Update for February:  With our last visit to see Dr Lobatz it was decided by the doctor to put Matt on Keppra, an anti-sezure med as a clincal trial to see if that would ease an issue with Matt’s right hand movement.  The issue is like a nervous tick that Matt developed over the past months.  The therapist as well as ourselves have been apprehensive to try this when it was suggested before because of the drugs many negative side effects.  Dr Lobatz wanted to do it as a clinical trial as he put it.  We did start with the drug 3 weeks ago while at the same time weaning Matt off a muscle relaxer that he was put on when back at Palomar Medical Center.  The therapists all agreed that Matt probably didn’t need the muscle relaxer since we keep him so physically active.  The trial of Keppra resulted in basically making Matt very lithargic.  With that, I was keeping the doctors updated on the effects of the drug on Matthew.  After 2 weeks we all came to the conclusion that the Keppra was counter productive and this week we began weaning Matt off the Keppra.  That had an immediate effect on how Matt was responding to daily activities in a positive way.  We should be off the Keppra by the end of this week and that should leave Matt very alert from what we have begun to see and able to be much more involved in daily activities including therapy.  All the therapist are really looking forward to the new, seditive free Matt.  He’s consistently done well in a relaxed state and the consences is he should be much more active feeling more clear headed than he ever has since they have all started working with him.  As for the hand issue, I have made a simple thumb brace that does control the movement while allowing him the full use of his fingers.  Jon Kern was out this past week and said Waleed has an even simpler, lighter thumb brace that we can use as therapy.  The way that works is to deny the activity, Matt’s brain will quit fighting the urge for the activity and the issue or signal is dropped.  Pretty simple.   

The interesting contrast with all of this looking back through the past 17 months since we started therapy is:  Doctors, neurologist included, treat patients with drugs trying to manipulate and counter side effects with more and more drugs.  The Therapist approach is to stimulate the brain by activate the body to stimulate the brain hoping to re-establish signal to the brain then back down to the body building more and more pathways in the process.  This has worked very well with Matthew and that’s how he continues to show more and more steady progress throughout the past months.  We’re hoping that a non sedated Matt will be able to work harder as this process continues.  We see him work trying to break through the fog that the drugs have kept him in so now things could start to move steadier.  That’s the hope so we’ll see…………

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Well as I mentioned Spencer left for China the entire month of January to teach.  We had Spencer’s college, Jon come out 3 times a week to work with Matt.  Jon came out with some new approaches that have seemed to work quite well.  The biggest thing was Jon got Matt up and walking in tandem with himself.  It’s a little hard to explain but basically Jon & Matt share 2 separate platforms  that they both have their shoes mounted too.  There is a strap on each of their legs just below their knees.  Jon then gets up with Matt in front of him and walks him around.  The first time we did this Matt seemed a little uneasy, I don’t think he quite understood what was going on even though we explained it to him.  That unease lasted about 20 minutes then you could see the change in Matt as he relaxed and realized things were going to be ok.  Jon likes this approach he says because he can directly feel Matt’s body, legs, back, torso, shoulders etc and can tell when and where Matt’s engagement is and with that he can talk him through it and get more of Matt’s own reaction as he moves through all the natural movements.  Because Matt’s core strength has improved so much with all Spencer’s work, Jon said managing Matt was not to bad at all.  Matt did so well with this in fact that it became a part of each therapy session all four weeks Jon came out.  Jon & Matt would average 1hour 15 minutes to 1 hour 45 minutes continuously each session.  There were times Matt would balance his head and core hands off.  There were times as they walked through the room Jon could feel Matt lifting his leg to take a step.  When Spencer came back Jon and Spencer put their heads together and now Spencer is incorporating the walking as part of Matt’s therapy routine.  I notice that as Matt did the walking more and more he moves his arms and shoulders like he is working his body all together taking more of a stride.  It seems like he connects his body all together in what looks like a more natural complete movement.  That is all very encouraging, really something to watch.  There were times though when Matt became very vocal, very loud.  Jon would stop not really sure what was going on.  Lisa and I would laugh because you could see Matt was complaining.  That was more in the first and second times we did this.  He doesn’t complain anymore.  I really see alot of looking around at things, I guess a different perspective and I also think I’m seeing a little curiosity.  Don’t know exactly, wish we could get some words out so we don’t have to be guessing.  We’d all love to know what’s going on in his head.  It would be so good to hear his voice and have a conversation.     Some day…………………………….

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We heard back from Dr Lobatz and after having reviewed the results of Matt’s EEG and MRI the doctor is suggesting that we have Matt in another Telemetry Monitoring EEG Study.  It sounds like because of Matt having such a normal EEG in a videoed 20 minute session, Dr Lobatz would like to conduct a longer more extensive study to see how Matt’s activities change throughout the coarse of a few days.  This involves Matt being admitted to a hospital for 3 days and nights.  I was told by the doctors office that Matt was referred to Tri City Medical Center for the study.  We were also told that Tri City and UCSD were the 2 hospitals in the County of San Diego that do these kinds of studies.  All of this sounds expensive so now when we get the referral we will have to go back to Kaiser to get their approval.  If that doesn’t happen first time around we have to once again appeal with the State of California and the Insurance Commissioners Office to get all that approved so that Kaiser can cover the cost.  That process could take weeks or even months so I will keep you posted when we are thru that.  Besides that, Spencer is in China this month to teach so we were fortunate enough to schedule one of his colleges, Jon Kern from Scripps Encinitas Rehab who also works with Dr Lobatz and Spencer’s mentor Waleed who is also in China this month. 

We had a nice Christmas Eve.  We went to Spirit of Joy Lutheran Church in Ramona for Christmas Eve Service.  Everyone at Spirit of Joy was very accommodating and were very happy to see Matt back at for the first time since his accident.  Matthew received alot of attention and warm welcomes.  He did very well and as he settled in he looked around and listened to the Sermon and Song throughout the service.  After we came home, the Smith family came over to visit, share blessings and exchange gifts.  It was a very nice evening, one like we haven’t had in a couple of years.  You all stay safe and have a Happy New Year! 

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Matt has developed many activities now and we now have a list of about 20 activities he does daily.  With all that, we have to rotate that list daily so Matt doesn’t miss any skills he’s developed.  With a more structured list of activities we have started combining multiple tasks as a challenge and that is complicating Matt’s focus and he does well with that.  We are still waiting to hear back from Dr. Lobats as well as still working thru Matt’s coumadin management with Kaiser.  It’s all a process that has to be worked thru the system and that all takes time, we’ll get there.  Lisa and I are now setting up a series of speech therapies thru someone that Spencer has been in contact with.  She is someone that knows of Matt and is very interested in treating him.  It will start with an evaluation probably out in Sorento Valley.  Sounds like that’s where his sessions would be but Lisa, Spencer and I all feel she is the right person that can get us on a program that we can work at home to develop memory, attention processing, executive function and other cognitive and linguistic processes.  Along with this the speech department at SDSU has also contacted us to get Matt back into their speech program as well so we are pursuing that for the spring/summer sessions.  With all that Matt and Lisa are going to be very busy after the first of the year.  My leg is healing very well and hopefully my next visit to the sports doctor I will be released from his care and able to go back to work sometime in January as well.  When that happens, I won’t be as available to help with getting Matt to the places he needs to go so if anyone can help Lisa once in a while that would be great.  Please don’t hesitate to contact us if that is in anyway possible or even if someone could be around for an hour or two now and then just to give Lisa a break.  She does an amazing job with Matt and he wouldn’t be doing as well as he is without Lisa, Lindsey and Lisa’s mom Joan.  Lindsey’s not as available now that she finished school and is well into her career at the dental office.   Joan as most of you know, also spends much of her time down the hill working 5 to 7 days a week.  Hope you all have a wonderful Holiday,  God Bless.

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Matt’s made much more progress over the past 4 weeks.  Matt had his eye exam/evaluation early last week and from where he started to where he is now with his vision is about a 70% improvement!  Matt is wearing reading glasses now at 1.75.  His new eyeglass prescription will be at 1.75 with a very mild prism to the right.  He has noticeably improved his range of vision and at a 1.75 he is being challenged visually but that’s what keeps him improving so far so as long is that’s working that’s what we will continue to do hopefully to get more improvement.  We have also been doing music therapy over the past 4 weeks and we all can see much more awareness and we’re thinking at least partly due to the  **music therapy involvement of all the different regions of his brain.  With all that is going on with these therapies as well as the continued tri-weekly sessions with Spencer we are seeing much improved physical strength and endurance.  The other thing that is showing are the personal emotions that are becoming much more of Matt’s day.  Smiles when we are playing around with him or just talking about silly stuff.  We can tell he gets what’s going on and if I tease him enough he get this big grin that at times turns into the toothy smile that we’ve all been missing for so long.  It’s fun to see.  I’m waiting to get him going like that one time and have him bust out laughing.  I’m working on it.  We got Matt out to Balboa Park this past Sunday and went in to the I MAX Theatre to see “Wild California”.  Matt did so good.  Got a little sideways on some of the aerial sequence but I held his shoulders and told him that I was right here with him and I could feel him relax and he stayed right with the movie.  It was very cool.  The week before we took Matt to see “Amelia”.  He also did very well with this.  I sat in the row in front of Matt watching him watch the screen.  He looks and scans and follows the characters just like everyone else does that’s sitting right next to him.  We do this all as part of the process, to keep him involved and stimulated.  It is also a great way to observe him and see how far he has come. 

