January 13, 2012 A New Year

Hello everyone, I'm very sorry about the lack of any new posts. I had a few issues to resolve. I'm through deer hunting for the season, my final tally was two deer. A nice doe (photos on the last post) and I dropped a button buck in its tracks. Unfortunately though I didn't get anything with the gun (we had bad weather and then scope troubles). I know now what I need to do to be better paired for next season. A special thanks to all of those involved with the hunting process: friends, family, and nurses. Thank you very much for making the hunting season possible.

I recently had a wonderful lunch with some of my old coworkers, both current and retired. I want to thank all who attend; Sam Garich, Scott Miller, Larry Moss, Anita Fischer, Jeff Walker, Gary Hall, Larry Gessel, Larry Augustine, Bill Skinner, Nelson Lang, Diane Zimmerman, Nate Long, and Teresa Wallace. And I want to thank Diane Zimmerman very much for making it possible. Thank you everyone for coming.

I've started my online courses at UND (The University of North Dakota) and so far things are going smoothly. Though I'm only enrolled in two courses and one's a self paced portfolio on my work and educational experiences. The other course I have to keep pace with the on-campus class to an extent. I'll have the entire semester to work on my lab project for it. I'll keep posting updates about my progress.

I've got a new addition to the family. He's about five or six weeks old. Larry took his brother who looks almost identical except a little more black (his back is in the picture). He's the perfect lap kitty, lays around lazy all the time. Larry's kitten (who he's named Chester) is rowdy and rambunctious. The only problem is I can't think of a name, any suggestions?

November 12, 2011: Two Years in the Making.

It's been two years since the accident and I'm finally back in the game. Although it isn't a trophy buck it's still a trophy to me. A nice mature doe at 25 yards with a crossbow isn't bad. It's been a lot of work to get this far, and I still have a long ways to go. Much thanks to those who made this possible (mainly: Steve Beck, Larry Moss, and Shyrick Raber but also many others). I thank everyone for the words of encouragement that have gotten me this far.

Thanks, AWB. (I will post again within a few days, I'm tired and need to catch up on some rest.)

Monday, September 26, 2011

Hello everyone, another update from the country. Leaves are definitely changing, many are dying and falling off. And that means one thing... hunting season is almost here. And I'm almost ready or at least the equipment is. I still need to put a flat shed roof on the blind but that's the only major part. Everything else is painted and ready for the camo material/burlap and it should be about ready to go. The picture published here illustrates what the rear facing walls would look like. I'm not planning on "hunting" out of those windows but if we look behind us and see one we can open the window and take the shot. There will be many other window panels made for specific locations, but we won't know what we need till we get there. And currently "there" is one of two locations due to the lack of traction the four wheeler gets when pulling a trailer uphill in the wet clay; one spot on my farm and one spot on my buddies farm. I have a feeder at my spot but on buddies farm there are some horses and I don't have a solar fence charger. If I get a side-by-side utv, I would be able to go anywhere on the farm. I might have a chance to get one later this fall, any suggestions? I have been selected to participate in a hunt for the disabled in Zanesville hosted by Whitetails Unlimited. I don't have many details yet except that I have to be there at 6 AM and "there" is over an hour away. I've got a little over two weeks and depending on what equipment I need I should be ready for it. I'll post another picture of the blind once we have the roof painted and on.

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Hello everyone, another update from me. My health has been well and I have not been suctioned in over a month. It's nice to finally have some reasonable weather outside but it'll only be for awhile
I was able to find a small utility trailer as a base for my hunting blind, it'll have 5 foot walls and will use a truck topper as the roof. There will be an opening all the way around the blind with an assortment of “standard size” panels, for endless window configurations. We still have a bunch of painting yet to finish, but it's coming together. For any local readers: I'm looking for a small truck topper roughly 60 inches by 8 feet, if there are any out there get a hold of me. A special thanks to those that have helped thus far: My Dad, Keith Malone, Larry Moss, Steve Anderson, Shyrick Raber, and Melissa McKown. As you can see in the photo I'm still missing a few key parts and a little bit of paint. But it will give you an idea of what I'm building.

