I was blessed with the opportunity to return to NYC for the second part of the Wounded Warrior Project's Caregivers Writing Workshop along with the Writer's Guild of America, East. The friendships I have made with some of the other caregivers are priceless. It is so nice to have others who understand your situation and can offer advice and tips on how they handled a similar situation. I will forever support Wounded Warrior Project. It is amazing what they have done to help us and other wounded warriors and their families.
Kiddo Update: I got my results on my tests, and I was informed that my progesterone levels were off the chart. In other words, things look good on my end. We are working on this month, and we will try next month, and then it will be time to turn to more intense testing and possibly IUI if it still has not taken.
We met with a new doctor, and we are SO pleased with him! He is wanting to admit Tim to the hospital for a couple of weeks to do intense occupational therapy as well as some other therapy. Although we don't want him to have to spend two weeks in the hospital, we are looking forward to this opportunity. There is a chance that what he learns can help decrease his daily pain level.
Yesterday was a big day for us. A nurse from the VA came out to do a home visit to evaluate our eligibility for officially classifying me as his caregiver. This has been a process, and the home visit was the part we were most concerned about. It turned out to be great! I cleaned for three and half days, so afraid that something would keep us from getting the grant. I had read a blog entry of a caregiver who scrubbed everything with a toothbrush and went a little OCD on her cleaning, but they didn't even look far beyond her living room. Yet I was still too nervous to not go all out on the cleaning. So I scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed. I had beef stew cooking in the crockpot so it would smell good in the house (a different good than my over-abundance of glade plug-ins that I keep around here). I washed the glasses on my wine rack just in case they had any dust on them. I scrubbed everything! I was definitely over-prepared. The lady was very nice, and the whole process went very smoothly. We hope to have an answer shortly after Thanksgiving. One source I read stated that I will be paid back pay to the date of application, and another said to the date that I finished my training, if I get the "job." Since I have technically been working this full-time "job" for over a year now without pay, it will be nice to actually get paid for it. I'm praying right now that it goes through.
Other things I am working on right now are a little exciting. I learned of "Guitars for Vets" when I was in New York this time. Tim has been wanting to learn to play the guitar. This program offers free guitar classes to disabled vets and gives them a guitar. When I mentioned it to him he was very excited. So I am looking into getting him involved in that program. I believe it will be a great outlet for him. Another thing that we are excited about is getting him a hand crank or terra trike. These are modified bicycles for the disabled. He misses regular physical activity, and he has expressed interest on several occasions of biking. He cannot sit in the upright position necessary for bike riding for a long period of time, though. The hand crank or terra trike will allow him to participate in running and biking races with me. We are currently considering doing a half marathon together in March... I will run along next to him on the hand crank or terra trike.
Showing posts with label NYC. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NYC. Show all posts
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Monday, June 27, 2011
NYC BABY!!!!
So... I am finally getting around to my NYC story. It was one of the most incredible experiences I have ever had. I came back with a deeper understanding of my husband and what he goes through. I also learned of many different benefits he is entitled to but has been overlooked. I have been working hard since my return trying to dig for those benefits. Some of the struggles he encounters could be made much easier with the help available, but he has never been informed of the opportunities. As his wife I believe it is my job to make these happen.
The weekend in NYC was therapy/education filled. Talking to the other wives of wounded warriors helped me better understand that what I experience with my husband is commom with a wounded warrior. PTSD is all too real, and I gained a better grasp on it while there. Many things that I thought were just a part of his personality I have learned are PTSD related. I am very blessed that my husband is so devout in his Christian faith, which tremendously helps alleviate some of his symptoms. Learning how to handle them on my end, though, is making a world of difference.
His spinal cord injuries and nerve damage are not only physical inhibitors, but they are also mental inhibitors. And there are many explanations that I received for symptoms that we have been unable to understand. We have decided to schedule some more testing that will hopefully give us some answers.
In addition to learning more about my husband, his injuries and his benefits, though, the purpose of this weekend was to attend a writing workshop at the Writer's Guild of America, East. They broke us into small groups of five, and each group was assigned two mentors. We were the lucky group who received three mentors, and we were so blessed with the ones we got.
Eric Bogosian, otherwise known as Captain Danny Ross on LAW AND ORDER: CRIMINAL INTENT, was incredible in his wisdom, insight and understanding. The man has lived life, and he was not afraid to share that with us. He listened to our stories, and he encouraged us as writers to pursue them. In addition to his role on LAW AND ORDER, Eric also starred in UNDER SEIGE II as well as numerous Broadway shows, and he is a successful novelist.
Marsha Norman is an instructor at Juliard, an incredibly successful novelist, and an even more successful playwrite. She spoke to us on an emotional level, and she fully immersed herself into our stories. She guided us in a way I cannot explain, and her guidance helped tremendously.
