Another good day for Jason, and it all started with the arrival of Linda. She came in at about 07:45, and we only had to circle around once to pick her up. As it was, we probably could have waited another 30 seconds and wouldn't have had to circle at all. Anyway, we picked her up and we went off to breakfast, and had a nice chance to just sit down and talk. After that we headed over to the base and went up to Dermatology where they removed the sutures from behind Jason's ear (that's where they took the skin for the skin growth experiment). That was a relatively quick appointment (total time 20 minutes in and out), so we next headed over to see CMDR Ledyard, who had gotten some supplies for us. She is our main point of contact for wound dressing supplies and does a very good job of making sure we don't have to wait too long for any of the items requested. She and Linda had a nice little visit, since they hadn't seen each other in several months, so it was a good visit from multiple angles. Jason also made a stop to speak with Dr. Kim, and that was a nice short visit too. From there we decided to head over to see the girls at day care.

Good thing we went over to the day care, because both Jason and I had forgotten about the luncheon that was going on today. It was their "end of year" celebration, and I had it in my head that it was next week. As it turned out, the celebration was just getting started. When we drove up, Jackie was out side with her class, and she saw us, so Linda and I went to see her while Jason went to go into Stacy's class. Linda and I were over at Jackie's class for several minutes and then finally went to go to Stacy's. The kids were all doing there special rock dance and having a great time. I was kind of bummed out because I didn't have my camera with me, so I attempted to take some pictures with my phone, and will have to figure out how to down load those so I can share them. After the dancing and some talking the lunch started, and there was a bunch of food brought in. Problem is that we were still pretty full from the big breakfast we had finished earlier. I had some fruit, as did Linda, and I think Jason didn't have anything. When it was all done we were given the news that we would be taking the girls home with us and they were going to be spending the weekend with us, until Monday evening. That was really a pleasant surprise, considering that we had nearly missed the event totally.

We also were able to make some solid plans about going up to see David and his family, so that we could all spend some time together. We plan on heading over to a nice park and letting the kids all go play with each other, and the adults are just going to relax and have a picnic. We got back to the house and everybody took a nap and the rest of the day was getting settled, and going shopping for some food. I grilled some hot dogs for dinner, along with a nice salad and some baked beans. The girls also had some fruit, and we were all pretty full by the time we were done. Grandma got to take the girls up for their bath and they were all excited about that (so was I). Bed time came and then the day was effectively over. Only thing left was the last little bit of clean up and then this blog to update. Thank you, for all your continued prayers and support, it truly is appreciated. Take care and stay positive.

Today has turned out to be a very good day all around. The only part that wasn't totally up was the fact that we had to drop the kids off at day care and they are not with us tonight. We've had them for just about a full week, so there are no complaints there. The only thing is that Linda (Grandma) is coming in tomorrow and the girls were looking forward to seeing her, especially Stacy. They'll still get a chance while Linda is here, we just have to be flexible with our schedule, and I think we are.

Jason had one appointment today, and that was with Van the wheelchair guy. It has been authorized for Jason to get a new chair because the current one really doesn't "fit" him correctly. Before having all the HO removed he was actually four inches wider, so as you can imagine, he kind of "swims" in the current chair. It is probably going to take about a month to get the new chairs (he'll get another manual, too), with one of them being painted San Francisco Giants Orange. I thought that was pretty cool.

The rest of the day was catching up with some folks, and it all worked out really well. Jason was in at Physical Therapy (PT) and he didn't have to sit in his chair. He was able to effectively lay down on one of the tables, and he could spend time on his back as well as his belly. The surprise was that Dawn was back, and we hadn't seen her in several weeks. It was a combination of Jason heading up to Livermore and then when we got back Dawn went on vacation for a couple of weeks. Anyway, he wasn't scheduled for an appointment with PT, but Dawn was free so she did some catching up with Jason, and also worked his shoulders and arms. While all this was going on, a few other folks dropped by and it was just generally a very relaxed morning, visiting. Van came in after lunch and really only took about 30 minutes so we were headed back to the house by 13:15 (1:15pm).

Not much for the rest of the day. Larry came by for a few hours to support Jason, so I took advantage of that time to go for a short bike ride. Actually this was one of the friendliest rides I've been on. There were multiple riders out and three of them actually talked to me. I usually say, "Hi" or wave and don't receive much response, but today three other people actually spoke to me, and in complete sentences. You know, real conversation. It was just another thing to make the day nice. Right now I need to get a few things done and then head off to bed, as Linda comes in early, 07:40 so I need to get up early enough to get Jason up and we can go pick her up. I just hope she isn't too tired, because she has to be up even earlier... a lot earlier. If she is feeling up to it I might just take her to breakfast, since Jason's first appointment isn't until 10:00... :-)

That's all for now - thank you, all for all the continued support and prayers. God has a way of keeping me together, and days like today definitely help. Take care and stay positive.

