Staff Sgt Jason Ross - Marine

Today started out as most other days, with a chaotic breakfast. Afterward, I was attempting to take care of a little personal business on the web, when technology decided to find ways of causing frustration. After fighting with it for a little while I decided I'd had enough and went down stairs to the rest of the family, and Larry (Monica is here too, but we consider her family). Anyway, we decided to go to the beach today, and go visit with Anthony Netto. Anthony was at an event, over by a specialized gym, set up for people who have been, though various means, restricted to life in a wheelchair. The main focus was to introduce them to his Paramobile, and show them some of the possibilities, and from the expressions on their collective faces I'd have to say it was a very positive effect for many of them (there were about 12 people there, with their families and support). We had the girls there, along with Monica and Larry, and they were having a great time running around and ...

Jason had one appointment today, and wanted to get a hair cut. His appointment was with OT and then it was a matter of working with PT and OT to schedule out the rest of May for the month's appointments. Once that was done we headed back home. The girls were at daycare so we decided to let them stay there for a little while - Stacy asked to go to see Miss Nancy, and seemed pretty happy to see her once at daycare. After getting back to the house, and making sure that Jason was comfortable I did a quick check on my email and then headed back to pick up the girls. Not too much happen the rest of the day, until Linda and Monica arrived for the weekend. I was very happy to see them, and it is really great that Monica was able to come down with Linda. Linda and I plan to get away for a couple of days, and Monica is going to be filling in for me, with Jason. Jason has known Monica since she was a toddler, enrolled in Linda's day care, and she has always looked up to Jason as a secon...

Today was kind of an exciting day for Jason. He was able to get over to the Urology department and set up an appointment at the same time as his OT appointment. He recognized that he was at the beginning stages of another infection, and it was important to get it taken care of. While he was at Urology I went over to OT and let them know he would not be coming. They were very understanding and wished him well. The appointment at Urology was set up to be 20 to 30 minutes (actually listed out on his appointment list at 20 minutes) and we ended up being there for over 90 minutes. They initially had some trouble with the catheter and the doctor had to come in and take care of it; something that the corpsmen usually handle. Apparently once they had that done there was other examinations that had to take place and this time the medical team came back with a more comprehensive plan on what to do. Jason will be on a two week regimen of another strong antibiotic and then they want him to take a ...

This morning started off a bit better with the fact that there were no appointments to worry about. Unfortunately Jason wasn't feeling particularly good, due to a number of issues but mostly discomfort. I was concerned for a good portion of the day, but he never seemed to really get to the point where I felt I needed to take him in. He did end up taking a little more pain medication today, and that was the first time he had asked for that in about a month, maybe longer. The biggest help was that it allowed him to sleep a little more, and it apparently got him over the hump. By the end of the day he was feeling much better and even got in a couple of good hugs for his daughters when they went to bed. I read them The Story Of Jesus, and Stacy was very interested in it. Jackie didn't seem to have the slightest idea of what I was talking about, and I finally had to just put her in her crib so I could finish reading the story to Stacy. Funny thing is, when I did put Jackie in bed, s...

Google has decided that it was time to make changes to their blogging offerings, so today it looks a little different to me, but what the heck, today has been a different kind of day all around. Jason had the laser treatment yesterday, and he was told it would probably feel a bit like a mild sun burn today. Well, the doctor was right, it did feel like a sun burn, only it wasn't mild. Think of the kind of sun burn where your skin is tender, and it hurts just to put your shirt on. That's what Jason was trying to sit on, in his chair. As you can imagine, he wasn't too happy about it. He was up in his chair for about 20 minutes, dealing with the discomfort when I asked him if he would like to just get back in bed and forget his appointments for today. He said he would and I called his section leader and asked him to cancel all  his appointments. GySgt Parker is a great guy and said it would be no problem at all, and said to make sure that Jason just stayed down and was comforta...

