Hello again to Steve's Army,
We never believed that we would be doing the 10 year Golf Outing but here we are. Another great day for the 10th time. I remember the first outing when we were traveling up US23 driving through hail, lightening , wind and rain!! When we pulled in to the parking lot, the rain stopped, the sun came out and it has stayed out for 10 years!!
We just want to say that this get-together keeps Steve sane. It is the highlight of his life and we have all of you to thank for it.
We were missing a very active person this year in Steve's grandmother Mary Perkins. She was always a big part of the planning and execution of the outing. In all seriousness, she must have figured out that we needed someone to keep "the Man upstairs" in line with the weather. Believe me, if anyone can do that job Mary can, and she proved it on June 24th!!!
We do quite a few things that insurance does not pay for and if we didn't have Steve's Army, we would not be able to participate in things like horseback riding, massage, swimming, and Cranial Sacral therapy. All of these things keep life somewhat normal for Steve and that keeps him going through the weekly PT, OT, Speech and Vision therapies. There exists the possibility that Blue Cross will stop paying for Long term therapy, which will obviously affect Steve. The Medicare Plus Blue insurance plan Steve has does not have Medicare limits regarding dollars or number of visits. BCBSM is trying to get out of that obligation by saying the therapy is not medically necessary. We obviously have taken issue with that and are currently filing appeals with BCBSM as well as contacting the director of the group that purchased the plan. We would like to ask that if anyone has a contact that you feel could help, please let us know.
As Linda said at the outing, Steve feels the best way to say thank you is to just say THANK YOU!!!
We will be getting the thank you notes out shortly and you all will have some great pictures.
Have a great safe and great summer.
Steve, Beth, Linda and Rob
Thursday, August 3, 2017
Sunday, April 30, 2017
Update 148 from Linda and Rob
To all you great people of Steve's Army,
Hope all is well with each and every one of you!
This is just a small note to advise you that Steve's Golf Outing will be held Saturday June 24th . Registration at 7:30 AM and shotgun start at 9:00 AM. There is also information on Facebook at
"Steve Percha's Annual Golf Outing".
Believe me we never thought that there would actually be a tenth annual outing, but here we are.
Please know that Steve would have never been able to progress to his current level without the funds from this event. You always assume that things will get better and then you have a setback or two that brings reality back to you. The seizures Steve endured in 2016 slowed him down but never drained his spirit and a big reason is that he looks forward to this outing!!
Hope to see you there and get some good pictures again at the "Hole in One" hole.
You may be posing with some "reptiles" this year.
Thank You for reading this.
Rob Linda Beth and Steve Percha
Hope all is well with each and every one of you!
This is just a small note to advise you that Steve's Golf Outing will be held Saturday June 24th . Registration at 7:30 AM and shotgun start at 9:00 AM. There is also information on Facebook at
"Steve Percha's Annual Golf Outing".
Believe me we never thought that there would actually be a tenth annual outing, but here we are.
Please know that Steve would have never been able to progress to his current level without the funds from this event. You always assume that things will get better and then you have a setback or two that brings reality back to you. The seizures Steve endured in 2016 slowed him down but never drained his spirit and a big reason is that he looks forward to this outing!!
Hope to see you there and get some good pictures again at the "Hole in One" hole.
You may be posing with some "reptiles" this year.
Thank You for reading this.
Rob Linda Beth and Steve Percha
Sunday, January 1, 2017
Hello to all of Steve's Army, Happy New Year.
We have been very busy these last 6 months and apologize for not updating this blog.
The Saddest thing that transpired is Mary Perkins passing on the day after Thanksgiving. Grams will be missed but we will remember her as the best Grandmother Steve could have ever had. Mary helped us tremendously when Steve was initially hurt and throughout his recovery. During the first year of recovery, She showed up at the hospital promptly at 8AM driving from Dearborn Heights to Ann Arbor by herself, then helping us get Steve through therapy. She always took the lead with the Golf Outing and did more than her share during Steve's recovery.
Beth tells a story about how Grams drove around several police cars with lights flashing and many cones blocking the entrance from Telegraph to I75 south, on their road trip to Georgia. When asked by a trooper why she did that, she responded, "you only blocked two of the three lanes. I thought I could use the other one"! This is the person we will remember. Celebrate Her life don't mourn her death. I'm sure that is the way Mary would want it!
Steve is currently working through Anti-Convulsant meds that are necesary due to him having 3 more seizures during the last 6 months of the year. We have also had to replace three of his doctors. Two due to retirements and one we just couldn't work with. We feel we have a good team now and are looking forward to great things in 2017.
We would like to wish all of you a Safe and Happy New Year and look forward to seeing you all again in June. Take care of yourselves and each other.
Linda Rob Beth and Steve.
