Saturday, July 31, 2010

Saturday, July 31, 2010 at 1416



The Internet in the Naval Lodge is still not working. So, I can only post when I'm here at the hospital and there are 50 patients and their families that use this same room. I tried last night and a gentleman was on this computer for quite some time playing Backgammon.


In the last post on Thursday, we were hoping to hear some good news about the removal of the x-fix on David's right hand - no news and no removal as of yet. About 5 pm yesterday they took him and took a cat scan of his hand but, I'm sure, all Doctors that could make that command decision were gone by that time of day so we will not know the final word until some time on Monday.


In the last post I was also talking about the possibility of us going off the base to get something to eat. Well, we couldn't find any transportation that had a wheelchair lift so we just headed out on foot - it was an absolute must to get out into the real world. We all went about a block away to a restaurant that had an outside eating area. It was fantastic until it started raining. Even the rain was great and they set up an umbrella at our table but the David couldn't get his wheelchair all the way under the umbrella and water was pouring off onto the charging unit. We decided to go inside.


Once we got situated inside, one of David's friends and fellow EOD Tech - and I'm going to butcher his name, Ingebrechtson and his beautiful wife joined us. We had a great time and I can not express to you how great it is when friends and associates come to visit and they can talk of mutual friends, acquaintances, the situation in Afghanistan, and just catch up on old times. It really is nice.


Yesterday was much of the same. I did not have the opportunity to be with David during his Physical Training, further referred to as PT, so I can't really tell you much about that. He and Catherine finally got a chance to go out together to a local restaurant. They were, once again, met by friends. EOD Tech Smith, the one who was originally reported to have lost both hands and then changed to broken wrists, (it's quite amazing how the communication gets a bit messed up but we're glad for the fact that he still has his hands!) and MSGS Todd met them at the restaurant. Smith was on his way from Afghanistan to San Diego and they had a great time. David spent over 4 hours out and about and it's great that he is getting his strength and his freedom back.

The bad part about him getting everything back is that it seems Mom and Dad are much less needed right now and it's getting close for our return home.

We just had some fantastic Sushi , compliments of our great new friend Jerry. Compliments to the chef as well.

Love You All,

Gordon

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Thursday, 29 July 2010 at 1655

Good Afternoon,

Unfortunately I really don't have much to report on today. We were suppose to hear back from the hand doctor today to, hopefully, find out when the X-fix on his right hand will come off, but that hasn't happened.

Within the last week David got a wallet, a new military ID, a new credit card for one of his accounts and all of them are gone somewhere. We don't know if they went to the laundry with the linens, or with some garbage into the incinerator, or with some desperate soul who needs to steal from the wounded. We're hoping it will turn up.

I've done a bit of driving today, delivering Grandma Tasto to a friend's home and Lynnette took the opportunity to catch up on some much needed sleep, so we really haven't seen a great deal of David all day. We are hoping to take him downtown (OFF BASE FOR THE FIRST TIME) and have some dinner just to let him know the world really does still exist.

We were sitting here at the computer and met a gentleman who grew up in Moab, is LDS, and has just arrived with his son. You may have heard the news recently when it was reported that a "Routine Training Exercise Went Terribly Wrong!" The story was about an Afghani soldier who was being trained by American soldiers as well as American Civilian Trainers. The Afghani soldier had been training for about 4 months and all of the sudden he turned his M16 against his trainers. The gentleman we just met is the father of the American soldier that was shot twice in the chest and once in the abdomen before he was able to shoot the Afghani Soldier and end the rampage. The American Soldier was wearing his bullet proof vest and the third bullet hit below the vest - the American Civilian Trainers that were killed were not wearing their vests at the time of the attack. Unfortunately it is estimated that 60% of the Afghani Soldiers being trained by our troop are actually Taliban.

The internet at the Naval Lodge is still out so I'll try to fill you in on everything I can before we leave the hospital.

See You Soon,

Gordon

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

I went home last night to add information to the blog and the internet was still down, so I'm sorry I was unable to fill you in on everything.

The only thing I can really tell you that would give you more insight about his Tuesday is the fact that the HO in his legs is really causing some problems. It has just been esxcruciatingly painful. The doctors came in the night before and told him that they felt like the muscle in his left leg had not attached properly and that they may need to re-do the surgery, skin grafts, and basically start over on that leg - that was devistating news. They sent him to x-ray for extra looks at his legs for the Orthopedic rounds that would come about 2pm. At about 2:20 the doctors came and in and told David there was absolutely no concern with the muscles on his legs and that he was fine to start using the shrinkers.

Sometimes these miscommunicated things cause an enormous amount of distressing feelings when they really don't need to, but the last bit of news was fantastic.

Within an hour or two, Bart came in to show David how to use the Shrinkers. Keep in mind that the HO is so painful, on his right leg, that if you blow on it - it is extremely painful and now they want to put an extremely tight elastic stocking over the end of his leg. Bart told him that he could take them off immediately if the pain was too great. Let me tell you how the shrinkers go on: David is provided with a cylindrical tube about a foot long and the shrinker is stretched tightly over the tube and then the tube is pushed up his leg until the stocking is about half way on and then the rest is put on by hand. I'm not sure if I explained it that well, but it works quite well if the tube fits over your leg. The left one went on quite well and then they started on the right one. They got it half the way on and David was almost crawling off the top of the bed because of the pain. "Take it Off, Take it Off!!!" It was very painful. We left because he really needed some rest after the experience. When we came back he had it on and was just dealing with the pain.

He guttet it out all night long. It was fantastic in the way of progressing to a new level, but the stress on it caused his temperature to increase to 103. It is down to 101 now but they are still working on it and David is sleeping - I'm assuming because of the extra stess it has put on his body. We're finding that it really in Davids best interest for us to stay away unless we are really needed - he really needs his rest on some days and so each day we just stay extremely flexible. Once again we deal with entirely new and developing problems.

Some of the things I am hearing about David and the incredible things he has done for others, while in Iraq and in Afghanistan, I sincerely wish I could put in this blog, but out of my love and respect for David and his wishes, those things will be said when and if David decides to share them. One thing I can tell you is that; never, not at any time, has David every done anything for the recognition - he sincerely cares for those he serves, whether they are Americans, Iraqis, or Afghanis - it's they way we all need to be......

I may learn a little more after the nurse comes back in and discusses David's current test results.

I just want to tell Todd and Brian to "EAT YOUR HEART OUT!" Because of another wonderfully generous and caring individual who is very sensitive to David's situation, I was invited to play the Congressional Golf Club Blue Course, home of the US OPEN. Once again, I feel like I have another great friend because of David. I've said it before, and I'll say it again - both Lynnette, Myself, David, and Catherine have really been blessed to gain new associations with absolutely incredible people.

One of the custodians here is also fantastic - every time he comes by Davids room, he leans in and says "How ya doin' champ?" and I really believe he wants to know. His spirit really lifts everybody and he just makes you smile.

David just rolled into this computer room so I'm taking off for awhile.

All My Love,

Gordon

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Tuesday 27 July, 2010

You Thought I Was MIA Didn't You!

The other day we took David's brother, JJ, and his family to the Smithsonian and when we came out it looked like it had been raining quite hard. We found out, as you may have heard on the news, that there were winds up to 80 mph and trees were down, people were killed, houses and cars were destroyed and we missed it all, except we had to swerve past a few trees on the way back to the hospital. Needless to say, there is no computer service in our room at the Naval Lodge and that is why I haven't made any new posts to this blog. I'm Really Sorry.

Yesterday was a great day. JJ was able to go to Physical Therapy with David and saw how hard these guys work. Now that there is no X-fix on his pelvis, David was able to turn on to his stomach three or four times. While he was lying on his stomach his threapist, Adelle, asked him which part of him was being stretched - David told her that nothing was being stretched and that it felt so good that she should just leave him alone for awhile. He absolutely loved the feeling of comfortably being on his stomach.

During dressing yesterday, they were trying to determine if they could put the shrinkers on his legs and, unfortunately, they can't just yet. He still has several open areas on his legs. I'm guessing that they will be able to put on the shrinkers within the next week or so.

