2/13
If anyone would like to email Jeremy directly please send it to
stengel72@yahoo.com

Thank you for all the support.

any questions just email me at laura@alpineplywood.com

Here is a picture of Jeremy with Gary Sinise. Gary and his band were at the Pentagon putting on a show for the troops.

Jeremy Drives BMW.

Click Here for Video of Jeremy Driving

Article from:Courier-Journal.com

Message from Greg:
Jeremy had a fantastic time scuba diving. It was great to hear him so excited. A special thanks to everyone that sponsored the event. Jeremy also made it out to Vegas for his first time. He had won an entry into a poker tournament & had a blast with that too. He has had a problem with his right heel being blistered over the last 2 months. He saw the orthopedic doctor and he put his right foot in a hard cast. He will have it reexamined in 10 days. It is tough to move around now & is back in the wheel chair for now( 3/24/08).

Jeremy was in the national news this week. There is an article and videos. Click on the link below to watch the video. There are actually 2 videos..so make sure you watch through the commercial which is after the anchors talk..that is when the 2nd one starts.

Watch video

Injured Marine Makes "Warrior Dive" In Key Largo

Here is a picture of Jeremy with Jon Stewart.

Another brick in the wall...

Email from Greg:

Wed 1/9/08
Jeremy had blood work drawn today. He worked on the stair step machine for 5 minutes & did 1/2 mile on the tread mill. OT- Jeremy
will be working on his own 3 days a week. They worked on his exercise
schedule for those days. It is a about a 5 block walk to the outdoor
track. He walked over to the track & walked 3/4 of a mile on the track &
then walked back to the hospital. The therapists were pleased that
Jeremy kept working during his 30 day leave.

Thursday 1/10
He had morning stretching and did 10 minutes on an
elliptical machine. Jeremy has been wearing a plastic brace on his right leg. It covers the bottom of his foot & goes up to the back of the knee. Jeremy wanted to see if they could go to something smaller. They went to a small clip to prevent his right foot from dropping. He did some walking with this & during the day he had more sensation to his right heel. OT- Jeremy had to collapse a ladder, carry the ladder to another room, & climb up the ladder & take down a ceiling tile & place on the floor. He did this 2 times. Then he had to place the tiles back in the ceiling. He then had to fold up the ladder & walk to the stairwell &
carry the ladder up to the second floor. They let him take the elevator
on the way back down. Afternoon therapy focused on leg exercises on the hip machine, the total gym, & leg presses. His leg fell off again but
there was no cute girl to see this. He was lifting his right leg too
high so when therapy is done they will put on the larger brace for his
right leg. On Friday he is to return to Bethesda for a cat scan of his
back.

Email from Greg:

Jeremy & Gayle arrived home 12/8. There was a large crowd at the airport to greet his arrival. It was a very emotional moment. Relatives had made a banner welcoming him home. The Packer jacket was a gift from a very kind & generous lady we had met while at Bethesda. She worked at the Navy Exchange & had given Jeremy many DVDs & CDs while he was in the hospital. A special thanks to her. The grade school Jeremy attended included him in their Xmas program. They also had a nice welcome home banner. The American Legion attended & presented Jeremy with an award.
They sang the national anthem & gave Jeremy a standing ovation. Jeremy said a few words & thanked everyone that had been praying for him. It was a very nice ceremony & we are very grateful to the school. Jeremy visited high school teachers & the following day spoke to several classes of students. It was good to see him interact on a social level.
We continued to have Jeremy work out at fitness centers while home on a daily basis. At one session Jeremy was working on some leg machines. He lost suction on his artificial leg & his leg dropped to the floor. There was a poor girl sitting across from him who saw his leg drop to the floor. Jeremy said she looked like a deer frozen in the headlights. I asked him if he asked her to pick up his leg but he said no. He has gone weekly to a hospital to have his blood drawn. It was nice to have the entire family home for Xmas. Jeremy & Gayle will return to Walter Reed on 1/8. My wife will be working with Jeremy to become fully independent.
I have included some photos. I hope everyone had a great holiday & would like to thank everyone for all your prayers & support. Here's to 2008 being healthy & prosperous for all.

Below are some photos

Jeremy's family welcoming him home at the airport.

Here is Jeremy WALKING from his gate.

And here is a terrific photo of Jeremy with his niece Elizabeth.