Jason had a busy day today, even though there was only one appointment for him to go to. Of course this appointment took several hours, and he was in an operating room for a good part of it. He had the laser treatment done again on his wounds and so far it looks like things are going well. The smaller of the two has gone down much more significantly than first anticipated. The larger of the two has reduced also, but not as much. If they can even close one of the two it would be great, and then they could focus on just the one. There is also the continuing issue of the HO (Hetero-topic Ossification), and we still don't know what is going to happen as a result of that, but that's to be decided soon - we hope. After his appointment we took the girls to Target, where Jason bought them both a new pair of shoes. Seems the ones they were wearing just don't fit like they're supposed to anymore. Seems like Jason is buying new shoes about every six weeks or so. Its like the gir...

Jason and I went to the San Diego Community Presbyterian Church today, and it was great. I was very pleased to see that they have a program that is very similar to the Livermore Presbyterian Church, so we felt totally comfortable, and the people there were very friendly. We met the pastor prior to the service, Rev. John Powell and also a member of the choir, Sumpner (he didn't have a name tag on his robe, but that's how he introduced himself), and he was our impromptu guide. We didn't stay too long after the service though as Jason was feeling a need to get back down, though we did get to speak with a few other members of the congregation. Jason said he would like to bring the girls there next Sunday, since they will be with us again, a little later tonight. Actually, the rest of the day was pretty laid back and restful, just like I was hoping it would be. Larry asked for the day off, and I said that it was fine with me - he has been coming nearly every day since he started...

Another laid back Saturday. Jason spent most of the day in bed, and playing his video games or watching T.V. I am so glad that he is aware of the need for him to stay down as much as he can, to help with the healing. I can see it in his eyes that he would like to get out and go do something, but staying down is the best thing for him. Now that I've said that, he and I will be headed over to the Presbyterian Church tomorrow for the first time. We won't be out and about any more than we need to, but it just feels like now is the time to go. I really miss going to church, and I think he does too. Not much else going on today other than my bike ride. I did about 15 miles and it was a nice ride. Actually, I'm not sure if I was just lucky or what, but it seemed that all the people I came across were very friendly. This is in sharp contrast to the last time I went. Most of the folks then were rude, so today was very refreshing. Thank you, for continuing to support us and follow th...

Today was an interesting day in that Jason had one scheduled appointment that was set for 15 minutes. Yep, 15 minutes and it was the only appointment on the schedule. It was with the Orthopedics team, and since we are working pretty closely with them right now we both considered it to be a very important appointment that we didn't want to miss. It said to get there 15 minutes early so we could check in and be ready when the appointment was to start. Now, all of that sounds fine so far, and we did get there 15 minutes early. Jason went up to the counter and Larry and I went over and sat down in the waiting area. Jason came on over and we started to talk; and, we talked for about 30 minutes. I went up and asked if Jason was going to be going in soon and I was told he was going to be next. Then they called two other patients who went in, and that kind of bothered me a little. Jason wanted to pick up a new Rx since we were at the hospital and said I'm going to get my prescription g...

Well, today was the big day, for the Ortho visit, and we did get to see the doctor. I guess he kind of gave us an update, in that he said he didn't think there was anything more they could do here. He did want to talk with the plastics folks, and I hope that doesn't take too long, but right now we still don't know what the next step is going to be. The doctor hinted pretty strongly that he thought that something could be done, at another location, just not here. My guess would be that we will be headed back to Bethesda - BUT THAT IS JUST A GUESS, please don't be upset if we find out tomorrow (or Monday) that something else is going to be done. The challenge with this is that there are so many things going on right now that we would need to make some arrangements for all the other stuff going. There were other appointments today, also, though they were for the regular things that we've been dealing with, for the past several weeks, mainly PT and OT. Actually I was ...

Jason only had two appointments today, and then we went back home. The appointments were for PT and then OT, and they were back-to-back. Funny thing about PT is that the appointment comes up as a 30 minute session, and he usually spends an hour or more there. He is worked pretty good, and the biggest thing they are working on right now is loosening up his shoulder and back muscles. One of the therapists commented that she usually just has to push a little on the guys shoulders to get them to move some, with Jason she is putting her entire weight in the push and it still barely gives. He really needs this attention and treatment. While Jason was getting his treatment I took Tommy, the PT dog, for a walk. Tommy is almost always at PT and frequently is up on the table with Jason or one of the other guys. Most of the folks there say his name should be Eeyore, from Winnie the Pooh because he shows almost no energy at any time. He just walks around with his tail wagging, looking for attentio...