Lynnette is behind me right now. She is talking to some of the caregivers that have helped us through this whole ordeal. She is talking about the different stages of David's recooperation and she expresses it as though David, in ICU, was like her little boy again - he even slept in the same position he did as a child, when on the 5th floor, he was like her toddler and rediscovering everything, and now he is a bit like her adolescent - that's the hard part because he's acting a little like mom is really that needed right now. It's not bad, it's just today's reality and it's OK.

David and his friend Carlos Evan, in therapy, sat back to back and passed a weighted ball over their heads to each other and to their left and their right and it was great to see. I can really see these two working with each other to push each other to greater achievements each day. They are both very good to and for each other.

David spend the evening with the mother of a Marine who lost his life a couple years ago. It was really wonderful for him and for David. We are all learning so much.

I'll check the computer when I get back to the room to see if there is anything I more I can tell you about the day.

See You Later,

Gordon

Saturday, July 24, 2010

Pioneer Day in Utah 24 July 2010 at 2012

Happy Pioneer Day,

This is David's brother JJ. I just arrived here yesterday and I am blown away by what I have seen here in such a short time. Not only is David the same old guy in his personality, but he is the same old body. The shortage of legs seems to be a temporary inconvenience and it is dwarfed by his willingness to adapt and overcome this adversity. The amount of support that stands behind him is truly astonishing as well. I cannot begin to thank David and the other injured veterans here for their sacrifice, yet neither can I begin to thank those that stand behind them with such passion. In my own military experience it was evident that positioned filled at the hospital or throughout the base were a job to the people there, a way to get paid. To the military and staff here this is an opportunity, and a privilege to be the ones who watch over these men and women. For my brother alone I can never thank Catherine enough for what she has done and continues to do for him. I love my brother and stepping into his room you can see the monuments of how far David's influence reaches and the Hero he truly is - whether or not he will acknowledge it. As he says this is a minor inconvenience, a slow step back into life with just some different tools. Thank you David, and thank you to those of you who help him even if it's only with a small prayer.

This is Gordon again. That was extremely well put.

David had a very relaxing day except for the constant flow of guests in his room.

There was a wonderful woman who came in and presented David with a absolutely beautiful quilt and quilt cover in thanks to David for the effort he made in saving her son's life two years ago. Unfortunately the soldier had a piece of shrapnel that hit him in an area that proved to be irreparable and he passed away. David has influenced so many.

We received an email today and I'm hoping that I can paste it:

Mrs. Lyon, I am a Police Officer who works with the US Military here and a former Marine myself. I met David in November of 2008 in Golestan Afghanistan. I lived with his team on our small outpost. They took me in and treated me like family. I was sad to see him leave but was happy that he was going home and hoped that he would not have to return.

David was one of the most admirable people I have had the honor and pleasure to work with. He deeply cared about the Marines that he was protecting and did not hesitate to place his own safety at risk to ensure the safety of others.

David saved my life last year a few months before he left. One of our vehicles had just struck an IED on a hill that I was on. The vehicle was only about 50 feet away from me when it hit it. I was ok and went to the vehicle to check on the occupants. Everyone inside were ok with the exception of the driver. The blast went off directly under his feet. His injuries were minor but he could not walk at the time. I was assisting the Corpsman in carrying him down the hill when Dave came running up the hill. We were carrying the driver alongside the vehicle and about to get to the back of it when Dave started yelling “STOP WALKING”. He cleared a path up to us with his metal detector and found that I was one step from stepping on a secondary IED.

I know that we, Marines and Police Officers, do not share all the details of our work with our families to protect them. I know that you know that you know that David is a very brave young man but I just wanted to give another reason for you to know it. I truly feel that I, as well as my family, owe David a debt of gratitude to say the least. He is a fine young man and I was very happy to be able to read his story and see his progresses. It was good to be able to talk to him last night and see that he is in high spirits. I have been attempting to find out more information on him since I heard of the incident a few days after it happened.

I am still here in Afghanistan and will be for another year. I have met and worked with many other EOD Techs in my time here. All of them are top notch operators, however David is one of a kind.

I will keep in touch as much as I can from over here and have forwarded the Blog to all of my friends so they can see the sacrifices that our children are making here for all of us and our country.

Thank you for raising such a great young man who has made a difference in my life as well as everyone he has come into contact with.

Gordon Again, It's another tribute and although David doesn't like accelaides, he has done some incredible things in his short lifetime - so far!!!

See You Tomorrow,

Gordon





LEP Mike Nelson MPRI (PIM)

Friday, July 23, 2010

Friday, July 23, 2010 at 1136

Good Morning,

I'm sorry for not writing yesterday, but it was a very busy day and I just didn't have it left in me to go over it again in my head.

Yesterday was a tough day emotionally. David is part of an incredible brotherhood, as I have previously explained. The thought pattern, in David's mind, is that if he would have found the bomb that hit him and not been injured, then his friend would not have replaced him and he would still be alive. We all know that there is no fault to be assessed and I believe David now knows that as well. Every EOD Tech willingly takes the safety and well being of their brothers-in-arms to be their responsibility. I pray that all families will feel the same about their brothers and sisters, parent, grandparents, children, grandchildren, etc. etc. etc. Can we all imagine how this world would improve if we also extended those same caring feelings to our neighbors and strangers we come in contact with.

Yesterday David found out that he had two more friends injured. One has a serious concussion and the other damaged both of his hands but it sounds like both of them are well enough to stay in Afghanistan for the time being. It is hard not to feel some anger, to feel the hurt that is hitting David right now. These are friends, fellow soldiers, and team mates. I can't help but sit here and cry just thinking about this whole mess.

Through all these last couple days, we are finding out more and more that David remembers very very little about the entire time at Bethesda. He is coming to the harsh reality of the loss of large portions of his body. He is extremely strong, both physically and mentally, and I have no doubt that he will get through it all, and be a better man, but it is still a very harsh reality.

Yesterday he received a care package from a great friend Steve Gouak, (I'm sure I spelled that wrong) but he just laughed and appreciated his great friend even more as each gift came out of the box. Right now he is a little miffed at his main doctor - one of the gifts that he received was a Nerf Gun. David has determined that he is going to lick the tips and shoot the doctor right in the head when he comes in. His doctor talked him into trying acupuncture in the ear to help with his phantom pains - he told David that is was just going to be a little sting. David said it felt like he pushed as hard as he could and then shot the thing in the side of his head - he received 4 of them in the ear so it looks like he is wearing four cute silver studs in his left ear. So, David wants to shoot him in the head and say, "Now that didn't hurt did it? - It was just a little sting!"

We have been trying to get David permission to go to San Diego for the Funeral of his friend but there is absolutely no way of getting it done. He is extremely disappointed. Hopefully his wife is reading this blog and knows how much David loves them and wants to be there for her.

Today he is in a surprise surgery. They have decided to make another close evaluation of his X-fix on his pelvis. It is really causing some problems in his Physical Therapy and they are looking at making some adjustments to it so he can continue to build his core strength at the same time he is healing. Since it wore a hole in his leg, he has been wearing a strap across his legs to pull his legs together and get them past the point of being pinched by the X-fix. Always a new and wonderful problem to work through.

I've got to give up the computer to another soldier for a few minutes so I'll look at this later and see if there is some extra information you'll be interested in.

My Love Always,

Gordon

It's now 1445 and there is new you'll definitely be interested in!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THEY TOOK IT OFF - THE PELVIC X-FIX IS GONE ! ! !

Do you realize that is 1 month early. It is absolutely fantastic. It is so nice to have something great happen after 2 days of huge disappointments. None of us had any idea this was going to happen. David woke up and there was a big bundle of loosely place sheets across his waist and so he was very careful to keep his hands away from the area. He asked the nurse what alterations they made and she looked in the computer to see what the surgical notes would tell her. She read, "Removal of X-fix!", so David slowly lowered his hand and it was GONE.

That is so fantastic. Even in his drugged state, he is extremely happy. That puts him one month closer to standing on his own two feet again. You can't imagine what emotions that brings out - I can't see the screen. Thank you for all your prayers - I know they are being answered.

