It's almost Thanksgiving, and in my family, as I'm sure is the case with many other families, it is a tradition to go around the table and tell something that you are thankful for. This year I have a few that I would like to share with you.
1. The life of Jerry Schwarzkopf who was my father's closest friend from the time they were in grade school together. Jerry passed away at the end of October, and I was able to go to the funeral home with my brother to share our condolences with his family.
2. After leaving the funeral home, I started for home, only to have the car start acting up, doing the shimmy and the shake. Jack, from the towing company, was good enough to tow my car back to Cleveland, and then to take me home.
3. The Honda dealership put my car back together again, to the tune of $1700 (NOT thankful for that!). I am glad it works now.
4. Ken had a psychiatric evaluation to determine his qualification for VA Disability. The conversation led to him having another emotional crisis. He has spent 10 days in the psychiatric ward of the VA hospital. I am most thankful that things seem to be OK now, and that he's coming home tomorrow.
So what are you most thankful for this year? Think on that, till next time...
Showing posts with label VA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label VA. Show all posts
Sunday, November 23, 2014
Sunday, October 19, 2014
Small Successes
I had to read back to May to find my post about being Ken's advocate for disability claims. It took a while, but he got his Social Security retirement benefits, at last. He will be getting over $1000 a month, which he is under orders to use for paying off bills.
We have not been as successful with the VA. They are being stubborn on the issue of Ken's PTSD. We are really going to have to dig through his past, uncomfortable to say the least, to find stressors and treatments. The process has already begun to take its toll on his mental state. He's started talking in his sleep, much more than he ever has. He's also spent many an evening here lately just talking to me rather than watching TV. It can be a broad range of subjects, from his childhood to being a father, but it nearly always ends up being about his time in Viet Nam. I wish I had a working tape recorder so we could document everything.
Winter is coming. I can feel the bite in the air. Ken isn't ready to let go of the garden yet; he has dug up the two pepper plants and two tomato plants, repotted them and brought them inside, hoping to get something off of them.
Due to one reason or another, we still have not had our final Section 8 inspection. It will be on Tuesday, and believe it or not, we still are not done! Hope and pray it will be dry tomorrow so we can finish painting.
Till next time...
We have not been as successful with the VA. They are being stubborn on the issue of Ken's PTSD. We are really going to have to dig through his past, uncomfortable to say the least, to find stressors and treatments. The process has already begun to take its toll on his mental state. He's started talking in his sleep, much more than he ever has. He's also spent many an evening here lately just talking to me rather than watching TV. It can be a broad range of subjects, from his childhood to being a father, but it nearly always ends up being about his time in Viet Nam. I wish I had a working tape recorder so we could document everything.
Winter is coming. I can feel the bite in the air. Ken isn't ready to let go of the garden yet; he has dug up the two pepper plants and two tomato plants, repotted them and brought them inside, hoping to get something off of them.
Due to one reason or another, we still have not had our final Section 8 inspection. It will be on Tuesday, and believe it or not, we still are not done! Hope and pray it will be dry tomorrow so we can finish painting.
Till next time...
Sunday, June 29, 2014
OMG What a Week, Month, Year
Have you ever had one of those days (weeks, months) that just make you want to go screaming into the night? The kind of day (week, month) that makes you wonder, "Whyyyyy me?" The kind of day that just seems to snowball into a week, a month, a year?
It's been one of those months/years for me. Without going into all the personal details, Ken has been going through an emotional crisis this week, enough so that I thought an email he wrote was a suicide note. He has attempted to reassure me that suicide, though ever present in his mind, is not something he will follow through with. (Yikes! The dreaded "end the sentence with a preposition".) I cried so hard the other night, certain that I would find him dead the next day.
We talked to a rep from the Veterans Service Commission about applying for VA disability and SSDI. She said that it was too late to apply for SSDI, that he just needs Retirement from Social Security. To his credit, Ken did apply for disability from the VA, or so he said. I have been working on his SS application, but have reached a stalemate over Medicare. There are lots of questions about Medicare on the application, specifically Part B. Ken is very opposed to signing up for it because the premiums are so high. The question remains, though, whether he will continue to receive health care insurance from the VA. So it looks like we need to go talk to someone about this.
While Ken is going through this battle for his sanity, I feel like I'm losing my grip on life, too. I really wanted to go to Cedar Point last month, but it just didn't work out. The Section 8 inspection is tomorrow, and I seem to be the only one concerned about it. I said goodbye to my neurologist this past week; he's moving on to new adventures. The son of my best friend, Helen, got married last weekend; I wasn't invited - small wedding. But I sent Helen and her husband a cute card about welcoming a new daughter, and a card to Gary, and I haven't received any acknowledgement which surprises me and hurts a bit. Kristen and Lee are currently in South Africa. While I don't begrudge them the trip, I hate knowing she's not just a phone call away.
Assuming all goes well, Ken & I will be going to Philadelphia in August to volunteer at the VA Wheelchair Games. I've never been to Philly, so this should be a good trip.