Email from Greg:

Good Evening
On Monday 11/19 Jeremy made his 1st attempt to climb the rockwall. He made it two thirds of the way up. Wednesday 11/21 the weather was great. It was in the 70's & we watched Jeremy at the outdoor 1/4 mile track. With one cane Jeremy walked 1/4 mile. He took a short break & then did another 1/4 mile. Fellow soldiers were using their running legs & were jogging around the track. They were very impressive. They increased his coumadin dosage again. In OT he sat on an exercise ball & did rifle lifts. Monday 11/26 Jeremy starts most days exercising his legs for 30 minutes. Today he started parking his wheel chair & walking everywhere except at lunch. OT he used the mini revolving rockwall. He works on lateral & vertical stretching. He was able to do 2 pushups with his artificial leg on. He did 5 sets of two. In PT they worked on more fine tuning of his motor skills. They had ladder squares on the floor & did front,back & sideways steps with one cane. He did ab work & leg presses.

Tuesday 11/27 OT began using free weights again. They started with 10 lb weights. After no lifting for 6 weeks they will have to rebuild these
muscles again. He also worked on the hand bike standing up. In PT they worked on  the treadmill walking sideways. He also walked front ways with an incline of 7. He did various leg band exercises, walked sideways on the floor, & did one lap of high stepping.

Wednesday 11/28- back to rock wall & needed less help & made it two thirds up the wall. They worked on ab exercises & more hand bike reps.

Email from Greg:

Good Morning...
For now the infectious disease doctors will continue Jeremy's antibiotic treatment. They do blood tests that monitor inflammation in the body.
They do CRP tests & SED rates. His CRP test is now normal but his SED rate remains elevated. Gayle spoke to her sister Nancy recently. Nancy knew a nurse in Germany that looked in on Jeremy before he was flown stateside. She returned home & a news crew was there to greet the returning soldiers. Nancy & her talked & she mentioned that Jeremy was at Walter Reed in the amputee program. The nurse broke down & started crying. She talked about how when her shift was over she would go into Jeremy's room to pass on messages from the family. She said he was so battered & broken she was afraid he was going to die while she was in the room. She was happy to hear he was doing well. This Thanksgiving we are truly blessed. We would like to thank all the employees at the medical facilities, the military,the military support organizations, relatives, neighbors,co-workers,church groups, friends, & strangers that have adopted Jeremy. The support is over whelming & is greatly appreciated. That same day Gayle spent some time getting Jeremy into his dress blues. She went back to Walter Reed & saw all the injured soldiers in their dress uniforms. It was a very emotional day for my wife. My wife returned to the hotel. Jeremy attended a formal dinner party with the rest of the soldiers. It was a nice evening. The doctors look at blood clotting factors weekly for his blood clots. They like the factor to be in a range of 2-3. Jeremy's factor is at 1.1. They have increased his Coumadin dosage. For now it is anticipated that he will have to continue this medication for at least another 6 months. He had a follow up exam with the neurosurgeon. He is pleased with his progress & happy that he had gained weight. He has a 6 week postop follow up exam the week after Thanksgiving. On the rehab front he walked 1/2 mile on the treadmill with an incline of 5. On the short track he did 3/4 mile with his 2 canes. He is also starting to walk a short distance with one cane.
Walter Reed is putting on a very nice Thanksgiving dinner for the soldiers. I believe dress uniforms are recommended. Jeremy prefers to hit dinner in the hotel room. I am driving out to D.C. with our two younger children. We will turn on the Packer game, enjoy our dinner & each other's company. I know that we will bow our head for grace & I will be saying a prayer for all those families that have lost loved ones. We are grateful we are still together. We are grateful for all the support we have received from so many people this last year. We have a lot to be thankful for. Go Packers.

Email from Greg:
My wife is having technical difficulties so I will provide the update tonight. I would like to thank my brother Jeff for spending the week with Jeremy from 10/20-27 so Gayle could come home for a week. Everyone was glad to see Gayle home again. I would also like to thank Jeremy's friends Steve & EJ for making the long drive to see Jeremy on the 19th-21st. Four guys roughing it-just like old times. Jeremy had his staples removed last week. Jeremy has been complaining about his right knee hurting. They were suppose to do an MRI while they removed his staples but the paper work was fouled up. During the Packer Denver game my wife took Jeremy back to Bethesda Naval Hospital for a late night MRI. Back on 10/15 Jeremy's WBC was back to 20. The MRI was done for his back & for his right knee. The back results were negative for an abscess & they were negative for bone infection. So that was terrific news.
Unfortunately the knee results showed what appeared to be a blood clot.
An ultrasound was done the next day & there is a rather long blood clot above & below the right knee. We always believe Jeremy when he is in pain because he has demonstrated that he has a high pain tolerance.
There is partial blood flow through the area affected. Jeremy is now on Coumadin & is receiving Lovenox injections again. My wife will be giving him his Lovenox injections. They are both anticoagulants. He is also wearing a special stocking. Jeremy still has blood clots filters in place from his intensive care days,located in his abdominal areas which is good. Jeremy's WBC on 10/30 is 17 slightly lower from the 20 level 5 days ago. Jeremy will be getting blood work more frequently. My wife & Jeremy have been to several clinics over the last 24 hours. Jeremy has another 2 1/2 weeks for his abdominal restrictions. Our family appreciates all your prayers. Hopefully Jeremy's right leg problems will clear up shortly.

