ok to post a thread---update

[2HighSpeed]

Didn't wanna clog up the traffic.... So those who don't care dont have to scroll or read through.
Dd214 is now a DD215- full medical retirement. Awaiting the Crsc BS now. Backdated retirement to date of original discharge. The CO who pushed him out has been "reprimanded", but a friend of mine said the co actually got a pink slip. Oopppssss..... Sorry, not sorry. That man messed with the wrong soldier, he has a wife whose give a damn Is a little rusty.

This is just a whole new world to me. I'd give anything to have that happy sweet man back. The man who spent hours smelting lead for you all. I miss him. But, the lord gives me glimmers of that man once in a while. I'd take that over the alternative any day!
He has talked about getting back into smelting. But I don't think his back cam handle it. 35 years old and he walks like he's 75 most days.
The TBI is staying stable, for now. He's being bounced around on meds to get him off the seroquel, his dose was really high and caused some cholesterol issues. We're managing, one day at a time.

Just bought a house, on the outskirts of Clarksville in the country (we don't even get high speed internet out here). It's so warm and beautiful and peaceful out here.

Kids are doung great. 3 are teens now. All are doing amazing in school.

Well, that's about all the news I have. I miss you crazy ole farts.... Ya'll where there through it all and gave me that backbone I needed to stand tall & fight. Thank you for that!

[runfiverun]

it's good to hear from you Andrea..
keep us informed, hope everything gets settled down.

[jmort]

Thank you for the update. Justice delayed is justice denied, but way better than nothing.
God Bless and God Speed

[Bad Water Bill]

Thank You for making this DIRTY OLD MANs day with that good news.

Now tell me iffin youall still go fishing

By the way Girty said she sure missed you and yours.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

well, that's good news,
thanks for the update.

[smoked turkey]

Whew that update brought back some memories alright as well as a lump in my throat. Thank you for being a fighter for justice and the one you love. I hope and pray that the Lord grants better days that will include some casting and pouring and all those things he used to enjoy.

[MrWolf]

Great to hear things are getting better. I just stopped my low dose of seroquel ( used for side effect - once at night to help sleep) as the dreams really bothered me. Was on it for about 10 years. I feel his pain with the back, literally. I am basically done being able to work myself and first hurt mine at 34. Tell your husband to hang in there, he will find a way to balance the pain and still have a life.

[2HighSpeed]

Yes we do go fishin. As much as we can. I made him trade in his motorcycle (that sat for 2 years since we left Texas) for a boat. It's a small bass boat but it fits the 6 of us and his service dog so it works. One day we will get a pontoon because these boys aren't getting any smaller and they crowd me in it.
Tell girty I've missed her too.
We still have a fight to be had. I'll post those details below.

[2HighSpeed]

So our next fight.... To understand, you need to know what the va rated him. Keep in mind, these are mostly based off the bullet wound to his face in Iraq in 2009 (he functioned mostly normal until August 2013). And partly due to the mva In Texas (so many of you got me through that, I can't thank you enough).
Mva caused a secondary TBI.
Va rated him 100% + SMC housebound.
Social security backdated him to October 2013---- 6 months before he got off active duty.
Dod rating is 50% on PTSD only because it had to go before Arba.
During the discharge in December 2013, he attempted suicide.... With a catheter in his artery. He required oh I can't remember, maybe 5 units of blood or something like that because they couldn't get the artery to stop bleeding.
So, the va Brady acted him. I can own. But he isn't allowed to. I appealed it. And they said they Brady acted him because of the PTSD. Now, he served 09-14 with his PTSD, they deemed him safe to carry then. How can they deem him unsafe now? And how do I fight it effectively? I've been fighting the, since August 2014 over this!