The x-fix is on the hand still but I'm very confident that it will be off by this time next week.

I need to head to the airport soon as David's brother, JJ, his wife Katie, and baby Nash will be landing with a couple hours.

Your Love and Friendship Means The World To Me,

Gordon and Dad

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Wednesday, July 21, 2010 at 2240

No matter what may have been accomplished today, it doesn't really matter.

David found out that a great friend and a fellow Marine was killed today....

This is a devastating loss to many.

Gordon

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Tuesday, July 20, 2010 at 2034

Good Evening,

There is not a great deal to talk about today. David got his military ID replaced, Catherine got her Rhode Island driver's license that she applied for in August last year, and I worked on airplane tickets for family members.

David had to get his wounds redressed today and that took almost 2 hours. During Davids PT, he is always telling the therapist that his X-fix on his pelvis is really pressing into his legs. The therapist just tells him to push as much as he can and, I guarantee, he does. Well, today in redressing, when they pulled off his bandages, they found a brand new wound. Last Friday when the wound sites were cleaned and dressed, all the stitched areas were in great shape - now there is a hole in David's left leg. The new wound is about 3" long and about a 1/8" deep and about 1" wide. The X-fix bolts have dug in and opened the new wound across the stitched area. Although he was extremely upset, he treated those dressing his wounds with great respect. It is just so frustrating because David wants to keep pushing beyond what seems possible. He wants those legs back and he wants them NOW. Anytime there is something that has the slightest possibility of slowing down his progress, it is much worse than the pain. We'll all have to see how hard he can work on building his core strength now that he has the new wound. The older gentleman that was working on his dressings really took David's concerns to heart and asked if there was anything he could do. David was so frustrated that he threw out two or things that just had not been answered as of yet.
Withing 20 minutes of us getting back to David's room, he came to the room and told David that his X-fix, 3 month clock starting time, would put the removal at approximately August 21st. We'll hope for that date. We also found out that he could put weight on his right hand to the level of pain that he could take - I hope he doesn't do all of that because he seems to be able to take a great deal of pain. I guess that sometimes it pays to get a little upset.

I want to take a minute to clarify the events of David's injuries. David and his group had to hike in approximately 3 miles to reach the site. They had received a tip that there was a possible IED. When they arrived they saw that the possible IED was a stack of rocks with the dog tag of a fellow Marine that had been injured in that same place a few days before. David and his team swept the area and found two other IEDs. David disarmed one, was working on the second when he heard and felt a blast behind him, he said the blast almost made him fall on top of the bomb he was working on. They immediately ran to Carlos Evans and got him stabilized and called in a Medivac Helicopter. They cleared the landing zone and as soon as the helicopter arrived, the soldiers carried their equipment to give aid to Carlos. They ran back and forth several times + the time they carried Carlos for transport. The pathway had been cleared, walked on, ran on, carried across, cleared with metal detectors, and David was following a bomb sniffing dog on that exact path when he turned to tell his team associate to keep a distance between them - that's when he stepped on it. I don't think they could have done anything to change this. The reason I went over that again was that there was a misunderstanding that came from me earlier when I suggested that they were in a vehicle when they arrived - I'm not sure where I got that information from but I do know it was wrong.

With all the disappointment of the day, David had an incredibly great day. He was visited by General Mattis of the United States Marine Corps. David had made a statement within the past week that there was one person in the Marine Corps that he really wanted in his room and that was General Mattis. He is described as being the modern day Patton. General Mattis was fantastic, he was genuinely interested in David, in his injuries, in his dreams, in his concerns with the way things were being handled in the Afghanistan, and what David thought would improve the needed reliance and respect that newly place young officers, entering the war zone, should give to their senior NCOs (non-commissioned officers). (Like David) I'm not sure if I said that very well. What I mean is that too many young officers don't rely on the expertise of those who have been on the ground doing all the hard jobs for 5 tours before they even received their commission. General Mattis took notes and assured David that those notes would be in front of those who needed to know withing a very short time. When David expressed his respect and appreciation for General Mattis, General Mattis almost stopped the compliment to tell David that he was the one that was respected and appreciated - the General is sincerely appreciative of the ground forces and that do "the hard work."

One of the best parts of his visit was the fact that SSGT Bradley of the Marine Corps Liaison Office told David that General Mattis had sent him an email to let him know he was coming and that he specifically wanted to see David first.

This whole experience has really opened my eyes to so many things. We have great leaders in our military.

You know I love you,

Gordon

Monday, July 19, 2010

Monday, 19 July 2010 at 1817

Happy Monday,

Well, it's another productive day. David was awfully tired today. He had a great deal of pain in his right leg today. After evaluating everything, he determined that his leg was bruised with we went to the Medical Museum the last two days. The right arm brace on his wheelchair bruised the side of his leg and now, whenever it is touched, a sharp pain in sent through his entire leg. It made physical therapy quite a bit more painful than usual.

You would be very impressed if you saw all of this guys work in physical therapy. One soldier, that had lost one of his legs BK (Below the Knee) about 2 years ago, put another soldier across his shoulder and ran around the room - twice. He is the same one that was running while jumping rope a few days ago.

David will not allow one helpful hand and is cheering on his friend, Carlos Evans, the entire time. Carlos is the one that David medivac'd just before he received his injuries. I watched Carlos, who has lost both legs and his left hand, while he laid on his stomach - he was in such terrible pain and was doing everything he could do to smile for his wife and his sister. He later switched to a sitting position with a enormous amount of effort and help. The therapist would take tip him back just to the point of tipping over backwards and then he would use every muscle in his body to get back to a sitting position. Every part of his body was trembling with effort. I tried not to be seen as I just cried.

David is doing the same thing. While he pushes his body to the edge of passing out from pain, the occupational therapist is working every joint of his right hand so he can maintain flexibility until the x-fix can be removed and he can work with the whole hand and arm. We got a padded wedge under him and he was able to sit straight up for at least 15 to 20 minutes. I got him a 5 pound weight and he worked his left arm with all kinds of lifts and curls, then the 6 pound weight, then the 8 pound weight, and finally the 15 pound weight. He did leg lifts while laying on his back, while laying on his left side, and while laying on the bruise on his right side. I started doing some curls myself just so I wouldn't feel like a total couch potato. I've started to take the 156 stairs to his room now instead of riding the elevator.

I'm sorry Grandma Vasey, but David shaved his mustache again. After all that exercise, we had something to eat and then he shaved and cleaned up so he could get a military ID. He was very tempted to get the ID with his beard and mustache but he is very respectful of the United States Marine Corps and the fact that he is still a proud Marine. So he is now very clean shaven. The only problem is that we were 20 minutes late to get his ID so we'll have to get it tomorrow. He already has an ID but we have absolutely no idea where his personal effects are right now.

A young man, also with a prosthetic BK (below the knee), stopped by to talk with David about some of the benefits he can apply for. David was asked about the future use of his right arm and hand. I made a statement that we were hoping that he would get a great deal of the flexibility and strength back in it. David, upset but kind, reminded me that when his arm was almost taken off many many years ago, he was told that he would probably only get 70% to 80% use back. He got 100% + entrance to the USMC. He told me that he would get 100% of the use of his right arm and hand back. I believe he will.

Today was the first time I had heard this, but Dr. Fleming had told David that other physicians wanted to take is arm off AE (above the elbow). Even with the x-fix, the skin flap relocation from his forearm to his hand, the lost Ulnar Nerve at the elbow, the 4 pins in the back of the hand, the skin graft on the forearm, shrapnel everywhere, broken bones all throughout the hand, and the removal of his little finger and part of his hand, he has great use of his arm and is working through every bit of the pain to make it even better.

One of the retired therapists that helps the soldiers expressed how impressed he was with fact that David is talking about all of his future plans for travel and work while other soldiers are talking about getting through this day of physical therapy and hope they'll be strong enough for PT tomorrow.

This blog is awfully good therapy for me. Maybe I'll actually start keeping a journal when all this is done.

