September 28, 2011

Today was a pretty good day for Jason. He came back from the PACU with a few new areas of discomfort, but that is to be expected from time to time. They had to use some of the Dakin solution today, and only on a couple of areas where there was some colonization noticed. Otherwise he was feeling good.

Almost as soon as he was settled in his room there were some visitors, NYFD (New York Fire Department) members came by and stopped in to see some of the wounded warriors. There were six of them, with two of them being retired. When they found out about the date Jason was supposed to join they were very impressed how it came to pass. They said they come down about every 6 weeks or so, and that the next time they come down they would like to take Jason and I out to dinner. I thanked them, and said I hope we are not here the next time they come down, but if we are we'd be happy to go to dinner with them. They left the room and within a minute, maybe 30 seconds, Marines Helping Marines came in to visit. These are retired former Marines who put on Bar-B-Ques for the wounded warriors, and they have been by before. They didn't stay too long, but it was good to see them.

After the waves of visitors was over Jason and I talked for a few minutes, mostly about Animal Planet (that's what we were watching), then I asked him if he was hungry. He said he could eat, so I went down to the galley and picked up some lunch for the both of us, though it wasn't too heavy. More of a snack than lunch. Right after getting back from the PACU today, they had breakfast brought up to him, so Jason really wasn't that hungry. I was going to do a little running while Jason was at the MATC today so I didn't want to eat too much either.

While we were at the MATC today, taking care of Jason's PT, Pete the chair guy, was able to work on Jason's chair, since Jason was working on the mat today. It will be great when they finally get a seat that is made just for Jason, but that won't happen until after he leaves Bethesda, because they don't want to attempt to do it until after his wounds have healed. Anyway, the chair is a little better now and Jason is happier with how it feels. As I said earlier, I did some running on a tread mill while Jason worked with the therapist, and it my foot/ankle felt pretty good. I got about a mile in and realized how far out of shape I am. For those of you that are not aware, I had surgery on my right foot at the end of last year and I am just now getting back to where I can run on it.

When we got back to the 4th floor, from the MATC, Jason was wanting to get back in to his bed, so he could get some of his pain medication. On the way down the hall we ran in to a group of Army people who had come up to visit with the soldiers who were here. The main person in the group was Vice Chief of Staff of the Army, General Peter Chiarelli. Some of you may have heard of him... ;-) Jason did his best to be polite and spoke with him for a few moments, and the General gave him a coin, but Jason really wanted to get back to his bed. I just hope the General didn't think we were being rude as we probably seemed in a hurry - or at least I was.

That was pretty much the end of the excitement for the day. The down side of the chance meeting in the hall was that I didn't get a picture or have him sign the guest book. Perhaps if/when he comes again (and we're here) we'll be able to visit with them properly. Once Jason had his meds again, and he was comfortable he went to sleep to take a nap. He tends to work pretty hard at the MATC and is usually a little tired when he gets back. So I let him just sleep.

Thank you, for all your continued prayers and for all the support you've been sending our way, and for the support that Linda is getting back at home. Many times it is just the little things that mean so much, and we do appreciate it.