We have been very busy these last 6 months and apologize for not updating this blog.
The Saddest thing that transpired is Mary Perkins passing on the day after Thanksgiving. Grams will be missed but we will remember her as the best Grandmother Steve could have ever had. Mary helped us tremendously when Steve was initially hurt and throughout his recovery. During the first year of recovery, She showed up at the hospital promptly at 8AM driving from Dearborn Heights to Ann Arbor by herself, then helping us get Steve through therapy. She always took the lead with the Golf Outing and did more than her share during Steve's recovery.
Beth tells a story about how Grams drove around several police cars with lights flashing and many cones blocking the entrance from Telegraph to I75 south, on their road trip to Georgia. When asked by a trooper why she did that, she responded, "you only blocked two of the three lanes. I thought I could use the other one"! This is the person we will remember. Celebrate Her life don't mourn her death. I'm sure that is the way Mary would want it!
Steve is currently working through Anti-Convulsant meds that are necesary due to him having 3 more seizures during the last 6 months of the year. We have also had to replace three of his doctors. Two due to retirements and one we just couldn't work with. We feel we have a good team now and are looking forward to great things in 2017.
We would like to wish all of you a Safe and Happy New Year and look forward to seeing you all again in June. Take care of yourselves and each other.
Linda Rob Beth and Steve.
Sunday, May 22, 2016
Update 146 From Linda and Rob
Hello again to Steve's Army.
Just wanted to update you all on Steve's progress. Since the seizures in late January , Steve has been on preventative medication. This slows him down somewhat, but he is battling through it. We thank all of his therapists for working a bit harder with him. As usual Steve will get through this and move on.
The Golf Outing will be held at Hartland Glen on June 25th. We are looking forward to seeing all of you again this year. The flyers have all been mailed as of the end of April. If somehow you didn't get one please publish a comment here or let us know at the Steve's Golf Outing page on Facebook.
Hope all is well with you.
Rob and Linda
Hello again to Steve's Army.
Just wanted to update you all on Steve's progress. Since the seizures in late January , Steve has been on preventative medication. This slows him down somewhat, but he is battling through it. We thank all of his therapists for working a bit harder with him. As usual Steve will get through this and move on.
The Golf Outing will be held at Hartland Glen on June 25th. We are looking forward to seeing all of you again this year. The flyers have all been mailed as of the end of April. If somehow you didn't get one please publish a comment here or let us know at the Steve's Golf Outing page on Facebook.
Hope all is well with you.
Rob and Linda
Tuesday, January 26, 2016
Update 145 from Linda and Rob
Our family would like to take this time to wish all of Steve's Army a Safe and Happy New Year!!
We are moving along on the path to recovery and are trying new things constantly. We have decided to put more effort in to Vision thanks to input from our VA friends. Steve is now doing a progressive vision therapy on Mondays, Driving in a simulator on Thursdays and actually driving one of our vans on a closed course on Saturdays. We have seen some interesting things happen when he is behind the wheel, so to speak.
We have contacted U of M Transportation Research Institute and asked if we could use their MCity facility. We are still awaiting final approval.
Steve is still doing therapy 3 hours a day in addition to Vision and Horseback Riding.
We also have a Facebook page dedicated to the Golf Outing.
We wish this update could bring more good news but as luck would have it, we have been dealt another setback.
Last Thursday when Steve was at therapy, he had a seizure. He was transported to St. John Providence Hospital in Southfield because that was the closest. While in the Emergency room he had a second seizure. Both were not real long but enough to make us aware of just how randomly these can occur. We wonder how this could possibly happen. Steve has never had two seizures in one day before. He has gone 6.5 years without a seizure while not taking any preventative medications.
He was discharged Friday evening and is currently resting at home and is back on medication to help prevent any further problems. Unfortunately, the medication makes him weak so he has missed therapy Monday and Tuesday this week. We saw his neurologist today and basically got a clean bill of health and approval to get back to therapy. We plan to go tomorrow and the rest of the week to see how he responds.
More to follow.
We haven't had to ask this in a while, but please keep Him in your thoughts and prayers. We are hoping he will get used to the medication and get through this.
Rob and Linda
We are moving along on the path to recovery and are trying new things constantly. We have decided to put more effort in to Vision thanks to input from our VA friends. Steve is now doing a progressive vision therapy on Mondays, Driving in a simulator on Thursdays and actually driving one of our vans on a closed course on Saturdays. We have seen some interesting things happen when he is behind the wheel, so to speak.
We have contacted U of M Transportation Research Institute and asked if we could use their MCity facility. We are still awaiting final approval.
Steve is still doing therapy 3 hours a day in addition to Vision and Horseback Riding.
We also have a Facebook page dedicated to the Golf Outing.
