Robotic therapy moving arms again

New equipment helps people regain arm movement 
Helps veterans regain movement to disabled arms 
Our Quad Cities
By: Yukare Nakayama 
Posted: Sep 18, 2018 

DAVENPORT, Iowa - A breakthrough in robotic therapy. The Myomo orthosis is now helping those suffering from paralyzed or weakened arms and hands gain back motion.

"I just really see the excitement and hope it brings patients," says Myomo business manager, Kim Smith. The device reads nerve signals from the surface of the skin. It then activates small motors to move the arm and hand. The brace amps up the weak muscle signal to move the limb.

This device is for those who've suffered from strokes or similar disabilities. Myomo's business manager says repetition of these movements can really do wonders. "We have some patients who are able to return to work. 

It's basically the future and the hope that there is a way to restore that arm," says Smith. Myomo is targeting a specific audience, veterans. About 3.8 million veterans in the U.S are disabled. 

This device not only helps them gain function back to their elbow or their arms but also their independence. And that is something the Veteran Outreach Center in Davenport is looking forward to. read more here

Spirituality May Protect Their Mental Health

Something bigger for mind-body-spirit
Combat PTSD Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
September 18, 2018

On Forbes there is a very interesting article about mental health and spirituality. Raising Kids With Religion Or Spirituality May Protect Their Mental Health: Study

"It turned out that those who attended religious services at least once a week as children or teens were about 18% more likely to report being happier in their 20s than those who never attended services. They were also almost 30% more likely to do volunteer work and 33% less likely to use drugs in their 20s as well."

In other words, you are happier if you believe in something outside of yourself. Yep, and you are more likely to care about others too.

"But what was interesting was that it wasn’t just about how much a person went to services, but it was at least as much about how much they prayed or meditated in their own time. Those who prayed or meditated every day also had more life satisfaction, were better able to process emotions, and were more forgiving compared to those who never prayed/meditated. They were also less likely to have sex at an earlier age and to have a sexually transmitted infection."

 You are also more likely to be happier, less likely to hang onto bad feelings and anger. Notice that also stated that you do not need to be in a building to be in a place of prayer or meditation? In other words, you can do it where you are for free!

"One drawback of the new study was that although it tried to control for socioeconomic status and other confounding variables, most people in the study were white, female, and of higher socioeconomic status. The study would need to be repeated in a more diverse population to see whether the phenomenon holds for other demographics."

Some may want to point out that if you have more money and security, then you are happier and more giving. I know plenty of people with the means to do a lot of good in this world, but they are more interested in themselves than others.

This is from 2014

Don't take your life, take it back
Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
March 22, 2014

The Department of Veterans Affairs puts it this way

After a trauma or life-threatening event, it is common to have reactions such as upsetting memories of the event, increased jumpiness, or trouble sleeping. If these reactions do not go away or if they get worse, you may have Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

Sometimes you may feel like a victim but you just didn't notice that you are a survivor. You are not weak. You were so strong that you were willing to risk your life for your friends and that came from the strength within you.

PTSD means you survived an event that was so traumatic your life was on the line. Anyone can change after that. When it is caused by combat, it means it wasn't just your life on the line but the lives of your friends as well.

While the events changed you, that does not mean you cannot change again. It doesn't mean you are stuck feeling lousy inside. You are not condemned to suffer, feeling sad, angry, bitter or hopeless. Help is out there the same way you were there to help your buddies survive combat.

Don't even think about taking your own life now when you can take your life back!

Every part of a warfighter went. Your body was conditioned to react to stressful situations. Your mind was trained to react in a new way. Your spirit was pushed and often crushed by what you had to see and do. Every part of you changed because of combat.

Life is full of challenges and changes because of them. Challenge yourself to discover that you have the ability to change again. Your buddies watched over you just as you watched over them when someone was trying to kill you. There is still an enemy to fight back home trying to claim victory over you and them. You used weapons in war and you need weapons now to fight PTSD. You were not alone in combat and you are not alone now.

Seek help for your mind even if that means medication. If the medication doesn't work or you are having problems with it, talk to your doctors so that they can change them until they find the right ones for you.

Seek help to teach your body how to live calmly again. It had to be trained to push on and now it needs to be trained to relax again.

Seek help to heal your spirit. After all you went through it is often hard to feel the good emotions because the bad ones are so strong. All that was good inside of you before is still in there.

PTSD can be defeated and you can take your life back.

And this is why I use Combat PTSD....

Combat PTSD Acronyms To Heal By
Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
December 14, 2013

PTSD does not mean FUBAR (short for "Fucked Up Beyond All Repair" or "Recognition." To describe impossible situations, equipment, or persons as in, "It is (or they are) totally Fubar!") even though most of what the DOD has been doing has been.

If it worked then suicides wouldn't have gone up. If it worked then we wouldn't be talking about so much suffering back home. (Hell, this blog would be pretty happy and light on posts so I could get back to working for a paycheck all the time again instead of taking temp jobs.)

