Staff Sgt Jason Ross - Marine

The way I feel right now it must have been a leap day for sure. The day started early, with me leaving for Los Angeles at 08:30 and not getting back until 15:10. I went up there to pick up Jason's truck, the one he had before the injury. It is VERY unlikely that he'll ever drive it again, but he feels better knowing that it is in his garage again, and he isn't worried that something might happen to it. There was a problem with getting it started so AAA was called and the guy who came out was great. He took a look at the truck, found out what the problem was and corrected it in less than an hour. There was a need for a new battery, and he was able to provide one for a reasonable price (he wasn't pushy at all and in fact I was pushing him, if anything to get the battery). I was able to spend a little time with my son David and his family, and even played with my grandson Dylan for a little while. I couldn't have asked for it to be any better. David bought us all lunch...

Jason went in to PT and OT today and did pretty well. They try to tailor the activity to Jason's ability to tolerate the discomfort, so he won't be in too much pain. This all went well today, until he had to go pick up his prescription. I think it was a combination of the therapies and then the extended waiting in the pharmacy that caused him to start experiencing some muscle spasms and then ultimately the need to take a few extra meds. The extra meds are medications that he has always had with him, for as long as he has been an out patient. He just doesn't need to take them very often anymore. The main one is Valium, a muscle relaxer, and then helped to keep the spasms in check. The down side is that it also makes him sleepy. He got home from the hospital and within a few moments he said, "I need to get off my feet." (That's what he says when he wants to lay down, and he is really tired.) Within a minute of him getting settled in his bed he was out. The new p...

Today was a good day, and a not so good day. The good part started with having the girls here and up early; full of energy and bringing a happiness that only kids can bring to a home. The day was full of looking for things and then actually finding them and deciding what the next step(s) should be. It also had a bit of a sad side, in that Linda had to go back up to Livermore tonight. The girls really like being around Grandma, and Grandma really likes being around the girls (Grandpa and Jason like having her around too!). We chose not to take the girls to day care today so that they could all spend some time together. The will, however, be going tomorrow, so that we can get a few other things done, including all the appointments Jason has. Speaking of day care, Linda and I went over to a possible day care provider's home, to see if it would be a good place for the girls to go. We had the girls with us, so they could see the place as well, and it gave us a chance to see how they mig...

Jason got up this morning and decided that he was in need of a shower. Of course I wasn't going to argue with him, I thought he needed a shower, too... ;-) As it was, his wounds were looking really good, and it appears that they are making more progress all the time with healing. The one thing I didn't get done was take some pictures to send to Dr. Malone, so she can see what progress has been made. He'll be taking another shower in a couple of days, and I'll get some shots in at that time. He is no longer taking the I.V. antibiotics; he is cutting back more on the pain meds he has been taking; and, overall he is feeling much better. I think a big portion of that is the fact that he spends most of his time in bed, and the extra rest is helping with the overall healing. On top of that his attitude is very good, and we're getting the house totally set up the way he wants it, including pictures on the wall and some recent new furniture pieces. Actually he talked about ...

Last night we were up a bit later than usual, and it was a busy day for all of us, so we all managed to sleep in some today. Sleeping in for Jason and I means not having to start moving about until after 07:00. Still, he has the 06:30 meds to take, but he doesn't have to do much of anything else, at least not for a little while. We really didn't have anywhere special to go today, and other than unload the truck, there wasn't any scheduled or planned activity that needed to be done. I made some oatmeal (with raisins) for breakfast, and afterward went out and unloaded the truck. Linda provided a bunch of help, and we were able to get it all done in less than an hour. Of course that didn't include the time it is taking to put things away, and that could take days. The girls are coming back to the house tomorrow night so we want to have most of it done before they get here. One of the big things brought down from Livermore, for me, was my bike. I did get a short chance ...

I woke up this morning at about 04:00, not because I needed to, but because I was so worried about over sleeping, I woke up early, and then couldn't get back to sleep. I finally got up and got ready for my flight up to Oakland. The flight was uneventful, just the way I like them, and I was back up in Livermore by about 10:00. We had a couple of things to do, before leaving, so we didn't get out on the road until almost 10:45, then drove back down to San Diego. The drive really wasn't bad, and the traffic was only an issue for a 10 mile stretch through Los Angeles. Originally I had told Jason we would try to get back by 19:00 (7pm), but due to a few things happening we did not arrive until 19:45, so it wasn't too bad. Within a few minutes of getting here we were off to go have dinner. Jason hadn't eaten and neither had we, so we were all hungry... we went to the Olive Garden. Jason had treatment with Wound Care and with Physical Therapy. From what he has told me, a...

