August 18, 2011

Today was a fun day for Jason, even with the issues of that phantom pain coming back every now and again. He got out on his prone cart and did some laps around the 5th floor, and there were several people in the hall ways to make it interesting. He was doing a good imitation of a slalom sledder, going down a trail. Most of the people he went by knew or at least recognized him, and kind of cheered him on. A few of them stopped him to talk with him and I think it made him feel pretty good. There was one of the other patients, another EOD guy, that was in his chair and Jason stopped to talk with him. They talked for only a moment, but it was the social interaction that Jason needed. We kept on going after that and made four rounds of the floor. As it turned out, the Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps, General Dunford, was also on the floor and Jason came upon him as well (actually a couple of times). He spoke with us for a few minutes and we totally enjoyed speaking with him. Once Jason was done he was ready to head back to his room and get back in bed.

As I have stated in earlier posts, Walter Reed is merging with National Naval Medical Center (NNMC) and there are several more people here now. I think that is a big part of the reason for the move to the 4th floor next week. Jason will still have a private room, only this time it will be by design, as the room he is moving into is designed to be a private room. The staff will be coming down also, so there is a high level of consistency and continuity of treatment and support. This is a good thing for the guys, and especially Jason. He has gotten to know just about all the nurses and corpsmen and he likes how they have treated him, for the most part.

The doctors all came by today and talked with us about how Jason's wounds were looking and answered any questions we have. Jason's wounds are such that there have only been a few other patients to have them. As a result they look at Jason as an opportunity to learn and grow in their skills in treating these more sever wounds and so far we're pretty happy about it for multiple reasons. They themselves are learning and, as I said, they answer any questions we might ask, and it gives both us and them a chance to learn more. Jason has become a very good teacher to any of the new people that come in, and is able to discuss things with those that have been around for a while now. As you can tell, today was a day that was pretty laid back, but also active. Tomorrow Jason goes in to the PACU for a dressing change and we hope to hear what is going to be happening with the next step(s)shortly after he returns to his room.

Thank you, all for your continued support and prayers. Jason is getting stronger all the time, and feeling more confident in his abilities. For example, he showed me that he can literally sit up-right in bed now, without the help of an angled bed (in fact it is easier with the bed being flat). I was very excited about what I saw and expect more good things to come.