Appointments Never Stop...And Neither Do We

A few weeks ago, we had 5 different PTSD/TB-related appointments within a 4 hour period. Today we had three PTSD/TBI related appointments, next week it will be more...the appointments never seem to stop and neither do we.

It was PTSD/TBI Friday for us today... our schedule went as follows:

10am: Therapy appointment at our local VA clinic.

• We discussed that with JR finishing up the current semester, he was finally able to relax a little over the summer. Nothing major to discuss with the therapist, but did find coping skill insights that we're going to try and use.

12:00pm: Neurofeedback

• Nothing really enlightening happened today. We attend Neurofeedback about 2-3 times a week, sometimes it's we have a breakthrough, other times we don't. But we stick with it because it does seem to be doing something positive. Since we've been going, JR has stopped smoking and is able to stay awake and alert (very different from a year ago when he was falling asleep for 10+ hours). For more information on our Neurofeedback adventure, please see our previous post here.

2:30pm: TBI Evaluation for Disability Rating

• We put in for a disability claim last year for JR's TBI diagnosis. We have been told JR's headaches (they're constant, everyday) could be TBI. Then we've heard, no he doesn't have it. Then again, yes he does have TBI but mild (although how any Traumatic Brain Injury can be considered mild is beyond me with the use of the word Traumatic). It has always been a back and forth issue for us. They say he has it, but they haven't done anything else. We basically put in the TBI claim for disability just to find out if he has it or not, because in order to give him a rating, they would have to test him first. We were advised to do this by our local VSO (Veterans Service Organization).
• The doctor today determined that yes, JR does have TBI. However, his TBI will not show up on a MRI or CATscan because unlike a stroke, the damage isn't immediately obvious. The Dr. will report his findings to the VA and we'll go from there... not really sure what the next step will be.

We're free for the weekend... but on Monday, we are heading two hours south to visit the West LA VA Pain Clinic so they can look into JR's headaches and hopefully find a solution. We've been there twice before, and nothing happened. They suggested last time that we inject steroids into his head, but it would only last for a week and then he would get worse rebound headaches. We said no, we didn't want rollar coaster headaches. But we're going back again... just to see if they can come up with something else this time.

Long story short... we're just sticking with it. It's our hope that with the variety of Veteran things we participate with (NAMI, Neurofeedback, Wounded Heroes, the VA - Mental health therapy, OIF Gold Team, Pain Clinic, Physical Therapy, etc) that something will work and JR will no longer have constant headaches. There's a lot of complaining about the VA, sometimes by us too, but what is our alternative? We just have to persist and work with it.

Originally posted on PTSDdiary.com, 5/14/10