Today was a little more laid back, to begin with, then ramped up for me a little later in the day. Jason had a single appointment today with OT and we got there with no problem at all. I also had an appointment today, but not until the afternoon, so that made the transportation a little bit of a question, at first. I made a call to the Marines and everything was set and readied. Actually, they were planning on coming to the house and picking him up, but since I was going in anyway I brought him in, and the Marines were there to get him home. Tomorrow will be another big challenge, in that I am flying up to Oakland, and then ultimately to Livermore, to help Linda drive a truck back down to San Diego. Total time at home will be less than an hour, and probably less than 30 minutes. It is a long drive, and I don't want to be away any longer than I need to be. I have set up for others to be at the house, for the entire time I am out, so that makes it a little easier, but I'm still...

Jason went to go see his doctor today - his main doctor while here in Balboa, and it turned out to be a very good visit. Dr. Pyo first talked about the medications that Jason was currently taking, and which of them had he been cutting back on. He was pleased with what Jason has been doing, and thinks we are doing fine as it relates to the amount of medication we are still working with. He suggested that we can begin to pull back even more on some of the pain meds, though we need to do it carefully, and paying a great deal of attention to how any of the changes make. Jason was totally on board with that, and so we changed topics to how the wounds were healing, and what we can do differently to better help the healing. Dr. Pyo also spoke about bringing in the doctors from Bethesda, since they have a more intimate knowledge of what Jason's wounds are, from the inside. They were the surgeons, and Dr. Pyo is not a surgeon, so they have a different perspective. There might be some surger...

Jason's IV treatment is almost over... One more tomorrow evening and that will be the last of it - I think. I always have to put in the caveat, because with medicine it is both science and art, and sometimes things happen that are not expected. Still,I will remain optimistic, and believe that tomorrow will be the last one. Actually, we will be meeting with the doctor at about 11:00, and discussing this and a number of other issues. I spoke briefly with the doctor today, and because it was brief we just sort of "brushed" over some of the issues, and we will delve into them more tomorrow. While I was talking with the doctor Jason was at his OT appointment and had a great session. We talked about it a little while afterward and he said he was glad that it was set up the way it is. Most of the work was on his hands and arms, and therefore it was at this almost circular table. Also at this table were other Wounded Warriors, all receiving their treatment, and it effectively tur...

It was great having the girls here today. Jason was showing some signs of being very happy with the girls being here, and the girls reciprocated. Jackie was walking all over the place, and Grandma (Linda) was doing her best to wear out the battery on my camera (see took about 70 pictures today). She said she wanted to go through them before I can post so apologies to all, but at least you know the pictures are here. At the end of the day the girls headed back home, so we won't have them here again until next week. Jason had a pretty good day, though there were some times when the pressure points did get to him, and he needed a little extra pain meds. We will be going in tomorrow to take care of appointment, and I am also going to be going over to his "main" doctor to find out just what the plan is for doing something to alleviate those darn pressure points. I do believe that once they have those under control, or removed, he will feel so much better, and any healing tha...

Today was a bit like yesterday, only totally different today... ;-) No one to pick up at the airport, and no support nurse came in today. Not sure how they are going to be filling that need, though they tell me they're working on it. Not a problem today though. Both Mom and Dad are here to help Jason with anything he might need, and in fact I think Jason was in a really good mood since we were able to go through a few more of his boxes of things, and get several more things put away. When Linda gets it in her head that she wants to get things put away and/or cleaned up your best bet is to just help out, cause its going to get done. One of the things that Jason has been wanting to do, and looking forward to is being able to take a shower. He has had a special treatment on his wounds, and they didn't want him to take a shower for 10 days after the application. Today, Sunday is the end of that period and the wound nurse even told us he could take a shower today. He was in the ...

Today was another day of relaxing and doing things that we want to do, but only if we really want to do them. Linda came in at about 8:45 this morning and I picked her up at the airport. Jason stayed back in bed, and Tom, the nurse support person, was there with him. Linda and I went to breakfast, and then went and bought a hammer. She has been after me to get a hammer for weeks now, so I guess it was time to get one. She is interested in putting some things up on the walls, and having a hammer does make it easier - trying to drive even a small nail with a knife or spoon really isn't the best idea. I know a bunch of you are out there saying she's right, and I'm not arguing with that, I just wanted to be sure that when the hammer was purchased it was done with Linda around - didn't want to get the wrong hammer... ;-) This afternoon we all went out and did a little shopping for Jason, as he wanted to get an entertainment center for the front room. Something to put his t...