Jason's day started off pretty well, in that I made a breakfast of scrambled eggs with ham, hash brown potatoes, toast and juice. On top of that, he ate it all, so that made me happy. We were up and ready to go by 09:30 and the first appointment was at 10:00. We made it there with time to spare, like we usually do. The concern I had today was that he was going to be up in his chair for way too long of a period and that it could possibly result in some damage. While he was at PT I asked him to just lay on the table (its a padded large work out table that the guys use for treatment - there are actually three of them) and then when his appointment started he just stayed on that same table. That was over an hour of being out of the chair. Then the last appointment of the day was with dermatology and again he was out of the chair, so over all he was able to get out of the chair enough that it wasn't too hard on him. Besides, the doctor (dermatologist) was very pleased with the progr...

Good day today, we started out with a bit of a hiccup, in that I didn't look at the schedule until we were already late for our first appointment. I had it in my head that the first one was at 10:00, when in fact it was at 09:00. We managed to arrive at about 09:30, so it wasn't too bad, and they really like Jason in PT so they were happy to seem him there. He also spent a bit more time with them than originally planned, but that was because they still think that his shoulders are way to tight and the muscles in his back (between his shoulder blades) need to be strengthened. On top of everything else, I'm getting quite an education about Physical Therapy. Once he was done with PT, he had to head over to Occupational Therapy, and we were actually a little early for that appointment. The focus for them is to get strength back in his right hand. His left hand and arm are as good as ever. One of the funny aspects of his treatment was that one of the OT folks suggested that Ja...

Not much of a post today, all we did was go shopping so that Jason could pick up some PT (Physical Training) gear, as that is what he is supposed to be wearing. The funny thing is, when we got over to the Exchange, they didn't have any, so he bought some new sheets for his bed instead. We just lazed about the house today, with me doing some laundry and going through and doing a little clean up of my email accounts (I try to do that every now and then). I made some vegetable-beef soup, and I think it turned out pretty good. I tried something a little different this time, and added some pearl onions and they cooked up real nice. Of course Jason isn't a big fan of onions so he didn't appreciate the delicate flavor they have. He just picked them out and didn't eat them... ;-) Thank you, for all your prayers and continued support, And for continuing to read the blog.

Today was a day where we got to get out of the house and do a little golfing. Well, at least some practice swings on the putting green, and then Anthony showed us how to hit balls by chipping them from the ruff on to the green... gee I even kinda sound like I know what I'm talking about. To say the least, Jason was a better student and did much better than I did. The down side to all this was that it started to rain. We did get under a cover and didn't get too wet. Jason was riding around in one of the Paragolfers from Stand Up and Play and he was doing well the entire time there. Heck even Larry got in on the act and was hitting some balls. The rep from Cleveland Clubs was there (along with several others) and he was helping Jason and Anthony as well. I think he and Anthony know each other. Anyway, we stayed for a few hours and then we had to get going, and with the rain coming down it seemed like a good time, and I wanted to get Jason back down. He said he thought it was a go...

Friday the 13th is supposed to be a scary kinda day, or something like that. Well today was actually kind of nice, though it did get a bit stormy towards the end of the day. We actually had a thunderstorm with a couple of lightening strikes and two loud thunder claps. It rained pretty hard for a few minutes, too. Kind of made me feel like taking a nap or something (I sleep well during a thunderstorm), but it was short lived and adjusted back to a regular San Diego rain pattern. I did get out for a bike ride this morning, and had a good time going no where, for about 15 miles. I ended up back where I started, so I call that going no where. Jason pretty much stayed in bed all morning, because he didn't have an appointment until 13:00 (1pm), and by that time the weather was starting to turn from overcast to threatening. By the time we were done it was starting to sprinkle a bit, and Jason still wanted to head over to the grocery store to pick up a few things. We had planned on going...

Today was a nice day with only a single appointment with OT and then back home to get Jason back in bed. Actually, after getting back to the house Jason wanted to take a shower, and as a result his dressings were changed out and then he laid back down. I took a good look at his wounds and they are looking better all the time. If they keep moving like they are I would guess that the wounds will be closed, or at least close to being closed, by the end of June. This is a good thing for more reasons than just his skin is his body's first layer of defense against infection. It should allow him to be more comfortable for longer periods and it should also allow him to be able to take longer trips, like maybe back up to Livermore for a visit. Okay, perhaps I'm jumping the gun here a little, but at least it makes me feel better just thinking about it. Actually traveling is one of those things that has forever changed for Jason, since he is unable to fly in a commercial flight now. Anyw...