John Markus formerly wrote for THE COSBY SHOW. His list of successful writing jobs are far too many for me to remember, but that is the one that stuck out the most in my head. He also wrote jokes for Bob Hope, Conan O'Brien, and other late night comedians. He was a kind, honest man who helped us look at our writing from different angles.
The caregivers in my group touched my heart in ways they will never know. I was blessed with an incredible group of ladies, and I feel that I can call on them at any moment. We encouraged each other, and I believe that we all truly believed in each other's abilities. We will motivate and encourage one another until we return to NYC in November with (hopefully) our finished, our close-to-finished, work.
All in all, I experienced a weekend far greater than anything I could have imagined. The donations people gave blew my mind, and the care and hard work that Anna and Michelle put into making sure every single detail was perfect was unbelievable! Disney donated tickets to Broadway shows; Wounded Warrior Project flew us up there, gave us hotel rooms, and fed us 3 dinners, a lunch and a breakfast; the Writer's Guild provided us with a location for the workshop, breakfast and lunch two days, copies of screenplay scripts, snacks throughout, and far more that I am forgetting; every mentor donated their entire father's day weekend to us, one even missing the Tony Awards for this event, where he won two Tony's; and a software company donated a copy of "Final Draft" for each of us, software worth approximately $200. I am still in awe, and I have now been home for almost a week. All of their hard work just for us motivates me to work hard to create a worthwhile piece from this. So... I'm off to writing....
The weekend in NYC was therapy/education filled. Talking to the other wives of wounded warriors helped me better understand that what I experience with my husband is commom with a wounded warrior. PTSD is all too real, and I gained a better grasp on it while there. Many things that I thought were just a part of his personality I have learned are PTSD related. I am very blessed that my husband is so devout in his Christian faith, which tremendously helps alleviate some of his symptoms. Learning how to handle them on my end, though, is making a world of difference.
His spinal cord injuries and nerve damage are not only physical inhibitors, but they are also mental inhibitors. And there are many explanations that I received for symptoms that we have been unable to understand. We have decided to schedule some more testing that will hopefully give us some answers.
In addition to learning more about my husband, his injuries and his benefits, though, the purpose of this weekend was to attend a writing workshop at the Writer's Guild of America, East. They broke us into small groups of five, and each group was assigned two mentors. We were the lucky group who received three mentors, and we were so blessed with the ones we got.
Eric Bogosian, otherwise known as Captain Danny Ross on LAW AND ORDER: CRIMINAL INTENT, was incredible in his wisdom, insight and understanding. The man has lived life, and he was not afraid to share that with us. He listened to our stories, and he encouraged us as writers to pursue them. In addition to his role on LAW AND ORDER, Eric also starred in UNDER SEIGE II as well as numerous Broadway shows, and he is a successful novelist.
Marsha Norman is an instructor at Juliard, an incredibly successful novelist, and an even more successful playwrite. She spoke to us on an emotional level, and she fully immersed herself into our stories. She guided us in a way I cannot explain, and her guidance helped tremendously.
John Markus formerly wrote for THE COSBY SHOW. His list of successful writing jobs are far too many for me to remember, but that is the one that stuck out the most in my head. He also wrote jokes for Bob Hope, Conan O'Brien, and other late night comedians. He was a kind, honest man who helped us look at our writing from different angles.
The caregivers in my group touched my heart in ways they will never know. I was blessed with an incredible group of ladies, and I feel that I can call on them at any moment. We encouraged each other, and I believe that we all truly believed in each other's abilities. We will motivate and encourage one another until we return to NYC in November with (hopefully) our finished, our close-to-finished, work.
All in all, I experienced a weekend far greater than anything I could have imagined. The donations people gave blew my mind, and the care and hard work that Anna and Michelle put into making sure every single detail was perfect was unbelievable! Disney donated tickets to Broadway shows; Wounded Warrior Project flew us up there, gave us hotel rooms, and fed us 3 dinners, a lunch and a breakfast; the Writer's Guild provided us with a location for the workshop, breakfast and lunch two days, copies of screenplay scripts, snacks throughout, and far more that I am forgetting; every mentor donated their entire father's day weekend to us, one even missing the Tony Awards for this event, where he won two Tony's; and a software company donated a copy of "Final Draft" for each of us, software worth approximately $200. I am still in awe, and I have now been home for almost a week. All of their hard work just for us motivates me to work hard to create a worthwhile piece from this. So... I'm off to writing....
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Cookie Doctor
Today was our monthly appointment with the pain management doctor. I think we have found a new one, but we have to stay with this one until we can get everything set with insurance. I'll let you know how it goes when we get to see the new one.