I found an online bachelors degree in mechanical engineering and it's ABET accredited, it's offered through the University of North Dakota. I've been accepted and I'm waiting to hear back on what class transferred. It takes about 6 years to complete but if a good number of my credits do transfer I should have only a few years left. Even though it's an online program it's still structured in semesters, where I must keep pace with the regular on-campus class. I had a few delays in the paperwork so I'm not sure it is everything will be completed by the time fall semester starts, August 22. But if all else fails everything will be completed by the time spring semester starts. And having a little extra time this fall to hunt wouldn't bother me at all.

] Take care everyone and I'll post again in a week about the University of North Dakota. Thanks for reading, AWB

Friday, June 17, 2011

Well it's been a long month for me. My trig class started occupying most of my evenings and weekends. Which was cool and kinda the point, to figure out how to do the simple things again like math. I was doing great in the class one of the better students. Unfortunately though I got sick with pneumonia and was hospitalized for a week and spent a week at home on oxygen. So I missed the last week of class and the finial, but my grade was averaged to that point and giving as my finial grade. Which was a solid B and good enough for me. As for the pneumonia, I have recovered from the worst of it. But the loss of apatite and sleep for a week has left me weakened especially my half diaphragm. I'm not able to cough as hard, thus I can't always clear my lungs/throat. Other than the whole pneumonia thing I've been in pretty good health. The spring has been pretty hard emotionally though, the clock tics to slowly sometimes.

I was also wondering if there would be any volunteers from the power plant who might be willing to build a small hunting blind. I have some ideas and would be able to pay for materials. Please contact me if interested. Any help would be great.

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Hello everyone. I got busy and lost track of time for a little while, sorry about that. Things are going good here. The weather has finally has gotten good enough I have been able to get out and about in my 4x4 chair. I made another attempt at getting into the woods but the trail needs some work before I can get very far. I was able to get down onto Whipple Run, the little creek behind my house. I've been going down there since I was a little boy, and I've been finding arrowheads since then. Even paralized and in a wheelchair I'm still able to find arrowheads. I think it's part of a scraper blade, not sure though. My class has been keeping me very busy, but I've only have a few weeks left. I'm doing good in it, but it's been hard leaning how to communicate my ideas for someone else to write. But of course that was the idea behind taking the course in the first place.
Shilah turned a year old this past week, and she's not sure what to think about the creek. She''s not very fond of the deep water, I know that for sure. I'll get a good photo of her on here real soon. On a sad note Sebastain hasn't been around for awhile. He was a six year old tom cat though. He was a good cat and he's be missed. Any name suggestions for another male tabby? I've always had a cat and I still have Dewey but he's got an attitude (but don't all cats) and doesn't hang around people very much, he loves Shilah though. Well I got class tomorrow. Till next time, thanks for reading.

Hello everyone. Things have been pretty busy around here lately. I enrolled in a trigonometry class at the local community college. It's true, if you don't use it you loose it. But I feel the accident didn't cost me that much, I would be having the same troubles even before. Spring finial sprung here in Ohio, a welcome event. The woods are just starting to bud out and turn green. Shilah's almost a year old and the cats still rule the house. A photo of Shilah at her best.

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Thank you Margie and Barry, I love you two too. I miss having you two around.

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Hello everyone. A special thanks goes out to: AmberLee, Jess, Dad, Chantel, Andrew, Beth, Sarah, Sarie's mom Joyce, Jeanne, Aunt Shirley, Jenn Floodstom, Holly and Steve, Heather, Keith and family, Michael, Dr. Almuth H. Tschunko, Marshall C. Kimball, Joyce Pennington and Jeanne Ritchie for your prompt respond and words of encouragement. I'll definitely keep the blog more current as I continue my college career.

Many of you guys have inquired about my computer interfacing. I still use dragon when writing or "dictating" long emails or any other lengthy document. But for everyday typing I use a mini keyboard, positioned properly. I gave up on the first touchpad I tried (the "Bamboo"), it took to much downward pressure to work. The new touchpad (an "Ergo") works so much better. As far as my ability to use the computer, I'm limited my knowledge and single key typing. I'm including a photo of myself and my computer table for a better description.