Jeremy's laptop has developed a virus. So I'll be relaying the updates until they are fixed.
The only update I really have right now is that the doctors ordered a MRI on Jeremy's back and right knee. They are awaiting the results. Hopefully I have another update soon.

Gayle is having internet problems so I'm relaying this update for her:

Jeremy is doing well.  He got out of the hospital on Wednesday, and his plumbing is working well.  He is also back to his PT and OT, but the therapists want him to go slow for now.  Got to watch those stitches.

Here is an update from Gayle:

Hi everyone--according to Jeremy's surgeon his colostomy surgery went well. There was not as much scar tissue to remove that the doctor thought there would be. And they were pleasantly surprised to find the end of Jeremy's colon tacked up near the stoma site for easy retrival.
(The folks in germany did this when they had to do the colostomy.) So far post-up is going slowly ,but surely. Jeremy started passing gas
yesterday---yeah!!!! But had a bout of N/V (ok i'm pretty sure that is Nausea and vomiting ),so he is back to clear liquids instead of full liquids. And has had essentially no fever---yeah!!!! Keep your fingers crossed that everything keeps going well. Jeremy's aunt barb and patty were out for moral support which helped everyone including jeremy, myself and greg--we all had some good laughs. Dennis thanks again for the van or as we like to call it the "mystery machine"--this had been our mode of transportation back and forth from the hotel--it sure has come in handy.

My aunts Barb and Patty are out in DC visiting Jeremy. They called to say Jeremy's surgery went very well. He is in the recovery room right now.

My mom, Jeremy's Aunt Mary Jo, went out to DC to visit Jeremy last weekend. The Stengels asked that I put her update on the site along with a few pictures. Gayle is also going to be sending me some other photos of Jeremy some time this week. So here is my mom's update:

When I got to D.C., Jeremy was at a seminar, dealing with the FBI, CIA, and the rest of the government organizations  that uses the alphabet.  Gayle, ( she looks great), took me to Walter Reed, and showed me where, Jeremy does his OT and PT, and where they eat lunch during the week.  We hear so much about the deaths of our brave soldiers, as we should, but we need to hear more about the wounded.  Boy, it really hits you hard, when you see them, and the sacrifices that they, and there families, all have made for us. 

After my tour around Walter Reed, we went back to Gayle's and Jeremy's room to wait for his return.  There was a knock at the door, and in comes Jeremy in his wheelchair.  He looked WONDERFUL!!!   I went to give him a hug, but he told me to wait.  He got out of his wheelchair and he stood tall and proud, on his own two legs. Then we hugged.  I didn't want to let go.  I tried very hard to keep from crying, It wasn't easy...I  am sooo damn proud of him!!! 

He has gain at least 20 to 25 pds. since I last saw him in June.  Our Jeremy, is back!!!  He was all smiles.. with his mouth and in his eyes.  It was great watching him and Gayle, interact with each other. They were constantly  teasing each other and giving each other a hard time ( in a good way).  It was great to watch!

We went out to dinner and saw a movie, that night.  ( side note;  don't see  Good Luck Chuck, it was awful!!) Saturday, Gayle took us to a shopping mall, for the afternoon.  Jeremy, did some shopping, and we had lunch.

Sunday, I was in my room waiting for Jeremy to wake up.  ( He likes to sleep in on the weekends.  He works very hard during the week).  I heard knocking at my door, I opened the door, and there was Jeremy, standing tall and proud at my door, he came and got me to go to brunch, with him and Gayle.  Again, I had to fight back my tears.  It's a beautiful sight to see him standing and walking with his canes.