Last week we rounded up the results of the MRI and EEG tests and dropped them off at The Neurology Center in Encinitas where Dr. Lobatz can review the results.  We will be waiting to hear from his office and probably being going in sometime for another consultation hopefully in the not to distant future.  Matt goes in this week for a chest x-ray and v/q scan to see that his lungs are clear.  This is part of the process that Kaiser is now recommending so that we can possibly get him safely off coumadin.  We’ll have to wait and see what the results of these latest test are.

I would like to thank all for your support and please keep Matt in your positive thoughts and prayers.  It’s working!  God Bless

** Reference reading; “This is Your Brain on Music” by Daniel J. Levitin

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Matt’s still is doing the big moves.  He’s gotten alot quicker, smoother and very motivated with the sit up thing that we have had him doing now for 2 weeks.  It’s becoming more of one continuous movement most times.  He really grunts it out now.  Matt also had his MRI last Monday the 19th.  It was a long scan lasting close to an hour.  I stayed in the room with him, it was very loud and at one point we had to stop and I had to talk to Matt to get him to lye still, telling him he was half way done but he needs to lye still.  We resumed the scan and Matt stayed very still and we got some good images.  I hope to get those on a disk in the next week then we can go back to Dr. Lobatz with all the results of both tests and go from there.  I’ve also changed Matt’s eye glasses because of some things I was noticed with his previous prescription.  Matt seems to track much better now than in the past few months so we made an appointment for Matt to be seen by the eye doctor in Carlsbad for this Thursday.  He will have an eye exam and evaluation and I do really think the eyeglass prescription will be changed to reflect the improvement.  With all of this Matt continues to move forward in his recovery.  I also had the chance to meet someone today with some real first hand TBI experience.  I talked to this person in length and this persons wife turns out to be a doctor that after investigating that seems  like someone else that is very local and may be a wealth of information and possibly able to see Matt for some treatment of another type.  It’s amazing how so many helpful people and contacts seem to drop into our lives at the right time.  It keeps us all moving forward day by day.

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Matt really starting to make some big moves now!  I’m giving Matt some motivating talks in the morning and throughout the day.  I know he understands me, especially now that I’m physically seeing that he responds on an EEG.  It really seems like I’m getting through.  Even Spencer is seeing a big change in movement.  Seems we are seeing “the spark”.  Matt is making some big moves and as we praise and encourage him you can see the look of satisfaction on his face as we encourage him to go.  When we stopped to give him a rest to recover he decided he was ready and went again on this own.  What I’m talking about is Matt pulling himself up using his core from a reclined position.  I’ve tried it and it’s no simple move.  We started timing him to make it more interesting and his best time was 17 seconds all the way up and forward, not bad. 

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I just received a phone call this afternoon from Dr. Delgado’s office, the Kaiser neurologist that Matt was seen by this past month.  Dr. Delgado is the one who ordered the EEG and MRI.  His office was calling to give me the results of Matt’s resent EEG.  The Doctor wanted me to know that the results of Matt’s EEG are normal!   

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Thank you everyone for making “The Matt Ruiz 2nd Annual Tournament” a huge success!  We had a great turnout with lots of fun, golf, food and prizes for everyone thanks in large part to all the sponsors, donors and participants.  We would also like to especially thank Lindsey Smith for all her hard work and effort in organizing such a wonderful event.  Also a special thanks to Maderas Golf Club and their staff for being so accomidating and letting us have this special event at their beautiful facility.  Lindsey also organized a wonderful group of volunteers to help run the event and we could not have done it without them!  Now that it’s all over we can move forward with Matt’s therapy and treatment which carried on immediately the following Monday after the event with an EEG that was done at the Kaiser facility.  That is being followed up by an MRI scheduled for this next Monday the 19th.  In the past week we continue to work towards having Matt’s coumadin issue managed by Kaiser with assistance recommendation coming from out of network trauma doctors that I continue to consult for a broader picture of how things should be managed.  After Matt completes these series of tests we will go back to Dr. Lobatz for follow up and treatment recommendations.  Lots to do as Matt continues to move along with his therapy which now includes some big progress with his core strength and control, standing and balance.  I would like to thank you all for your continued support and prayers.  Our family has been very blessed to have such a wonderful network of friends and family thru these trying times in our lives.     

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Hello all,  The week of the 17th was very busy for us.  Lisa and I did take Matt in to see Dr Lobats and we all learned alot and were very pleased at the outcome.  The doctor did have alot to say with regards to Matt condition and did have some ideas for treatments from here on out.  We have work to do to get this started and we have been busy getting things together for the next steps.  The doctor with his assessment of Matt, medical records, and a report from Spencer that is complete, is going to put together a report that we will be taking to Kaiser so they can preform a CAT Scan andan EEG.  With those results we will go back to Dr. Lobats for his take on Matt’s physical condition now compared to where he was and make a move from there.  He also made a couple of other suggestions that I have also been working on with another out of network medical group to get Matt off the coumadin medication that according to notes in his files should have been monitored and assessed at the 6 month mark and according to 3 medical doctors outside of Kaiser network that have reviewed Matt’s case are all saying Matt should no longer be on coumadin for his own safety.  Hopefully with a few more phone calls this will all be resolved in the next week or two and we can continue to move forward.  In regards to Matt seeing Waleed, that didn’t happen.  The reason being that Waleeds fees are more than we can handle at this time so Spencer consulted with Waleed and they both thought it best at this point for Spencer to continue this therapy with a little more of Waleed’s input from the outside and get Matt to a level that would benefit Matt the most from Waleed’s week of intense therapy, I understand that to be 6 hours a day for 5 days straight minimum.  Hopefully in that time my leg will be healed up enough where I can get back to work full time and Matt’s therapy fund will have been replenished so we can afford to continue Matt’s therapy.

That brings me to the next important issue.  WE NEED GOLFERS and donations for the upcoming “2nd Annual Matt Ruiz Golf Tournament”!  It’s getting close and at this point golf sign-ups are really light.  Maderas Golf Club charges a fee for each golfer playing and we need a minimum 72 players or 18 four-sums to break even.  We’re about 15% there.  Maderas is supposed to be helping with the promotion of this event but at this time it doesn’t sound like they have come up with any firm commitments so please help.  Tell friends, relatives, business associates, it’s for a good cause, it’s for Matt, to bring him back.  As family we can do so much but we need the professionals, Spencer, Dr. Lobats, Waleed and continued speech and cognition professionals, equipment and that all costs money.  Any way you can help we will be forever grateful.  Thank you all so much for your continued support.

FOR INFORMATION ABOUT —>   ”2ND ANNUAL MATT RUIZ GOLF TOURNAMENT”  —->   SIGN UP FORMS please scroll down to the “JULY 31″ Blog Posting.  At the bottom click on the attachment and you can easily print the form for the tournament that has the date time and breakdown of the days events and Lindsey Smiths contact information if you would like to speak to someone directly.

Thanks again,

Mario & Lisa

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Well we finished SDSU Speech this past month and they want us to work with Matt between now and next spring and they would like us to bring Matt back for the Spring semester of 2010.  Between now and then we will be working hard.  Matt has been getting it together more and more each week.  He has gotten out of the funk and is back hard at it.  We are working now to get Matt into another type of speech program that will hopefully get us set up on a computer we can use to communicate with Matt.  We’ve been letting Matt playaround with a laptop over the past week and Matt’s showing alot of promise.  He seems to get really focused.  This past Friday Matt did something repeatedly that we have been trying to get him to do for some time now.  We have him sitting up, then we lay him down on his side while seated and ask him to push himself back up.  He has been doing this for a while with alot of coaching from Spencer and I.  This Friday we leaned him over and just as we were telling him to push himself up the first time he just grunted and did it!  Just like that!  Spencer and I just looked at each other then at Matt and said yah Matt!  We did it again and again and he kept doing it like he has finally figured it all out.  That’s a good thing when that happens, a big hurdle and on to the next thing.  His head control has made huge strides this month also.  Boys getting alot stronger every day.  This week is going to be huge too.  Matt’s going in to see Waleed, that’s Spencer’s mentor down in La Jolla.  Waleed has known about Matt for awhile now through Spencer and Spencer and Waleed think it’s time to bring him in for and assessment and consult.  That should be very interesting for us all.  Waleed is the man when it comes to Neuro Rehab.  He is the guy that developed all the techniques and treatment that Spencer and his collages use and teach world-wide.  Waleed also designs and builds his own neuro-specific tools and equipment for working with patients like Matt world-wide.  Spencer says Waleed is the man with the ideas and the insight.  Your all getting this right?  I’m real excited to meet this guy and watch, listen and learn.  Anyways, that’s happening Wednesday, like a 2-3 hour session.  Then on Friday we take Matt down to see Dr. Lobats at Scripps Encinitas Rehab.  He’s the head neurologist there and who we are thinking when Matt’s out of the Kaiser plan will be the doctor seeing Matt and directing his treatment and continued rehab.  That should also be interesting since to this point Matt has not had a real neurologist in the Kaiser system that has ever done, suggested, prescribed or managed anything throughout this whole ordeal.  We’re going in to listen, answer questions and ask a whole list of questions that we’ve never been able to get answered until now.  These two meeting should help us with giving us all some needed direction as we work our way through the last of the Kaiser system and onto the next phase of rehab that we hear has alot more options than we have had so far.  

