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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