[2HighSpeed]

They have him on prazosin for the nightmares. The nightmares didn't start until the army forced him into "cognitive therapy" 2 1/2 years ago. Now he dreams of his best friend he lost in the incident that my husband got his Purple Heart from. He says he should have been able to save him. I'll spare you the details. But I'll say that there's no way he would have been able to save him. Not even divine intervention would have spared his best friend. They had to have a closed casket. Cory has survivors guilt over that. And it never came to the surface until a few years ago at ft Bragg. But once it came to the surface, his world turned upside down. The prazosin doesn't help at all. I wake up and redirect him when he's tossing and turning, even that doesn't help much. The va says "there's not much we can do, he's gotta sleep". I hate that army therapist who brought it all back. It was the start of a series of events that ended his career in the harsh way it ended.
I really feel for the state of our military. The things I've seen the past two years just blows my mind.



Great to hear things are getting better. I just stopped my low dose of seroquel ( used for side effect - once at night to help sleep) as the dreams really bothered me. Was on it for about 10 years. I feel his pain with the back, literally. I am basically done being able to work myself and first hurt mine at 34. Tell your husband to hang in there, he will find a way to balance the pain and still have a life.

[Wayne Smith]

Not only OK to post the update - Thank You for doing so. We appreciate all that you do for your family and are glad to hear good news, too. Give those kids a hug from all of us.

[Artful]

Yes, Thank you for the update - tell him we are still pulling for him, and to catch a fish for us.

[2HighSpeed]

Ill need a step stool for that :p
Im 5'7 and 3 of them are taller than me. The two 13 year olds are 5 8 1/2 & 5 9 1/4. The oldest is 16 now and 5 11.
The baby, who just turn 9 last week is the only one shorter then me now. He's just barely 4' 11.
These kids are growli like weeds!



Not only OK to post the update - Thank You for doing so. We appreciate all that you do for your family and are glad to hear good news, too. Give those kids a hug from all of us.

[No_1]

Glad to hear of his update. It's not much but I have extended (no cost) your Vendor Sponsorship until 2025. Hopefully he will use it as therapy to get better.

Take care,

Robert

[William Yanda]

well, that's good news,
thanks for the update.
Plus ONE-caps for emphasis

[aspangler]

Thank you for the update. Your whole family has been on the prayer list at church for some time. You will remain on it.

No. 1.... You are very kind. Thank you from all the "Vets" on here.

"How far?... All the way!" 82nd AB.

[w5pv]

Good news is always welcome

[TXGunNut]

Very good to hear from you again. Wish things were going better but we all know you're a scrapper and won't give up.

[MrWolf]

Nice move No 1.

[2HighSpeed]

Cory said two things..... HOOAH and AIRBORNE




Thank you for the update. Your whole family has been on the prayer list at church for some time. You will remain on it.

No. 1.... You are very kind. Thank you from all the "Vets" on here.

"How far?... All the way!" 82nd AB.

[2HighSpeed]

I won't give up, I won't back down. Words I live by. And I put my foot up a *** at the va yesterday. Things are now getting better. They took him off the Ziprasodone, and put him back on seroquel at a much lower 200mg dose) and Ropinorole (requip---- it's for RLS). He started the seroquel back last night, and today, he was able to handle the Trauma ICU where his baby sister is without freaking out. So that's a positive in my book. Yesterday, he had a meltdown in the ICU when the nurse took off her bandage, today he helped the nurse take it off.
Im so glad his doctor listened to me, because his sister is gonna need her big brother to be on his A game for the next few months.
I know it'll be a week or more before his medication change is working fully, but, I'll take a little over nothing any day. Just seeing the difference between yesterday and today makes me positive the previous med wasn't right for him.


Very good to hear from you again. Wish things were going better but we all know you're a scrapper and won't give up.

[2HighSpeed]

You are very kind. Thank you.
I too, hope he gets back to smelting. He loved it, and it was very good for him. I also think it would be great therapy for him as well.
Hes been dabbling in woodworking, he's really good at it too. But, he doesn't have a lathe and there's things he wants to make that he can't make without one so he doesn't get too in depth with it much. He did make me a entry way table and carved some of it by hand. But that took him weeks.