I know today is Friday, but it sure felt like a Saturday. With the appointments taken care of yesterday, there were none for today. Jason didn't have to get up any earlier than he wanted, and he didn't have to do anything, unless he wanted to. About the only thing we did was go to the grocery store and pickup a few things, so that I could roast a chicken for dinner tonight (which I did, and it came out great). We did still manage to forget a couple of things, but they were things that we really weren't out of yet, and can get tomorrow or even Sunday. They changed the dosage of the antibiotic that he has been taking for the past 14 days, to a reduced amount. It makes setting up the I.V. just a little easier, but not by much. It still has to be set up, and I still do it in the evening, and it still runs for about 30 minutes (+/-). Once a week they do a bit of lab work on his blood (a registered nurse comes in to get his blood each week), and I guess they determined that he ...

Today Jason had one appointment at the hospital, and like other days where he has had "only" one appointment, it turned into almost half a day at the hospital. Things came up and different people wanted to talk to him about something or other, and it was only going to take a couple of minutes. The good part about all this is, those things they want to talk to him about are things we might have had to come back to take care of anyway, so it actually saved time - just wasn't in our original schedule. The Marines are coming in the morning to pick him up, and because they use a larger van, bus really, the ride to the base is a little bumpy for him. He calls me to ask me to come get him for the ride back. This time because the ride was smoother and due to the fact the Marine bus was also going to be making multiple stops and turn the 15 minute ride into close to an hour. He was ready to lay back down, and that is still a very high priority for me as well. He did get to see t...

Well, today certainly got off to a much better start than yesterday. Jose wasn't caught up in traffic and got here on time (a little early actually). The one real main difference was that Jason didn't have any appointments at the hospital or C5. As Jose arrived I took off to the gym and did a little cardio on the stationary bike, and then came back to the house. I'm doing too much at the gym as I want to get back into it a little on the slow side. My foot still a little tender on the heel so I guess it is still heeling itself. (For those wondering... I had surgery on my foot a short while before Jason was injured and for whatever reason my heel is taking forever to heal). We did get to go do something a little out of the ordinary, and that was to go to Costco. We hadn't been to a Costco in over a year, so it was kind of a new adventure for us. Funny thing is, we drove over to the Costco, and Jose was with us; on our way over to the Costco Jose said, "You know, th...

Today started out a bit rough, for a couple of reasons; first we had to get up and ready a little earlier, since Jason's first appointment was at 08:00; and, secondly, our support nurse was supposed to be at the house by 07:30 but was stuck in traffic and wouldn't make the 07:30 mark. We waited a little while, but by 07:45 we needed to be on the road or we were going to be late. As it turned out we were still a little late, but not so much that it messed things up, other than the fact that I was there, when I was supposed to be back at the house. I wanted to be back at the house because there were people coming to the house to work on the house and work on the van we were using. I contacted the right people and was told a Marine would be coming over to help Jason, and I was going to get a ride back to the house. While I was waiting for the ride back to the house I was able to call the mechanic and told him what was going on, and he was okay with it because he too had been stu...

Today was a pretty good day for Jason, and a rather unusual one for me. One of the ideas that has been talked about is having the Marines transport Jason to his daily appointments, both to and from the hospital. This is to allow me some free time, and even a chance to possibly go out and once again find employment (I have a few years left before retirement, and quite frankly I enjoy doing my job - IT project management). Well, today was the first day of this new routine, and it worked great for Jason; and, it felt a little strange for me. For right now I chase them to the Naval Hospital and back again, and I still spend the most of the day with him, but it just felt a little strange. Jason's appointments were without any special updates, other than all is going well, and they want to see him back next week. Actually, as he regains his lead on the healing part, and his wounds are once again cooperating as they should, he will be having several appointments every week with OT and P...

This has been an enjoyable weekend for many reasons, but one of the best was because Linda was able to come down and spend it with me. That means that Jason was able to spend some time with Mom; the girls were able to spend some time with Grandma; and, I got to see my wife! All because of one little visit... ;-) Jason was feeling pretty good today, though I think he may have done just a little too much, by the time he got back in bed. I checked the wounds and their dressings, and everything looks okay, so I think that it was just a matter of him getting worn down a little bit more than usual, and Jason is the type to want to push it sometimes. We had a new nurse come in, Terry, and he seemed like the right type to be working with Jason. He is a retired military corpsman, so he has a very good understanding of what Jason was doing. He has spent some time over in Iraq, as well as working with some of the returned military (all branches). He and Jason hit it off pretty well, and I over ...