FYI - SDSU, Spencer, Waleed and Dr. Lobats are all “out of network” facilities, therapist and doctors.  These are the kind of neuro-specific facilities, therapist and doctors that patients like Matt need to be managed and treated by to have the best possible outcome from these types of injuries.  Throughout this entire ordeal, Kaiser has not offered anything like the above mentioned because they don’t have and have denied because they don’t understand and we really feel to protect their profits just don’t care.  All the way through the Kaiser system they have continued to just try and pat you on the head and say “we’re so sorry, we can’t help”  and just expect you to give up and go away and we are all sure there is a large percentage of the population that does just that.  I really hope that if any of you are ever in this position, and I hope it never happens to anyone,  that you look outside the “system”  for other opinions and look at the bigger picture.  Research on your own, help is out there.  Don’t just assume that your insurance company is going to do all they can because when it comes down to it, your insurance company is there for “PROFIT” and that’s just what there decisions are based on.

Sorry to get off base like that but we’ve spent the past almost 17 months dealing with the Kaiser system and then go an see someone who really can and is willing to help and we realize that even though Matt has insurance and we have to continue to come up with our own money out of pocket because the insurance company who should be helping Matt won’t, we all feel that that is something that has to be communicated for the benefit of all.  Thank you all for your continued support.

Mario

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It’s that time again for friends and family to come together in support of Matt.

Here are links to the Entry Form and Poster for you to print out and/or send in.

Download/Print Entry Form: Click Here
Download/Print Poster: Click Here

As many of you are aware, Matt Ruiz was involved in a devastating car accident last year on the eve of March 28, 2008.  Our family has been blessed to have the outpouring of support and encouragement of out friends and community members including you.

As a result of Matt’s accident, he struggled through a month-long coma and was hospitalized for a period of approximately five (5) months.  It goes without saying that Matt’s condition is serious and both he and out entire family strive every day to remain positive as we face immeasurable medical challenges with him.  It was determined, after tests, that Matt has sustained a traumatic brain injury from the impact of the accident.

What this means for Matt is that he is currently confined to a wheelchair is unable to speak and absorbs nutrients through a feeding tube.  At present, his condition has been quite grim, however, Matt has recently made strides with his full-time caretakers and occupational therapist.  While we’re excited to continue this level of care for Matt, we are unable to afford the prohibitive costs.  Our family believes that with continued support and the proper medical attention that Matt will prevail.  We know his spirit coupled with the continued support of our family and friends that Matt will transcend this tragedy to eventually triumph.

We’re writing to share of Matt’s progress and also to respectfully ask for your help and direct support.  We’re teaming up with both Vision International and the Maderas Golf Club to host a fun-filled Golf Outing, to raise funds that will go directly to continue funding further care for Matt.

We invite you to join in the festivities and become a member of Matt’s winning team.  We would be honored to have you with us for the day of golf scheduled for Friday, September 25, 2009 at 1 p.m. entry cost is $150.00 and/or we would welcome your consideration in providing a charitable contribution to our planned auction and opportunity drawing.

Any donations provided by a private person or organization would receive prominent recognition at our opportunity drawing/live auction display area and verbal acknowledgement in the presence of all guests.

On behalf of both Matt and our family, thank you in advance for your consideration of our request.  If you have any questions, or if we may provide you with anything additional, please contact me directly as (760) 484-2767.  We hope you can be with us.

With tremendous hope and gratitude,

Lindsey Smith  (Matt’s Girlfriend)

Benefit Coordinator

Here are links to the Entry Form and Poster for you to print out and/or send in.

Download/Print Entry Form: Click Here
Download/Print Poster: Click Here

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Well it’s been 6 weeks of speech therapy at SDSU and at this point Matt does not seem real interested in the program.  The 2 young grad students have not changed anything in there approach and Matt will not respond much to what the ask and how they ask it.  Lindsey and Lisa have stepped in at times to ask Matt to perform the same task a little more ascertively while in the lab and they do get results much the same way we all do at home but that approach is just not what the do at SDSU so far.  Matt did hit a flat spot through much of June but now in July with the more challanging approach we have all been throwing at Matt, he is stepping up and continues to move along.  He has also been showing a lot more verbalization in the past few weeks like he’s experimenting and at times like he’s actually trying to sound out some words.  Spencer and I have been getting Matt to push himself up into a sitting position while laying on his side with verbal cuing and  lots of “go Matt, keep pushing”.   He really understands what’s being said, it’s the communication back that we’re all hoping to hear sooner or later.  Lisa and I have also scheduled a private consultation with Dr. Lobats, a neurologist at Scripps Encinitas Rehab for late next month.  We have not found any reliable neurologist through the Kaiser Network so we decided to once againto go out on our own for Matt’s benefit.  It’s been a busy and productive summer and Matt is doing well.  Brittney’s been enjoying her summer off and is talking about possibly pursuing a rep position when summer is over.  We’ll all have to wait and see.

I had a set back this past week.  Broke my right leg and am now waiting to see an orthopedic surgeon hopefully by the end of this week or early next week so he can set the broken bone and cast it so I can get back on the mend.  They say God never gives you more than you can handle.  I sure think God must know something I don’t know but we all have to keep on trusting in God right?  That’s what I continue to do and so far I have been amazed when things happen the way they do and at the time they happen.  When I was laying in the ER the other day thinking about what just happened and looking at the recent events over the past weeks I just sat back in pain and put it all in perspective and it all does make some sort of sense.  Just a way of getting my attention I guess and keeping me on track and focused on what I need to be focused on.

Thanks all for your continued support

God Bless  

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Matt had his MBS test earlier this month and did real well.  The therapist told us that we were doing a good job and to slowly kick it up with more oral feeding and we have been.  Matt’s eating more each day or two.  Lisa stays on it and he’s coming right along.  Matt’s also been doing some cool things with his right hand and arm, he has alot of strength and likes to show it off when he can.  We also have him pushing and pulling with his left arm.  He has made a real noticeable improvement with that with some of the overhead equipment we have set up in his room.  Our house has become a therapy gym with all the equipment we have built but it works out great for the times Spencer is not around.  We are keeping that boy very active with different challenges all day everyday.  As he improves we’re always having to find ways to change it up to continually make things more challenging for him.  It’s quite a process and we’re all learning alot with all that we gain with Spencer 3 days a week.  Speech at SDSU has just started this week and that’s a whole other thing, more learning, more challenges.  What we are in search for now is someone that can help us with the physicolagy  that goes with all of this.  As Matt is able to do more, there are things that he has a hard time with and we are all seeing a level of frustration that we weren’t seeing before.  I feel his frustration and I can only imagine what it must be like for him.  We have to really spend the time talking him through it so he doesn’t give up.  As he does things we are continually encouraging him to keep going.  We are also seeing his unwillingness to perform in front of an audience.  He’ll do things for us and just a few people in the room that he has grown comfortable with but in a strange situation with unknown people in the immediate area he just shuts down.  We need help with someone that understands what could possibly be going on in his mind.  It’s really hard to figure out.  Anyone with some insight please contact us.  We’ve been told this is definitely a phase that he has to work through and it’s common but it would sure be nice to understand a little better so we can help him through it.  Thanks all for the continued help, thoughts and prayers.  By the way, Brittney passed her state board test and practical exams today up in LA and is now a licenced cosmetologist.  Yeah Brittney!

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This has been another busy and productive month for us all.  The biggest news is that Kaiser finally conceded to providing the Modified Barium Swallow test last Thursday the 21st.  The test is scheduled for Tuesday, June 1st at 8:45 am at Zion Hospital in San Diego.  Lisa and I will be there of coarse to get the results first hand and ask alot of questions.  Should be interesting and informative.  We have remodeled our laundry room at home over the past month to provide Matt with a sink and mirror that he can now sit at and turn on the water for himself, comb his hair, shave and brush his own teeth, all that normal routine stuff that gets him more involved in daily living.  It’s working out pretty good, he is getting it figured out.  Lisa has been doing some amazing work with Matt over the past monthalso.  Really staying with an ever expanding routine of exercises and routines that are definitely getting Matt much more involved and stronger with very good results.  Spencer is noticing a big change in Matt with almost every session.  Matt’s core strength is gradually developing  to where we now are challenging him to adjusting himself from side to side sitting and standing.  Matt’s new glasses have also helped withMatt’s visual accuracy with the daily things.  We also have Matt’s schedule for SDSU worked out beginning June 9thand running threw the end of July.  That  will be 2 sessions per week on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  Spencer’s sessions with Matt are Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.  We also have volunteer members from out church, Spirit of Joy coming out weekly to spend time reading to Matt!  Busy times now but we all think that’s why we see the continuing progress along withyour continued faith and prayer.  We’d like to thank you all so much!  When I figure out how to post some photos on this blog I will so for all to get a visual idea on how things are coming along although you can all visit Lindsey’s blog.  She keeps up with updated photos pretty well.  Oh yeah, Lindsey is busy organizing another golf tournament at Madera’s Golf Club in Poway for sometime I believe late summer or early fall.  This is all to support Matt’s continued private therapy.  On our last note, we would like to offer our deepest condolences to the Hickman family for the recent loss of their daughter Tara Hickman.  Our prayers and thoughts are with the Hickman family.