Today, though, I made the mistake of posting on my facebook status that I was "on my way to the cookie doctor." I actually did it to get a giggle out of the people who read the cookie post about that doctor and the friends of mine who knew the story. What I didn't realize is what that would sound like to those who did not know the story. If you missed it, you can see the original story here:
http://thewifeofawoundedwarrior.blogspot.com/2011/05/pain-management-doctor.html
Needless to say, I got a few humorous comments on that status update. :-)
The doctor appointment went good. They actually wanted to do an injection this time, but we were nervous about the cleanliness of the place, so Tim passed on the opportunity. We will just wait until we get to the new doctor. The doctor was more alert today... the most alert I have seen him thus far. He did not seem to be partaking of the meds as he usually does. He asked a few questions, signed the prescription the nurse handed him, and we were out.
So..... NYC!!!!
It was INCREDIBLE!!! The people I met, the things I learned, and the amount of focus it had on my husband, made it one of the greatest experiences of my life. Because there is so much to say about the trip, the wounded warriors and the caregivers, I will save that for another post.
Today, though, I made the mistake of posting on my facebook status that I was "on my way to the cookie doctor." I actually did it to get a giggle out of the people who read the cookie post about that doctor and the friends of mine who knew the story. What I didn't realize is what that would sound like to those who did not know the story. If you missed it, you can see the original story here:
http://thewifeofawoundedwarrior.blogspot.com/2011/05/pain-management-doctor.html
Needless to say, I got a few humorous comments on that status update. :-)
The doctor appointment went good. They actually wanted to do an injection this time, but we were nervous about the cleanliness of the place, so Tim passed on the opportunity. We will just wait until we get to the new doctor. The doctor was more alert today... the most alert I have seen him thus far. He did not seem to be partaking of the meds as he usually does. He asked a few questions, signed the prescription the nurse handed him, and we were out.
So..... NYC!!!!
It was INCREDIBLE!!! The people I met, the things I learned, and the amount of focus it had on my husband, made it one of the greatest experiences of my life. Because there is so much to say about the trip, the wounded warriors and the caregivers, I will save that for another post.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Doctor and NYC ~ Totally Unrelated
Update on the Pain Management Doctor:
We found a doctor who was highly recommended to us. This fellow is known for actually working to manage the pain, not just mask it. We were so excited, made the call yesterday.... and he does not accept our insurance. Boo! So, back to searching. Hoping beyond hope to find a good one soon!
New York City:
On an exciting note... I get to go to New York City this coming weekend! I began writing for online publications last year. It allowed me the opportunity to work more from home so I can be there for my husband when he's having a rough day, and it allowed both of us to move to the town where my stepson lives so we can be more involved. He was at a point in his life where it was vital for us to be nearby.
My career aspirations were to eventually write books. Taking this job for these online publications was a good foot in the door. Things have evolved since then, and my future is definitely on the upswing as far as my career is concerned. I have many doors that are continually being opened. Last month I learned that I was being offered the opportunity to attend a writing workshop in NYC... all expenses paid to NYC for a 3 day event. I could not believe the chance I had been given! My husband and stepson were hoping to tag along, but we eventually decided that it would be best for me to fly this one solo. I really wanted to get the most I possibly could from the weekend and fully focus on my work while I was there. We also knew that it would probably be our only vacation with my stepson this summer if they went, and they would have to experience it all without me since I would be in the workshop all day. So we're making other vacation plans with him, and I'm heading up to NYC alone. My thinking cap is already being placed on my head, and my focus is strong. I am so excited about all I may learn this weekend!
We found a doctor who was highly recommended to us. This fellow is known for actually working to manage the pain, not just mask it. We were so excited, made the call yesterday.... and he does not accept our insurance. Boo! So, back to searching. Hoping beyond hope to find a good one soon!
New York City:
On an exciting note... I get to go to New York City this coming weekend! I began writing for online publications last year. It allowed me the opportunity to work more from home so I can be there for my husband when he's having a rough day, and it allowed both of us to move to the town where my stepson lives so we can be more involved. He was at a point in his life where it was vital for us to be nearby.
My career aspirations were to eventually write books. Taking this job for these online publications was a good foot in the door. Things have evolved since then, and my future is definitely on the upswing as far as my career is concerned. I have many doors that are continually being opened. Last month I learned that I was being offered the opportunity to attend a writing workshop in NYC... all expenses paid to NYC for a 3 day event. I could not believe the chance I had been given! My husband and stepson were hoping to tag along, but we eventually decided that it would be best for me to fly this one solo. I really wanted to get the most I possibly could from the weekend and fully focus on my work while I was there. We also knew that it would probably be our only vacation with my stepson this summer if they went, and they would have to experience it all without me since I would be in the workshop all day. So we're making other vacation plans with him, and I'm heading up to NYC alone. My thinking cap is already being placed on my head, and my focus is strong. I am so excited about all I may learn this weekend!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)