Apparently everyone knows about this blog, so much for therapy, I have to watch everything I say now......

:)

I am about to walk over to the hospital, my Dad has been there all day, so I'm sure he is ready to come back and rest. David did well in PT today and has been resting since he got back to his room.

I am back at the Mologne House after a night with David in the hospital. My Dad came over about 6:30am to "relieve" me.

The Sun Herald has an article on us in the paper today, you can find it here.

We kinda got in trouble for not going thru the Walter Reed PR people, I guess they are scared people will say negative things about the hospital. The story came out this morning and the guy was in our room by 9am! They must monitor the internet 24/7. I didn't tell him about my blog.....

David has PT at 1pm today and that is about all we have planned for the day. I plan on resting in a real bed!

Tuesday

David is waiting to go into surgery right now, he has another washout of his left leg, which according to the Shreveport Times does not exist. Anyway, my Dad is flying in this morning so I am about to go pick him up with our friend Chris who is our FLO (Family Liaison Officer) and fellow EOD guy. ( You can see him pictured below with David comparing stumps) After that David should be out of surgery and my Dad will go sit with him while I go take care of some pressing issues such as getting my travel orders renewed, figure out what happened to the advance on my per diem that was supposed to be direct deposited two weeks ago, and finally head down to the pharmacy to get a refill. I have gotten used to sitting around and doing nothing all day, so this is a REALLY busy day for me. :)

Article on David

This was in the Shreveport Times yesterday

Sunday

Dave and I had a great day, he was kinda out of it, but sometimes he has days like this. We had a great anniversary of delivery pizza and watching The Sandlot! We were planning on being apart anyway due to the deployment so it ended up better than expected!

I am not sure if he has surgery in the morning, we are guessing another cleanout, but not sure. I am back at the Mologne House for some R & R before I walk back over to spend the night so I can catch the Dr. B Dream Team in the morning. We are holding off on amputation for another week or so, even though Dave thinks its still his best option. Either way we are going to be fine with what happens.

I have made some wonderful friends here at the MH and we are grilling out tonight in the large courtyard. Some of the stories you hear around here make you feel so blessed in your situation. I would encourage anyone to make a visit to Walter Reed at some point to see these amazing people and hear their stories. I have already made lifelong friends that have helped me through those frustrating times.

I have received some really sweet emails from Dave's High School Classmates, if I have not gotten back to you yet I apologize! I print out the emails and Dave is reading each one!

Happy Anniversary

www.theartisticbride.com/ed

Tomorrow Dave and I will have our 1 year Anniversary, I know some of you reading this were not there but the link above is a little slide show for your enjoyment. I will try and post more later

Miller, our dog, who is currently living with his grandparent(s) is really taking all of this well, as you can see he is relaxing in his I mean my Dad's recliner.

Progress

I wish I had remembered my camera, David got out of bed this morning and sat upright in a cardiac chair! His PT, Kyla and her PT student Chad came around 8 this morning and moved him into the chair then took him down to the MATC, which is basically a huge gym. David did arm exercises and did some great stump movements. He has not lost any range of motion in his knee or his hip, which is really great! Kyla was even able to pick up the EX FIX and get that hip moving.

After 2 bad days, it was great to see this progress!

He was really excited to see the Swing Trainer (for his golf swing).

David in the PACU after surgery yesterday meeting General Byers. This gives a good view of his left leg in the EX FIX and his stump. (Stump is actually what all the Dr.'s and all the other amputees call it, just so you don't think I am being heartless.....) David calls it Stumpy.

Monday

I spent last night with David to make sure I was there for the early morning Dr. rounds. We have been waiting all weekend to talk to Dr. Bachelor "The Surgeon". All weekend everyone kept telling us Dr. B will have a plan for us Monday, he will answer our questions, and make it all better, blah blah blah. So at 6:15 this morning Dr. B and his team come in the room. So we are told Dave will be having surgery today to do another cleaning and by the way your NPO, so put down that water. This totally blind sided us, as we were told Monday would be another rest day and the day to figure out what to do with The Leg. Also an Air Force General and some other people are going to be coming by this afternoon to see David, we made arrangements for this to happen today based on the info above.

GRRR.....

So another surgery this afternoon.....they said he would go back around 12, so that means he will probably be in his room till 3 and will get to see the General after all. Even though they are going in to clean The Leg, we are most likely going to choose to amputate. We talked to some guys this weekend who waited and then ended up having to choose amputation a year or 2 later. David and I decided that we want to move on, get out of the hospital bed, start rehabing, and get on with our life together. It is a hard choice because The Leg looks just fine, but problems come up quickly with all the open wounds that David has. He does not have enough skin or muscle to cover the bones in his lower leg. Since the back flap did not work, we don't want to risk losing any more muscle, have it not work, then hinder his rehabilitation later. Also David is in a lot of pain, pain that 40mg of Oxycontin, a Dilaudid drip, and 10mg Kalodapin a day can't relieve. Don't quote me on the exact dosage numbers and spelling. David has been keeping track of everything-its actually funny how he can remember it all. Oh and Valium too.

Don't worry, they didn't leave me out of the pharmacy, after 2 days of basically begging for pharmaceutical relief and some help from David's mom, they hooked me up too.

I will update tonite after surgery......