God Bless you all

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Today is Matt’s 27th birthday.  From where we were 1 year ago, we’ve come along way, still not where we need to be but we are in a much better place and continuing to move forward.  Things are still improving and we are still working very hard daily to get Matt back.  The latest is Matt is set to go to SDSU speech the beginning of June thru July, Spencer still comes out every Monday, Wednesday and Friday and we have now come to the point once again having to confront Kaiser Permanente with a grievance.  The continuing issue of a very basic test for speech progression.  Kaiser has and is continuing to deny a Modified Barium Swallow test (MBS test) which simply put is a visual evaluation of Matt’s swallow reflex.  With this test they actually film Matt’s swallow to be sure the mechanics are all working well.  When Matt went to Sharpe Speech the very first thing Lance the speech therapist at Sharpe ordered was the MBS test.  Kaiser denied it then.  We also pursued this test months before while Matt was still in the hospital Kaiser Zion.  Kaiser denied it then.  We took Matt to Kaiser speech when he was first home, once again Kaiser denied the MBS test.  The Kaiser justification then was that “the MBS test was not conclusive therefore Kaiser would not pay for it as well as Matt is being fed through a feeding tube and that eating orally is a unnecessary luxury that Kaiser should not have to pay for.”  Now we have interviewed several private speech therapist for home speech therapy and they all tell us the only way to safely get Matt to eat food is for him to have a MBS test.  We are now in the process of gathering the documentation from the speech therapist that are strongly recommending this very basic, necessary and standard in the industry test so we can go back to the corporate criminals at Kaiser and make them pay for this or have to explain away another denial to the State.  We did ask the clinicians at SDSU who also strongly recommended this test and that is something they don’t do at SDSU for lack of equipment and the facility to do that kind of test.  This whole process is going to take a while so we do continue to give Matt a very little bit of food orally as well as give him water orally so he does not loose his desire and ability to eat and drink orally until this gets resolved.  I have also tried calling another facility to find out what this would cost privately and they won’t even give me a cost and they tell me that the only way they can perform this test is with a doctors order and that puts us right back to depending on the Kaiser system.  It’s such a screwed up system and when you are trapped  in this system like Matt is at this time, there are no alternatives and the corporates direct what kind of treatment you have access to and if you just go along with it, would have a very direct influence on what kind of outcome you as a patient would have.  But they do make the money don’t they.

Anyways, we will continue to advocate for Matt and get through this frustrating situation and move on to the next.  By the way, we did have a very nice birthday party for Matt, kept it small so he wasn’t overwhelmed and it turned out very nice.  A few close friends and relatives.  Everyone seemed to have a good time including Matt.  Lisa and I have also made the decision to get Matt out every week to the beach, movies, museums, restaurants etc.  He does very well with all of it and we are all seeing it as part of his therapy and is noticeably making a difference in his recovery. 

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Hi all,  Sorry it’s been a while since I last updated, I had some PC security issues that I had to get resolved and that required a reset on a few things.  It’s all good now.  Alots happened since the last update.  Matt has finished his last evaluation at SDSU and he’s in for sure.  The second evaluation he did really well and blew everyone away.  He was really focused and did really well with what they call 1 step commands and they moved onto 2 step commands and started with what they call binary choice commands and he does real well with that.  When he’s engaged he is very accurate.  His therapy at SDSU will start in June and run for 8 weeks.  With the conference we had after the last evaluation this past Friday they told us they will be working with higher level commands and giving him multiple choices.  Once again they said Matt has alot of potential and seems to have a real desire for music!  That’s Matt, that was always his love, music, and it’s still there.  We have been working with him to help him find that rhythm he posses and bring it back out where he expresses it more freely.  It’s showing and it’s exciting to say the least.  SDSU said they have heard him verbalize which we have been seeing for quite some time now but we haven’t known what to do out side of what we can only guess at.  The therapist said they are definitely going to pursue vocalization with Matt and when they explained how it’s done it’s process that we hadn’t heard before, no one’s every explained it so much more to learn and work with.  I personally think he’ll get it, especially now that we do have some communication going on and we are starting to understand what Matt’s thinking and that’s a whole lot more than people realize.  The real important thing now and I know it’s hard for some because of not knowing is to talk directly to Matt.  Give him a chance to react.  They people that do are truly surprised.  Most will walk up say hi to Matt and then talk to us and speak of Matt as third person, then he realizes that and most times will look away.  He needs to be talked to directly and given a chance to react, that’s so very very important now.  Please remember that if you get the opportunity to see him.  That’s what he needs, engagement.  The more opportunity he gets to engage, the more he does engage and that’s the goal. 

We do now have a list of personal speech therapist that we received from SDSU and we are going to pursue that to supplement Spencer’s therapy as well as what Matt gets at SDSU.

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Matthew and his family would like to offer a very special thanks to the Wofford family for their very special and generous support!  The children, Michael and Morgan Wofford, participated in an annual neighborhood yard sale in Carlsbad, California.  Michael and Morgan normally get to keep the money raised in their individual sale as fun money.  This year they decided they were going to unselfishly contribute all the proceeds in that sale and the sale of food sold that they eagerly prepared for people participating in the neighborhood yard sale to their friend Matthew to help pay for his continuing therapy.  They raised a very substantial amount of money with their hard work and organized dedication.  From what we understand they came up with this idea all on there own.  What an amazing gift.  What a testament to the wonderful parents of Michael and Morgan, Don and Robin Wofford.  They have been there for us from the beginning and are still there.  They realize what a long journey this is going to be, years of therapy.  One moment has affected the lives of so many, and it has brought out the true individual character of many beautiful people.  Many that continue to support in the good deeds, thoughts and prayers for Matthew and our family.  All this positive energy helps all, keeping the faith and bring smiles that we pass along to Matt.  He feels the kindness and the love as we do which is what it takes to get through these days.  It’s almost been a year now and it’s hard to smile some mornings when we get up, but then we go in to see Matt and there he is, wide eyed and ready to go, sometimes with a grin on his face when we tell him “good morning Matt, we love you”.  That kind of a morning is nice.  When he’s happy, we’re happy.  That’s what it is, as he improves and does something new, our spirits improve just like that.  We are all healing together with Matt, one day at a time.  Thank You All for Your Love and Support!

Mario, Lisa, Matthew, Brittney and Lindsey, Joan and Jerry

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It’s been a while, I apologize for that but we’ve been busy.  Matt has come a ways since the last post.  Spencer has been physically pushing Matt and he has us on the same program and it’s working with amazing results!  Lisa and I have Matt standing in the standing frame and pulling all the supports and forcing him to balance and hold his head and upper body up on his own.  We’ve had to challenge him to the point where he has gotten pissed but when you add that bit of emotion to it, man he does all that we’re asking and more with so much strength.  It’s hard to see him get mad, we never had that kind of relationship, but when he does what he does and with the strength and intent like he does we immediately praise him, tell him we love him and tell him to look at what he’s doing.  We tell him we’re helping him to help himself.  He does calm down after we talk to him  but it does give him an edge for a while.  Spencer has been getting him to stand on his own with minimal or at times no support at all!  We do have to help him balance  but we can feel him adjusting  to pick it up on his own.  Spencer has been getting Matt to stand supporting himself with his legs and arms as he’s leaning out onto a bench about 3 feet in front of him.  He definitely has the strength and control once you help him into position.  He still hasn’t said a word but we think he’s working on that pretty hard to.  After working him like we do when we get him seated or lying down for a break sometimes he just starts complaining like he’s trying to tell us something, that was hard or it hurt or maybe stop.  Don’t know but we keep telling him if you want us to stop just say so and we will.  Tonight he was amazing when we had him sitting up, complete head control without no support or hesitation then when we stood him up I asked him to put his arm out on my shoulder and push me straight out to help support himself, this is something we had  to push him to do until he got mad a couple of nights ago, but tonight I asked him to do it and he put his arm right out and pushed back hard just asking him the first time and held it there!  It’s been a very interesting and challenging few weeks but he is getting it.  Matt is also not in the full on hospital bed now.  We finally had that taken and replaced with a much smaller twin bed without the airframe.  It’s quiet for one and we are now transfering him out of bed without the hoist to get him more invloved in pushing himself up with his legs which is also part of the process in getting him strong enough to push through to stand on his own.