Hopefully in bed before midnight,

Gordon

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Sunday, July 18, 2010 at 1440

Hello Everybody,


Today is just a lazy day here in Walter Reed. On Friday the physical therapist asked David if he wanted to schedule PT for the weekend and he said, "NOPE!" I think a weekend off was a great decision.


On Saturday we decided to see the area a little so he worked his way into his wheelchair and we headed for the Medical Museum. The cracks in the sidewalk caused quite a bit more concern than we thought they would. The jarring from the cracks really caused some pain in his right hand with the pins and the fixator. We did reach the museum but only spent a minute or two and headed back. That extra dose of pain wore him out and he slept for almost 5 hours.


Today we may try the museum again. Up to now it has just been relaxing. It's easy for me to say relaxing because I'm not the one having Phantom Pains. David is really having a bunch of phantom pains and they really really hurt. He has tried to describe them on several occasions, one description was that someone had his ankle and was slowly twisting it like a slow and deliberate serious sprain. Another description was that someone was just smashing his toes. It is very disturbing to him . Sometimes there are phantom legs and the other times there are phantom pains. They obviously present totally different sensations, some understandable and some painful.


Earlier this week I was able to attend a banquet that honored young 12 and 13 year old kids that had written essays about the effect that violence has had in their life. It is a fantastic program and I wish every school in America would incorporate the program called Do The Right Thing. While at the meeting I met a a gentleman named Jerry Castro, and his wife Katherine - we talked for quite some time and gained a bit of a friendship. They are a great couple with 8 children, 1 of those children was born prematurely at 1 lb. and has medical challenges that will prevent him from every seeing or walking. Jerry came to the hospital a few days ago and visited. Yesterday he returned and brought David some movies to watch and he brought two of his children. David was absolutely wonderful with them. They asked him very pointed questions about his military experience, about his injuries, about his fears, and about his future. David was fantastic and freely answered every question. He showed them his wounds and his X-fix locations. He told them about all kinds of situations that he had never told us.


Jerry's son, and I sincerely apologize for not remembering his name, asked David if he was scared when he took care of his first bomb. David said, in a very animated way, "I was terrified!" He disarmed his first bomb using a robot and then got out to take a look at the bomb and check for others. He told of how he got out and took a metal detector that he had never used before. He couldn't seem to get it working right. My guess is that he just smacked it a few times - that's how us real men get things running right. When it finally started working, he put it to the ground and it sounded like it was detecting something he really hoped he wouldn't find, David thought something was wrong so he kept trying it and the same alarm kept sounding. He quickly realized that there was a pressure plate to another bomb directly between his legs. Jerry's son's eyes got really big and he asked what David did. David said, with his eyes really wide: "I didn't move, I can tell you that!" A few inches either way would have been disaster. David told how he composed himself and slowly backed off far enough to set a detonation cord with a C4 charge. He lit the det cord and backed off to a safe distance as the bomb blew up.


They had a great time visiting and it was a pleasure to watch. They are bringing some other children tomorrow night and have told David that he can order a steak of his choice or any seafood he would like. They are great people. We have truly met many wonderful people out here.

I started writing this blog much earlier in the day and now it's 2332. We did end up going back to the medical museum and it was probably the best museum I had ever been to. The reason it was so great was because David was my guide through much of it. He was able to explain many of the different uses for Clotting Packets and showed me the type of tourniquet that was used on his arm and both legs. Much of the museum dealt with the injuries of War - it was very humbling to stand next to a slab of cement that they had taken from a medical field hospital that was used, I believe in Vietnam, when I was a boy. There were actual photographs of the exact same slab of cement that was being cleaned up after a surgery - the photo showed a great deal of fresh blood. There were still stains on the cement from the many surgeries that had been preformed on that very surface. The museum was very graphic but gave an incredible look at the advancements of medicine.

David was a bit uncomfortable this morning because he had an itch that would not go away. He kept trying and trying not to scratch it because he thought it was just a wound site that was in the process of healing. He decided on one more scratch and found a piece of wood. He explained that some of the IEDs in Afghanistan would have wooden components to help disguise them. I guess the one he stepped on had some wood because he certainly brought some it home with him.

This experience has been very good for me because it has given me a much greater understanding of who this son of mine really is. David is teaching me a great deal about myself. There are some drawbacks to that because I have discovered some of the lasting feelings that remain after some of my very immature parenting when I was much younger and much more stupid than I am now. This parenting without a manual can be a very disheartening experience. I wish so bad that I could go back and start this whole process over. I regret so many of the things I did as a young parent, the inequalities I showed between children, the angry words, the lack of understanding I showed. Now that I look back on things through David's eyes, I see that I should have been the person I was trying to force my children to be. I need one of those pens that was used in the movie MEN IN BLACK. I could have all my children and my wife look at the pen and then I could zap their memories of that past, idiot dad, right out of their minds. I'm glad this life isn't over just yet because I've got so much more to learn and I think I need a fair amount of time to try to erase those earlier parenting mistakes.

Now that the true confessions are over and it is, once again, past midnight, I'm going to say goodnight. I hope every one of my family know how much I love them and how much they mean to me. I know this blog is suppose to be about David, but David is why all of this is being realized and I love him even more for giving me these realizations.

Think of the best person you know, the kindest, the most gentle, the most charitable, the most patient, the most loving, etc, etc, etc, and be try to be like that person.

All My Love,

Gordon

Friday, July 16, 2010

Friday, July 16, 2010 at 2203

Hope You're All Having a Great Weekend,

Well, here's the report for today:

David has been quite comfortable and has been sleeping very well. Every 2 days they re-dress his wounds and take a close look at all the areas of concern. I know that I reported, a few days ago, that he was free of stitches, but I was wrong, there were more on the back of his legs and the technician said he stopped at about 40 today. Ok, now I think he is free of all his stitches.

David ate a little lunch and we went to his physical therapy about 1:30. I forgot to mention a few things about yesterday's physical therapy session. When we arrived, we were treated to a session of looking at a bunch of David's X-rays. It was amazing to see pieces of shrapnel in his arms and his legs. The doctor told him that the pieces would be working their way to the surface for several years. I have watched him picking pieces out of his arm for several days. He really enjoys looking at each little piece to see what part of the bomb it would have been. We also saw an incredible amount of HO growing in his legs. I can't remember what that stands for, but you may remember that I previously explained that when bone gets cut off, the simple explanation is that the bone thinks it should grow back so it just begins to grow. Sometimes the bone fragmentation will embed itself in the muscles when the blast occurs - if the bone remains alive, it will start to grow wherever it is. David has bone growing all through the ends of both legs. The doctor showed us an actual cast reproduction of a leg bone that had been removed with HO growing to it - it looked like the bone was just spreading in all directions - it's a bit like a spider web but can be much thicker than that. David's HO seems to be growing in such a way that it may actually give him a bit more support than a hindrance, it just depends on whether or not it continues to grow and cause pain. If the pain is too much, it will be removed.

He was able to transfer himself, to and from his wheelchair, several times today. He is really doing great. I think I was a little wrong on what the butt ups were - I'm not looking back at yesterday's blog but the correct stretch is when he lays flat on the mat and lifts both legs and his entire rear end off the mat with just his abs. I tried it and couldn't do it without the use of my hands and arms. David actually did it with a fair amount of ease and a great amount of pain.

I left David tonight at about 8pm because he was sleeping. He started to feel a bit sick to his stomach and felt that sleep would take care of it. Hopefully it did.

All-in-all, things are really doing well. He is doing great and is simply gritting out every exercise and movement - I would say he takes after his Dad, but the only pain I deal with is bad leg cramps after a game of golf. I'm almost in tears when they hit. David talks about the good points of this "no legs" situation he is dealing with - he won't have any more athlete's foot, he will never need a knee replacement. His attitude, needless to say, is very good.

Thank You All For Caring So Much,

Gordon

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Thursday 15 July 2010 at 2223

Good Evening and Almost Good Morning Here,

I would have done this much earlier but the computer at the hospital was having a major problem.

