Monday, January 10, 2011 @ 1838

Hope You Had A Great Weekend - We Did!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Friday was a great day, we were heading up to Yuba City to be with Ethen for his birthday party. On the way we were asked to come by David's EOD shop at Camp Pendleton. When we arrived the entire squad was at attention and The Good Guys, which is a service organization, brought David up front and presented him with a very nice award. It was great for a father, me, to stand back and see the tributes being paid to my son. Once the award was over they took pictures and everyone crowded around David. He is really well thought of and I can really see why. He is really a strong powerful influence in that group and I am very proud of the man he has become.

We drove the 7 1/2 hours and both of our rear ends were just about done. We had a nice meal with Ethen and Heather and then David and Ethen went to their hotel to have some great Father/Son time together. All-in-all, it was a fantastic weekend and Ethen is really a great miniature version of his daddy. I was a bit brain dead and didn't take my camera but I'm told that some pictures will be emailed so they can be included on the blog.

Well, tomorrow was suppose to be the day that they break up all the scar tissue and HO in David's right arm but the procedure "Manipulation" has been re-scheduled for the 19th. Tomorrow and Wednesday are VERY IMPORTANT to David as he will be standing at "close" to his full height. He is now ready for the C-Legs. After the Manipulation on his arm, his arm will be much closer to a limp rag than an arm of strength and he needs that strength to support himself as he gets up on the new legs.

Today the new liner for his right leg came in and they put in on him and then cast him for his new leg. So, on Wednesday he will have new graphite sockets that should fit great. We are anticipating that David's leg volume will possibly change several more times as he continues to work through the physical strain to walk, but that's all part of the process. When he receives his legs, they will fine tune them and then have him work a little each day using the parallel bars so that he can achieve the correct way of walking with them. After spending time each day with the new legs, he will then go back to Physical Therapy and walk and walk and walk as much as possible with his stubbies to maintain and gain more physical strength. I'm thinking I had better take some tissues on Wednesday, just typing the thought is getting to me. I'm really going to have a hard time going back home and not physically seeing his progress.

Today he sat with a different Occupational Therapist and she was working the joints, tendons, and muscles of his right arm and hand quite vigorously. David was wearing his hat and would just put his head down so his whole face was hidden as she would get to the area that really caused the pain. She said, "just let me know when I'm hurting you too much and I'll stop!"
David then told her, "It's the same every day, I know it's coming so I just grip my teeth and bear it!" I can attest to the fact that he does just that. I had some arthritis or a stiff joint in one of my fingers when I came out here and I watched as the therapist would crank on his fingers to loosen them up so I started cranking on mine - it works, it is still sore but I have more movement in it now and it doesn't hurt all the time. When we were kids we were told that if we cracked our knuckles we would get arthritis when we were older and now I'm learning that when we get older and get arthritis, we need to crack our knuckles to keep them movable. Boy Oh Boy does my mom have some explaining to do - only kidding mom.

Every day is a new adventure and I'll fill you in on tomorrow's adventure once it is over.

Have a great night.

Gordon