Coming Around

Looking back it is hard to believe that nearly a year and a half ago Ray was involved in a life-changing car accident that left him with a severe TBI. He has made such great progress from where he started at Glasgow level 1 to now being assessed on the Mayo-Portland index. While many of the ability index ratings remain the same from last month at moderate to severe problem rankings, Ray is still working hard and meeting his therapy goals. His participation in the NeuroRestorative program in Tampa has increased to near 100% with new tailored goals being developed to better engage and track his overall progress. As Ray continues to meet his therapy goals, we should see new ability ratings closer to a mild score.

Now that Ray has become well established in his new care plan, he has been able to attend follow-up VA appointments for behavior and speech therapy where a new swallow study was conducted. From these appointments his psychiatrist did not observe any behavioral problems that would require any change in his care plan and he was recently approved for a regular food diet, but he still cannot tolerate high amounts of thin liquids. This is great news for his recovery! Next month Ray has also been scheduled for a follow-up VA appointment with his neurologist where his tremor medicine, Keppra, and daily dosage will be examined. This was originally scheduled for this month but was pushed back. It will be extremely important that a proper evaluation be done soon to examine the best medicine and dosage for Ray’s condition. He continues to struggle daily with uncontrollable tremors that greatly impact his daily living activities.

Another great sign of Ray’s recovery is his ability to correspond with family and friends without behavioral outbursts. While impulse control will continue to be a problem for Ray due to his injury, frequent contact from family and friends will help him to work on this. We have also been able to start video chat sessions with him on his iPad that he seems to enjoy. This is another great way to stay in touch with Ray if people are unable to call or write. He can be contacted via FaceTime, email “pray4ray2012@gmail.com”, or Skype, ID “prayforray”. For now please keep the video chats to evenings after 5 to not conflict with Ray’s therapies. If you’d rather call or write, Ray’s updated contact info is below, please note the new extensions for when calling:

NeuroRestorative
Attn: Ray Brown
2411 Clement Rd
Lutz, FL 33549
813-948-3325 x3014 (Normal hours) x4 (After hours)

Ray during a recent FaceTime chat session.

Thanks for all your continued support!

Team Ray