Another day, and another visit to the Wound Clinic. We got a chance to speak with Dr. Salt, from Plastics about some of the efforts being put forth to try to get the wounds closed up, and in one effort it is actually working against Jason. Dr. Salt agreed that the tissue expander would be left alone for the next couple of weeks to see if the "new" wound would start to close. If it does not then the expander would be reduced by a little bit to relieve some of the tension that the expander creates. It is a relatively slow process to get through all this, but then again the effort to grow/develop some of the collagen for Jason is going to take up to four months. All while he continues to receive laser treatment.

Otherwise there wasn't much going on today. He was able to pick up some of his meds from the pharmacy, and that was a bit of a challenge. For whatever reason one of the medications he is supposed to be on, on a daily basis was not being made available to Jason. We went back to the nurse practitioner, who ordered the meds, and she was surprised about their control. She went to her office and made a phone call or two and in a matter of a few minutes she came over to Jason and said all had been straightened out now the meds would be ready.

A little later this evening I went over to the day care and picked up the girls - yes, they are spending another evening with us. They were both happy to see me show up and then when we got home they go to see Larry. Larry started back working with us today, this afternoon. It was good to see him and do some catching up. He is in good spirits and just as big as ever. Jason was very happy to see him and the two of them spent a good portion of the time Larry was here, just talking.

After dinner tonight the girls had their bath and then they went to bed. That pretty much brought me up to the writing of this blog, and so now I finish this and then I am going to go to bed. Fortunately we don't have many appointments tomorrow, so I can sleep in a little. Thank you for all your continued prayers and all the support being sent our way. Take care and stay positive.

Whoa...what a day.

I got up early today, not because I needed to help Jason with anything in particular, or because I had to get the girls to day care (they didn't spend last night here), or for any other typical reason I have to get up early. Today I got up early because I wanted to go for a bike ride. Actually, I wasn't up until 07:00, and that much later than when I usually get up. I rode out to Cabrillo State Park, and took a couple of hours to make the round trip. It was quite hilly and it gave me a good work out. It also showed me just how out of shape I am. There were two other riders, going in the same direction as me, and they both passed me with little effort, and I felt terrible for that. I thought I should be able to keep up with them, or at least ride a little faster than I was moving. Anyway, it just motivated me to keep pushing to find time to ride.

Jason had no appointments today, and the girls were not with us today, until after day care. That's why I felt I would be able to take a couple of hours and do some good road work. Shortly after getting back to the house, well maybe a few hours after getting back, Jason got a text asking him to call, so he did. He was asked to pick up the girls from day care and have them spend the night. This was a total surprise as we didn't expect to have the girls with us until sometime later, so obviously we were pretty happy to have the very nice gift, bestowed upon us. When we went to pick them up they were both very happy to see us and Jackie was actually able to see us drive up, since she was outside in the play area.

It did mess with the schedule I had for the day, but that's okay. We were able to head over to the store and pick up the things we needed, and I made spaghetti for dinner. Stacy says she loves my spaghetti so it was a win win all the way around. After dinner they went to go play with daddy, and daddy had some cookies for them, for desert and after that we didn't even have to ask them to go brush their teeth, they just went and did it. They got their bath and then got ready for bed. It turned into a wonderful night and I can get those things I wanted to do today, tomorrow. Thank you, for all the continued support and prayers and take care and stay positive.

Today was a particularly easy day for Jason, as he only had the first appointment with Patient Care, where he goes to get refills for his prescriptions, and then with PT, where they worked on his shoulders and arms, and then he focused on his core. It was really kind of strange about how empty the place was, and I mean all over the base, then Jason asked where everybody was. One of the therapists said that there was a function today, off base, where a bunch of the Wounded Warriors had gone. I guess this jogged his memory because he talked about being asked to go and said he had forgotten about it. He forgot about it because he knew he wouldn't have been able to go anyway. I glad the others were able to get out, and still there were a few guys in the gym.

Otherwise we just kicked back and I cleaned the house a bit. Also found out that Larry, our in home aide is going to be coming back this week. Or, at least that was what I was told. First they have to come out and take a quick look around, do an exam of Jason and Jason has to respond to a bunch of questions. All of that is supposed to take place tomorrow, and then that should open the door, so-to-speak for Larry to come back in, and we can get a bit closer to what was going on before. Thank you, for all your continued prayers and support, and take care and be safe.

Today we all slept in... no one was up before 07:00. I know, to some that isn't much sleeping in, but for me it is at least an extra hour, and I appreciated it. First thing was that I made some oatmeal with raisins, as that is one of the favorites of the girls. Actually Jackie likes the raisins, as does Jason and I, and Stacy prefers to have her's without.

