Monday, June 28, 2010 at 1853

This is a good day. As I had mentioned before, David was very pale and his hands were trembling because he was getting weaker and weaker. They did not want him to go to surgery in that condition so they came in a game him 2 units of blood. He felt great and looked great within a very short period of time.

He is still having the phantom pains but the pain from the skin grafting settled down a great deal over the past 48 hours. His surgery today went great. He came back to the room with NO WOUND VACS - you heard me - NO WOUND VACS. That's fantastic. It feels like every time a tube gets removed it is a reason to celebrate.

The surgical team, especially Dr. Fleming, said that David has really turned the corner and is well on his way to being released from the hospital and should head to Walter Reed within the next couple weeks. Dr. Fleming said they will be applying shrinkers to his legs because, I guess, they really want the legs to be sleek and trim to have the best results with the prosthetics.

A "Shrinker" is a tubular compression material used for control or prevention of edema following amputation surgery, for limb volumetric maintenance, to minimize hypertrophic scarring and to give compressive support for pain relief. Compressogrip shrinkers assure controlled compression, ease of application and wearer acceptance. I sound pretty dang smart, don't I!!!
Actually I copied and pasted that little description for your reading benefit. I shouldn't have told you the truth, I would have sounded brilliant.

Anyway, things are really looking up! I sincerely feel that and say it with conviction. I believe that David is feeling the exact same way. As soon as he got back from surgery, he was starving and Lynnette took off to get him whatever he wanted - you'll never guess what it was - nope, nope, not that either, I told you you wouldn't guess, A HOT DOG FROM 7-ELEVEN, the big honkin' one and he ate the whole thing. The only thing bad about the meal was the fact that his mother is going to have to take days of recovery time to settle down from the drive it took to get the hot dog. To listen to her you would have thought her life was in danger every passing moment of the drive. I tell you, there is a whole bunch to smile about today.

If you think that was incredible, guess what else David did today? Nope, not even close, ya right, not that either... OK, I'll tell you - he called AT&T, by himself, and did all the necessary work to get his cell phone back in commission so his friends could call him and he could call them. He knows he could use our phone but, and it's great to see and feel, he is feeling his independence coming back and it's feels good. Most of us, in our right mind, and without any medications, would hate to make a call to our cell phone carrier - just to deal with many of them is a burden - but he just jumped in and did it.

It is really interesting to write a blog like this. I have found that my words become guarded. When I started to talk about him calling AT&T, I wrote that he jumped in with both feet, I know it's just a phrase, but now the phrase doesn't seem to fit. Then to end that last paragraph with "he just jumped in and did it.", felt really weird too. I'm going to have to find out if it's just my reaction to it or if David feels the same way.

Today Lynnette, her sister Jolyn, and David put on a show to watch and it was, you guessed it, a shoot em' up and blow em' up war movie. In it was a scene that included a man being hit by a shell or a blast of some kind and lying there calling for help. Lynnette had to leave the room. She came back in, after going through several breathing exercises to calm her emotions back down, and told David that she couldn't watch anything like this. He realized the situation and they put on another movie. I am just in awe that David can watch these kinds of scenes, especially after what he is currently going through, and still maintain a cool, calm, and collected demeanor. I know he, and many of his friends, have seen and felt many emotions that most of us will never see or feel or even want to experience, yet these young men just seem to handle it. I really am in awe.

Last word was that David is sleeping and you'll never guess what he is sleeping on! OK, I won't do that a third time. He has sheets on his bed. All this time he has just been sleeping on the bare inflatable bed with a pad here or there to give him comfort. Now he is in luxury with actual sheets. I hope you're feeling good about today too. With great medications to take care of the phantom pain, clean sheets, a very successful surgery day, a step toward a cell phone, and a Big Honkin' 7-Eleven Hot Dog, what more can one ask for.

Our Heavenly Father really does supply us with some beautiful tender mercies to help us push on to the next challenge. Life is a beautiful thing.

All My Love,

Gordon