Staff Sgt Jason Ross - Marine

Actually, I guess I should say, "Happy Old Year" since the new one doesn't begin until tomorrow. Actually, Google pointed out that on the Gregorian calendar, December 31st is also known as the Old Year Day... but I digress, as that isn't what I intended to cover with this post, but it is kind of interesting. Anyway, we have had a few busy days recently. We have a new grandson, born on December 28, at 4:00 in the morning. He weighed in at 8lbs 5oz., and his name is Noah Alexander Ross and he is the third son of our 2nd son, David and his wife Miriam. That makes five grand kids now, and we're very happy. Both Mom and Dad are doing well, as well as their other two sons, Dylan and Ethan. Linda and I spent a couple of days up in the lovely city of Glendale, so we could be close to them, and to celebrate a "second" Christmas with the boys, Dylan and Ethan. We actually got home yesterday evening and found that Jason was doing well, and all was as it should be...

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Well, actually, I had planned on making this post yesterday but I was just too warn out, so I'm getting it in today (tonight). We have had a very good and exciting past several days. First with George, our oldest son, coming out for a visit. I think this was a good visit for him, and a very good visit for us. It was good to see the brothers get some time together again, and even tomorrow they're planning on a movie outing, in the morning. The reason for the early showing is that George will be headed home in the evening. Something about the need to get back to work... ;-) The family has enjoyed the Christmas celebration, and we even had a double Christmas dinner. First it was Linda's parents who came, on Christmas Eve, and we had a more traditional turkey dinner. It was an exciting and fun time for the girls, as well as the adults, as they always like to see their Nana and Tata. They stayed well past dinner and we even asked them if t...

It has been nearly three weeks since my last update, so I figured I should put something up, and besides, we had a special visitor today, and that made it all the more important that I post something. We have most of the Christmas preparations completed, with a few shopping runs still to be made. The general attitude of the household is very positive and we're having fun. The girls are with us for the next several days, as Jason made this a "vacation" period so the girls simply stay with us until the 30th. I took them out to go riding their bikes, over at the school. I really should be getting them out more often because I think it would be great for them to be able to go for a short ride with me. Right now they don't have the riding skills down very well, and need more practice. After the riding was done we came back to the house and had some lunch. Linda wanted to get some additional decorations up, inside the house (the outside looks pretty good and we're all...

It has been too long since my last update, and for the most part, that is a good thing. Good because it means there really hasn't been a great deal to post, and Jason has been doing very well. I just wanted to get something out, so that everyone will know that we're all doing well and enjoying life, and that the girls are all growing and getting bigger every day. The most significant thing actually happened today, as we went in to Balboa and had an appointment with one of his doctors. The good news is that there hasn't been a great deal of change in anything, and Jason is doing well. The "less than good" news is that they want to do a CT Scan as a safety step with regard to the blood clot that they (the medical folks) all got nervous about, last month. The doctor said it should be done as soon as possible, so Jason jumped on the phone and set up an appointment, and it will be done on the 15th. That is the earliest date available, and actually it sounds like ther...

Good news! Jason is back home, again. We got up and found out that Jason was doing well (called him on the phone), and that a few "new" doctors had come in to visit with him this morning. These new docs were from Vascular, and decided that he needed both an M.R.I. as well as an ultra-sound scan of the area. There was a possibility of a procedure or surgery so he was not being allowed to eat anything, and initially it looked like he was not coming home. We checked in again, shortly after 09:00, and I spoke with his nurse. She informed me that he was down at Radiology, getting the M.R.I. done, and he should be back "soon." (I really don't like that expression. "Soon" is so nebulous). Linda and I decided to head to the hospital in the Mustang, since we weren't expecting Jason to be coming home. By the time we arrived (close to 11:00) Jason was back in his room and really wanting something to eat. They said he could have a couple of sips of water, bu...

Jason is still in the hospital, only now both Gracie and Kojak are also there with him. We brought them to the hospital, so they could see Jason, and Jason could see them. The nursing staff thought they were both so cute they wanted us to leave them with Jason. We agreed to, after discussing them taking the time to get them outside every once in awhile, and so they remained after we left. I kind of half expect to get a phone call in the middle of the night asking me to come pick them up, so we'll see how it goes. As far as the treatment goes, they are still running a blood thinner, heparin (I think) and still discussing what can and should be done. We hope to hear something in the morning, so in the mean time Linda and I are going to attempt to get a good night sleep. We stayed with him until about 21:30 (9:30PM), when he was obviously falling asleep, so we said good night and let him rest. Thank you, for all the continued support and prayers. Take care and stay positive.

Today began this past Saturday... On Saturday we took the girls to the High Caliber Equine Rescue Ranch, it is one of the largest in the country, specializing in horse rescue. It was  a great day and Jason had a pretty good time with the girls; learning about the horses and getting a chance to even feed some of them. The horses were all, or at least most of them, friendly and we all had a good day. After the visit we headed back to the house and it was now getting later in the evening and Jason wanted to fix dinner - something he does every now and again. I could tell he was tired and I suggested that he go lay down, a few times, but he wanted to fix dinner. Dinner was very good, as it was chicken breasts stuffed with cream cheese and spinach. Even Jackie liked the new dinner, and finally Jason got to bed. And yes, there was the regular dressing change and shower. Sunday, Jason stayed in bed, almost 100% of the time. He complained about sourness, like it was muscles that had be...