Veteran's Art Center Art for Sale

See this and more online now

Mother to Mother - Snout in My Pocket

by Mavis McDowell

Our goal of raising a service dog for my son isn’t so easy to obtain. I’ve written about our white Doberman Freja before. She is a high-spirited puppy. She is also a very large puppy. She has gone from 10 pounds when we got her at eight weeks to around 65 pounds at 5 ½ months. She is large enough that it’s difficult to keep things out of her reach. The biggest problem we are having is that she’s difficult to control in public. She thinks she should defend us against every person that walks down the street and every car that drives by. So that is the challenge for this month to get her to accept that we are not being threatened. .
My husband and I became impatient with my son for not paying attention to the training with the dog. Having health challenges myself, I wasn’t vigilant enough to notice that my son might be having petit mall seizures during the day when we thought he wasn’t paying attention. I should have known better. I asked him and he said he was fine each time. But that’s all they ever say. I don’t think the person is really aware when they have laps of consciousness. I watched, but didn’t see. Some families refuse to recognize that a member could be having mini seizures. Several people I know had them from TBI. We attributed his lack of response to the puppy as still being consumed by his ailing Pekinese pal. Our little Pekinese did pass away, two weeks ago. We had the cremation ceremony and everything was done to bring closure for my son. Then his attention drifting away from Freja and his failure to give her the necessary commands frustrated us.
Other mothers and caretakers should note. With all my training I believed him when the neurologist told me that my son’s seizures from the traumatic brain injuries were under control. That neurologist prescribed medication and it seemed to be working very well for John. I didn’t remain vigilant. I thought he was fine and maybe had the few seizures, the doctor suggested slipping through at night. I was happy and confident that everything was going to be as great as possible. They only see them in neurology and psychology once every 3 to 6 months. He has a different neurologist now. I was surprised when she told me that my son had a very low dose of the seizure medication and we needed to check the levels in his blood to see if it was adequately helping him. So we did go get the blood levels checked and are awaiting the results. But I’m beating myself up, as all mothers do, for not knowing what was going on and for being impatient with my son. If he gets adequate seizure medication the training should be easier. Those little laps of consciousness so easily go on noticed or attributed to lack of motivation. The person with TBI can’t control the mini lapses of consciousness even if we yell. So be smarter than me and find out if your veteran has adequate medication. It’s too easy to blame the injured person.
We have discovered that Freja loves to play ball and Frisbee. Her passion is Kleenex or any paper product. I have allergies and usually have a Kleenex in my pocket. Freja knows that and always has her SNOUT IN MY POCKET to extract the Kleenex and run with it across the room. She is a good eater. The problem is she eats everything, including paper towels, plastic bags, rubber balls, stuffed animals, Frisbees, clothes pins and rocks. I don’t think she’s swallowed any rocks. Luckily we have a three person team to catch her and get whatever out of her mouth. A positive effect is that you lose weight running around with your puppy.

Christmas Day at the Veteran's Art Center

Veterans get Special Holiday Dinner

See also

Local Veterans Celebrate Christmas

Mother to Mother - TBI

by Mavis MacDowell

Traumatic brain injury can cause dyslexia, and did in  my son’s case.  I have struggled with the “Books for the Blind” people  for years to get him the books on then tape. The answer was always, “ We need a doctor’s orders and he doesn’t qualify because he  isn’t blind.”

            Making one last attempt to get him something that would stimulate learning something worthwhile  and better than the idiot violent shows on TV, I got lucky. After sending in more paperwork  I connected with another Blue Star Mother who just happened to be  the Librarian for  “Talking Books  of  Nevada” .  We chatted a while about  John’s need for the services. Then we talked about our  military sons. Hers was in Afghanistan. I offered to put his name on the Las Vegas LDS Temple prayer roll. Everyone who goes to the Temple for  two weeks prays for the  people on the roll. I told her it worked for my nephew when he was in Iraq.   He was in  some  ferocious battles. He came home mostly  unharmed and with the Bronze Star.

            She thanked me, and has been sending my son, John very interesting audio  CDs. He is listening and learning. It may take some effort to get your  veteran interested in listening. If he has a special interest you can  order CDs on that subject. The contact information I have is for the state of Nevada. You can goggle books for the blind for your state. A good story can transport you mentally to anyplace you want to go. A good diversion.

            I am so grateful this Thanksgiving season for the progress my son has been making. His new hip enables him to stand and walk like a man. Very important for his self-esteem. He is participating in the training of his service dog. She is very intelligent. The audio books enable people to think about new ideas and places.

            As mothers we are always trying to think of ways to improve the situation.

Give  Talking Books  a try.

Mother to Mother - Neurogenisis

 by Mavis MacDowell

NEUROGENESIS  is my favorite word. I get excited when I find references to it in   scientific literature. Psychiatrists found  years ago that patients taking Depakote showed improved mental functioning. After research the conclusion was that it aided NEURAL PLASTICITY another of my favorite words. Which means that new neurons can grow in the brain to replace the ones damaged by TBI.

            Recent research looking at  neuron growth after use of antidepressants the theory was serotonin aided the neurogenesis indirectly.  They now find that after mice took Prozac the levels of a fat called Ceramide was dramatically lowered in their brains. Ceramide  is known to stall neuron growth.

            It is obvious that my son and I have  experienced neurogenesis after our frequent near fatal traumatic brain injuries. The Lord has kept us alive for a reason. I think it is to give others hope of some level of recovery.

            So talk to your loved one’s neurologist about  neurogenesis. It’s worth the effort. I am so grateful for every improvement in my son’s  functioning. He has become very aware of his progress lately and it makes us  very happy.