Here is Jeremy Standing tall and Proud. Obviously I don't get my good looks from my mom. HAHA just kidding Mom.

Unfortunately, after brunch, I had to say goodbye.  It was sooo hard to leave them.  Gayle and I were hugging goodbye and crying, and Jeremy, laughing and making fun of us.  I almost forgot, for those of us who saw Jeremy with his mustache, he has shaved it off. 

(the pic below is my mom embarrasing Jeremy at brunch. She enjoys doing that!)

Jeremy, will be having surgery, this Friday, Oct 5th, so please, keep him in your thoughts and prayers.

Here is another update from Gayle. She's doing an outstanding job on the updates!!:

Jeremy continues to work hard in therapy and his strength keeps improving.  He certainly has come a long way.  Jeremy has graduated from crutches to using 2 canes.  He is able to walk the 3rd floor without any problems. When the therapist stated --you've worked hard, you're done, or ask if he has had enough, Jeremy will always tells them "I can do more."    He wants to get in as much therapy as possible before surgery next Friday 10/5.  Jeremy is concerned about losing everything he has gained so far. (we're happy he is having his colostomy reversal  -as Jeremy says --"it will be nice to pinch one out on my own", but as the surgery day grows closer we get a little more anxious about being back at Bethesda --  it brings back a lot of bad memories.)   We missed the barbecue at the vice president's resident last thursday  due to therapy---Jeremy's physical therapist was going to be out on Friday, so Jeremy elected to stay at the hospital for more therapy to make up for missing Fridays secession.   When Jeremy came back from horseback riding last week his big news was missing some important visitors: Tito ortez who is a UFC fighter ,but he was especially miffed because he missed Jenna Jameson. He couldn't believe i didn't know who she was --apparently all the Marines and soldiers know who she is---in case you're wondering she is an adult entertainer.  MEN!!    Jeremy also states I was negligent in telling everyone in the last update that the best part of the pentagon tour was having his picture taken with Miss Virginia.  Jeremy had an EMG done last week---as we expected some nerves in his right lower leg shows some activity, but others show no activity.  It is a waiting game--it could take 2-3 years before we really now how much regeneration of the nerves will take place.  There is some encouraging news  though--he is able to push down with his foot which he was not able to do before.  Jeremy wears a special brace in his shoe for walking to support his lower leg.  He also saw infectious disease last week--for now he will continue his ABT.  He did some research and talked to some people at the university hospital--madison and the VA-milwaukee which is affiliated with the medical college of wi-neither one has a prosthetic lab on site--they both contract out --which is somewhat concerning.  I also called the 800# for the rehab institute of chicago (which is suppose to be known world wide and they do have a prosthetic lab and actually do a lot of research in prosthetics)--I was connected to a doctor and after telling him jeremy's story and what we were looking for he stated  "if he were my son I would keep him at Walter Reed". The Dr stated that walter reed is very aggressive, efficient, innovative and puts forth a remarkable effort.  For now, at least, looks like jeremy will be staying here. We all want him to have the best. (the doctor did say the rehab institute of chicago would be the 2nd best place for jeremy,though.)   Here is a tidbit for all to enjoy--Jeremy was in occupational therapy yesterday when his therapist said if Jeremy did a 100 push-ups he would take Jeremy to the new walter reed rehab center --MATC--military amputee training center (which is suppose to be open for patient use in october)  to try out the shooting simulator---needless to say Jeremy did the 100 push-ups and we got a chance to go to the new facility---its gorgeous.  The simulator tech was in the room with 2 army gentlemen--one was a staff SGT, and the only way i knew that was because the other army gentleman called him by his rank -i couldn't see the rank of the other man.  The tech asked jeremy if he wanted to try the simulator and of course jeremy said yes. jeremy picked a 9mm and started shooting--after a while the tech started commenting on how well jeremy was doing and asked jeremy what branch he was with. jeremy told him the marines, and in front of the army guys , who were watching ,  the tech stated he thought he as a marine because of  how well he was  shooting ,and how he was holding and loading the gun. (i was so proud) The tech then said to the gentlemen ,that i didn't know the rank of--colonel  ,how about shooting against him--the colonel picked up his 9 mm and he and jeremy had a shooting contest--------jeremy won!!!!  i have pictures of it.   It was great--jeremy was beaming the rest of the day, so was i.  The colonel shook jeremy's hand and stated he needed to spend more time in the simulator practicing.  Aunt mary jo is coming for a visit this weekend and we are both looking forward to that.  As always thanks for all your prayers and thoughtfulness