Busy day today - Jason had three appointments and then I had one of my own with the VA. We started out with an early start and Larry was stuck in traffic. It rained this morning and one of the things we've noticed around here is that the general population does not do well in wet weather. We had to leave for the hospital without Larry, as I didn't want to be late for one of Jason's appointments. Perhaps I should explain something. With Jason still on active duty, as a Marine, and in the hospital, one might wonder how the Marines determine how he is rated. As a Marine, he has a job to do, and depending on how well he does that job, along with the other aspects of being a Marine, they decide on his rating which is used to determine rank advancement. Jason is recovering from his injuries, and will be doing so for the next several months, and his "job" now is to make sure he goes to all his scheduled appointments, or at least contacts the appropriate people, if he i...

Another day, another appointment... Okay, maybe a few appointments. It started out with just one and ended up with a couple more; funny how that happens. The good side is that Jason now has some PT (Physical Therapy) sessions set up again, and I think that is one of the areas he misses. The OT (Occupational Therapy) is good and he likes the folks there, its just that he wants to do more. Then there is the balance needed so that he doesn't over do it, as we know where that ended up last time. Jason is feeling pretty good with how things are going, though it would be nice if the progress were a little faster. Sometimes it seems that progress just isn't paying attention to what he wants, and we just need to work on our patience, rather than just being a patient (pun intended). We got to the hospital and to his first appointment, and while he was taking care of that I was doing my best to take care of a couple other things. We had borrowed a DVD from the YMCA (Cinderella) for the...

A nice laid-back kinda day with no appointments and nothing to do but take care of a couple of errands. I finished up the laundry and put away a bunch of clothes, then otherwise just took care of Jason's needs. Tomorrow is another day, where he does have an appointment, and anytime we get over to the hospital with just a single appointment we always seem to spend more time there doing other things. Anyway, Linda will be back down in less than 3 weeks, and that will be good. Thank you, for the continued prayers and support. Take care and have a great evening.

We had an Easter Egg hunt, in the backyard, with Stacy, Jackie and their cousin Dylan. It was great fun even for Jackie. She didn't really understand what was going on, and so we provided her with a little assistance. Jackie ended up with six eggs to Stacy's 22 and Dylan's 18 (at least I think that was what they ended up with). Even after the "hunt" was over Jackie was having so much fun just running around with her basket she just continued while Stacy and Dylan sat down and took stock of their new found treasures. It was great with all the activity and Jason had a great time with the kids - probably the best he's had so far, though the beach was pretty good. The sad part of the day was that tomorrow it is back to just Jason and I, and Larry the Home Health Aide. David (Dylan's dad) and his family had to head back up to Los Angeles, Mom (Linda) had to leave tonight to return to Livermore, and the girls will be gone for the next two weeks. These next two...

Today was a good day. We all went to the San Diego Zoo for a few hours - that was about as long as the kids and Jason could handle the crowds - and we rode the tour bus all around the park. David and Dylan were with us this time around and it was good to see them again, and we're hoping to maybe see Miriam before they have to head back home tomorrow. Of course Linda has to head back home tomorrow also, so it will be back to just Jason and me after tomorrow night. The girls will also be going tomorrow night. It has been a crazy busy week, but one that was very enjoyable with all the family being here. I think Jason really enjoyed it as well. Tomorrow is Easter, so we will have to get up a little early, to make sure everything is in place. That's about all the update for today. About the only thing different was that Linda and I finally went out and bought some new sheets for the bed. The "old" ones were already beginning to show some wear, and besides I wanted some ne...

