Monday, June 7, 2010 at 1730

Hello Out There,

David has had, almost, a very relaxing day. I say "almost" because they just took a fair amount of time and did a PIC line in his right arm. The regular lines, whatever they are called, have to be moved every 3 to 4 days to avoid infection and his left arm is just about IV'd out. There are only so many holes you can put in the same veins. The PIC line can stay in for a year if necessary and it is great that they can finally quit 4 day routine.

David's Kidneys are doing great and, although he went through about 4 hours of dialysis today, he may be completely done with his dialysis. The technician doing the dialysis whispered that information to me and told me not to tell anyone because she didn't want to steal the exciting thunder of the real doctors. So, I have to act really really surprised and really really excited about the BRAND NEW news that I JUST received when the REAL doctor tells me.

Lynnette and I were given a tour of the Walter Reed Medical facility and, to be very truthful, it had a bit of a sting to the senses. The soldiers were all fantastic. The attitudes were all fantastic. We talked with several of the soldiers from one, two, three, and four limb amputations and they all had great attitudes. "It is what it is and there is nothing I can do about it but move on!" One soldier told us that his new legs felt like they were part of him and it was a new experience to take off his femur (which is a titanium rod) and see himself without "his leg!". His attitude was everything that I think David's is going to be.
We stood in a room with nothing but legs and feet. One of the legs was plugged in to charge the knee joint. It hit both Lynnette and I really hard. Just standing there looking down at a mechanical leg with a foot on it was really a reality check and it really took me by surprise. The only thing I could think of to change the tone of the moment was "they sure have some nice shoes to choose from!".
We went to the occupational therapy room and received some verbal information about what they do while we watched a young man twist off his left hook hand and clip in a rubber, more normal looking, hand. He then used that hand to unstack and re-stack a pile of little plastic cones. Then the unstacked some plastic cups and made a pyramid with them. It was really very uplifting to see him work.
We then went to the work shop where the legs are made. We were told that some of these soldiers, in the first stages of the process, will have to have a new cuff for the upper leg made every three day because of the changes in shape of the remaining leg. The leg will typically become very muscular and thin so the cuff or cup needs to be changed many times to accommodate the changes. The cup will eventually be a suction cup that the soldier will put on and push a button that will suck the remaining air out and cause a very very firm suction.
It was really quite the experience to be in this guy's room with legs, feet, hands, arms, and a cast of the entire pelvis damage that one soldier had. Every soldier has to be fitted entirely different so there are no "loaner" legs if someone happens to forget where they put the other one.
Some of the decorations were quite unique as well. There was a Ninja Turtle, The American Flag, and Camouflage.
I was wondering, out loud of course, how much this entire procedure would cost in a normal environment and the gentleman told me that there is absolutely no way to compare because the military is not a normal environment. On the outside there would not be the ease of daily adjustments, the occupation training to regain your old functions in a new way, the psychological support of those who have just experienced the same process, and many many other scenarios.
All in all, this was an emotionally draining, wonderful day for all of us. I must go for now but I'll write more tonight if some other things change.

Here's Looking At A Bright Future,

Gordon