As I mentioned in the last post, today we went for my husband's first TDRL evaluation. Here is our experience:
About a week ago we got a packet with his orders to report to Fort Eustis for his TDRL appointments. There was a sticky note on the top of the packet saying "Call me if you have any questions...bring this packet of info with you" and his appointment instructions attached. We later found out this person is actually his PEBLO counselor. We had never heard of her before.
DH is on medication that makes him "loopy". Today was one of those days where he was having a lot of balance issues and what I call "listing". He had a hard time staying upright. So, I obviously was the driver today.
We giggled when we got there to find a "Shred-It" truck behind the hospital. I said, "Oh, look...it's the next scandal in progress!"

We had a good laugh over that sight.
We got to the clinic early only to find that they put the wrong room number on his instructions.
Great going, people. That's perfect for a brain-injured veteran. LOL Luckily I was there to get him where he really needed to be.
We checked in and were given about six pages of questions in very fine print for his intake assessment at the Mental Health Clinic. It was written for an active duty member and geared toward lower-ranked members of the military. What I mean is, they asked things like "Do you like your current assignment?" and "What medals or awards have you earned?" with a very small line to give a full answer. I read it outloud to DH and copied his answers verbatim. He responded with "NO, I do not like my assignment!" and "Too many to list here". LOL On the questions that gave you more than one line to put your answer he said "I hate essay questions". LOL So that's what I put down for him. I filled it out according to what HE was going to say, not me. He was so irritated by the time we got done with the intake sheet. If I didn't do it that way and helped him, he would have simply not filled anything out. Most likely he would have asked the receptionist to shove it up her

and gone home. The fact it was even filled out was a miracle. He just doesn't have the patience for it.
So then the receptionist says "why don't you two go get a cup of coffee over in the next building?" I said, "Are you saying we have a long wait ahead of us?" and laughed. We took her advice.
Going over to the next building we found the coffee shop. As soon as I walked in the doors, I could smell the sweet aroma of coffee and commented on how strong it was. DH, however, can't smell a thing. Just then we passed a slender woman in jeans that we've never seen before. She stopped him and said "Are you SSG Shannon?" That confused him that she would know who he was. Here I am trying to hold him upright and assure him he wasn't losing his memory. LOL I introduced ourselves and she said she was the doctor we were about to see. She apparently was running late due to traffic and stopped for coffee before going to the clinic. We got our coffee and agreed to go back to the clinic in a few minutes. He said "I think she's been briefed about who I am...."
When she came to the clinic waiting area, she asked me to stay behind. I said "I'd rather not. He needs my assistance and you will probably thank me later for it" and politely declined her offer to stay behind. With a surprised look on her face, she led us to her office.
So we get settled in her office and I told her that unless my husband asks for my assistance, I am not there to interrupt. She seemed receptive to my presence after that.
Within a few moments, DH was struggling to speak or get his words out. He asked for my help, and I answered for him. I explained that we have a "system" between us and she ought to know that we do something called "waving the flag" if he goes off on a tangent in different directions. That way she could interrupt him if necessary without making him angry.
So after her second question, which drifted into dialogue from DH that went nowhere, she found herself using an imaginary flag to wave him to stop talking. She learned quickly! LOL
We spent three hours with her. DH was clenching his fists, having outbursts in frustration, bouncing his legs, getting dizzy from the stress, holding his head...(and don't tell him I said this...) fits of crying, etc. He was SO stressed out. I told her that he needed to know he could regroup outside her office to continue, and may he please leave for a few moments. I would go outside and calm him down, then go back in and continue all over again. In this time she was frustrated that she had NO neuro-psych testing available from his past medical records. I had about six inches of records stacked up, categorized, color coded, etc. She was SO grateful that I had more records than she did. In fact, she said she had very sparse records at her disposal and wondered if I would come work at her clinic. LOL
I gave examples of his symptoms. For instance, I said he has no sense of smell. I gave the example of how we met in the hallway outside the coffee shop and that when she walked up we were discussing how he couldn't smell the coffee in the air, which was strong to me. I gave her real-life examples of everything she asked about.
We discussed the fact that his PEB doesn't rate him for a TBI, and he clearly has one. We discussed that his injuries are not correct on the PEB and needs fixed. I discussed that he has more than just cognitive dysfunction and she clearly agreed. She said his GAF (Global Assessment Function) was documented as a 64 on his NARSUM, but she said "I believe that to be too optimistic" It was like someone FINALLY connected the dots that this was mishandled from start to finish and that he truly DOES have deficits. We also discussed documenting his levels of function and showing the deficit based on past tests (ie. ASVAB or other such data) by retesting him again on the same tests...and that should show his decline. He had line scores on his ASVAB showing 130+ before his injury and a 99 total score. Despite his high IQ even after his injury, he simply cannot function without assistance or intervention. I think retaking the ASVAB (or other tests he took in the past) will help prove just how this has impacted him. But the real measure is how he functions in day-to-day living.
We talked about the VASRD criteria, new TBI and scar criteria, etc. She was suprised I knew anything about them...or had copies of them on hand. I owe you all here for arming me with great info!!! She said a lot of what was in the VA records I brought would substantiate the missed items on his PEB. We will see what happens in the end...
Anyway, the PEBLO counselor assigned to us was not in her office today. After the doctor was done, she gave me her card and said we would hear back on the "next appointment" we needed to go to. I will call the PEBLO counselor and ask about that tomorrow.
So there you have it....I suppose we made good progress with this first step. I wanted to thank everyone here for holding my hand through everything thus far and being patient with me for so long. Hopefully I can get through this and get him off TDRL. It's time we get on with our lives!