June 15, 2011 - A few more weeks

Jason had a good visit to the PACU today, and he came back with no wound vacs. He had on a completely new type of dressing on his wounds and he was much more comfortable. He also came back hungry, so the Arby's sandwich (not Taco Bell this time) was very welcomed by him. The morning was long for him, as he didn't get to go down to have the procedure done until almost noon, and by then he really wanted to eat or drink something, but unfortunately he could not.

He had a couple of nice visitors, though they didn't show up until after he was back in his room, one of them was from one of the corpsmen who was with him very shortly after the injury occurred. She was able to tell us some of the details as she was in the hospital where Jason was brought, in Afghanistan, and Bridgette wanted to know all that she could. The corpsman's name is Lisa (only her first name this time) and she stayed for a very nice visit. She is also the one who bought the Arby's...

Jason's other visitor of note was the U.S. Under Secretary of Defense (Clifford Stanley) and a general, and I'm embarrassed to say I don't remember the general's name (I also left the sign in book in Jason's room, so I can't cheat). They stayed for a good visit, and gave Jason another coin, for his collection. He is actually building up a respectable collection of these commemorative coins. Mom (Linda) has put most of them into individual sleeves, but I think we need to get more. I'm sure that when Jason gets a chance he will want to display the coins in some fashion, so perhaps that will be one of his first projects, once he is allowed to do something beside healing.

Speaking of healing. He is moving along at a nice pace right now. It looks like we will be remaining at Bethesda Naval Hospital for a few more weeks, rather than heading off to Tampa, as was hoped a couple of days ago. Jason is healing up nicely, but because of some challenges associated with his type wounds they want to keep him here a bit longer. We are back to the, take it one day at a time, and just be patient. Some times I think being patient is the most difficult part of the healing process. Once we find out what the next steps are for Jason I will pass them along, and for right now we are simply focusing on getting him healthy and strong, so that he can move on to the next steps.

Thank you, to all, as we continue down this road. Please remember to keep Jason in your prayers, and all the other service men and women, for they are the ones who make it possible for us to live the lives we have - God bless them all.