Tuesday, June 29, 2010 at 2246

Hi Friends and Loved Ones,

Today is a mixed bag of feelings and happenings.

David is doing fantastic, he is alert, he is keeping himself busy when he is awake and sleeping very good when he needs to. It is really hard to leave David at any time, but there comes the realization that if we don't leave his room, he feels a little obligated to stay awake and make sure we are not feeling ignored. So, we leave and do something meaningless for awhile.

Randy is a fantastic guy on the floor that I have mentioned before - well, he is a barber too. He gave David a haircut and a shave and yes, Grandma Vasey, he still has the mustache growing. He looked and felt great all at the same time but I'll bet no one got a photograph. We need to get a picture of David and Randy together.

We got some new news today and there will be more surgery for David once all of this surgery is done and healed. If you recall, I told you that this was David's 8th time to get his "bell rung" by explosives of some kind whether it be an RPG, an IED, etc, etc, etc. Well the bell ringing seems to have pierced more than just sound - David was told today that he will need skin grafts over his ear drums. I had absolutely no idea that they could do such a thing. I guess they cut a tiny piece of skin off the muscle behind the ear and graft it on to the eardrum. I'm not sure if I got the facts straight but I understand that the whole process needs to happen well after the other surgeries are done because of the conflicting medicines that need to be used for the procedure.
Is anyone out there counting the number of surgeries?

I know Lynnette will kill me when she reads this but I've been very honest about David and he will be reading this blog to his children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren so all the non Top Secret stuff needs to be in here. This morning Lynnette wasn't feeling very good and was a little dizzy so she told David that she needed to run an errand. She went down to the Marine Corps Liaison Office and asked if they could take her to the Emergency Room. When she arrived and told them what was happening, they did an EKG and found some small irregularities so they offered her a Nitro Glycerin Tablet. To the best of my knowledge, the tablet immediately dilates the blood vessels and, if you get a splitting headache - your heart is fine, but if you feel much better almost immediately then there will, quite possibly be a blockage in your heart. I asked Lynnette if she got a splitting headache and she said "No, I immediately felt better!" I informed her that she had given the wrong answer and, to my surprise, she already knew. They said they would have to watch her close for several hours and she told them that was fine and that she would come down from David's room every couple hours so they could check her. They said No No No, you're not going anywhere. So, to make a long story short, Lynnette is currently in "INPATIENT" status on the 3rd Floor Cardiology Wing while David is sitting on the 5th floor waiting for his mother to complete her "errand!" David now knows, he's a bit worried about his mother.

Lynnette has been given 4 Nitro Glycerin tablets and has a Nitro Glycerin Patch. She has an IV hooked up to her and is borrowing some of David's pain meds because after she gets the immediately relief in her chest - the headaches come rolling in. Tomorrow morning they will inject some dye into her bloodstream and then put her through a stress test. Oh yes, I almost forgot, she told me not to tell anyone! How did I do? I told her that I was going to tell because she had every right to have people praying for her too. She may want to kill me for telling, but even if she does, I want you to know, and I know David would agree and so would every one of her children and grandchildren and primary children, she is an incredible individual, she has all the charity necessary to earn her way back into the presence of her Heavenly Father in the Celestial Kingdom (but not yet), and she is the strength that keeps this entire family headed in the right direction. Not to mention the fact that she is incredibly beautiful and I LOVE HER. I know there are an incredible amount of prayers in our behalf and I want you all to know that this IS an answer to those prayers. There is absolutely no better place on this earth to find out that you have a heart problem. We are a very blessed family.

So, flight plans have been changed and there will be plenty to write about while David is in the process of feeling better every day. They have applied a gray foam to David's skin graft donor sites - this foam helps in removing the protective coating that was placed there immediately after surgery.

It's getting late and I need to start packing to get back out there!

I was able to serve in Bountiful LDS Temple tonight and see some very special friends whom I love very dearly. It seems impossible for me to properly express my love for those I serve with in that Temple.

It's going on midnight and I'm going to bed - you should do the same.

All My Love,

Gordon