Today has been a great Saturday for all of us here. Jason was feeling pretty good, in general and on top of that Mom (Linda) is here for the weekend. She made it in late last night and when she got up this morning the girls were very excited. I have to admit, I was pretty excited too. We had a nice breakfast, and Grandma played with the girls for most of the morning. Jose came in today (normally he is off, but the guy who was supposed to come in was not available). I think part of the reason he came in was because he missed a day last week. This afternoon Susan S. came by and we did some picture taking for the documentary that she is working on - Over Fifty and Out of Work. She also has been following Jason and his progress for almost as long as we have. It was great to see her, Sam and Joram again. The girls got a chance to play out side, as the weather was still nice, even though it was a little cooler than yesterday. Then on top of that, Charlie, one of Jason's buddies, cam...

Well, Jose was back on duty today and both Jason and I were happy to see him. He just wasn't up to it yesterday, and it is probably better that he didn't come in, as I don't want any sickies around. Speaking of sickies being around - both girls have been going to the drop-in day care all this week and have not picked up any bugs to share. This is both a wonderful happening, and it has been a very good experience for them . They both enjoy going to day care and interacting with the other kids. The social aspect is something they both need. We got up at about our usual time and then had breakfast. Jose came in at his regular time and we just hung around the house for a little while. Jason had an appointment at 10:00 so we had some time to just goof off a bit. We loaded the van up and headed off to the hospital, and day care. As it turned out the proximity of the day care and Jason's appointment couldn't have been planned much better. We actually got to the appointme...

Today started out as a great day, considering the night we just slept through, or should I say, tried to sleep through. Not sure what was going on with Jackie, but she woke up three times, and each time it woke both Jason and I up. I'd go down and get her up, walk around with her and take her into see daddy; she'd calm down and then I would put her back to bed. She wasn't wet, and she calmed down quickly, so I am guessing that she was having bad dreams or something. First time this has happened, so I really don't know. After about midnight there were no more disruptions and we slept through the rest of the night, and she woke up just as happy as could be. The amazing thing was that Stacy slept through everything - sound sleeper for sure. We got up and had cereal for breakfast, and then got a phone call that Jose was not going to be coming by, as he wasn't feeling well. This was inconvenient, but I'd rather he not come by if he is ill. The folks from Maxim, whe...

Today started out as a wonderful day and ended on a pretty good note, too. We got up and dressed, and we all decided we just wanted cereal for breakfast today. There was also apple and orange juices, but that was it. Jose, Jason's nurse arrived on time, and actually it was kind of funny. I happened to look at the clock and said, "Jose should be here any moment." And, within just a few seconds of saying that, he knocked on the door. I must be getting psychic or something... :-) Once we finished breakfast and got all cleaned up and dressed we headed off for one of the small parks that they have here at Gateway. Jackie had a good time, though she didn't seem to know what to do; and, Stacy had a great time. She ran all around and played on the rocking horse type animals, and finally went all over the play gym. Jose ran back to the house to get a towel to dry some of the equipment off, from the rain yesterday and Stacy was very appreciative. I got some pictures and will ...

The great news today is that Jason spent nearly the entire day in bed. He got up and moved around a little, but then went right back to bed. I was very happy about that, and I believe it is so much better for him right now, even if it does drive him a little bonkers to have to stay in bed. Fortunately the television is working just fine, and he can also play video games on his laptop (as well as his iphone). Okay, "So what's the bad news?" I can almost hear you ask. Well, it is real terrible and I almost can't type it... The folks from Furnishing Hope came by to swap out the smaller table with a little larger one, and they didn't have matching chairs.... Okay, so it really isn't bad news, but that's as bad as it has gotten today. We had rain, and the freeways were crazy slow (people around here are the worst drivers I've encountered, for rain - they are so spoiled with all the good weather they have forgotten how to drive when it gets wet). I was jus...