What we talk about all the time isn't what everyone else sees on the news so we'll keep cutting thru the BS (bull shit) living back here in the WORLD (USA)

Start with the acronym of PTSD itself "Post Traumatic Stress Disorder" meaning "after trauma" which is actually "after wound" since trauma is Greek for "wound" and it was something that was done to you or you were exposed to. There should be no issue with this term if it was understood correctly. Replacing "disorder" as some want to do would put PTSD into something temporary instead of a lifetime disability. Changing it to I for injury would imply it will heal and go away but while you can heal PTSD, it never really goes away. With the right help you can actually come out on the other side better than the way you went into the military. What you can't heal you can learn how to adapt with.

So for them, CPTC would be the best acronym to use.

COMBAT POST TRAUMATIC CHANGE is a term I've been trying to come up with for over 30 years. (Plain and simple so if you see that term used from now on, you know where it came from.) Trauma changes everyone no matter what the cause was but hacks want to lump everyone in together as if there is no difference between a survivor of a car accident and a veteran surviving combat. A true PTSD guru not only points out the differences but the different levels as well. All PTSD are not the same! Veterans need the distinction to appropriately address what they survived and the fact they knowingly put themselves in danger for the sake of someone else. (Cops are the closest to veterans because they also deal with trauma and weapons used to do what they do but we're not talking about them on this one.) 

If you have issues with PTSD then start to use CPTC if it helps. Consider it this way. Combat changed you but that doesn't mean you cannot change again. There is nothing to be ashamed of and as a matter of fact, you are supposed to talk about it and not try to forget that part of your life.

Vietnam War Medal of Honor Hero Sammy Davis has been talking about this for years. He nailed it in this video from last year when I sat down with him and his wife Dixie. While I've known him for years, it was the first time we talked so much.

MOH Sammy Davis and Kathie Costos

Vietnam Medal of Honor Sammy Davis has a message to all the troops coming home. Talk about it! Don't try to forget it but you can make peace with it. Dixie Davis has a message for the spouses too. Help them to talk about it with you or with someone else.

 Now that you got the idea out of your head that you are supposed to just get over it, we can move onto the next part. MBS, mind-body-spirit.

Mind means talking to a shrink to be figured out. They test to see what is happening but if they are a hack and not trained for trauma, you can get a list of different diagnosis to explain what is going on. You need them for medications and they do have to play around with the meds to find what works for you. You need to talk to them and tell them if the meds are not working. The stuff hits your stomach and the chemicals shoot to your brain and your brain shoots the stuff out to the rest of your body. Meds are not the same as self-medicating and that is why drinking your 12th beer didn't work to get your adrenalin to adapt back to your civvies again.

This is only part of healing. The next part is taking care of your body. You have to train your body to become a veteran as much as you had to train it to become a flyboy, Sailor, Soldier or Marine. Well, as for Marines, they never really learn to walk right again. They keep the way they walk for the rest of their lives.

If you are physically able, martial arts, yoga, walking, swimming and a long list help teach your body to live more calmly. Make sure you do it at the same time everyday no matter how long you do it. Your body has an internal clock and will get used to what it does one day to the next and basically relearns. Just makes sure you can shut your head off when you are doing any of these. If your thoughts tend to run away, put in a pair of earbuds (unless you are swimming) and listen to calming music. It is fine to listen to whatever kind of music you like any other time of the day but this time has to be set aside for calming. Same with computer games. Don't play Call of Duty and think it is calming you down.

The spirit part is the most important of all since that is where CPTC hit you.

CSF (Comprehensive Soldier Fitness) is a bunch of BS and has done more harm than it has helped. We know that but the military has lacked the intel to figure that one out. So whatever you took from that training, forget about it. It is FUBAR to the max. Expecting you to train to become mentally stronger than what you already were is moronic. It has filled more body bags than the enemy. When suicides go up after they start something should have been a clue but there is no telling when or if they will ever figure that one out. When it comes to their ability to recon, they are pretty much Dinky Dau.

They trained you to be combat ready. Mentally and physically. What they had no part in was what you went into the military with. You courage and your compassion. It takes both to be willing to risk your life for the sake of someone else so whatever BS they fed you a steady diet of has to be flushed. That strength inside of you also opened the door for you to feel the bad stuff stronger than others did. It is not weakness of anything so telling you that you can train to be what you already were caused the emotional train wreck afterwards. This is a really good video on what is really going on with this crap.

POINT MAN: lead soldier in a unit cutting a path through dense vegetation if needed and constantly exposed to the danger of tripping booby traps or being the first in contact with the enemy.

Point Man leaders figured this out a long time ago. As a matter of fact before most of the new veterans were even born, way back in 1984. They also figured out that the families need to be educated and supported so they can help their veterans. It isn't whack-over-head-you're-going-to-hell type of spiritual healing. It is you are loved and you need to stop thinking you are evil because you are suffering. You don't deserve to suffer no matter what you try to tell yourself or anyone else does. There was no evil in you if you put your life on the line and there is no evil in you if you're grieving.