I'm think I'm losing my mind. I was doing laundry tonight, cleaning all of David's workout clothes for the past three or four days and all was going well. I went down and put everything in the dryer and pushed through the quarters and then watched the end of Burn Notice and the first half of Royal Pains and then rushed down to pull everything out of the driver and realized that I had not pushed the button to start the dryer. I didn't have any more quarters so now I have break-away pants and t-shirts draped all around my room for the night. Pretty brilliant huh!!!!

Today was another great work-out day. Jon C., from the workout series P90X came into the Physical Therapy clinic today and took pictures with many of the soldiers. David and several of his buddies in Afghanistan were working out with the P90X workout CDs just to keep themselves in shape. Once again I feel a little like a couch potato. Here these soldiers are, working in the heat of 100 degrees plus with a full uniform with metal plating in every possible place they can put it and then carrying an 80 pound pack for hours and hours and hours, and then they come back to their compound or tent and workout for fun. I sit, watch TV, eat JuJu Fruits and Tropical Dots and wonder why my physic is not stunning. David talks all the time about getting a 6 pack and I tell him I'm way past that point, I'm up to a gallon and working on a keg.

Today David worked on transferring himself from his wheelchair to his bed, completely by himself. He did it four times. With each time he drew a little more blood from a few of his injury sites. You guessed it, I wasn't allowed to lift a finger. It is a very intense workout. He has to do everything with his hips that are still bolted together with the X-fix, with his right arm that has 9 separate wound and/or surgery sites, and his head and shoulders. I was very very impressed with his will to do it and take another step to freedom. It was, once again, a very emotional experience for me and a very thrilling a achieving feeling for David.

He did a bunch of Butt Ups, it's like a sit up but the lower half of his body is lifted instead. The Therapist showed me how it was done and David did it better than she did. She was rocking to get her rear end off the mat David was doing it all with his head flat on the mat.

Then he did a bunch of leg presses hard enough to lift his rear end and the small of his back in the air. Those are done by pushing the wounds on the back of his legs into a rolled pad. Every exercise he is doing is with a great deal of pain and he just seems to work through it.

We've found that David, and many of us, has given himself an injury. It seems that when we're talking on the cell phone and the arm is always bent in a tight V, and when we sleep with out arm bent in that same V on our chest, it does damage to the Ulnar nerve and starts to put numbness in the pinky finger and takes strength away from portions of the hand. David now needs to play close attention to keeping his left arm to his side so the nerve can regenerate itself and give normal function back to his hand.

So, we all seemed to learn today. David received a few cards from home today. He read a wonderful note from the Pierson's - he was very very grateful. You have all done so much to make this transition as good of an experience as is possible. I think we all need to find those around us who served in Vietnam, and give them the same respectful Thank You! They deserved that same amount of respect.

It's morning now so I best get my beauty sleep - I obviously need it.

I Love You All,

Gordon

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Tuesday, 13 July 2010 at 2355

No matter what I do, I can't seem to get to bed before midnight. This may be a short entry.

David had a good and very active day. About the time he was to go to Physical Therapy, he must have had 30 different doctors, nurses, interns, Purple Heart Foundation, Benevolent Bird Watchers, Moss Infected Fungus Growers Society, Infectious Disease Doctors, and any other society you can imagine visit him. It was like Grand Central Station in rush hour on Christmas with free Hot Chocolate and colored marshmellows. How was that for painting a busy picture?

I was very impressed with David during therapy. He pushed and pushed until the therapist gave up in his behalf and then he let them know that they had said three repetitions and he still owed them one - then he'd push some more. The therapist told him that "Yes, your skin may tear around your X-fix when you do the rolling exercise, but it will heal!" David still did it and I was watching as he took his body to the point that every muscle was trembling.

During the procedure another therapist removed all remaining stitches so David is now tube free, staple free, and stitch free. The IV in his right arm is about ready to go pretty soon as well.

David was told today that he will be undergoing his first eardrum graft surgery within a week and then will let that heal before they do the second ear. The X-fix on his hand will be approximately 2 more weeks and that will probably be removed. I think we've got about 4 1/2 weeks left on the pelvic X-fix, so everything is sailing right along. David gets a little jealous when he sees other soldiers who can lay on their stomachs. He is very much looking forward to that day.

He drove into Subway today and ordered a sandwich. One small leap for mankind, one giant leap for David.

Oh yes, the most important aspect of the day. Do you want to know what it was? Are you really ready for this? Ok, Ok!!! David tested the wheelchair today and got it up to 6.6 mph. You walkers eat your heart out.

See You Tomorrow,

Gordon

Monday, July 12, 2010

Monday July 12, 2010 at 2118

Good Evening,

Well, here I sit in my room with a beautiful slice of watermelon, except for the fact that it has seeds, watching Ratatuoilli on the TV.


I can only tell you about David through a few things he said to me and comments from Catherine because I was golfing today. I had the great opportunity to represent David at a fund raising tournament at the Army Navy Golf Club in Arlington, Virginia. They raised over $200,000 today and I can't tell you how impressed I am with the generosity and unselfishness of so many of these people out here. I'd like to tell you of one wonderful man - I will not give you his name because, once again, I did not gain permission to give his true identity - I will call him John. I golfed with John today and we finished 4 holes early because a loud siren rang, indicating that there was lightning within a short distance. After the golf, there were drinks served, then a dinner, and then an auction. I tried to buy something to give my support but the prices got beyond my range pretty quick. Up came an auction item with a signed baseball from Nick Johnson that was recently traded from the Washington Nationals to the NY Yankees and some tickets to an upcoming Nationals game. John started bidding and bidding and bidding and bidding and finally bought the tickets and the baseball for $950. He went and paid for his donation and came back to the table and handed me the baseball and asked me to give it to my son. Is that an incredibly Christ like act - absolutely!!!! I have learned a great deal with this whole experience - one of the things I've learned is that there are incredible people in everyone you see. That did not sound grammatically correct but I meant it just the way it was written.


Another item came up for bid, a Duck Hunting Trip for 4 people - to include two wounded warriors. The bidding was going along just fine when a gentleman jumped up and interrupted - he said that when he was a young man and injured, his first outing from the hospital was a Duck Hunting Trip to this exact club, he said, through a lump in his throat, that it meant so much to him to have so much done in his behalf. The bid ended up at about $1500. What incredibly generous people.


OK, back to David. This is the third time I've typed this - there is a thunder and lightning storm going on outside and it keeps killing the internet in the lodge I'm staying in.

Today was great and awful for David. David is absolutely focused on stand on his own two feet again. He wants that 6'4" stance so bad that he gets upset at the therapists when they try to help him through his exercising. He is doing everything he can to build up his abs and arm strength. He works his guts out to sit up and to accomplish the tasks that we do so easily and without thought. Go ahead and try it yourself - sit up without the use of your legs and your strongest arm. It's one of those times when you feel like slapping your forehead with the palm of your hand to get yourself to stop and think - I should be giving that same effort to make myself stronger and give myself a better chance at having better health.

The awful part of his day was after his finished exercising. They took him in to another room to re-dress his wounds. The last dressings on his legs were a bit like plastic wrap. The plastic-type material was used to keep the moisture in. Now they want the wounds to dry out. They intended to wash his wounds with a rough gauze and David kindly requested that they use a softer material as he knew it was going to hurt. For some unknown reason, they completely ignored David's request and in David's words, "Since Day 1, I have not had an re-dressing of my wounds hurt that bad!" Then to add insult to injury, they decided to give David a break from the pain. The problem with that decision was the fact that they had him lying on a very hard, wood table. David has been lying on his tailbone for almost 2 months and it is really sore - so there are very few comfortable positions he can sit or lye to take the pressure off. He laid on that hard table for 20 minutes without any padding, without any call button, without any protection for his tailbone. David's only relief came from trying to hold his legs off the table for 20 minutes. The pain was excruciating and infuriating. I promise we will address this situation with the right individuals but at a time when we are no longer this angry. I'm sincerely glad this errors in judgement are few and far between.

Needless to say, David's energy was completely exhausted after all that. He fell to sleep about 7:45 tonight. It is so incredibly satisfying to watch your child sleep. I know, I know - David is not a child, but he is our child.

As difficult as all this is, I only have to look back a month or look forward a month to visualize something absolutely wonderful about the past or the future.