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Hello everyone.  Friday was the first in a series of 4 evaluations at SDSU.  It all went great.  In the past week Matt has been playing his keyboard.  On a hunch we set it up this past week and Matt put his right hand on the keyboard and started playing.  He does this very purposefully and is very focused on the music.  If he hits a key that doesn’t sound right, he goes back and plays it over and corrects it.  Before Matt’s eval at SDSU they asked us to bring the keyboard so they could observe.  The setting at SDSU is in a lab setting with observation windows, mics and a camera.  Matt did all the tracking and command exercises very well.  Then we set up the keyboard and Lindsey and I stayed in the room to get Matt relaxed and started playing.  Once he started he went on for about 20 - 25 minutes straight and was really getting into it.  The therapist came in and were all excited.  They were the one’s that really saw what he was doing cognitively and were amazed at how he held his hands and was really focused on what he was doing.  They brought in other equipment and did more with him.  This all went on for about 1 1/2 hours and we could all see that Matt was getting worn out.  The instructor and 3 therapist came into the room very excited and were fussing over Matt and how well he did.  They definitely want him to come back and there comments were he’s definitely got it going on and has lots of potential. The music requires a higher level of brain function and processing. They were surprised to learn that since Matt’s accident all he’s had is the 5 months of therapy to this point and hasn’t really had any speech therapy until the recent speech therapy at Sharpe.  Once again they told us they want him back and are going to try and get some equipment for our use at home if they can get it approved.  The next 3 evaluations will be in April and this is all for participation in their summer session there on SDSU campus.  Spencer will be back today after another week off and is also excited about the past weeks developments.

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This past few weeks have been a steady move forward.  This past week it was all summed up by two therapist working with Matt.  First with speech therapy at Sharpe.  The therapist there has now worked with Matt the past couple of weeks and he said that Matt definitely understands what is going on.  This week Lance, the speech therapist had Matt adding up coins and with simple yes or no answers asked if the totaled a dollar or did this make 50 cents.  Matt got it all right.  He is just unable to express what he is thinking like you or I.  That has to be frustrating but he said it is our job to help him and bring it out.  Sharpe continues to give us exercises to keep Matt moving along that path.  Last night Lindsey was over and Lisa and I had just got Matt down off the standing frame, Matt was a little tired, he had been up for about an hour.  I was in my office, Lindsey was sitting with Matt.  Lisa and Joan were in the room with Lindsey.  They said as Matt was watching Lindsey he lunged forward from an reclined position to a fully seated position with both arms out reaching out to Lindsey and stared right at her!  Lindsey, Lisa and Joan were watching in surprise and didn’t know what to do.  Matt just sat there with both arms out, Lindsey said she asked him what?  They got him calmed down and he laid back after a while.  Today Spencer came in for a few hours and when I told him what had happened the past week Spencer went right after Matt with some cognitive tests.  He pulled up a table and got out a deck of cards.  He had Matt pull cards from his hand as he was asked.  Matt pulled out the black jack.  Then an ace. Then Spencer held out two jacks and an ace and asked Matt to pull up the red jack then what two cards that would make 21 or black jack.  Matt first pulled the jack, then went back and pulled the ace.  All this while he was sitting straight up holding his head which is still really hard for him for more than 20 minutes at a time.  This all took Matt a while to do, the whole thing went on for about 45 minutes or so and we could both see he was exhausted.  Spencer said basically the same thing, it’s all there it’s just the expression that Matt needs to work on.   Matt also had an eval with his eye doctor and she is contacting Spencer and wants to speak with Lance the speech therapist so they can all coordinate therapies especially now that Matt can do things and the cognition is one of the main focuses everyone is working on.  This next week Matt will go in for the first in a series of four evaluations at SDSU.  There program should go on through the spring and summer months so that should be exciting.  We will keep you posted.

Thanks 

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Matt’s still at Sharpe and doing well.  The past couple of weeks Matt has been picking up a spoon, scooping up water and putting it in his mouth to swallow.  He’s also been brushing his hair daily although we do spray it with water for him first.  We’re working with Matt to get him to hold his electric razor and move it all across his face as well as handling his toothbrush on his own.  He can hold both but it’s the coordinated movement that he needs to get figured out.  These are simple tasks to all of us but for him now, it is a challange.  He’ll get it, we just have to be patient and let him try everyday.  His ability to hold up his head standing and sitting has come a long ways this month.  Standing he hold his head up on his own with very little adjustment for 25 - 55 minutes.  Seated in his chair he’s doing the same for 10 - 20 minutes.  Also we are getting him to start sitting on his own hands off with his head up.  That still needs more work but he’s getting it.  Today at Sharpe he wrote M A T T for the first time.  Lee, the therapist will write his name first, then Matt will write it next to what she wrote out.  Lee also had Matt wipe the whiteboard off after they were done and of coarse, he did that.   Sharpe speech will start February 2nd and Matt just had SDSU’s appointment set up for later in February to do a speech evaluation for their graduate program.  The timing for that could work out nicely.  We’re hoping it will either coincide and continue after the Sharpe speech ends which could get Matt 2 or 3 months of speech therapy which would be awesome.  We also have a referral to get Matt’s nose looked at.  We, along with some of the therapist have been watching Matt swallow and think he is having problems breathing through his nose as he swallows due to the injury to his nose which looks like a deviated septum.  Having read what information online that I can gather, sounds like Matt has all the symtoms  that go along with that type of condition.  Lots to do and we’re continuing to “get ur done”.  Spencer should be back from China this week so it will be cool to for him to see how far Matt has progressed in just 4 weeks that he’s been gone and to see where Spencer takes it from here.  It’s all good.

Well, tonight Matt just blew us all away!  With a Sharpie and a note pad he wrote:  M A T T  ,  L I N D S E Y  ,  M O M  ,  D A D , then B R I T .  Matt did it pretty quickly to, one letter after the next.  It was almost 9:00 pm, I didn’t think he would have it in him that late, but he did!  He picked up the pen for each letter so it was real clear to see.  We saved it all to show the o/t therapist.

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Matt began therapy at Sharpe Rehab January 5th.  It’s been going pretty good.  Yesterday Lisa and Joan to Matt in for p/t & o/t.  The physical therapist Matt had was a different one than he has had in the past and she was really into Matt.  She had him on a bike pedaling for 16 minutes on his own.  Matt would slow down a bit and they tell him to speed up and Lisa said he just went for it!  By the time he was done he had worked up a sweat.  Matt was also approved Monday by Kaiser withabout an hour of wrangling with the Kaiser speech therapist who finally admitted she was out of her “field of expertise”.  I recieved a phone call from Kaiser that Matt was refered back to Sharpe for 8 weeks of speech therapy.  We were contacted the next day by Sharpe and Matt will have Lance who we had met with one time and were really impressed by his approach and recommendations.  That will all start on Monday the 12th of January.  Matt is also being seen by an associatetherapist this month while Spencer is in China with his mentor Waleed teaching their physical therapy technique.  Lisa was working with Matt at home today with playing cards, domino’s and other things and started messing with Matt’s hat putting it on herself.  She asked Matt if he would put it on himself, he reached out and took the hat from her and put it on his own head.  It was so cool.  That’s it for now, will keep you posted.

Cheers

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Matt is continuing to surprise us.  We’ve started putting together cognitive games that Matt is really starting to get going.  We have to keep mixing it up because after a while Matt gets bored with the same old thing.  We ask him if we wants to continue and he says yes so we keep going on.  Today Lisa and I had Matt up in the Standing Frame for over an hour and Matt had complete head control.  We usually see him stand supporting his head for 10 to 20 minutes at a time but today it was well over an hour!  While standing and over the past week Matt’s eye alignment has really improved as well.  I kind of think when he went in to the eye doctor on December 26 he realized what he was missing visually to his right and I also think he’s hearing us talk about it as well as every time we explain it to someone visiting he’s hearing us and working on correcting himself all on his own.  We haven’t even gotten his glasses yet but it’s like he is figuring it out with the therapy.  While he was standing tonight he was turning his head to the right and looking at pictures, the fireplace while he was up straight and holding his head up on his own.  Maybe it’s the eye control that’s helping with the head control, don’t know but whatever it is, we’ll take it!

