First, let me apologize for not posting in quite a while. I enjoyed my time with Mark in Florida and the days got ahead of me. He would be busy most of the day and we would spend our evenings working on photographs and I was teaching him how to use a photobook program that we loaded into his computer. He is very interested in photography and has set up a website that you may want to visit. He loaded the pictures he took when he was living in Italy along with some from Tampa and elsewhere. The link is to the side of the blog, below his address. I think, along with others here, that Mark is very talented in this area and it is something he is actively looking into pursuing in the future. He entered two photographs that he took when he and Rich and I went to the zoo during our visit in an art show sponsored by the VA. He received an honorable mention because they did not have a category for photography. However, the national show for veterans does, and the photos were sent on and entered there. He was very excited about the possibility of getting a ribbon for his work.
He is doing very well and his therapies are changing somewhat. He is now going to be doing Lokomat two days a week rather than three, and the stress will be walking with a cane. He started yesterday with a "hemi" or quad cane (one with a four prong base) and I'm told did much better than he had previously. He was excited when he called me yesterday at noon and told me that they are also cutting out a lot of the medication he has been taking. They wean them slowly so that there are no side effects. A couple of the medications tend to make you drowsy (the last thing someone who had been in a coma needs) but there was no way around it since he needed them for the severe muscle spasms. They have lowered the dose to two a day and so far he has had no problem. If the excess muscle tone returns in the legs, they will have to increase the dose again but we will just have to see what happens. It's a very good, positive step, literally and figuratively!!
We did find out that Mark is up for a promotion to staff sergeant and that should be final some time in April. We are looking forward to his promotion ceremony. Then they will start the process for the medical evaluation board which will decide whether he will stay in the army or be medically discharged. This process could take a few months. He will most likely be moved to Fort Stewart, Georgia near Savannah for this process. He will be placed in temporary housing and be evaluated by the medical team at the hospital there. Unfortunately, the VA refuses to do these medical boards for the Army, but there is a group trying to fight that. If that were the case, he could stay right where he is in Tampa, but we'll just have to see what happens.
Please keep your prayers coming that all the details work out and everything continues to fall into place. We really appreciate your help.
Thursday the guys were taken to the Arnold Palmer Invitational golf tournament in Orlando. Mark really enjoyed seeing Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh, and the other pros. They were invited by the pros at the golf course where he plays on Fridays. It was a wonderful experience to enjoy the day for Mark and a number of other patients. This photo is of Vijay Singh which had to be taken on the sly. I guess the marshals were quite strict about photographing the players.
He has been walking more each day, he tells us, and it is getting better. He still has to use a walker but hopefully, the plan now is to get him to the point of using crutches. It will probably be a while, but at least he can get around inside with the walker and that makes life a little simplier.