Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum - EcoModder.com - View Single Post - Craig Vetter (injured in streamliner/deer collision)

MVetter · 01-05-2016, 09:33 PM

Why yes, I have. I hadn't thought about this thread much but then I get the email alert when people post so I thought I'd give a bit of an update.

Dad came home later October and has been a bit of a handful. The only things he had previously, during hospital stay, repeated over and over were, "take me home" and, "I want to go home". Well it turns out he had an idealized version of home in his mind. His whole life he's used to being in charge and giving orders. Unfortunately, for his own safety, we basically had to hover around him and stop him from setting himself on fire or falling over or burning the house down, etc. We, in short, had to tell him, "no" a lot, and this came as a huge shock to him and was the cause of many meltdowns.

We've moved through most of that. Right now he's definitely him but he's just kind of slow and foggy. He has trouble remembering the right words for things. Today we took a walk as part of his therapy. It had been raining earlier and the road was covered in earthworms. "Look at that," he said, "bugs all over the road, like little snakes". He just couldn't remember the word for worm. We have some in-home care people that watch over him at night on a regular basis. They show up at 9. One evening I was over and they pulled up. "Ahh," dad said, "my mechanic is here." He knows exactly what the purpose of the guy is, but the words elude him.

We've got him back on his computer looking mostly at Facebook and responding to emails which he does on his own. Facebook is hard for him to use and we have to show him how it works, but he likes to be a part of things as he tends to feel very isolated these days. He wants to respond to everything, sometimes multiple times as he is a bit confused right now. If people here want to send him an email I bet he'd love that and would probably respond even if he has no idea who you are. Be forewarned that almost all of his responses are a variation of the following:

"Hello,
Thank you for your letter. The last 5 months have been very hard for me because a deer hit me. This is probably the hardest thing I've ever had to do in my life. I am getting better thanks to my wife and sons.
Craig"

There will be slight variation and a lot more ellipses (...) but fully expect something like that as a response. But yeah, by all means, drop him a line at craig@craigvetter DOT com <-- the forum won't let me post an email address until I have 5 posts.

These sorts of things really lift his spirits these days. Thank you all for your concern.

01-05-2016, 09:33 PM	#60 (permalink)
MVetter EcoModding Lurker Join Date: Sep 2015 Location: Monterey, CA Posts: 4 Thanks: 0 Thanked 61 Times in 4 Posts	Why yes, I have. I hadn't thought about this thread much but then I get the email alert when people post so I thought I'd give a bit of an update. Dad came home later October and has been a bit of a handful. The only things he had previously, during hospital stay, repeated over and over were, "take me home" and, "I want to go home". Well it turns out he had an idealized version of home in his mind. His whole life he's used to being in charge and giving orders. Unfortunately, for his own safety, we basically had to hover around him and stop him from setting himself on fire or falling over or burning the house down, etc. We, in short, had to tell him, "no" a lot, and this came as a huge shock to him and was the cause of many meltdowns. We've moved through most of that. Right now he's definitely him but he's just kind of slow and foggy. He has trouble remembering the right words for things. Today we took a walk as part of his therapy. It had been raining earlier and the road was covered in earthworms. "Look at that," he said, "bugs all over the road, like little snakes". He just couldn't remember the word for worm. We have some in-home care people that watch over him at night on a regular basis. They show up at 9. One evening I was over and they pulled up. "Ahh," dad said, "my mechanic is here." He knows exactly what the purpose of the guy is, but the words elude him. We've got him back on his computer looking mostly at Facebook and responding to emails which he does on his own. Facebook is hard for him to use and we have to show him how it works, but he likes to be a part of things as he tends to feel very isolated these days. He wants to respond to everything, sometimes multiple times as he is a bit confused right now. If people here want to send him an email I bet he'd love that and would probably respond even if he has no idea who you are. Be forewarned that almost all of his responses are a variation of the following: "Hello, Thank you for your letter. The last 5 months have been very hard for me because a deer hit me. This is probably the hardest thing I've ever had to do in my life. I am getting better thanks to my wife and sons. Craig" There will be slight variation and a lot more ellipses (...) but fully expect something like that as a response. But yeah, by all means, drop him a line at craig@craigvetter DOT com <-- the forum won't let me post an email address until I have 5 posts. These sorts of things really lift his spirits these days. Thank you all for your concern.