Staff Sgt Jason Ross - Marine

Not much to report on today, other than we made it to California safely. Jason and I are now at Balboa, in San Diego. The hospital is set up slightly different from Bethesda, so we need to get used to it, as well as all the new people. We're both tired, so I'm going to bed early. The flight was actually pretty good, though it was somewhat cramped, it only took a little over six hours. The excitement of getting used to a new environment is always fun, so I hope you're all interested in learning more about this new place. Thank you, all for all your support and prayers.

We went to the Marine Marathon today, and got there at O-Dark-30 this morning. The picture on the blog shows the Iwo monument, where Jason was to meet with Team Extreme. To make the story short, Jason had been up in his chair for nearly four hours when he realized he would not be able to stay for the presentation ceremony, and we came back to the hospital. There was more done while we were there, but I need to keep this blog post very short. I just wanted to be sure to let everyone know what has happened. While I was taking care of some loose ends and doing some packing I received a call and Jason and I are to be leaving for Balboa, tomorrow morning - early some time. I am in a hurry up mode of packing and don't have much free time now. Once we get to Balboa, we will get settled in and then later this week Linda will be coming down to spend some time with Jason and I. While she is here, her parents - Joe and Jess Lascurain - will be jumping in again to help support her day care. ...

Today was another dressing change for Jason, in his room. It went at least as well as the first, and possibly better. We had a bunch of visitors, and because there were so many I'm afraid I'm not going to list them all. I'm actually kind of tired and I need to get up early tomorrow. Jason and I are headed to the Marine Marathon at 05:00 so I would like to get some sleep. I hope to be able to tell you more about it tomorrow, so you'll just have to check out the blog tomorrow... ;-) Bridgette and the girls will be leaving to head back down to Jacksonville. The original plans were for them to be here until Tuesday, but their water heater ruptured and she wanted to get back to the house to get it taken care of. Jason was disappointed but understands why Bridgette and the girls need to go. I've begun packing, and I need to get a few things shipped out, so I am hoping to have some time on Monday to do that. We get to take one bag each and a carry on item. The bag I...

Jason had his dressings changed while he was in his room, and without anesthesia. This is a MAJOR milestone in his overall treatment, as it showed that his wounds are now healing up to a point that they are coming together and the bacterial infections are becoming a much less concern for everyone. Having said that, Jason is still on a couple of antibiotics, and that may be a big reason the bacteria is being kept under control. I was in the room while it was done, so I was able to get a good look at what his wounds look like and how they are healing. It wasn't too much of a shock to me, as I had seen them previously, and I basically knew what to expect. A quick run down of today was simply as follows. I was over to his room at bout 06:00 this morning, thinking that they were going to be coming in early to do the dressing change. They did show up a little after 08:00, so that wasn't too bad. They were done in just over an hour, and so I was able to get him some breakfast, and ...

Today started at Oh-dark-thirty this morning, as we needed to get up and get ready so we could go on the White House tour that Congressman Walter Jones, North Carolina, put together for Jason. It was pretty much the same tour that every citizen can get, if they ask a member of Congress to put it together for them. The big difference for us was that we had the Marines help us with transportation, and once we arrived it seemed like every other Secret Service officer was a former Marine, and therefore they were not only willing to help, they were truly interested in speaking with Jason about his injuries. We arrived at the entrance and even though there was a long line of people, we were taken to the front, and actually the first visitors in today. We took our time and though Jason enjoyed the tour, I think Bridgette had the best time. She is a major Jackie Kennedy fan, and there was all kinds of stuff relating to her. At one point the guests are directed to climb a sizable set of stairs....

Jason has had his last visit to the PACU and anesthesia for his dressing changes. He went today and they didn't use anything, other than his PCA if he needed some pain meds, and he was okay with it. He actually got back to his room at about 08:30 this morning and said he was feeling good and hungry. I went down to the galley and picked up a couple of bowls of oatmeal and raisins. When I first went over to his room I was thinking that I wasn't going to be eating and then I decided to grab a bowl for myself, once I saw how good it looked. It was good to eat breakfast with Jason anyway. After eating I took off to get over to the congressman's office to pick up our pass for the White House tour tomorrow. Because of me taking off in the morning - I got back at 12:10 - there wasn't any other time to get down to the MATC. The afternoon was filled with some visitors, both Marine and Army. There was a group known as the Mountain Marines (sorry no names at this point) and they ...

The procedure I discussed yesterday was done today, and Jason got through most of it. You have to appreciate the situation to fully understand. There is still a large portion of his wounds that are, for lack of a better word, raw, and sensitive. Jason was able to get to the "new" table and in the prone position without any issues. He was able to deal with the removing the bandages, along with being moved around from time to time. When they got down to staples, you know the metal ones that are used to hold things in place, after surgeries, well they had to remove a bunch of them and IT HURT! They used anesthesia to finish their work and got all the staples removed. The doctors came by Jason's room, later in the day and said they would like to try it again, if Jason was up for it. Jason, being the Marine, said to do it and that he was ready. It should be considerably better tomorrow, and I am confident that Jason will get through the procedure with no difficulties, or unrea...