Purple Heart Day - Thursday June 3, 2010 at 1245

David went into surgery about 8 this morning and it is now 12:45 and he is still not back to his room so there is nothing to report right now.
OK, make sure you pull out a tissue....I'll wait.......................OK, here goes: My family is making a quilt for David. The quilt will be pictures of every one of us which will include 16 Grandchildren, 6 Siblings, Parents and Grandparents. My daughter, Rachelle, was taking pictures of her children for the quilt and Carter, her 4 year old son, kept doing weird things with his hands every time she was ready to take the picture. She tried and tried and tried and tried and he kept putting his hands around his face and they couldn't get a good picture. Later they were talking about why he kept messing around when the picture was going to be taken and he told her that he was trying to "Salute his Uncle David!" Is that beautiful or what? They showed him how to salute after that happened.
Lynnette said that she heard this quote "it is no small thing to be loved by someone who has, so recently, come from God."
Last night David was able to talk with his son Ethen - here are some of Catherine's recollections:
I wanted to let you both know David had the chance to speak with Ethen around midnight last night (21:00 Ethen's time) for the first time since he was injured and it was truly beautiful to see David's face light up at the sound of Ethen's voice. Heather gave me a call when her and Ethen were able to wind down from a very busy day and as soon as I told David Heather was calling his face lit up, he had been dying to talk to Ethen all day. I picked up the phone and held it up to David's ear and with the biggest smile I've seen on his face since he's been in the hospital Dave said "Hey Buddy, I love you so much!" I couldn't hear what Ethen was saying but David proceeded to tell Ethen how he wanted to make t-shirts with him, drawings with him, and listed a few other things he wanted to do with Ethen and then said "I want to do everything with you buddy and I just love you so so much!" Ethen has a graduation at school today and Heather has been so great and told David she would be taping this so David could see it as soon as her and Ethen got out here. Ethen and Heather told David they were so proud of him for receiving his Purple Heart today, which we told them would take place around 16:30, and Heather told David they would be thinking of him all day. After we hung up the phone David said that the phone call made him so happy and that he could not feel any better right then and there after speaking with Ethen, who David has time and time again described as the best thing in his life and as the most amazing little guy ever - I agree :) David and I have spoken about his injury and David expressed to me that he knew the moment he was picked up by the helicopter that he would survive. I subsequently asked him if he was happy to be alive and if he had ever come so close to dying before. He told me that he was so grateful to be alive and that he had come as close to dying before but that this time was different, that this time he realized he had a second chance and was seeing several things from a new angle that made him appreciate his life in a manner he had not known he was capable of before this injury. He talked about how grateful he was to have a chance to express his love towards his family and more specifically, to see Ethen grow up and have the chance to be an active part of Ethen's life as Ethen experiences everything life has to offer. I don't think David realizes how proud Ethen is of his daddy quite yet and David has expressed worry about appearing weak to Ethen or like he let Ethen down. I told David it was completely understandable that he would feel that way however, that he couldn't be further from the truth and that Ethen thought his daddy was a hero and that David had given Ethen the greatest gift he ever could, an incredibly strong, courageous, and honorable role model that Ethen will look up to through all the curve balls life will certainly throw his way as he continues to grow up and experiences his journey through all of life's surprises, which can often seem overwhelming and very hard to surpass. I am very happy David spoke to Ethen last night, it was not easy for David given all the emotions speaking with Ethen certainly conjured up, Ethen is the most important part of David's heart and holds a sacred and irreplaceable place in David's strength and courage, both of which carried him back to Ethen, safe, alive, and with an inner strength that is stronger than ever. Anyhow, I told Heather I'd leave my phone with David for now so Ethen could call his daddy whenever he wanted to speak to him and hopefully when David is more awake today he can give Ethen a call. Ethen really is such an incredible little guy and he brightens up everyone's day and he will be a pivotal part of David's recovery so I'm glad they had the chance to finally talk last night.
Gordon here!
David is back from surgery.
Well, the leg injuries have been closed. The "integra", the mesh that will cover the areas that could not be initially covered by the skin from the legs, is also in place and the skin grafts should be done in a week or two. The fixator is still in place and will be altered, possibly tomorrow. The wounds on David's left leg goes all the way up to his back side.
The injury just below his elbow on the right arm has been closed up because it is really looking quite good. They may have to make alterations later, but, for now, that has been closed. The Ulnar tendon is still gone and they may try a graft on that later.
After another evaluation from the hand surgery specialists, tomorrow they will be using a "local rotational flap" from his right forearm and fold it down and use that flap to fill the area around the right wrist and the meaty part of the thumb. Up until now there has been pins in his right wrist and thumb but those have been removed and they have put on an external fixator. They made these changes because they are concerned with the web area between the thumb and the pointer finger constricting as it heals. If that were allowed to constrict he would lose a great amount of flexibility with the thumb. Having the rotational flap will also make it possible for him to have full mobility of his arm during the healing process - what a fantastic change.
David tolerated the surgery very well and only needed 2 units of blood today. They will go through another full round of dialysis tomorrow before surgery, so tomorrow will be a very draining day for him.
We're finally able to go see him so I'll end this blog.

Thank You All, I love you!

Gordon