December 1, 2011

Wow, I honestly didn't think that Jason and I would still be in the hospital at the beginning of December, yet here we are. The change right now is that the main reason we are still in the hospital is that there is no other place to go right now, and as far as I can tell, there won't be for at least several more days and quite possibly several more weeks. Jason's wounds are not closed yet, though they are getting better and at a point where I should be able to do all the dressing changes at "home". The seat for his chair, the custom one they are putting together, should be done in a matter of a couple of weeks, and I was informed today that I would be getting a van so that Jason and I can travel around, and not have to depend on someone from the Marines Liaison Office to put transportation together for us. So, as you can see from what I am writing, there are still some issues to take care of, though none of them are particularly large issues, and none are show stoppers, except the house. We now have about 20 different people looking for a house/home for Jason and his family, and welcome input from just about anybody else that might know of a place, that is willing to rent for a year-to-year.

Jason had a good session with OT and PT again today, though the two sessions were a couple of hours apart. Lynn came by first, early this morning and still after breakfast, to pick up Jason and get started. I helped him in his chair and we headed off to the gym. I got a couple of pictures of Jason doing his routines and showing off his upper body strength, and they were pretty good too. Its kind of funny about how he is doing with his healing. You take a look at him and you see this guy with some pretty impressive muscles across his chest and arms, yet you look at his right hand and you can tell there is something wrong. He is still very much on the mend with his hand, and yet can do all these other exercises that allow him to build up his arms and chest (his left hand is in great shape).

We also went out to check out a house that we were hoping was going to be a possibility. It sounded good, and the owner of the house was not only willing to work with us, she was already in the midst of having some work done on the house now; the additional work I thought needed to be done, was less than half of what really needed to be done. Once we saw the house and tried to figure out a way to simply get inside showed us that it wasn't going to work. I wanted to get in the house with Jason, and there just wasn't any way to do that. I felt kind of bad for the owner, as she seemed to be a very nice lady who was willing to work with us, but there was just too much additional work.

A group of DIs came up from Camp Pendleton bringing holiday cheer and decorations for the Marines and patients of the hospital. I had actually stepped out of Jason's room, to go take care of some transportation needs. And, when I came back they were all standing in his room. I didn't do a head count but it looked like there was close to 15 of them, all standing in his room, and all wearing that canary yellow gown - very impressive sight. I attempted to get some pictures (I didn't take the pictures and honestly haven't even looked at them yet) and they all signed the Red Book. Jason was grinning from ear to ear. Like I've said in the past, he is always happiest when talking with other Marines, because they understand better than anybody else.

Another couple of visitors that came by today was my friend Rob Weaver and his wife Karen. They have been following the blog from the very beginning, and actually Rob was one of the first friends I spoke with, after Jason was injured. I have been in contact with Rob during this time, but tonight was the first time I've seen him and Karen in several months, and it was good. This was actually the first time that Jason and Rob (and Karen) were able to meet each other, face-to-face, so that was another plus. They will be here for another couple of days, then they have to get on back home.

Thank you, for all your support and prayers, and please continue to keep all these Warriors in your hearts.