It's been one of those months/years for me. Without going into all the personal details, Ken has been going through an emotional crisis this week, enough so that I thought an email he wrote was a suicide note. He has attempted to reassure me that suicide, though ever present in his mind, is not something he will follow through with. (Yikes! The dreaded "end the sentence with a preposition".) I cried so hard the other night, certain that I would find him dead the next day.
We talked to a rep from the Veterans Service Commission about applying for VA disability and SSDI. She said that it was too late to apply for SSDI, that he just needs Retirement from Social Security. To his credit, Ken did apply for disability from the VA, or so he said. I have been working on his SS application, but have reached a stalemate over Medicare. There are lots of questions about Medicare on the application, specifically Part B. Ken is very opposed to signing up for it because the premiums are so high. The question remains, though, whether he will continue to receive health care insurance from the VA. So it looks like we need to go talk to someone about this.
While Ken is going through this battle for his sanity, I feel like I'm losing my grip on life, too. I really wanted to go to Cedar Point last month, but it just didn't work out. The Section 8 inspection is tomorrow, and I seem to be the only one concerned about it. I said goodbye to my neurologist this past week; he's moving on to new adventures. The son of my best friend, Helen, got married last weekend; I wasn't invited - small wedding. But I sent Helen and her husband a cute card about welcoming a new daughter, and a card to Gary, and I haven't received any acknowledgement which surprises me and hurts a bit. Kristen and Lee are currently in South Africa. While I don't begrudge them the trip, I hate knowing she's not just a phone call away.
Assuming all goes well, Ken & I will be going to Philadelphia in August to volunteer at the VA Wheelchair Games. I've never been to Philly, so this should be a good trip.
Happy Easter! 4/3/10
Happy Easter! The weather has been glorious, the robins have been singing every morning, the daffodils are blooming – the Lord is risen! Alleluia!Thursday, May 15, 2014
Really, Really Far Behind
This is so embarrassing, to be this far behind. I read back to my first post on this blog and saw that the creativity bug hits me now and then. Seems it's been a while since it bit. Trying to catch up on everything would be nearly pointless. So I'll try to touch on the highlights and let the rest go by the wayside.
October: Ken's oldest daughter had a baby girl, Aria Sophia. She's now 7 months old. Lee & Kristen celebrated their 5th anniversary.
November: Lee's family invited us to celebrate his 30th birthday with them at Le Chatelain in Worthington. This year it will be Kristen's.
Decmber: I spent Christmas with Lee and Kristen in their new home in Hilliard, OH. Beautiful.
January: All the cabinets in the kitchen came down in preparation for remodeling. They are still stacked on the floor.
April: After a very long snowy winter, it seems like spring is finally here.
May: Ken has asked if I will be his advocate in his attempts to get Social Security disability and VA disability benefits. 'Bout time. :-)
Four years ago, I was struggling with the arrival of spring.
The birds are singing, the flowers are poking through the ground, Ken’s got
his new tiller ready to dig up the garden – must be spring! Though you wouldn’t
know it by the temperature! The last day of winter was over 60 degrees; the
first two days of spring have been lucky to reach 40.
Friday I went to see my DBS programmer. There ought to be something she could do to help the freezing and the shakes. We decided to lengthen the range of electrical impulses, from a “black bean” to more of a “butternut squash.” Now I like squash quite a bit, but I’m not sure I like the DBS results. Seems to me I spent most of yesterday in an “off” state, and while today has been better, it’s still not where I’d like to be.
I’d like to be working on my quilt block for the Parkinson’s Quilt Project, but my fingers don’t want to be coordinated. I’d like to be outside helping Ken put the new composter together, but it’s too chilly. I’d like to play computer games, but nearly all of them require finger coordination. So I’ll just sit here and be grumpy.
Hoping next time is better, till then …
October: Ken's oldest daughter had a baby girl, Aria Sophia. She's now 7 months old. Lee & Kristen celebrated their 5th anniversary.
November: Lee's family invited us to celebrate his 30th birthday with them at Le Chatelain in Worthington. This year it will be Kristen's.
Decmber: I spent Christmas with Lee and Kristen in their new home in Hilliard, OH. Beautiful.
January: All the cabinets in the kitchen came down in preparation for remodeling. They are still stacked on the floor.
April: After a very long snowy winter, it seems like spring is finally here.
May: Ken has asked if I will be his advocate in his attempts to get Social Security disability and VA disability benefits. 'Bout time. :-)
Four years ago, I was struggling with the arrival of spring.
Happy Spring! 3/21/10
Friday I went to see my DBS programmer. There ought to be something she could do to help the freezing and the shakes. We decided to lengthen the range of electrical impulses, from a “black bean” to more of a “butternut squash.” Now I like squash quite a bit, but I’m not sure I like the DBS results. Seems to me I spent most of yesterday in an “off” state, and while today has been better, it’s still not where I’d like to be.
I’d like to be working on my quilt block for the Parkinson’s Quilt Project, but my fingers don’t want to be coordinated. I’d like to be outside helping Ken put the new composter together, but it’s too chilly. I’d like to play computer games, but nearly all of them require finger coordination. So I’ll just sit here and be grumpy.
Hoping next time is better, till then …
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