We wish this update could bring more good news but as luck would have it, we have been dealt another setback.
Last Thursday when Steve was at therapy, he had a seizure. He was transported to St. John Providence Hospital in Southfield because that was the closest. While in the Emergency room he had a second seizure. Both were not real long but enough to make us aware of just how randomly these can occur. We wonder how this could possibly happen. Steve has never had two seizures in one day before. He has gone 6.5 years without a seizure while not taking any preventative medications.
He was discharged Friday evening and is currently resting at home and is back on medication to help prevent any further problems. Unfortunately, the medication makes him weak so he has missed therapy Monday and Tuesday this week. We saw his neurologist today and basically got a clean bill of health and approval to get back to therapy. We plan to go tomorrow and the rest of the week to see how he responds.
More to follow.
We haven't had to ask this in a while, but please keep Him in your thoughts and prayers. We are hoping he will get used to the medication and get through this.
Rob and Linda
Wednesday, August 19, 2015
Update 144 from Linda and Rob,
Sorry we haven't updated sooner but we have good news to report.
First, Steve's 8th Golf Outing was held under overcast but rain free skies and again, was a success. We Thank all of you that supported it and made Steve's day. We are collecting pictures and writing Thank You notes as we post this. It was nice to use only 1/2 the course which allowed Rob and Beth to meet ALL of you this year.
Secondly we discontinued one of the drugs Steve was on at the suggestion of his neurologist. This has allowed Steve to sleep much better overnight. We haven't noticed any drop off in his therapy performance but he does appear to be more tired at the end of the day. This in effect has made him more "normal" as it seems the drug was forcing him to be awake and not letting him sleep soundly.
Thirdly, we have Steve involved in a Vision Study that directly addresses people with Left Neglect issues.
We have 8 more sessions to go and we then will get results which should dictate a plan of attack to correct his vision deficits.
We were in St. Joseph, MI. the weekend of August 4th to attend a wedding and also stayed in Muskegon so Linda and Steve could make their annual pilgrimage to Lake Michigan. Please see pic.
Steve drove a go-cart by himself again and when compared to the last time he drove, he did much better. He even let Rob pass him this time. Please see pic and video.
Hoping to do a couple of 5K runs in late September and early October. Anyone that would like to participate is more than welcome. Please contact Steve or Linda and Rob and we can fill you in.
Thank You all again for your support, without it none of this would be possible.
Take Care,
Linda, Rob, Beth and Steve
Sorry we haven't updated sooner but we have good news to report.
First, Steve's 8th Golf Outing was held under overcast but rain free skies and again, was a success. We Thank all of you that supported it and made Steve's day. We are collecting pictures and writing Thank You notes as we post this. It was nice to use only 1/2 the course which allowed Rob and Beth to meet ALL of you this year.
Secondly we discontinued one of the drugs Steve was on at the suggestion of his neurologist. This has allowed Steve to sleep much better overnight. We haven't noticed any drop off in his therapy performance but he does appear to be more tired at the end of the day. This in effect has made him more "normal" as it seems the drug was forcing him to be awake and not letting him sleep soundly.
Thirdly, we have Steve involved in a Vision Study that directly addresses people with Left Neglect issues.
We have 8 more sessions to go and we then will get results which should dictate a plan of attack to correct his vision deficits.
We were in St. Joseph, MI. the weekend of August 4th to attend a wedding and also stayed in Muskegon so Linda and Steve could make their annual pilgrimage to Lake Michigan. Please see pic.
Steve drove a go-cart by himself again and when compared to the last time he drove, he did much better. He even let Rob pass him this time. Please see pic and video.
Hoping to do a couple of 5K runs in late September and early October. Anyone that would like to participate is more than welcome. Please contact Steve or Linda and Rob and we can fill you in.
Thank You all again for your support, without it none of this would be possible.
Take Care,
Linda, Rob, Beth and Steve
Sunday, March 29, 2015
Update 143 from Rob
Dear Steve's Army,
Steve wanted to pass along a message to all of you.
Please see the attached video and the message below.
Steve wanted to pass along a message to all of you.
Please see the attached video and the message below.
Speech is a huge challenge for Steve, for many reasons. Speaking is mentally and physically exhausting for him, and we are so grateful for the progress he is making…slowly but surely. This year he wanted to write a note to you, and then demonstrate his ability to read his words. We used a microphone because his voice is so quiet, but he speaks so much more clearly than he did only a few months ago! The words are below, and you can listen to his speech on Facebook (Steve Percha’s Annual Golf Outing) or this blog He kept his message short, but the sentiment is heartfelt.
“My golf outing allows me to continue therapy and to
make progress. I am grateful for your continued
support and hope to see you on June 20th .”
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