September 9, 2011 - A visit to the MATC

Today was another good day for Jason, and a day for firsts. He went to the PACU again this morning, and I was there to see him go, just like so many other days, so from that perspective it was no different than other days. When he came back to his room there was something very different this time. In the past he had been bandaged up so much that there was no need for him to wear anything in the way of underwear. Today he had boxers on and there were no bandages. He did have on a couple of pieces of silver material that they use to cover the wounds, and I honestly don't remember the name, other than it starts with an 'M'. Anyway, he said he didn't even know that this had happened until he was almost to the room, when he noticed it felt different and he saw he had the boxers on. Needless to say, he felt different. It was both good and not so good. He has grown accustomed to the bandages, and they provided some extra padding where he is still kind of tender. That had all been removed. On the other hand, he felt generally better without having the bandages wrapped all around him. The doctors wanted to try it out and see if it was something he can be comfortable with, and if so it allows air to get to some of the places that have been so long covered by the bandages. Since he will be going down again tomorrow we will simply have to wait and see what he comes back with this next time.

There were some cartoonists coming in to the hospital to visit the wounded warriors today, one of them being the gentleman who draws B.C. comics(Mason Mastroianni) and another being Jeff Bacon from the Marine Corps Times. I'm afraid I didn't get the full names of the others, other than Paul and Bruce, with both of them drawing caricatures of Jason, as he lay in his bed. Mason and Jeff also gave cartoons to Jason, of the characters they are known for, with little captions written for Jason. It was a nice visit, and they stayed for a short while and talked a little about what Jason had done for his country. They all shook his hand and wished him the best of luck, then went on their way. About 5 minutes later Jason and I looked at each other and said, "The RED BOOK!" I went out the door quickly, but they had gone, so I missed that one.

Jason is going to PT on a daily basis now, and today it was scheduled for him to head down to the larger gym for rehab, so it was more of a visit than any physical activity. It was good getting down there, and we were impressed with all that they had to offer. It was actually four large rooms and a couple of smaller ones, all connected so that there was some enough isolation or privacy if needed, and still the ability to move all around from place to place. The director, "Bo" came and spoke with Jason, and showed him a possible prosthetic that he might consider. What we were told was that she, Bo, had worked with four other guys, with similar injuries as Jason, and two of them decided to go with the prosthetic and two did not. She also talked about some work that M.I.T. was doing to provide some computerization of the ankles, knees and now they are working on the hips, to help make the use of this device feel a little more like walking and not make it so much work for the patient. If that happens then Jason will be able to realize one of his dreams of being able to walk again. She invited us back, and offered an opportunity for Jason to meet one of her other patients, who has injuries similar to Jason, only that he is about a year ahead of Jason in recovery. I think Jason will be interested in speaking with this guy, I know I am.

That was pretty much the day today. The only other thing that is of interest is that the bed is being replaced again. Apparently the breaking mechanism for the wheels is not working properly so they need to replace it. I think this will be the seventh bed for Jason, the company is getting to know Jason, and I think they should consider bring him on their payroll to test their beds... ;-)

Thank you, all for your continued support and prayers. Jason is getting better and stronger every day, but there is still a ways to go, before it is over.