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Well,  We all made it through out first Christmas.  We weren’t able to get Matt and ourselves to church but our Christmas was certainly one that was full of blessings, faith and hope.  Honestly it was rough getting started in the morning but as morning progressed it became promising, with Matthew able to pick out the shirt he wanted to wear for the day.  That’s right, we are getting him alot more involved in deciding things like what shirt he wants to wear and whether he is finished with a task, or asking him how he feels and such.  We had him up standing for a family photo in the evening before we all sat down to watch a movie, he was up early and stayed up really late on Christmas day.  Today, Lisa and I drove Matt down for and eye evaluation with Dr. Love.  Sounds kind of weird but that’s her name.  I had told her that Spencer and I had made some observations in regards to Matt’s vision so she asked us to bring him in and we did with photos that documented what we had observed.  She did some tests, made some notes and compared them to her first evaluation and concluded that he had definitely had made some improvement and we are now able to narrow down the issues that Matt has and set up a prescription for glasses that were ordered today and should help alot.  They should have the glasses ready in about 2 weeks we were told so that is definetly something to look forward to and should help tons in Matt’s progress.  He should not be as strained as he has been to see and it will widen his visual perspective tremendously!  We were able to see that in the Doctors office.  When we left the office we could see Matt looking more to his right trying to see what he was seeing in the office so we had to explain to him that when he gets his glasses he’ll be able to see like that all the time.  I know he’ll be looking forward to that, it will be a whole new world!  Lisa and I would like to thank everyone for their support, prayers and thoughts.  This has been as you can imagine the worst year of our lives having a child hurt so traumatically like Matt was hurt.  It just tears your heart out as a parent or like I know many of you as friends and family, it’s hard to experience in your shoes.  We as a family could not have made it this far without all your support.  It really makes a difference.  When this first happened I know the assumption was that Matt must have been drinking and chose to get in the car with his co-worker Karl to come up to Ramona that evening.  Truth is we have gotten  the medical reports and that was not the case at all.  Matt was not intoxicated.  We can only guess that he was  stressed from the pressures and responsibilities of his new position at work and with the events in his personal life earlier that week, he was really heartbroken and just didn’t want to come home to what was once his hope of having a family and future of his own.  I had dinner with Matt the night before the accident because I was concerned for him having learned of what he was gong through.  He was very heartbroken and didn’t quite understand why he was feeling pressured by a select group of friends he should not have trusted, to end what Matt saw as a good thing.  I feel so bad for him, this has changed his life and the lives of so many that know Matthew, that love him for the wonderful young man he had become, I just don’t understand it.  I know there is a plan for him and all of us involved, don’t know why it had to be changed to what is now but none of this can be undone.  It’s just something we must hold our heads up, sort out as we move along day by day and keep working towards whatever it is that God has in his plan for Matthew.  Once again I thank all of you who have been there for Matthew, his family and close friends.  I will keep you all updated as things progress and may this New Year bring us all health, healing, peace and hope for all of you and your families. 

Amen

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Hey everyone,  The latest is Matt is up and standing in the standing frame daily, up to 45-50 minutes at a time.  The other news is Matt will be going to Sharpe Memorial Rehab Center here in San Diego 3 times a week beginning next week on the 15th.  He will be busy.  We will continue with Spencer, see if we can make that work 3 days also along with continuing the eye therapy once a week and the work we are continuing at home with that.

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Thanks for all the help.  We got a couple of leads on Standing Frames and located a real nice one off an ad on Craigs List.  I was exactly what we were looking for.  I picked it up last night out in Descanso east of Alpine.  I cleaned it up tonight and it’s like brand new!  Spencer is coming out this Friday night so we’ll get Matt in it and see how it works.  I’ve tried it already and I think it’s going to be a great help and a much safer way of getting Matt up for all of us.  I’ve been telling Matt about it and explaining what we’re going to do with it and he looks at me then over at the Frame then back at me like “We’re going to do what?”  It’s funny to see his reaction when you explain things to him like that, he does the same thing when he’s outside checking out the hoist we get him up in.  We explain to him what the hoist is and he knows what we do with it.  He looks at the hoist then back at you then back at the hoist like he’s really understanding how it works and understanding what it’s used for.

Thanks again for all your help, I’ll keep you all posted on how this all works out.

Mario

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Hello all, Matt has been continuing to get stronger and has gotten to the point where  it is taking 3 or 4 of us to get him up straight.  His legs are pushing and pulling unevenly as we get him up so we are literally wrestling him up, he’s so strong now he’s getting where he can hurt someone as he tries to overpower us.  This has been  building for some time now along with all the verbalization.  It puts allot of strain on Matthew too and he’s feeling allot of  pain which is not a good thing.  Spencer and I have seen this coming for a while and there is a piece of equipment that can make this whole part of the process easier on us and safer on Matt.  The other good thing is with the right piece of equipment we can get Matt up on his feet daily and that’s the goal.  Lisa could get him up without any help and the more he’s up, the more he can take over that function and move on to other things along with all the other benefits that go along with standing like moving towards getting him walking.  The equipment we are looking for is called a “standing frame” and there are a few manufactures of this type of equipment.  We are aggressively looking for one and are first pursuing a used standing frame which could save us a good amount of money.  If anyone out there has a source of a used standing frame or knows of somewhere we could locate one at a discounted price it would be greatly appreciated.  The sooner the better, it could alleviate allot of discomfort for Matt as well as us who are involved it his rehab treatment.  If you have information or a contact, please sent me the lead with all the contact information.  We know this type of equipment is often used and not needed after a period of time in a rehab situation and often winds up in a corner or shed somewhere and that’s what we are hoping to find.

Contact info:

Mario Ruiz

760 803 5124 -C

sdmario@cox.net

Thanks 

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We are all thankful first of all to God, our family and friends.  For all the wonderful support over the past year, so many of you have been there for us over the past year when we all needed it most.  We are thankful to all the doctors, nurses and hospital therapist that helped Matthew when it was needed most.  We are especially thankful to God for putting Spencer in out lives and really getting things moving in the right direction with his experiance and guidence and completely positive way of looking at things.  We are thankful for our own health and the health of family and friends and for keeping us all safe.  Of coarse we are thankful that Matthew is still with us and that he continues to heal and come back to us day by day week by week, and that continued healing and improvement in his overall being is something that inspires us, keeps us motivated and moving ahead to a time when we can all look back on this and appreciate the miracle of life and keep us aware of how fragile it really is, to appreciate one another every day and to appreciate every single day no matter how down things become one must always look around, beyond there own problems and see the true meaning and miracle of life.  We see it daily with Matthew,  maybe not every moment but when you first don’t see it, you look back a second time and there he is, smiling or making some sound that almost comes out as a word or sentence as he’s looking right at you and you know he’s trying so hard and he hears himself and you see the happiness that brings him, or when he reaches out and grabs you or gives you a pinch just to get your attention and touch him, talk to him, play with him, that’s the kind of things he’s doing now, and to most it doesn’t sound like much but when you look back just a week, a month, two months and so on you realize he’s come far and we all know it’s just a matter of time, all part of the process.  I am especially thankful to Lisa who with her strength, determination and energy keeps me and everyone else going.  We all owe a special thanks to Lindsey for all the faith and hard work, determination and love you have brought to our family and Matthew.  It’s been incredable to witness the love between the two of you.  I see what Matt see’s in you and he’s so very lucky to have found you and still have you by his side.  We all feel lucky to have you as a part of our family.

I hope you all have a wonderful Holiday and take the time to reflect on life, your families and friends and everyone around you.  Appreciate one another please.  Keep the faith!

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Since the last time I updated this blog, lots has changed for the better.  We had Matt’s eyes checked last week and it turned out he has double vision which was not a big surprise since that kind of issue is common but never brought up by most doctors attending someone that has had Matt’s trauma.  The eye doctor treating Matt knows the issues that can be present but are comonly overlooked.  She diagnosed Matt pretty quickly, a 2 1/2 hour evaluation, and has us placing a patch on one eye at a time throughout the day.  By the way, Matt’s eyes appear very healthy and intact which is a huge relief since it is also common for some one’s eyes to sustain physical damage with the kind of trauma Matt had.  So with the patch and exercises that they sent us home with has helped Matt make amazing progress.  He can see and it can really be noticed when you walk into the room.  He looks right over at you and is seriously looking at everything, even at a distance.  Spencer even has noticed and commented on his focus now.  When Matt sits up now he doesn’t seem so disoriented.  It’s only been a week!  Yesterday when he was sitting up in bed he reached out and touched at first a photo that was hung over his bed.  Lisa told Matt to hold it if you want, it’s OK.  He did!  It was a photo of he and Lindsey, he held it and looked at it like he was recalling the time.  Matt had his second therapy with the eye doctor this past Tuesday and when the doctor came in she tried some things and commented on how well he was doing, tracking much better than he was last week and seemed to track better without lenses.  It looks like what he sees is much more organized than it has been and I think that in turn is making his brain work to see things the way they are supposed to appear.  The reason Matt has been seeing double is the muscle control of each of his eyes.  He has not been moving his eyes together all the time so even if they are a little off target it confuses what he is seeing and he has not been able to process it and when he tries, it exhausts him.  Now with one eye covered he can see one of everything and it makes more sense.  Once that happens it frees up his ability to progressother things that are going on.  That’s the way the doctor explained it and that’s what we are seeing in just one week.  Matt will be down for eye therapy every Tuesday and after the forth week the doctor will do another evaluation.  It will be interesting to see what happens in the next weeks and months to come.  With all of this that Matt is much more involve in the day to day routine.  He participates in his daily grooming, combing his hair, lifting his arm when we ask him for washing, with moving his mouth and tongue as we work with him to form words which we can see he is working at and hopefully will be coming soon with all the focus and attention he now has.  All good stuff! 

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Today Matt made his 2nd trip down the hill, his 1st down the hill trip for rehab.  He did great!  He’ll be going down to RB on Friday for his 2nd session with Spencer at a rehab gym.  We also booked an appointment for Matt to have and eye exam and evaluation the 2nd week of November.  We know there are some visual defecates and hopefully with the evaluation we can get some corrective therapy going that will only help with all the other therapies and make things easier for Matt to deal with.  All part of the process and the long road to recovery. 