Glad to hear of his update. It's not much but I have extended (no cost) your Vendor Sponsorship until 2025. Hopefully he will use it as therapy to get better.

Take care,

Robert

[Wayne Smith]

Talking weeks is normal for good woodworking, especially carving. It is the rare and unusual artist who can do something like that in a couple of days. For most of us that would be slapping something together. It may be possible that you could get woodworking listed as an occupational therapy. If you can they likely would spring for at least a small lathe and perhaps a full size one.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I wish you were close by, I have a very old antique Lathe I would love to borrow out...while it's almost prehistoric, it is functional. Sadly I have only used it for one project (for four legs of a coffee table) since moving into this house in 1993. It's been in the attic for 20 years.

[Wis. Tom]

Thank you for the update and my prayers are with your family.

[sparky45]

I've got an old Craftsman wood lathe that I'd give up if you were closer. Again, thanks for the update, and you're right the requip will settle in over time.

[2HighSpeed]

That is so kind. We are quite a distance from you though. And antique at that. We love antiques. There's a antique store just about 3 miles down the road we want to stop at one day, but just haven't had the time. Between VA appointments and taking care of my sister in law, there's just not enough hours in a day. Cory hasn't done any woodworking this month, he's been preoccupied with taking care of the ugly garden the previous owners had here. Pine straw everywhere. Gah I hate that stuff!
I can't wait for cooler weather, then I can landscape without feeling like I'm in the dessert.



I wish you were close by, I have a very old antique Lathe I would love to borrow out...while it's almost prehistoric, it is functional. Sadly I have only used it for one project (for four legs of a coffee table) since moving into this house in 1993. It's been in the attic for 20 years.

[2HighSpeed]

The requip has helped immensely!! I swear that's a wonder drug.

On another note.... Do any of you know anything about Tdrl/Pdrl? I spoke with HRC Friday re: his Crsc and TSGLI paperwork and she told me that he will be eval for Pdrl in October. Is this like a va C&P? What should I expect? So lost on this, he was not retired via the typical army measures. I had to fight for him to get that retirement through Arba.

Also, we hired a lawyer Friday to overturn this Brady act thing. And In it, found some lies and half truths from the VA used by them to Brady act him.




I've got an old Craftsman wood lathe that I'd give up if you were closer. Again, thanks for the update, and you're right the requip will settle in over time.

[Wayne Smith]

Can't answer that question, but if you have pine straw and sunlight, plant blueberries. I bed mine in pine straw, they love the acid. We now have six quarts frozen and are still picking from what were originally four plants - 15 years ago!

[2HighSpeed]

Oh wow. Nice!
I want to do some onions because we eat so many, potatoes, asparagus, green beans, carrots, pumpkins and I wanna "try" to plant a pineapple. I saw on Pinterest you cut the head off, let it dry for 2 days then plant. And the next year or so it splits into 2 and gives you two nice pineapple.



Can't answer that question, but if you have pine straw and sunlight, plant blueberries. I bed mine in pine straw, they love the acid. We now have six quarts frozen and are still picking from what were originally four plants - 15 years ago!

[MaryB]

I take carbadopa/levdopa(carb/levo for short) for the RLS and it has very few side effects I have noticed... it is a generic and cheap...



I won't give up, I won't back down. Words I live by. And I put my foot up a *** at the va yesterday. Things are now getting better. They took him off the Ziprasodone, and put him back on seroquel at a much lower 200mg dose) and Ropinorole (requip---- it's for RLS). He started the seroquel back last night, and today, he was able to handle the Trauma ICU where his baby sister is without freaking out. So that's a positive in my book. Yesterday, he had a meltdown in the ICU when the nurse took off her bandage, today he helped the nurse take it off.
Im so glad his doctor listened to me, because his sister is gonna need her big brother to be on his A game for the next few months.
I know it'll be a week or more before his medication change is working fully, but, I'll take a little over nothing any day. Just seeing the difference between yesterday and today makes me positive the previous med wasn't right for him.