I got up this morning, and found everybody still asleep. I didn't think it was that early, only about 06:30, but I guess everyone else did. I went down to make sure that Jason had taken his meds, and found that he was asleep still, and I needed to wake him up to take the meds. That was probably only the third time, since being here, that I have had to wake him. Usually he has taken them before I show up, and if he is asleep I let him stay asleep, today I had to wake him. When I checked on the girls they were both asleep and looking very cute, so I went on back up to my room. Linda was sleeping so I just took a quick look at my email. Jason's first appointment was at 11:00 this morning, so no rush to get everyone moving, and then I noticed that Linda sounded kind of funny, I went in to check on her and found out that she had caught a cold. She ended up spending most of the day in bed, with a good portion of that just sleeping, and that was a good thing. She seems to be much bett...

Jason had two appointments today, with one of them being Occupational Therapy and the other with the Dermatology folks - the ones who did the laser treatment. At OT he had a good workout, and was actually sweaty when he finished. I think he likes it when he has a good hard workout and sweats like that. It makes him feel more complete. There was a gap between appointments of about two hours so he decided to take advantage of the time and take care of another "errand" the Gunny had given to him. Then he went to the Exchange and made a couple of small purchases and we still had over an hour to wait. So like any good patient, he said, "Let's go early and see if they can take us in sooner." As it turned out that's exactly what happened, and we were done at about the time we were supposed to be going in. The visit allowed the doctor to take a look at the wounds and see that they were now looking better than they had before. He had taken a couple of pictures of t...

Short post today, due to the fact that Jason spent most of the day in bed - and that's a good thing. I got up a little early and went for a bike short bike ride (~12 miles) and when I got back to the house everybody was up and they were just finishing breakfast. We talked a little about what we were going to do today and then Jason said he wanted to go lay back down. Linda's folks were coming back over a little later in the morning to spend the day with us, and prepare an "Easter Dinner" since they won't be here on Easter. They will be heading over to Linda's brother's place in Arizona, and spending Easter with him. We also decided to have an "Easter Egg Hunt" for the girls, and the girls across the street. The other two girls are friends with Stacy and Jackie and they get to play together sometimes, as well as see each other at the day care. Anyway the egg hunt went off about as well as any I have ever seen. The two oldest girls both found 14 ...

Today was a photo shoot day for the girls, and Grandma (Linda) had it all planned out. Nana and Tata (Linda's parents) were there to help, and join in on the fun, with the girls. They got an early start, as they left the house at about 09:00 and went over to The Picture People. They had a 10:00 appointment, and it was good that they had the appointment because the place really got busy by the time they had left, just a little after noon. I wasn't there, as I was with Jason at the Naval base, where he had some appointments to deal with. Linda told me that the taking of the photographs was a bit of a challenge at times; the girls did start to get restless, and she worried that the pictures were going to look poor, BUT, in fact when we went to go pick up the pictures later she was pleasantly surprised. All the shots came out looking great and they were all better than what was anticipated. It was actually kind of funny how Linda went into the mall, to go talk with The Picture Peop...

Another enjoyable day spent with Linda's parents, a.k.a. Grandma and Grandpa to Jason. They came over early and we all went to breakfast. Jason was doing well, then he decided that he needed to lay back down, which usually means something is uncomfortable, more than he wants to deal with, or he is just very tired - or a combination of both. We got back to the house and Joe and Jess went back to their hotel so they could also get some rest, and that worked out for us as well. Jason was laying down and the girls were with their mother (special request that Jason said they could go with her even though it is his two weeks), so Linda and I went to do some shopping. I picked up a router and an external storage device. I'll have the router hooked up tomorrow and I am hoping that it adds some speed to the network for me. The external storage is simply a way of me doing some backing up of important files and pictures. Anyway, that was pretty much it, except for the time Linda was abl...

Today was a day that was truly appreciated. We slept in a bit, and then decided to take Anthony Netto up on his invitation to join him at the car show. Linda's parents, Joe and Jess, were to come over and then we were going to leave. It actually almost worked out that way, and even though we still managed to get out of the house a little later than originally planned, we arrived at the car show with plenty of time to look around and talk with a bunch of people. Funny thing is, that the people were as much interested in Anthony and Jason (riding their Paragolfer carts) as we were in the cars. It was pretty impressive, and there were cars from all over the world, and from all time periods. I didn't see any horseless carriages, but I'm sure they were there, somewhere. We stayed at the show for a couple of hours and then Jason needed to get going. He'd been up for several hours by now, and even though he was more comfortable in the paragolf cart, he still needed to lay do...