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The latest on Matthew’s recovery is that we continue to get him up sitting and standing, usually when Spencer is here but he is training Lisa and I how to manage this on our own.  Lots of body mechanics but we’ll get it.  Matt looks great, he has definitely gained all his body weight back and has been really healthy.  We do get him sitting up on his own hands off and we are getting him to sit up straight.  Matt’s right arm and leg are more dominant than his left side but over the past week and a half he has been moving his left side allot more and that has Spencer really motivated to focus on his left side.  Matt pulls his arm in when asked over and over again.  When Matt stands he is now supporting himself with his left leg and that’s huge.  We are continuing to work on exercises to strengthen his neck muscles so he can support his head for longer periods of time and that is steadily increasing.  Matthew has also become allot more vocal in the past 2 weeks.  He’ll just let out a moan or like last night he just started to sort of ramble and ramble on while we were in his room.  It didn’t make any sense but it’s like he is experimenting with the sound.  This morning while Lisa and I were in the kitchen having breakfast and talking about Matt speaking he let out this sound, we ran into his room and there he was wide eyed and sort of grinning like he was aware of what he had done and was all proud of it.  I sense thing are going to move forward vocally.  We all hope sooner than later.  We purchased a van this past week and took Matt out for a ride on Saturday night.  He did fine so today Lisa and Jerry are  going to take him down the hill to see how he does and if that works out Matt will probably be heading down the hill for doctors appointments and more rehab in the next week or two.  We’d like to thank you all for your continued support and prayers, this is a long road but I feel when this is all over I could write a book.

Mario

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Just wanted to thank everyone who supported the Matt Ruiz Golf Tournament.  All the sponsors, participants, supporters, family and friends.  The tournament was a huge success and a good time for all.  Really want to give a special thanks to Lindsey Smith for coming up with the idea and working so hard to put it all together and make it such a success!  We love you girl!  Net proceeds will go directly to support Matthew in his rehabilitation.  Kaiser insurance still has not provided knowledgeable or consistent therapy and we have all seen this for months so when Matt came home it was time to find someone like Spencer, a private therapist hired by the family and has brought Matt such a long ways in a short period of time and given us all hope that he will make a successful recovery.  Spencer knows Matt’s injury and how exactly to approach treatment and continues to move Matt forward. We are now purchasing a van to transport Matthew down the hill for doctors visits and rehabilitation that Lisa and I are working out with hopefully some kind of insurance coverage and plan on supplementing that therapy along with continued sessions with Spencer who has been a God send.  We have started taking photos and will post some soon so everyone can follow the recovery.  Once again, Thank You all so very much, this is a long road but with continued thoughts, prayers and support from all of you we will make it.

Love you all,

Mario, Lisa, Brittney and Lindsey

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Matt has had his 8th physical therapy session with Spencer and what progress.  Spencer has  Matt going a full 3 hour session and for the 2nd session now has Matt sitting up on his own hands off!  Once Matt gets comfortable with it which takes a couple of minutes, Matt sits completely on his own while we stand back and watch.  He also has Matt standing straight up leaning on a lower back support and holding on to Spencers shoulders, head straight up on his own.  This goes on for about 5-10 minutes at a time.  Today Spencer had Matt standing 3 times while Matt just looks around and we point out artwork andhave Matt track whatever we are using to grab his attention, usually photos, Lisa or more artwork.  It’s an amazing thing to watch especially when you consider Spencer has only been working with Matt the past 3 weeks.  Lisa andI have been real busy, I’ve been busy with the business getting the cash flow back up so I’m not around every session but I hear what is happening when I’m not there and then when I see it I realize that this is the right thing and this momentum we have to keep it going aggressively.  That’s exactly what we are doing now.  I am rigging up more equipment to get Matt standing for longer periods of time on his own.  We all see with each time this happens it gets easier for Matt and it opens up even more that he can do.  Lindsey has her hands full with organizing the upcoming October 4th Golf Tournament and is looking for volunteers to help her on the course.  If anyone has the time please contact Lindsey at: Lrsmith31@yahoo.com

Thanks,

Mario

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Matt has had his 4th visit from his private physical therapist on Sunday and combined with what we have all done and what Spencer is doing, things are really progressing allot faster than I would have imagined.  Spencer really knows how to read Matt and puts things together in a process that really shows in the outcome.  He’s got Matt doing things that I didn’t think he was ready to be doing.  I’m talking purposeful movements on command.  Reaching out, holding himself up laterally and in a full forward lean, it’s just amazing!  He even asked Matt to reach out and hold himself up by grabbing Spencer’s shoulder and Matt was doing this even as Spencer was physically pushing Matt stressing him to see if he could still overcome the stress and support himself.  Matt did that more than once under stress which is really showing how much Matt is pushing himself as he’s being pushed.  Quite a site.  We also had a speech therapist come out Monday and she gave us things to work on with Matt with some goals, once those are working, Meagan will be back out to work on the next group of things.  It’s all a process and Matt continues to move forward.  Lisa had him up in a chair today for about 7 1/2 hours, a new record.  Spencer and I are working on a harness system to get Matt standing for longer periods of time, that way he can build a tolerance for that and work on taking steps so we can get that walking thing going on while all this other stuff in going.  We have 3 days booked with Spencer this week so Matt will be busy.  Feel free to stop by and visit.  We ask that you call the house ahead an hour or so before just in case Matt is in the middle of something or we’re not together.   If you need our home phone number feel free to email me a note at: sdmario@cox.net

Thanks all for your continued support.

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Well, Matt’s been home since Monday the 25th in the pm.  We were scrambling a little in the begining  but it’s all starting to settle in a bit now.  Matt has had a couple of rehab people that earlier this week but finally we had  a therapist in today that really knew what was going on and it was amazing to say the least!  He asked allot of questions then spent about an hour stretching Matt’s body.  He brought in a bench and then things really got interesting.  We first put shoes and socks on Matt and that was about a 10 minute adjustment.  Then we got Matt up onto the bench and sat him up.  What an adjustment but after about 10 minutes you could see Matt start to relax and hold himself up, it was amazing.  Every time Matt was pushed, he’d stress over it at first then you could see him adjust and start to take over on his own.  Then Spencer, the therapist, had him put some weight on his feet, slowly and very patiently.  Matt tolerated this increasingly well.  Then Spence looked over and said we are going to stand him up and that we did, all the way up standing while Spencer was supporting him, all 6 feet 2 inches.  It was spiritual.  What a moment after 5 months on his back, outside of when we all had him up in a chair, Matt was on his feet with a little help looking right across at Lindsey.  We did this twice then sat Matt back down and he sat there like sitting now was not such a big deal, holding his head up, looking a bit tired but after 2 1/2 hours of working like that, he deserved to be a bit tired, we all were emotionally exhausted.  Spencer was just amazing but I think as he saw what was happening, he had to keep pushing and Matt kept going.  What a feeling and what a relief!  We have all been saying that if Matt gets pushed he will do it.  It’s been a long and frustrating road to this point but now seeing that having him home and having control of what Matt is receiving as far as care and therapy and having someone like Spencer who is truly interested in helping Matthew and not being directed by some corporate bean counter, is just such a day and night contrast.  We have scheduled 3 more sessions for the next week to give Matt a rest in between because we all know he will be a bit sore and give us time to pick up more equipment for the next session.  Lisa and I are still looking for a van to transport Matt out of the house in the coming weeks so if anyone has a lead we are in the market for a handicap minivan and a speech therapist also that can help us out at the house with Matt.  Thanks again for all the positive thoughts and please keep Matt in your prayers because we all know that Matt’s real doctor is not of this world, we are all only the tools for doing his work.

Sincerely,

Lisa, Mario, Brittney, Lindsey, Joan, Jerry and Matthew

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Well, we tried but Matt is not quite ready for inpatient rehab now even though the doctors and therapist all agree on one thing, Matt has made and is continuing to make amazing progress.  The doctors report is stressing that we continue doing whatever it is that we are doing and to keep asking for follow up evaluations because as he put it, there is definitely some healing going on here.  Therapist have said that the more intelligent someone is the better the outcome as well as youth and heath all factor into what everyone sees an a potentially good outcome.  Matt has all of this in his favor, it just takes time and allot of love and attention.  That’s why we have all decided that what’s best for Matt is to come home and with the therapist Kaiser provides and what we learn from them we can provide much more than what’s happening at the Kaiser hospital.  Lisa and I also have professionals from the outside as well as equipment coming in the next week to provide a constant program of rehab to keep things moving in the right direction.  It will be allot of work but we won’t have the constant issues of commute times that are time that we could and should be spending with Matt as well as the constant love and in home environment that will all help Matt in a positive way.  It’s all about providing the best possible care and highest quality time for Matt now.  We thank you all for your work and effort in keeping Matt’s best recovery in mind and ask for your continued prayers and positive thoughts and energy flowing in our direction.  We all know that Matt feels the love.   We will keep you posted on when he will be home as well as how we work out visitation times once we are at home and settled. 