I have now idea if Mike Crosby in Kaysville, Utah is following this blog - if not, would someone tell him that I am thinking about his and Cindy's comfort. Please let them know that I love them and hope the best for them and their family.

I wonder how many incredible people I will meet tomorrow.

Goodnight,

Gordon

Saturday, July 10, 2010

Saturday, July 10, 2010 at 2242

Good Evening,

Another good day. Lynnette and I were able to spend almost 12 hours with David. Today was the first day that Catherine has left David's side all week. She had the opportunity to visit with a cousin of hers. We missed her but it gave me the opportunity to take care of David's needs in a way I haven't experienced thus far. David is becoming very independent and trying to do everything by himself.

He got a new phone today, so if any of you had his old phone number, call him. We spent a few hours plugging in phone numbers of the friends who had called and all of his family. The phone is a great new toy and he's really enjoying the newness.

In listening to one of his conversations, we were very touched by his words. He was talking to a close friend of his that is a dog trainer. In Afghanistan, there are soldiers that are assigned with a bomb sniffing dog. David's friend was only about 15 feet in front of David when he was injured. I am avoiding his name because I have not received permission to use it. What I am able to say is that he and his dog had just gone over the exact area that hit David. David's words to him were very interesting in that he made sure his friend knew that he had done everything right and that it must have just been David's time. David also assured his friend that he was fine, that he had just started a new chapter in his life, that he was truely looking forward to the future. David said "please let everybody know that I am not sitting here feeling bad for myself, I'm really enjoying this, what happened - happened, please let them know I'm fine and I'm healing well and being very well taken care of." I'm sure I've missed a few words but the jest of his comments were captured.

We took another trip around the hospital in his wheelchair. We tried to go into the Subway at the hospital to get him some lunch and their doors wouldn't even accomodate David's wheelchair. So, David sat in the doorway and placed his order. He is really quite fun at this stuff.

David completely dressed himself today but had to rest for a little while after the effort of dressing drained his energy for a few minutes. He still tried to complete the entire day with extremely few pain meds.

While we were sitting outside we met another mother of a wounded soldier. Her soldier is a medic and was hit with a mortar round. He didn't even know he was hit until someone yelled that the "Doc" was hit. He thought he was carrying his medical bag and when he heard that he was hit he looked and saw that the medical bag had been blown out of his hand and his arm was in terrible shape. He saw that his artery had been hit and he was losing a great amount of blood so he began first aid on himself as he felt himself going into shock. I don't know a great deal about the situation but I do know that his plans were to be a doctor of some kind. Incredibly, each day another hero is discovered - he has a fantastic attitude. When he saw his arm, just as David thought when he saw his own arm, he didn't think he would wake up after surgery with that arm still attached - but he did. He knows his future has just changed but he is very very optomistic and is very reassuring to his mother.

When we came back to the Bethesda Naval Lodge, there were new faces outside enjoying the night air. Their nephew and a group of his soldiers decided to take a brake under a tree in Afghanistan and the enemy had planned on such a break. He is now in critical care with half of his skull removed to help with his swolen brain. He lost a major amount of the left side of his body. I believe he came in with 10 other seriously wounded soldiers. They just keep coming and coming and coming.

When we hear all of these stories, we look at David smiling, programming his new phone, wearing his Jack Sparrow head wrap, feeding himself, talking and laughing with old friends, having complete control of his bodily functions, and on and on and on and on - we know and he knows how blessed he is. Hopefully his knowledge of bombs and the enemy and their strategies will lead him to a career that will be dedicated to helping us thwart the efforts of those trying to intimidate and kill and mame others for the sole purpose of money and power. I wish I had a skill that would be of value in this campaign.

I love what I'm able to do to help David but I still feel a bit helpless in the overall context of this war.

Just Know That We Love You!

Gordon

Friday, July 9, 2010

Friday, 9 July 2010 at 2020

Hello Our There,

Things here are progressing very well. David has a "PIC LINE" in the artery of his right arm and that is his only medical connection to anything. He is a totally free man and he loves it. He has worked very very hard to stay away from as many pain medications as possible and each day is a step toward total medication freedom. I'm sure there will be incidents that will require some meds but David really does not like the feeling of drugs in his body.

Today he was able to get in his wheelchair with the help of only two individuals. I'm sure that when his right arm is healed he will be able to get into the wheelchair by himself. He is working hard at getting his physical strength back.

Today he spent two hours in physical therapy and completely sat up by himself 3 and 3/4 times. He said it was, surprisingly, very difficult, especially without the help of his legs and the full use of his right arm. His therapy was suppose to be for 1 hour but he pushed it to 2. After the therapy, he an Catherine went outside and just enjoyed the warmth of the day. They then toured the hospital and found the cafeteria and had a bite to eat. It is so nice seeing him get his strength and freedom back, even if it is only inch by inch.

Yesterday they removed all the staples from his body. He probably had at least 100 staples removed in this setting and has had probably another 50 removed from other sites in the past week.

He is just waking up from a good long nap and is really hurting quite a bit but refuses to take more pain meds. I personally feel that his 2 hour session in physical therapy is really contributing to his current pain. Lynnette said he should take some pain meds and he immediately told her how he felt about the meds. If there is any question in your mind concerning David getting hooked on drugs - you have absolutely no need to worry. He is a very strong man.



Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Wednesday, 7 July 2010 at 2235

It seems we get back much later now that David has moved over to Walter Reed. It usually takes about 35 minutes to get back to our lodging quarters, of course that can change when I keep making wrong turns = but us men don't ask for directions. One of the nice things about the drive is that once we hit the 495 Westbound we get a fantastic view of the Washington D.C. Temple for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is absolutely beautiful.

David really had a very relaxing day. The excitement was decorating his room with all his flags, postcards from many of you, photos of friends and family, his family quilt, and all the coins he has received from so many military leaders and organizations. His room really looks like home.

David won't let us help him eat any more. We are allowed to put the tray on his chest and then he does all the rest for himself. We are quickly reprimanded if we make a move to assist him. It is very good to see him eating everything on his tray and doing it all on his own.

Tonight Lynnette and I went shopping for a sleeping mask to cover his eyes. All night long the nurses come in to check this or do that or take some vital readings and each time requires them turning on the lights - at least with the a sleeping mask he has the chance to not be awakened by the light. Most of the nurses are very good not to disturb him but the light is a tough one to ignore. We also bought him a satin sleep cap. You can easily tell which soldiers are still sleeping on, and continually lying on their backs because they develop balding spots in several places on the back of the head. We felt that the satin sleep cap might act as a buffer between his head and the sheets and allow his hair to grow back.

When we were shopping for David's things, the strangest thing happened. We were walking past different sections in the store and I was just looking at things that David might want - I saw some really colorful socks that I thought David would really get a kick out of and it took about 10 steps before Lynnette reminded me that he didn't have feet. I couldn't believe I had really forgotten that he couldn't wear the socks. Needless to say, the tender moments haven't stopped.

They took David to X=ray today and got pictures of his pelvis again. As we were rolling him over, there was a fair amount of puss that came out near the X-fix on his left leg. David really showed some concern because he wants absolutely nothing to slow him down in getting his new legs. David asked if they were going to take an x-ray of his hand and they told him there was no order for it, so, about an hour after they took him back to his room, they took him back to X-ray and took pictures of his hand and arm like they were suppose to. I was looking on the computer when the x-ray of his hand and arm came through and I could see all of the pins and several bones that had been broken. The bone between his pointing finger and the wrist was broken pretty bad and you could still easily see the break in the bone with a pin through it - you could also see the new calcification so everything looks to be healing pretty good according to Dr. Lyon.

I don't know where he received this information, but he was told that one of the biggest problems with the new legs is stopping. He said a friend of his was feeling fantastic when he started running on his new legs and then he said, "Oh no, there's a wall." I guess we take more for granted than we think. Stopping will have a whole new technique.

