Monday, 2 August 2010 at 2116

Hello Again,

Sorry, I didn't write yesterday. David and Catherine were able to get a rental car and do some sight seeing yesterday and we didn't even have the chance to see him so there wasn't much I could report on.

I can tell you that he had a beautiful and awful day. I really do know what those feel like. He and Catherine took the opportunity to go the the Arlington Cemetery and visited the graves of several of his friends. It is such a beautiful and reverent place, yet so awful when you personally know the tragic deaths that put many of these soldiers and warriors in this place. It was a very tender time. I'm very glad he was able to visit those very personal friends of his.

We spent a few hours with David today and Lynnette saw him in his PT for the first time. I just asked her what her feelings were about what she saw today and she was just in awe. Adelle, David's therapist has a list of things that she wants him to do. He did everything on the list plus more. He added weights that she had not required, he added pads under his legs as he laid on his stomach to stretch the muscles in his back, which she did not expect him to do. David always seems to go that extra push so that he can get ahead of the game. David, while one therapist is working on the joints of his right hand, his wrist, his elbow extension, and any other painful thing she can call "therapy", is doing butt ups, leg lifts with weight belts on his legs, etc. etc. etc. When the hand therapist bends his fingers to the point that David arches up on the back of his head from pain, he says "STOP!", at that point she just holds it there for about 15 to 30 seconds and then tries to get a bit further the next time.

David still has no word on the x-fix on his hand but we're hoping it comes off very soon so he can really start the rehab process and the weight bearing on that hand. David was taking a close look at the repair that was done on his right hand where the pinky finger was taken off, he realized that he still has the pinky fingerprint on the side of his hand. He actually thought it was quite entertaining and has figured out how to freak out the next person that takes his fingerprints. I'll let him give you his ideas of fun when you get together with him.

All-in-all, things are going very well and David may be in outpatient status within the month. He is really looking forward to that bit of freedom. We're working things out to make sure this blog keeps going when I am not here. It's going to be a bit harder to write when I'm not present, but we'll do our best to keep you involved and up to date.

Thank You for your thoughts and prayers,

Gordon