Shortly after that we all got ready and headed over to Anthony Netto's place, over in Pacific Beach. Funny thing that I just rode my bike over to his place a few days ago, on one of my longer rides, of about 15 miles, round trip. Anthony invited us over to have a nice "picnic lunch" and to let the girls enjoy the park that is in the area where he is living. Stacy, of course, was first to get over to the climbing structure and Jackie was a bit slower. Jackie just doesn't have the same coordination development that Stacy has and therefore isn't able to just jump right into climbing everything. Having said that, she sure wasn't intimidated by any of the climbing areas, and went right up the ladders and down the slides. Then Stacy discovered this one area that is meant for a little older child and asked me to pick her up so she could use the overhead bars. I told her I didn't think that was such a good idea because it was kind of high and I had to still watch Jackie. I wouldn't be able to come help her if she needed it. She accepted that and went on to the swings.

We finally sat down and had our picnic lunch and then headed over to the ice cream parlor, where Jackie really got into her chocolate ice cream. Both Anthony and Jason got a couple of pictures of her, in all her messy glory. Stacy wasn't quite as bad, but then Jason managed to get chocolate on himself as well, as he devoured his rocky road ice cream. I had a double scoop of vanilla on a waffle cone.

We headed back to the house a little after noon, and before we got back home both of the girls were out. I guess they burned off a bunch of energy running around the park. They slept for a few hours and during that time Gary K. came over for a short visit. He has been good with keeping in touch with Jason, and I think Jason appreciates it. The girls slept until late afternoon and then they got up. We did some playing around the house and then I made dinner. It was chicken, rice and mixed vegetables, and the girls both ate all their vegetables without much coaxing from me or Jason. I have been pleasantly surprised at how well they eat balanced meals. Stacy told me the doctor told her that eating the vegetables was good for her. In Jackie's case I think she just likes to eat things that taste good... ;-)

Tomorrow is another day back to the appointment schedule, where we will be taking the girls to day care at about 07:30,  and then we won't have them with us for another set of days. A regular schedule is being worked out, and it will be good when it finally is in place. Thank you, all for all your continued prayers and support, and take care and stay positive.

Busy day today, and best description would have to be, a rewarding day.

It started out early, as Stacy had a soccer game to go to, and we needed to get her up early so she could get to the game early enough to get dressed in her gear. We didn't have it with us, so we had to get her to the, game and then she could change into her uniform/gear. She did great and even scored a goal though they don't keep score at this level . Jackie was having a great time on the side, while grandpa chased her around the field. The game ended and before we left Jason was able to receive some of the pictures from her team and the official photos of her play. While there Gracie was well behaved and really wasn't much of a distraction, from what I could tell.

After the game Jason wanted to head on over to the Uniform Shop, on MCRD (Marine Corps Recruit Depot), and since that was where we were it was pretty easy. About two weeks ago Jason had gone over to the Uniform Shop and told them that he wanted to get a new dress blue jacket. Obviously he has changed in size, in different ways so they said it wouldn't be a problem. First they found out that they didn't have anything large enough, on their racks. Then they said to head on over to their tailoring shop to be measured, and to bring those measurements back to them. Well, today he brought the measurements back over to them, but before handing the numbers to them he went and purchased all the ribbons and meddles he has earned, a new belt and buckles, and a few other things the new jacket will require. He then gave them the numbers/measurements and they told him that they would not be able to do anything for him, and that he would need to go to Miramar or Pendelton. Because it took so long to get through the meddles and stuff it was now very close to noon, and the girls (and me too) were getting hungry and tired. We decided to head on back to the house.

I fixed them a lunch and got them to lay down for a nap. Jason was needing to lay down to, as he had been up for several hours by now. Once everybody was fed and down for a nap I went up stairs to engage in a conference call with PMI (San Francisco Bay Area Chapter). As it turned out, the timing was excellent and I was able to stay for the entire call, and I felt as though I was actively participating in the group. Actually, I dropped off from the call just as it was coming to an end, but Jackie was making noise and I could hear her so I new I needed to get moving.

I decided to do the old, "breakfast for dinner" selection for dinner tonight and the girls loved it. Stacy actually ate more than Jackie did, and that is very unusual. She really likes my pancakes because she ate almost as much as I did, plus the eggs and bacon. The only down side was that we are now out of eggs... I guess we'll have cereal tomorrow.

After dinner they got their baths, as usual and then tonight daddy read stories to them. Stacy selected a bunch of these books and both she and Jackie climbed up on the bed with Jason and he just read to them. I have posted a couple of the pictures to show what it looked like. I think you'll understand why I decided to take a couple of the pictures. Anyway, after that they were very happy and they both went to bed with no problems at all. Thank you, all for all the continued support and prayers. Take care and stay positive.