8/30- OT 1 1/2 hours; 10 push ups-6 sets; standing & sitting with using your arms; right shoe on & off. PT-1 1/2 hours;Walking with crutches; up & down 5 stairs; leg pushes; leg machine. A new wheelchair was ordered.
8/31- In service day for therapists, no OT. PT therapist was kind enough to work Jeremy on her lunch. Crutches in the hallway, mat exercises 1
1/4 hours. Went outside & threw ball to PT dog. He had to keep his balance & not fall down while throwing. I have been bombarded by people wanting to know how long Jeremy's rehab will take. My wife asked the therapist for a timetable. She stated they will know more after his EMG nerve test on 9/17. Presently she is guessing anywhere from 6 months to a year. I was not aware that they have not even started formal prosthetic rehab yet. They have just been reconditioning him because of
6 month lay up in the hospital. There has been a tremendous amount of down time from 330 to 10:00 pm. Now that my son is feeling better it is time to kick his butt into gear. There has been too much laying around the hotel room. He needs to get on an offsite program & turn it up 8 notches higher.

Thursday-Wednesday-Jeremy has started walking with crutches & his artificial leg. Next week he is going to a horse back riding clinic(never been on a horse before). Jeremy interacted well with relatives visiting over the weekend. He purchased a cell phone over the weekend. Tomorrow Jeremy will be ordering a new wheel chair. Jeremy can transfer himself from his wheel chair to 2 chairs to get into the shower. He needs assistance lifting his right leg over the tub. He uses adaptive devices to get his socks & shorts on. On Wednesday(today) he had appointments at Bethesda. He saw plastics & the trauma teams.
Plastics is pleased with how his back looks. Trauma has scheduled him for surgery to reattach his stoma. He needs to come back in 3 weeks for an all day preop exam. He is scheduled for surgery on October 5th. He will be in the hospital for 5-7 days after surgery. His magnesium levels continue to be too low & my wife picked up some magnesium supplements that he will have to take again.

Friday-Wednesday= Jeremy goes to OT at 1100 am daily. Here he can do various things such as using a hand gripping machine, going into a tunnel & wheeling up & down inclines, standing on one leg & tossing bean bags into a crate, various balancing exercises with balls,rolling up & down weights attached to bar, playing foosball, Peel & cut carrots, & pushups. OT will last one hour. He then breaks for lunch. Usually PT will start at 100pm & last about an hour & a half. In PT they will work on the parallel bars,Hand bikes, leg bikes, mat exercises, leg weight machines, & balancing exercises. They take a shuttle back & forth between the hotel. He is usually in bed by nine. He did receive a new brace for his right leg that is inserted in his shoe. On Wednesday he went to the amputee clinic& they checked his legs. They also reviewed blood work. He will go to the wheel chair clinic shortly to get fitted for his own wheel chair.

Thursday- OT- The arm rests were raised on his wheel chair. Jeremy had to keep his leg off the floor & did 3 sets of 10 wheel chair pushups. He went through a routine of arm exercises with weights. They then had Jeremy play cards. The only trick was he had to stand on his one good leg, hold onto the table with one hand & hold the cards with the other hand. He had to stand up straight & could not look down. They played black jack. The physician assistant removed Jeremy's PIC line. Something was attached to the PIC line. My wife became nervous. The vascular resident came in next who then asked for the attending doctor to stop in. He said it was a fibrous clot & they proceeded to pull it out of his arm. It was over 6 inches long & it looked like a worm. I say put it on ice & we can use it for fishing. They then did a chest X-ray. He went to PT & the prosthetic tech had to come in adjust the hardware. He walked forward on the parallel bars 3 times round trip. He walked sideways on the parallel bars once round trip. He then stood up without any support for a few seconds & did not fall down. He worked out on leg weight machines & did 2 sets of 10. He then did 3 sets of 10 abdominal exercises. Jeremy was discharged form Walter Reed today. Pharmacy stopped by & gave him his outpatient medication. The Marines at Walter Reed helped my wife pack up Jeremy's belongings & moved it to the hotel.
Thank you Marine Corp. Jeremy's artificial leg for now will remain in PT. My wife was able to get a small refrigerator & microwave for the room. Getting Jeremy into the shower was an adventure. In the end he transferred from the wheel chair to a shower chair outside the tub. He then transferred from this chair to another shower chair in the tub. He did get his shower. At some point soon I will only give a weekly update.
Going over the same exercises every day will get old real quickly.