Today was kind of busy, but it also felt pretty good because we managed to get several things done. The morning started out with an oatmeal and raisin breakfast, and the funny thing is that Stacy began with a protest and then was the first one finished. She ate every bit of her cereal, and seemed quite happy when she was done. Actually, there wasn't any left when we were done... ;-) Jason's support nurse came today, the one that will be with him five days a week. He really wasn't much different from Toliver, other than the fact that he was born in Peru. When he first came in I thought he was Mexican, then he started to talk, and his accent was just a little different so I had to ask him where he was from. He has been in the U.S. for about 15 years and is working towards his RN degree. He made some of the same comments that Toliver made, about Jason being so independant already and that he felt like he really wasn't doing that much. I talked to him about Jason's me...

Today was an adventurous day for Jason as we took the girls shopping. The girls got a bath and I shampooed their hair, so naturally I looked for a brush after we were done. There was none to be found. Not sure where it went, but it really didn't matter since we didn't have one. Anyway, we went to where we thought we would be able to find just what we were looking for, Babies R Us. Well, as you can imagine, Jackie is growing rather quickly, and some of her clothes no longer fit, and Jason wanted to get her some new pajamas anyway. We found some on clearance, and then also found a nice dress for Stacy, along with everything else we were now buying. We eventually got out of there for a little over $100, and my comment to Jason was, "That was an expensive hair brush." All he said was, "Yeah..." I guess I'm just not much of a shopper, and it looks like Jason isn't much different. Next time we'll wait for grandma, and let her have fun, since she enjoys...

The girls are back with us now, and Jason is very happy about that. They were picked up early this morning, about 09:00, and the girls seemed quite excited to be coming to "Daddy's house." Toliver, Jason's new support person and nurse, went with us to get the girls, so they had a new person to meet as well. Toliver will be working with Jason on weekends, or possibly another person, he wasn't quite sure how it was going to be work out. During the week there will be a different person, another nurse, whom we have not met yet. We'll get to meet him on Monday. At this point we don't have a person coming in on Sunday, though I am asking them to continue to search for someone who is available. We went over to Office Depot to pick up a couple of things for Jason, and while we were there he wanted to take a look at their office furniture. They had a desk there that was a nice desk and when Jason moved up to it with his wheelchair he fit like it was made for him....

Jason had a good day today, and went to his one appointment at Wound Care, where they did another application of the A-cell treatment and then told him he would not need to change is dressings for a week. This is all good except that it also means that he won't be able to take a shower for a week, and he does enjoy a shower. Especially now that we have the trapeze in place and a new shower bench in place. Oh well, he'll have to wait a week to try them out. Jason will be having a nurse with him for 8 hours a day, 6 days a week, and the first day is tomorrow. He will be coming over at 08:00 and staying until 16:00 (4pm) each day. Sunday will be the only day that we don't have the extra help. This also provides a bit of a rest for me, so that I can now get out and go for a walk or just sit back and read a book. I'm not sure what I will be doing, but it will be very interesting to see what happens and how it develops. The guy coming in is a licensed nurse, and is famili...

According to the movie, "Groundhog Day" nothing ever changes, except for the main character (Bill Murray), and this just repeats over and over again. Well, that is definitely not the way it is with Jason and me, now down here in San Diego. Each day brings something new and sometimes very exciting to get involved with, like today. Today was Jason's first full day back at the house and he got up for a little while, so that we could have breakfast together (we had oatmeal with raisins - pretty tasty actually). Afterward he went back to the bed and laid back down, and I was happy about that. He has been riding in his power chair more, and I've put his seat from the manual chair where the form-fitting seat was. It seems to be more comfortable, so we will stick with it for now. As soon as we can get with Van again, I'll find out what it going to be done about the seat that doesn't work. After he was in bed for awhile, David, his brother, showed up and it was rea...

Today was a much better day for Jason, and (drum roll please) HE IS SLEEPING IN HIS OWN BED AGAIN! He got to come home from the hospital tonight, and though it was after 19:00 (7pm) when we did get home, it felt very good to do so. There is still a level of concern with the infections, and they are treating them with antibiotics, with them being administered via I.V. A nurse will be coming to the house tomorrow to go over the procedure, and make sure we don't have any questions, and I got to do the disconnect and line flush in the hospital tonight. I've seen it done so many times that I am comfortable with taking care of this. Jokingly I made a comment to the nurse that I was just about all the way to corpsman, and she said, "No, you're ahead of them, as the corpsmen don't get to touch these I.V. lines." I'll be doing it daily starting on Friday, this week, with the nurse coming in and doing it tomorrow, though I guess I could be doing it tomorrow if she w...