Staff Sgt Jason Ross - Marine

It has been a few days since my last update, and I wanted to get something out there, so that no one is wondering what Jason, and the rest of the family, are up to. Jason is doing well, and continues on his healing journey.  Because of the Christmas Holiday, there has been a bit of a disruption to all our schedules, though nothing that can't be dealt with. Not too long ago, we had to go to the hospital at Camp Pendleton because of a catheter problem. There only solution to this is to have a complete change out of the catheter. The catheter goes in through the wall of his abdomen and right into his bladder, and sometimes there are problems with it that cause him a great deal of discomfort. Because we were going about once a month they agreed to instruct me in how to do the change, so that we don't have to deal with driving all the way in, and now I can say that I have changed out the catheter, a couple of times. The things I am doing, and have done are mind boggling for me, as...

What a wild and crazy week, so far. Because of a generous gift from the Gary Sinise Foundation, we were able to have a little family vacation.We drove up to the Los Angeles area and stopped in to see Mickey and friends (funny thing is, we didn't see Mickey or Donald, except on the parade floats), and hoped to get some serious R&R time in. We went in to this knowing that the rides were limited (only two, and for those still not sure, I'm talking about DisneyLand) that Jason could take advantage of, and those were with the Jungle Cruise and Its A Small World. Jason is not a big fan of Its a Small World, so that left the Jungle Cruise. We were even escorted over to the ride and found out that they have one boat and it was dry-docked for repairs, so he was out of luck. The next was that we could go see a show, and we wanted to check out the Aladdin show, over at California Adventure. Well, as it turned out, there were plenty of other people there that wanted to see the show and...

Just wanted to get a quick update out there, so that it isn't another week before any information comes out. Jason is doing well, and continues his healing, and being very dedicated to getting those pesky wounds to heal. He has been up, on occasion, when he has had a chance to socialize a little, friends have come over for short visits and such. He also has been up a couple of times when there was a business need, such as when both Gracie and Kojak got bathed (Jason had a dog service come to the house to bath the dogs). Jason had to go out and basically stay while Kojak was washed, and though I really wasn't happy with Jason being out in the cooler temps, Jason was happy, even if Kojak wasn't. I went with Jason, on his most recent trip to Balboa Hospital and it was worth the extra effort, on my part, as I was instructed on how to take care of the issue that has caused Jason trouble these past couple of months. Now, if it should happen again he won't have to go in to t...

This has been a busy week with continued preparations for Christmas, and some shopping that got accomplished. We also had a dental visit (both Linda and I - I need to go back one more time this year) that we both needed - the good thing here is that with me working again, we have insurance. The cool thing, though, is that Dr. Salgado and his wife Stephanie said that they would help with our dental needs even if we didn't have insurance, and they have in the past. I'm happy that we can pay them for the work, as it is their livelihood. On Tuesday this week we had an important conference call, with the VA, with regard to a planned trip out to Colorado, for Jason and I. We will be going out there to get some help with a special seating solution that should help him ride in his chair more comfortably. This is not in conjunction with the work that is going on at Cal Poly, and it looks like Cal Poly is making some progress with their efforts as well. We will be visiting a company ca...

Well, we've got the house decorated for Christmas and the tree is up. The girls even helped with putting on some of the ornaments. We have enjoyed these past few days, and having the girls here is just an extra bonus for us. Their mom went to a football game and asked us to take the girls today, so we did, and it give us more time to be with them. Jason was with them for a couple of hours, today, reading and watching some cartoons. They were having fun and Jason was enjoying it most of all. Jason continues to heal up on his right side, and we are still hopeful that the progress will continue. We have some traveling to do over these next couple of months, with one of those trips all the way out to Colorado. Actually, that one is one of the very bright spots for the VA, in that they are working with a specialist company that is supposed to help him with his seating solution. If they can come up with an answer to how to make him more comfortable we are all going to be sooooo happy. ...

Well, here it is, the last month of the year, and you have to wonder to yourself, "where has all the time gone?" Jason is doing much better, he went to Wound Care today, with Linda and everything seems to be doing better with each visit. In fact, I'd go so far as to say we're all doing better. The girls are growing so fast now, and you can almost see them get taller with each day. I helped Jackie get dressed, this morning and she picked out a shirt to wear. I helped her get it on then told her that it was going to be the last time she wore it. It was skin tight and I was surprised she was still comfortable wearing it. Stacy isn't slowing down any either, as her clothes seem to be shrinking a little every day - - - I know, she's growing, but I'd rather say the clothes are shrinking. The weather is still very much what you would expect to find in the San Diego area, and I have to admit, I can't complain about it. I think I'd really like to see a ...