David received a great fruit bouquet from Catherine's parents. It was beautiful and yummy with strawberries, bananas, grapes, pineapple, oranges and apples - all covered in chocolate and then there was a few pineapple flowers with cantaloupe centers. It was great and still is, we couldn't possibly eat all of it. David even had his friend, Carlos Evans, the one that was hurt right before David received his injuries, come in an sample a few. Catherine's parents made us all a little fatter and a little happier.

There was a gentleman that came in and autographed a book he had written about the Arlington Cemetery. He was the author and wanted to share this book with as many of these wounded soldiers as he could. I'm sorry I don't have his name right now because I would like to give him the recognition and Thanks he deserves. There are so many people who do so many acts of kindness for these warriors, it makes me wonder what my life is about and what I should be doing to give back for all my blessings.

It's past midnight again and it's time to call an end to this day - see you all tomorrow!

Love,

Gordon

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Tuesday, July 6, 2010 at 2319

I hope you haven't lost faith in me. Yesterday was a totally lazy day and today was hoppin' all day long.

David is doing great and has a new address:

SSGT Lyon, David B.
C/O Ward 57
Walter Reed Army Medical Center
6900 Georgia Ave NW
Washington, D.C. 20307

And he has a new phone number: 202-782-1557
And his new room number is 5732

His room is half the size, so no large screen TV and no room for 10 chairs. We accidentally left his fans and his water bottle in his room and by the time we got back to his room they had thrown them away in the "biological hazard" container.

His wheelchair hasn't caught up just yet but should be delivered tomorrow. If they threw that in biological hazard container we will be paying about $20,000.

The drive over was a bit eventful as the ambulance bed they used was pretty darn thin for a big man like David. When they took the first turn he slid over a little on the bed and pushed his legs closer together, so, David said it felt like his X-fix was stabbing him in the gut. Catherine was riding with him and they quickly remedied the problem but now before the pain was well under way. Since returning to his room, the new Doctor seems to think that the pain meds that did not work in Bethesda will now work in Walter Reed. About every 10 to 1 5 seconds David will be hit with a bolt of pain that just hits his whole body and we were doing anything we could to distract him or to get the nurses and Doctors to understand that his particular medication has not, does not, and will not take care of the pain that is shooting through him.

David is able to order food over the phone now and he is quite excited about getting food that he may actually like. Those of you who have had hospital food in recycled cardboard containers will know what I am talking about.

The hospital requires that the doors stay closed and, I'm assuming, it because they want them to do everything they can to get out of those rooms. It feels a little like a dungeon to me.

I drove around for hours trying to find another water bottle just like the one David had. It was given to him by a great friend whom I will not mention in regards to the bottle because I found out that he got a bit of a, self imposed, discount when he bought a water bottle that had, in some miraculous manner, received the top of another water bottle in order to make it "just the right" bottle.

It's going on midnight and I promise to write more tomorrow when it isn't 102 degrees at 8 PM.

Goodnight,

Gordon

Sunday, July 4, 2010

Happy 4th of July 2010 at 1753

Happy 4th of July,
Last night we sat in David's room and watched through the window as the Bethesda Fireworks were set off. A tree was in perfect position to block almost every blast but it was still enjoyable. We didn't OOOOOOH and AAAAAAAH very much but we did try to enjoy the moment.

David has been sleeping very well. He has been feeling very good and is, whenever he or anyone else thinks about it, doing his physical exercises to strengthen every area he is allow to work on.
He is eating almost everything that comes with his meal except he's not very good on the vegetables.

We had a great day of just relaxing. Lynnette and I went to church this morning and got back to his room about noon and he and Karlyn, Lynnette's sister, were playing CRAZY 8's. Lynnette joined in and David whooped everyone. Lynnette has refused to play that game with him when he is not on the pain killer drugs.

We got back about 2 hours ago from a 1 1/2 hour trip on his wheelchair. It was, once again, fantastic, but luckily, not as emotional. We went around the barracks across the street from the hospital and spent about 45 minutes talking with other soldiers. I believe David really enjoyed himself and enjoyed talking on military matters.

It was much easier to write this blog when things are all up in the air and there is drama in every moment, but a short blog means that things are coming along quite well. It is still quite the ordeal to get David from the bed to the wheelchair, but I sincerely think that once he is able to use his right hand and arm and his X-fix has been removed from his pelvis, and his skin grafts won't rip open with the slightest movement, and his skin donor areas don't weep blood when they are stretched, and the nerve transplant has been completed, and the X-fix on his hand is removed, and the 3 pins in his thumb are removed, and.... and.... and.... ALL WILL BE GREAT. You obviously get the picture.

We'll have a great 4th - you need to do some extra celebrating for all of us. We were thinking about being offended, on David's behalf, when nothing extra was done for these soldiers on the Day we consider to be so precious because of these every-day heroes, but, when we considered the fact that these people have families too, and considering what they do each and every day for these guys, we decided not to be offended.

Happy 4th and We love you,

Gordon

Saturday, July 3, 2010

03 July 2010 at 0827

I came to David's room this morning, just to sit and watch him sleep. He looks very peaceful. I turned on the computer to catch up on emails and saw that Catherine had sent a message to me - it is a tragic, yet a beautiful message and I want you to feel it from her words, not mine:

Hi Gordon,

David is okay, this email is not about David but I wanted to tell you about something that happened tonight in case I sleep in a little later than you guys tomorrow. Perhaps you could read this email out loud to David if I have not arrived yet.

I was having trouble sleeping so around midnight I went downstairs to see if the naval lodge had any movies I wanted to watch, they didn't, so I decided to get some fresh air to clear my thoughts. While I was sitting outside a lady named Debbie came to me and asked how I was doing. I told her I could not sleep and she responded by telling me she had lost her nephew earlier that day. His name was David and he was an Air Force helicopter medi-vac pilot on his seventh tour, this time deployed to Afghanistan. Her David was stationed in the Helmand province and had decided to extend his tour another month when he was injured during an operation where he was sent out to rescue British special forces, which had been hurt in combat. Her David's helicopter was gunned down and the three men in the helicopter were all severely hurt, her David received a severe head injury and the two other men did as well, one of which had to receive a leg and arm amputation. Her David was flown to Germany and then to Bethesda within 48 hours of the injury and thereafter stayed in ICU for three weeks before his parents made the decision, July 2, 2010 at 14:00 to take him off life support. Although he was taken off life support at 14:00 he remained alive, breathing on his own for several hours and when his family left the room for a brief period of time, intending to go back to the navy lodge and get some things, the nurses called them and told them David had passed on only six minutes after his parents and Debbi had left the room. Debbi explained how she, her sister and her brother in law were all very upset they were not in the room for this, however she did convey to me that she thought perhaps David knew his parents had left the room and thought it would be best to go when they were not by his side.

Her David was scheduled to be married to his fiance of two years, Melissa, in September of this year. They were originally supposed to be married last February but David had been deployed early and as a result they had postponed the wedding. Debbi spoke for a couple hours about all this and I did my best to listen and support her, however, I felt as though this was a time when words did little justice to convey my support in light of a situation of this magnitude. Melissa, David's fiance, received her wedding dress in the mail last week and had recently moved into David's house and finished repainting the entire home. They had planned a big military wedding in one of the chapels over at the Air Force base where David was stationed. Although I only spoke with Debbi, I extended my deepest condolences to her entire family and let her know if there was anything we could do for them that we would be happy to. Her David's story really touched me because on so many levels I am having so much difficulty seeing the silver lining in what Debbi described as such a sad and tragic ending to a truly amazing young man's life - he had just turned 31 this last Sunday. She repeated how his body looked fine yet his mind was completely gone and related to me how difficult it was to have this false sense of hope that he would be fine, all the while knowing that as the doctors told her, he would never wake up again, feed himself, or do anything other than lie in his bed motionless and entirely dependent on 24 hour machines and care-takers. I cannot imagine how difficult of a decision that must have been for his parents and while I do not have children myself, I can honestly say no parent should ever be forced to have to decide whether they should take their child off of life support.