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Hello, this entry is different. It is completely hand typed. I type with either my thumb or a knuckle, one letter at a time. Not as fast as Dragon, but it works better. I've enrolled in a calculus course at the local community college, I have know idea how I'm going to complete the written work though. Any suggestions? I know that by not updating the blog on a regular basis, many follows quit following. Because of this, I feel like there arn't very many followers at all. If your reading this please respond, maybe I'll keep it going and update more often. Also I'm including a photo of Shilah and myself, both of us are doing great. PEACE

Monday, February 21, 2011

For any followers left out there, I have no reasons why. It's been a long cold winter with saddening truths.
Currently I've been meeting with the Department of Vocational Rehabilitation from both the state and AEP, about finishing college. Not sure what but I've got to do something.
My respiratory therapist has given me the go-ahead to remove my trach this spring. Not sure, but hope it won't cause any issues with anxiety. No major issues with my health this past winter to speak of.
Though my shoulders and arms are getting stronger I'm not sure if I have the range I would need to drive a car. Which is my new long-term goal, to drive again.
I WILL keep this more up to date for anyone who might still glance at it.

Monday, December 27, 2010

Well I've survived yet another holiday season, as I hope all of you did too. I had a wonderful Thanksgiving with the entire family, from Massachusetts to New Mexico, and a rather calm Christmas. With all the excitement I lost track of updating the blog. My health has been well through this cold December where having. My shoulder has calmed finally, I've hardly had any pain in the past two weeks.Filling the propane tank reminds me of why I heated with wood in the first place. Though I've been staying warm, it's costing me a small fortune. And has encouraged me to better insulate my house. My cats, Dewey and Sebastian, finally came in out of the cold, Sebastian has taken over the house again. Shilah is over 30 pounds and heat at seven months old, off to the vet we go.

Tuesday, November 23

Hello everyone, another busy few weeks have gone by again. Though many attempts have been made to the hunting all have been met with failure. I finally got a site system worked out on the cross bow, I've put a pistol scope on the bow, and with its long eye relief I am able to use it in the gun mount if it is attached to my chair. Bad weather prevented me from hunting up until about a week and a half ago when some medical issues started occurring. The first was a really bad UTI that took two weeks in two different antibiotics to get rid of, only now it has cleared up. Last Saturday morning I woke up and could not catch my breath, we ended up calling 911 and going to the emergency room. Turns out I had a small patch of pneumonia in my right lung. They admitted me to the hospital for an overnight observation and so they could give me IV antibiotics. I feel great now and am on an oral antibiotic to make sure the pneumonia has cleared up. I'm going to give it a few days rest and then attempt to hunt after Thanksgiving, the dream is still alive.
Things around the house have been relatively normal. The finish my furnace installation, and now I'm not cold all the time. My dog Shilah has gotten big, she now weighs about 25 pounds. She's learning her name but not very quickly, she knows right from wrong but still tries to get away with anything she can to. You've got to love puppies.
The whole family is coming in this Thanksgiving. It will be nice to see them all at one time.

Monday, November 8

Well the past few weeks my father and I have been faced with the daunting task of getting me back in the woods for this year's Whitetail rut. Today I was able to spend some time in the woods for the first time in almost a year. Even though I was not hunting, we were making a trial run with all equipment for me to hunt. Even though some alterations are needed the trip turned out to be a success. I'm in one piece and still alive. Included is a photo of me and my hunting rig and my father's chair.

Wednesday, October 13

Well I survived my first two day outing this past weekend. I went to Columbus to a PBR rodeo with my friends Jim and Dave from Massachusetts. Though I'm not much of rodeo fan, I had a good time. I didn't get much sleep Saturday night due to my congestion and a little bit of a spell of dysreflexia following day, neither event are going to stop me from traveling again. All in all a good first trip. While Jim and Dave were in this time they bought me and brought to me a crossbow to use this fall while deer hunting. One step closer to being in the woods, a second step closer will be perfected very shortly. My father has relentlessly been converting my four-wheel-drive chair into something I can use, and the conversion is about finished. It is already in a usable state though I still have trouble with right turns, but that's not the chair's fault. Pictures of this chair will follow soon. And Kimberly, if you're still reading, I would be very interested in hunting out there next fall my e-mail is a.william.beck AT gmail DOT com.