Love you all,

Mario, Lisa, Brittney, Matthew, Lindsey, Joan and Jerry

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Matt had a visit and evaluation by a well known physical medicine Dr. Stenehjem from Sharpe Rehab. The doctor introduced himself to Matthew and asked Matt to do different things. Matthew did what the doctor asked him to do confirming what we the family, friends and other professionals and concerned hospital staff that have been watching Matt over the past several weeks are observing.  Matt is making definite progress even from just 3 weeks ago when Sharpe’s Debra Morebello was out during Sharpe’s last evaluation.  Yeah Matt!  Doctor says there is definitely some healing, rewiring so to speak, going on.  Dr. Stenehjem did tell Lisa  after the he had been in the room for about an hour that reading Kaiser’s chart and their evaluation of Matt is quit different than what he sees visiting with Matt.  Dr. Stenehjem said Matt is right there and not unresponsive or vegetative as the Kaiser charts indicate.  As Lisa explained to the doctor what she sees when the Kaiser doctor does in the 2 - 3 minutes he spends with Matt during his quick evaluation asking Matt to perform 3 or 4 different tasks in that short period of time it’s apparent there is a lack of brain injury understanding in regards to assessment and treatment.  Dr. Stenehjem we’ve heard from other rehab facilities in the area has a very solid reputation in the brain injury rehabilitation community.  He is a very well-respected PMR (physical medicine/rehab) physician.  There does seem to be a definite buzz on the floor now that a Sharpe Rehab doctor has been in and walked away with such positive comments and upbeat outlook.   A hopefully independent and objective report now will be submitted to Kaiser and I would guess to the State for review.  We’ll keep you posted as things develop.

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Just to make it a little easier for everyone, Mario and Lisa have drafted a letter for you all to send to our officials, if you are having trouble - or don’t have a lot of time to come up with your own. Simply Copy and paste the following letter and then use the following contact links to raise your voice!

Fax above signed letter to for fast response:

• Senator Dianne Feinstein  (D - CA)  202-228-3954
• Senator Barbara Boxer    (D - CA)  202-224-0454
• Representative Darrel Issa  (R - 49)  202-225-3303
• Representative Brian Bilbray   (R - 50) 202-225-2558
• Rpresentative Bob Filner  (D - 51)  202-225-9073
• Representative Duncan Hunter  (R - 52)  202-225-0235
• Representative Susan A. Davis  (D - 53)  202-225-2948

Also Email:

• comments@help.senat.gov
• http://gov.ca.gov/interact

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Hey everyone.  We have had more than one therapist and 6 rehab centers from the outside that have Lisa and I have contacted and become aware of Matt’s progress and level via visits and consultations from the outside.  They have all come up with the same general conclusion.  Matt does respond very well with just a little professional stimulation and would benefit greatly to inpatient rehabilitation.  Ya Matt!  The issue has become apparent in the past week that if Matt is denied inpatient rehab at this point, he would have a near zero chance of ever receiving inpatient rehab. All he would receive is  limited to very little home therapy provided by Kaiser and as an only possible option down the road would be limited therapy as outpatient and that would be dictated by an insurance company down the line.  All the “professionals” outside of the “Kaiser Network” agree that Kaiser is being neglectful and doing Matt much more harm by holding him captive in the non rehab oriented Kaiser Medical Center that he is now in.  All have acknowledged that Matt needs and would benefit greatly now from “intensive Physical, Occupational and Speech therapies managed by a Physiatrist not a General Practitioner of Family Medicine that has been the case since June 11, 2008 when Matt was first admitted to the Kaiser Medical Center under over whelming pressure and threats from Kaiser case managers and doctors at Palomar Medical Center.  The same pressures were being applied in regards to Matthew coming home without therapy and Kaiser insisting that therapy would be provided by Kaiser Home Health once he was brought home.  The urgency to bring Matt home now has lessoned this week because of an appeal I filed with the State of California and a grievance filed with Kaiser.   Matt’s electronic chart at Kaiser which I have read on occasion is all scripted for Kaiser to achieve the goal of just moving Matt through the system in what they are continually trying to do we all know in the most cost effective manner to minimize costs and maximize profit.  Matt is a very young, achieved, educated, talented and motivated young man.  All that have ever met Matt know this.  Kaiser has this, as it was put to Lisa and I in the very beginning “wonderful and efficient “3 Billion dollar networked computer system that allows doctors and administrators the ability to manage patients efficiently”.  One would have to conclude: at a distance without ever, or at the very least, very minimally, ever visiting a patient and getting to know a person like Matt.  We feel that something has been lost in this distant, don’t get to personally involved way of ”HMO Health Care Management”.  This approach we feel along with the monetary motivation is what is driving the decisions being made and directing the lack of therapy that Matt needs.  Matt needs your help at this very critical time in his life.  We are asking that you send an appeal to the California State Governor’s Office and show your support and concern for Matt’s care.

Send Appeals to:

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger

State Capitol

Sacramento, CA 95814

governor@govmail.ca.gov

Thank You,

Mario and Lisa Ruiz

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Hey everyone, It’s time.  After 2 weeks of going round and round within the Kaiser system we’ve come to the conclusion that they just won’t and can’t provide at the Kaiser Hospital, San Diego the appropriate therapy.  They have him there as a captive withing their system and because of the lack therapy he recieves we will have him brought home.  Lisa and I are in the process of buying equipment and setting up therapy for Matt at home as well as buying a van for his outpatient care.  We all feel, along with 4 rehab facilities from the outside of the Kaiser system that this is important  at this time for Matt.  We will probably have to contract a physiatrist on our own if one is not in the order for Matt when he leaves.  Matt is doing very well on his own now with all that we are doing, he continues to do things from one day to day the next that seem to indicate it’s all coming back together.  The nurses and Lindsey now have seen Matt repostion him self twice on his own from his back to one side and that’s huge from where he was just 4 months ago at the time of his injury.  We had Matt outside yesterday for an hour and a half and he did very well with that.  He watched the sunset on the clouds and you could see and only imagine what must have been going through his mind at the time.  We have our house almost ready for Matt’s home coming and are setting up furniture and equipment as we recieve it.  Thanks for your continued interest and support.  We will post a date of discharge when that is available.

Mario

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Hey everyone,  Matt continues on the long road to recovery.  We are still working out details with Matt’s insurance carrier in regards to his home care and rehabilitation.  That’s a full time job in itself but we’re getting through it.  Matt is doing lots more what they call “purposeful movement”.  Readjusting himself, no not the way you boys are thinking, I mean overall repositioning, rolling over in bed from his back to side.  That’s huge, it’s reacting to his environment.  That’s what we need Matt, keep it up!  He is slowly, day by day coming back.  We’ve been getting him up in a chair down stairs and outside now since last Thursday and it really seems to be livening him up.  He sits out and watches the people passing by, the wind in the trees, reacts to all the sounds, the sunset.  He’s coming back a little bit everyday, it’s all good. 

I have another meeting with the Kaiser crew the end of this week so will see what gets resolved, can’t wait to get him out of that place, I know he’s looking forward to it also, we all tell him all the time.  Keep you all posted as things develop

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Hey Everyone,  Just to give you all the latest.  Matt continues to improve, steady small steps but it’s all coming together.  The most dramatic thing of all is that he is starting to verbalize.  Not as clear and we all speak but there’s been enough of it this week that all the nurses have taken notice and are all talking about it so that’s really good to hear.  From what it sounds it’s not just nonsense.  He told a couple of the nurses that were in his room doing I’m not exactly what but were talking about something accident related and he spoke up and said ” stop talking “, don’t know, I wasn’t there, but that’s what they told us on Saturday.  Matt has on more than one occasion told a nurse “no” when they are about to do something that he doesn’t like.   We have all noticed with certain subjects like auto accidents along with certain people that come in seem to set him off and make him anxious so we think that that is all a good thing because with this and other things we ask of him and the way he responds seem to clearly  indicate understanding and processing of verbal conversation.  One thing that is a huge step is getting Matt to swallow on command now and I have gotten him to do it for me and for a couple of nurses who have documented it in Matt’s file for all to see.  Even with these improvements all the doctor that’s rounding this month and the case manager seem concerned with is saving cost and sending Matt home.

This weeks hurdle seems to be the direction of Matt’s additional treatment.  Lisa and I have been in communication with several people that have been in our situation along with other institutions in the Southern California area that treat patients with Matt’s injury.  The overwhelming consensus is that Matt should go to rehab first before coming home.  Kaiser Permanente seems to be moving away from this and have indicated that Matt needs to come home regardless of what we read or who we are talking too. 

I ask for all your continued positive thoughts and prayers for Matt’s continued improvement, strength to guide us through this continuing trying time in our lives and that the doctors, case managers and the other “powers that be” as Kaiser doctors seem to put it, will look at Matt as the smart, talented, wonderful and very loved young man that he is and make the right decision for Matt, not just look out for the most “cost effective way for the company” that seems to blind so many institutions in these “quality of life” and “continuity of care” decisions that can affect so many people for a lifetime whendecisions are made with and ulterior motive and not the care and compassion that health care should be all about.  “Thrive”, what does that really mean and for whom is it directed? 

I will update this blog as things develop.  Thanks for all your support.

Mario

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In an attempt to make things easier for Mario himself to communicate Matt’s progress, we made a new blog. Special thanks to Kristin for keeping us all updated thus far. You can still access her past blog posts on the right, along with a feed from Lindsey’s blog. Take it away Mario.

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