The reason I wanted to email you about this tonight as oppose to talk to you about it in the morning is because after Debbi's David's helicopter was shot down he was replaced in Afghanistan by another medivac helicopter pilot named Kyle who was subsequently injured and who is now on the 5th floor near our David's room. I do not know if our David knows this Kyle but if he does I think Debbi and her family will be visiting him early tomorrow morning and it might be nice to let our David know about all this if he wants to extend his condolences to Debbi's David's family (if they go to the 5th floor) as well as offer his support to Kyle. I asked if there would be a service for Debbi's David and Debbi said she did not think so because the family may fly back tomorrow. The family has asked to have the funeral at Arlington cemetery, however Debbi told me there was a 90 day waiting period, which a senator and a congressmen are working on shortening for Debbi's David, however if they are unsuccessful the family will hold the funeral elsewhere.

When Debbi came to me this evening I was deep in thought about our David as I was thinking about all the pain he has endured in the past few days, and on many levels I was feeling a little down and overwhelmed. Debbi's story made me feel very selfish for my own sentiments because after all David not only survived but he is the David I knew and loved before the deployment and while he did receive very serious injuries, they are nothing he cannot surpass. Unlike Debbi's David, our David will live to see his family grow old, Ethen grow up, and have the chance to experience love, success, happiness, and all the beauties life has to offer. I wish there was more we could all do to help Debbi and her family during this time and at the very least, perhaps you could put something in the blog about Debbi's David to let everyone know what a courageous young man he was and allow all those involved in our David's life to think and pray for Debbi, Melissa, and David's entire family.

Hearing this entire story makes me want to go see David and hold him so tight and never let him go as I have never felt so lucky to have him back to us, safe, alive, and most importantly, as himself. I will wait for the morning because David's sleep is more important but I think it is very important for all of us to take a moment of silence and think and pray about Debbi's David.

Good night,
Catherine

I know that doesn't say much about David's current circumstance, but it is still something that needs to be felt and heart. Just to think of the fact that these soldiers are over there serving a group of people they don't even know, trying to build a better life for and protect a group of people who are unable to protect themselves, makes them HEROs in my book.

Have a great day and a great 4th of July.

Gordon

Friday, July 2, 2010

02 July 2010 at 2020

Hello Again

Well, today was full of surprises again. Remember when this whole thing started and the surgeon told us that these wounds sometimes take up to 4 or 5 weeks to present itself? Well, it's been almost 6 weeks and there's a new twist. David was having an extreme amount of pain today. The pain would start in his left leg and just jolt him to the core and then go away. It would happen every 10 to 15 seconds. That would happen frequently so he got some extra pain medication. We looked closely at the wound dressings and saw a little fluid that was a bit concerning so we called in the surgical team.

They respond very quickly to this young men. We were told that it was one of two things: (1) it could be HO or Hypertrophic Ossification, that happens when the leg starts growing an extra bone in the muscle or tissue. This can sometimes happen because when microscopic fragments of bone get blown in the tissues of the leg and, if the bone is still alive, simply speaking, it knows it's suppose to be a bone and so it continues to grow. That growth takes on the appearance of a piece of coral and can be extremely painful - sometimes it grows around nerves and around blood vessels and arteries. David asked how they got rid of it and Dr. Fleming asked if would really like to know the answer. He said yes so Dr. Fleming told him - he said they open up the leg and go in with a hammer and a chisel and just whack it. He said that when the bone has formed around a nerve, they use a smaller hammer and a smaller chisel and they don't whack it as hard, and (2) it could be the fact that his nerves are regenerating.
It is all extremely interesting.

Just a side note, the young soldier that I spoke of that was just hanging on - he's still hanging on. It is just amazing, he lost most of one arm, all of one leg into the hip, the other arm just short of the elbow, and the other leg, I think, just above the knee. There are two living quad amputees in the world and they are both here right now. They are in the process of closing his wounds but the fungus is still in his abdomen but is not getting worse. He is now in the process of providing valuable information to learn all they can learn about this fungus. I guess that is one good thing that comes of war - many incredible medical strides are made.

David is really looking forward to going to Walter Reed but feels a little bad that he can't go there and immediately get fitted for his robot legs (as Ethen calls them). He wants to be up and going.

I asked him what he wanted to say to everyone and he wanted me to Thank all of you for all of your help in this process and that he's doing everything possible to get up and back out there.

Even though there are many surprises to deal with, it's all part of the process. We saw another soldier in the lunch room what had been through this process over a year ago and he had the HO which required surgery. That happened over a year and a half after he was injured, so this is a long long long process.

After inspecting David's legs, they completely cleaned and re-dressed his legs. Re-dressing his legs is no small process and it is quite painful, as you can guess.

All-in-all, it was a great day for eating, sleeping, and even understanding the pain creates an understanding that makes it much easier to deal with.

We love you all very much and appreciate your tender thoughts.

Gordon

Thursday, July 1, 2010

Thursday 01 July 2010 @ 2333

There is a song that describes the current situation - "Together Again!" It was so nice to be here again and give David a big hug. SSGT Taylor of the Marine Liaison Office picked me up from the airport and then we had to go to another airport to pick up two other families that were here to see their loved ones for the first time. As SSGT Taylor gave them a little bit of an indoctrination, I was very touched by one of his comments: he said that "We are family, that's the way us Marines think of each other, and now that you are here, (speaking of the new families) you are our family too! It was not a rehearsed statement, it was obviously from his heart.

David had a bit of an up and down day. I think it was a bit discouraging, yet rewarding, when his fellow Marine, Cpl Evans, transferred to Walter Reed. It is incredibly rewarding knowing that 6 weeks ago David was very instrumental in saving his life and putting him on the helicopter that took him to safety and care, and now he is on his way to Walter Reed to begin his rehabilitation process. The discouraging part is that David will be several weeks behind him because of the X-fix on his pelvis. David, as any of you who know him will attest, wants to be on the move, progressing and pushing himself and he is really tired of lying around losing strength and mobility. He looks across the room at that wheelchair and just wants to get in it and go.

David's day just seem to start with a discouraged feeling but he was really pumped up when CPL
Roberto Evans came into his room. (please forgive me if I have his rank incorrect) They really lifted each others spirits. Then the head of the ICU, Dr. Malone came in and talked with both of them an told them what incredible men they were, how strong, and how courageous. She has been here for 20 years watching these men come through here with incredible injuries and told these 2 Marines that, at the time of their injury, they both had made a very difficult and courageous decision - to live. She was extremely inspiring and was 100% respectfully of these powerfully inspiring young men.

David seemed to need more pain medications than usual. He is having sharp blasts of pains, mainly to his left leg, that just take his breath away and jolt his whole body. The good thing is that the pains only last for a few seconds. The team is suggesting that David move on to Walter Reed next Tuesday or Wednesday. Because of that move, they are trying to get him off the
Delotted and change him to Methadone. David protested because he had heard so many horror stories of soldiers getting hooked on the Methadone. The Doctor told him that those that had been hooked on the Methadone were taking well in excess of 100 mg each time and that the dosage that David would be given was 10mg. After some convincing, David felt a little more comfortable with taking the medication. David really does not like stimulants, except for power drinks.

David enjoyed the movie "UP" today. It was nice because it is the kind of movie that allows you to fall asleep for 10 to 15 minutes and not miss much at all. David is very alert but he will fall to sleep in 15 minutes stages quite often. There is really no time, in this hospital, to catch a long nap during the middle of the day. They are instructing us, as well as David, to get into a sleep regiment. It is going to be a critical part of his healing process if he can get into a routine that gives him the optimal amount of sleep so he can work very hard each day.

Catherine is a wonderful part of his day. They talk, then he sleeps, they talk, then he sleeps, and it goes on and on. She is absolutely wonderful with him. She is very caring, very attentive, and is on top of everything to do with his comfort and care. Her sincere feelings for him are very obvious and very enjoyable to watch.

David did not eat nearly as well today but he seemed to be feeling much better in the evening.

Well, everyone around me is sleeping and I've turned out the lights so they can sleep. Without the lights, it's hard to find the delete button to correct my mistakes, so I'll say goodnight and please know how much we love an appreciate all of you. For such a horrific and awful thing to happen, this is still a wonderful time - just to know he has his intellect, his wit, and a knowledge that he has an incredible life of promise ahead.

Goodnight,

Gordon