December 5, 2011

Wow! What a day. At the end of last week, there was a dressing change for Jason and they applied a wound treatment called A-cell. This is a treatment that helps to generate the body's own stem-cells, so that the skin will grow back in, more naturally. Prior to this treatment, we had been told that dressing changes would be happening twice a week, along with showers. This was fine with Jason, as he would get "bathed" regularly in his bed anyway. Now that the A-cell was applied, it was going to be a week before he could get back in the shower and have another dressing change. Again, this was okay with Jason, especially if this is going to help with the healing.

Well, today, this morning, the medical staff came in to visit with us (and it seemed like they were coming in one at a time), and told us that there was going to be a dressing change today, and that they wanted him to take a shower. That through our schedule out the window... We challenged them a bit, and had the doctor explain what the rational was behind the decision, and agreed with what they were saying. They felt that the A-cell had been on his wounds for almost 72 hours, and that was long enough for it to be absorbed by the body, and that the showers really did help and make Jason just feel much better. Lynn, our OT person, was supposed to be working with Jason, so we pushed that back and I helped Jason get his shower in. They feel that we are now able to take the shower on our own, and it is much better for Jason when it is just me.

After the shower we headed over to OT and did a number of activities, and Jason got some social time in too, with the other Marines who were there, and in particular a Sailor (yes Navy) who was also EOD. I think Jason enjoyed talking to him as much or more than some of the Marines. The only difficulty was that because we got over to OT later than we originally expected, the session was shorter than usual. We got back over to his room, and within a couple of minutes his lunch was there, so I needed to take off, to grab me something to eat, and then came back to his room so we could have lunch together.

While we were eating lunch, Nancy, from Housing, came in. We were told she would be coming at about 13:00 (1PM), and showed up at 12:50. Neither of us were done eating, though we were close. It was alright though, as she basically just wanted to talk to us about the housing situation and to get some ideas about what Jason was looking for in a home. We also talked about the houses we had already seen, and why they didn't work, and perhaps that was one of the best take-aways for her. She has an inventory of houses that she can search through, and there are a couple that she is going to want us to look at, so I expect to be taking Jason out either tomorrow, or Wednesday, to look at houses... maybe both days.

After Nancy's visit, and I mean almost immediately after, Dawn from PT came in to work with Jason. The good news was that they were just going to the gym on the 5th floor, so it was close. They again worked on his balance and core strength, and I guess because he was noticeably tired by now, she only worked with him for about 45 minutes. Jason came back to the room; he got back in his bed; and took a bit of a nap (and so did I). Of course it didn't last too long, as they came back in to give him his meds, and then in a matter of a few minutes his dinner came, so now it was time to eat. Over all, it was a busy day, and we did get a bunch of stuff accomplished. Now, tomorrow, we need to get more things done, and hope we can get some of the things we wanted to do today, done... ;-)

Thank you, for all your prayers and continued support.