Enjoyable Visit

Another Friday is here and it's hard to believe that a week ago my family was arriving in Missoula to visit me. We had such a great time with Theresa & Dustin and lots of things were packed into a few days.

Friday evening we all went out to the River City Grill in Milltown for dinner. The River City Grill is located in a old building that once housed the headquarters for a local logging company. This made for a cool atmosphere and the food was awesome.

Saturday afternoon took us on a return trip to the Bayern Brewery so my dad could check it out. Bayern makes a variety of German beers and it's just a cool place to spend a couple of hours. The pretzels and mustard at Bayern are outstanding and I can't wait until they start grilling their bratwurst over the summer. We finished out the day by visiting the art show at the University Center and going to the Southgate Mall.

On Sunday we headed to Sharon (Dustin's aunt) and Doug's place which is about 50 miles west of Missoula. They have a real nice place and the view from their deck is so scenic. We spent the afternoon visiting and we had elk stew and cornbread for supper. A highlight of the day was seeing a elk herd while we were leaving. There were over 20 of them and it was quite the sight to see.

Monday was our final day together and we started out the day by visiting Big Sky Brewery. The have a nice gift shop/tasting area and it's fun visiting the folks out there. Our next stop was to Rockin' Rudy's in downtown Missoula. Rockin' Rudy's is a huge place with a record shop and a ton of other stuff. It's a cool place to visit and browse the time away. After Rockin' Rudy's we went to the house for dinner. We grilled burgers and made potato salad. It was a relaxing way to end our time together.

Having my family visiting here means alot and makes me feel truly at home here in western Montana. I look forward to another visit late this summer unless we are able to visit North Dakota before that.

Today was a busy day with Mary (my PT) and Missoula Orthotics coming to do a molding. They did a plaster mold for a new side support for my new chair. I'm excited to have this completed and this should make me much more comfortable in my new chair. It was kinda a messy project but I thought I'd include a picture anyway. Thanks Mary for the use of your camera!

Whew, this week has been a blur! It was a blast and I'm thankful for the time I could spend with my folks and sister. Summer is around the bend and I'm looking forward to sharing my continued adventures with all of you.

Peace,

Mark

Upcoming Visit

There is a strong feeling of excitement this week as I wait for my family to arrive in town Friday for a visit. This will be the first time my whole family has come to Missoula and it will be great having them here. Hoping the weather will be nice but you never know what spring in Montana can bring. I'll post some pictures of our visit on next weeks edition.

I spent last week getting my college admissions stuff together. Applying to college was something I've dreamed about for some time but never in a million years did I think the dream would be in reach. This fall it is my intention to attend the University of Montana and start the work towards a possible major in Journalism. This whole upcoming process will be a lot of work but the experience will be worth it.

The Bivona trach saga is continuing and we are trying to find a good solution. The manufacturer doesn't think they can make my custom trach to the specs we ordered. We're continuing to work with Bivona to see if we can resolve this current hurdle and get the trach that will best fit my needs.

Tomorrow afternoon Dustin and I will be visiting MonTech to try out the Brain Fingers system. Brain Fingers are a headband you wear and supposedly it allows a person with a disability to operate a computer by thought. I'm really excited to try out this technology and see if it lives up to it's claim. Definitely more on this trial demo next week.

That's the news this week from western Montana. I'll return next week after my family's visit with the latest from Missoula.

Peace,

Mark

Meeting Max

I was thinking while I was in town yesterday that I better get another blog update cranked out. While we were in town yesterday we had to take our old guy to the chiropractor and I had to get my blood level checked. After our business was done we stopped through the Golden Arches to soothe my nugget addiction. We ordered Prince a 4 piece too and he thought that was a good deal. Hmmm no wonder he likes going to town on a bye bye with us.

This afternoon we went to Missoula Head Start for an event sponsored by Montana People's Action. U.S. Senator Max Baucus was in attendance to read to the kids and discuss the reauthorizing of SCHIP. SCHIP is government sponsored health insurance for low-income children. We had the opportunity to meet Senator Baucus and discuss some of the issues that are important to Montanan's with disabilities. We talked about for the need for more Medicaid providers and the need for more funding of community based care. I told Max of my nursing home incarceration back in North Dakota and how I have so many new opportunities in Montana. Max really seemed to listen and care about what we all had to say. Definitely was a very worth while afternoon.

Things keep rolling on here in Missoula and here's a few other thing that I've been up to.

I met last week with my PT and a guy from Missoula Orthotics. We discussed the need for a custom support for my right side. They are going to do a plaster imprint and design a padded support for me. I'm excited that these efforts will make me very comfortable in my new chair.

Friday evening we went to Famous Dave's to celebrate the birthday of Dustin's mom. We had a really good time and the food was excellent. It was great to have an enjoyable evening with April and Welles.

I meet with my ENT this week and hopefully we can finally resolve my trach issues. We've been communicating with the Bivona representative and we're fine tuning the dimensions on a custom trach. The doctor needs to fill out a template and then Bivona can make my trach.

That's it for another wild week here in Big Sky country. Take care until next time.

Mark