Last Thursday my wife had to take a daughter to a dance recital dress rehearsal, and I went alone to the NAMI support group meeting. I don’t mind doing this, even though my wife is the one people gravitate towards, she’s so open and caring. I’m the science experiment people generally keep at arms length. There was one thing I wanted to accomplish, and I did accomplish it. We wanted a name of an attorney that Kyle and my wife and I could consult, and I got two names.

Kyle has had contact with attorneys in the past for a few things. He got a job one time shoveling snow for a snow-removal company. His first day they kept him out so long he suffered severe frostbite in his feet. This was yet another way medical bills have piled up for him. He got an attorney and got some money for that, but it didn’t cover his medical bills. He was able to handle the early part of this process, but somewhere along the way, he just couldn’t do any more, couldn’t return calls, answer correspondence or make a visit. He just couldn’t do it. This is not uncommon, he has great intentions but his condition just won’t allow him to follow through on many things. And because he’s an adult, they can’t release information to us without his permission. By the time we realize we need to secure that permission, he’s so manic about the entire situation we don’t get anywhere. Things eventually just get dropped.

We are gathering information now for our next “attack.” We want to take him to an attorney, and have him sign right up front that we are eligible to receive information, and to make decisions with respect to this scenario. We are concerned first about his health. He has health issues that absolutely need to be addressed, and we need to figure out a way to get him the care he needs. Next, we are going to try and get bankruptcy proceedings started. His medical bills and the intimidating collection mail and calls he receives are quite stressful to him. We are going to try to convince him to apply for disability. He doesn’t want to do that, but I think it’s in his best interest at this time. Finally, we’ll talk about civil action against the kid who beat him so badly and fractured his skull.

Now we have to figure out how and when to approach him with this. His older brother graduates from college soon. He feels bad about this, he’s proud for his brother, but it’s hard for him to handle. His younger brother graduates from high school soon after, and Kyle feels bad about this also. We had a big party planned for Kyle on his high school graduation, but he ended up in jail and his party got cancelled. Thirty days later just didn’t seem like the time for a graduation party.

We need to keep him safe and keep tabs on him for the next three weeks or so. After that we’ll have more time to devote to this process and his problems. I hope he makes it that long without a major problem.


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