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Hello everyone, and again sorry for the delay in my posting. It's been kind of a busy month for me this month. I've had family in for most of the month, my cousins stayed for almost a month and my sister came in for my birthday. I had lost my appetite followed by trach infection, both of which contributed to much weight loss. I'm doing a lot better and eating again and all in all feel great. Fall is my time of year, the autumn leaves the cooler nights. And especially the hunting seasons, archery season for deer starts in six days. Though I have yet to get a crossbow, I did receive my four-wheel-drive wheelchair this week. And love it, it lets me get off my porch and back into the woods. It needs some modifications to the seat before I can really use it, but it looks like it won't be much.
I've used the ventilator once in the past six weeks, so one more thing checkoff my list.

Tuesday, August 24th

When I left the Shepherd Center, they told me it would be a least a year before I could get off the ventilator. Well it took only five months, and as of this morning I've been off for 10 days now. I've spent the prior 45 days getting ready for this by going off of the ventilator for 16 hours a day and being only suctioned a number of time. My respiratory therapist told me if I felt like I was ready to go ahead and give it a try. It is a milestone for me because now no longer do I have to hide the sound of the ventilator when I go hunting this fall and that means a lot to me, hee hee. Due to my cold nature I'm going to have to hunt hard during the early months of the season this fall. I had some pretty severe shoulder pain the last few weeks, even went as far as getting a steroid shot. When my doctor told me about the shot he also said if the pain went away it was an overstretched muscle. If it did not go away it was something more serious. And lucky me, it did not go away. So I have another appointment on Thursday and I'll get my shoulder looked at again. And yet again another UTI, more antibiotics. On a brighter note, I have included photo's of my new wheelchair. It's a four-wheel-drive off-road wheelchair, that I am hoping will take me hunting this fall.I have yet to receive it or the other chair I bought off eBay. It is just like the one I have, it will be used as a donor chair for the off-road chair. I need the chair off of it for its tilting capabilities.

Thursday,July 2 9

Hello again everyone, it may seem as though I've fallen off the face of the earth. And in ways I have, and it's quiet out here, but I love it. I've gone 36 days off of the ventilator for more than 16 hours and 35 days without being suctioned. The doctor even said it sounded like I was moving more air, so I'm hoping that this means my diaphragm is returning. I've talked to the doctor and he has agreed to let me try to go off the ventilator for a night with blood gas test before and after. He has also agreed to schedule a moving x-ray of my chest, to determine if my diaphragm is working. On the good side I was approved for 16 hours a day of nursing care, which started this past Monday, which gives dad and Larry sometime off. It's going very well and it's comforting to know that somebody is always awake. The puppy is almost twice as big as she was, she can now bark much to my excitement. She is hard to watch at all times, she's very sneaky. For another three weeks take care everyone, and no news is good news.

Saturday, July 10

Well it's been over a month home and I feel great. This is the 12 day off of the vent for the least 16 hours or more. And the seventh day I have not needed suctioned. It's early to say but I might have this thing beat. I have a weak cough, but right now it's enough to cough up any junk. Therapy is going great, my wrist extension are getting stronger. My sister told me to wait at least a month till I got in the groove of daily life before I got a new dog. So on July 4 I got a basset and named her shilah. She's a cute little dog with not much energy, perfect. The only problem is I can't feel when she's chewing on my fingers and toes. No blood yet, but hopefully it's just a phase she's going through.

Sunday, June 27

I've been home 27 days and it feels great. I finally gave in and got my hair cut, much cooler in the hot days in the Whipple valley. I've been going to therapy three days a week and now my shoulders hurt, no pain no gain. I learned one thing after seven months my wrist extensions have returned. That is the ability to give a motorcycle gas, I can lift my wrist off the table. The doctors in Atlanta told me that this would happen within the year, and they were right. It's such a good feeling to have something come back, though it's only small, it's a step. My occupational therapist showed me that I could brush my teeth, so guess who has to brush his own teeth now. As for vent weaning I'm up to all day (14 -- 16 hours) off the vent and it feels great, a bit tired at the end of the day, but it makes me sleep well.