STAND-DOWN (period of rest and refitting in which all operational activity, except for security, is stopped.)

Time to learn, heal and then do what you do best. Take care of the others in need of help too. You know it all too well and you know what if feels like to be alone. Tomorrow can be better if you keep looking until you find what it is YOU need to heal.

UPDATE Can't help myself and have to say this.


FNG's in the DOD like to pretend PTSD is new but since they learned nothing from the past, nothing has improved but the bank accounts of morticians.

Newly Pinned Chief Petty Officer Found Dead

Jacksonville police suspect foul play after U.S. Navy Chief Petty Officer found dead
CBS Action News
Updated: Sep 17, 2018

Loved ones are grieving the death of U.S. Navy Chief Petty Officer Andrea Washington as the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office works to figure out how and why she died.

Washington was found dead in a north Jacksonville home on Monday. Police say they got a call for a medical emergency, but they suspect foul play.

A friend says that Washington was a mother of three and a 19-year veteran of the U.S. Navy. She had just been pinned as a Chief Petty Officer last week.
read more here

During tragedy, blessings from Samaritans

Good Samaritans help military Humvee submerged in Florence floodwaters
ABC 11 News
Gary Cooper
September 11, 2018

JACKSONVILLE, N.C. (WTVD) -- What happens when the rescuers need rescuing?

That's what happened in Jacksonville, North Carolina, on Saturday after rains from Hurricane Florence flooded the city.

A marine and two first responders from Onslow County tried to get a military Humvee through a very flooded Half Moon Creek.

And when the Humvee didn't make it, several good Samaritans, who were taking supplies from back to the other side of the creek, jumped in to help.
read more here

"Cajun Navy" volunteers help evacuate North Carolina nursing home residents
CBS News
September 17, 2018

A group of volunteers all too familiar with devastating flooding have gone to North Carolina to help in the aftermath of Florence. Cajun Navy Relief and Rescue is a non-profit group of volunteers from across the country. The group was created after flooding hit southern Louisiana in 2016.

CBS News was with the team in Lumberton as they evacuated 40 people from Highland Acres Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. Many of the residents were bedridden.

"Yeah, we are risking our lives, but this is worth it," said Chris Russell, one of the volunteers.

It took five hours to rescue the residents and deliver them to area hospitals.

"I think what we were able to accomplish tonight, was to give these people some dignity, holding their hand, asking them if they would like to somebody to pray with them," said Allen Lenard, another volunteer. "As much as I believe were were a blessing to those people, I know as a matter of fact, that they were a blessing to me tonight."
read more here

There is so much more that can be in your story.

What more should be in your story?
Combat PTSD Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
September 17, 2018

Every now and then, it gets hard to do more than stare at a blank screen. Flipping through emails, mostly mindless reports feeling more and more empty, it gets hard to find a reason to not walk away from the computer.

Today was one of those days.  I went through emails going back over 10 years, hoping to be encouraged, as usual, but this time, I was more discouraged.

How the hell did I go from being the go-to on PTSD to being buried by the BS that has taken over social media?

It is easy to feel useless. Easy to think that I've really given all I have to give. Nothing new to say, because nothing has changed in the basic design of humans but there are just more needing help.

Maybe that is what I needed to see today. Believing in what you are doing, being able to do it, can become so much a part of your identity, it is in your DNA.

Being reminded of that feeling of being useless, it is easier for me to explain why men and women, put their lives on the line willingly, get wounded or disabled, and it rips their soul to not be able to do it any longer.

It became a part of who they were, not just what they did. They paid dearly for every ounce of courage, every pull of compassion and every hopeful step they walked while believing, it was not just a matter of they could make a difference, but had to try.

To believe that there is nothing more they can give, just shows how blind we have made them to be. We allow some to beat them down as if they are broken beyond repair. We let them feel sorry for themselves instead of helping them stand up. They cannot see the value they still have by being in the unique position to help all the others just like them.

This veteran from the UK lived to tell of how he knew what it was like to become "useless" in his own eyes because he could not see the truth was still within his soul.

The ex-soldier survived the suicide bid and says that it helped him appreciate his life more

An ex-soldier who jumped in front of a train while suffering with post-traumatic stress disorder has apologised to those who witnessed his attempted suicide. Perry Tatler kissed his two young children goodbye for what he believed was for the last time before heading to the train station. Despite throwing himself in front of a train, the 29-year-old survived to encourage suicidal people to seek help. The father of two remains in hospital five months on, having sustained a broken back, shoulder and ribs, and a bleed on the brain.

read more of this story here 

Trying to help others stay alive! Isn't that a lot better than talking about something they already know how to do? They already know how to die...they don't know how to heal!

There is so much more that can be in your story. You just need to know how to keep adding to the ending!